Best. Run. Ever

Most of you might have already heard about the 20-mile run Jim and I completed this last weekend. But for those of you that haven't heard or just aren't sick of hearing it yet, please allow me to give you the details of the most physically challenging run to date and the special reward I received at the end.

We have now been training for this marathon for 4 months and we're only a few weeks from the race. In keeping with our running schedule, we had a 20-mile run planned this last Sunday.
Jim has been doing an amazing job creating routes that take us up and down just about every hill between the State Capital and Sugarhouse Park. For that reason, I love and hate him at the same time.

Our run started at 6am on Sunday. It was cold and pretty windy from the get-go. We completed our first lap around the Utah State Capital building and started heading toward Memory Grove Park through City Creek Canyon.
Remember when I told you guys that I would tell you everything about my training? Even if it wasn't pretty or very lady-like? I'm keeping my promise.
2  miles into our run....I had to pee. For a while I thought "no biggie. I can hold it." Jim reminded me that there were no spots to stop along our route unless I planned on doing a little squat-and-drop on someone's front lawn. The only other option...go in the bushes. I just want to go on record as saying that I tried to resist doing it! But alas! my tiny bladder was not having any of this running business until I take care of business.
So I squat. In the bushes. At the State Capital.
I'm not proud.

The next few miles were great! Empty bladder, sunshine peeking around the mountains and Jim by my side. Things were looking up just fine.
At least I thought they were.

I wish I could say I dominated that run at all times. But that's just a bold faced lie and no one likes a liar. Although there were some points in the run that I felt really good, I would say 75% of the time, I was pushing really hard. These routes were made to be difficult on purpose. We wanted to push ourselves harder than we thought our actual marathon course would be. Because of that, I struggled quite a bit.
One main problem I was experiencing was lower back pain. I run with a hydration pack on these distance runs and after 16 miles, my back just didn't want that pack anywhere near me anymore. I abandoned the pack in a secret hiding space and took off feeling lighter, but not much faster.

At that point we had already tackled the hills throughout the University / Avenues and the big ass hill behind the Hogle Zoo. We were on our way to the most intimidating part of our course....Virginia.
She's back. And she's not getting easier.
Instead of being a super bad ass like we were last time we ran that hill, we took it easy and slowly climbed to the top. I don't know if I've told you guys this before, but if you make the motions with your arms to give the impression that you're running, it totally counts. So that's pretty much what we did the entire way.
Which was a good idea because we still had about 2 miles left until the sweet sweet finish.

When we started heading back toward Memory Grove, I could definitely feel every mile we put behind us. My feet were killing me. My quads were tired. My head was tired.
I tried to keep focusing on the fact that were almost done. Jim was as supportive as ever and kept encouraging me to keep pushing.
We hit 19 miles as were coming down the trail into Memory Grove Park. I'm sure that most of my exhaustion at this point was mental. But it was still very real. I was fighting with every step to keep my feet in motion. We had to stop temporarily at about 19.7 miles so I could do another small hyperventilation fit. I haven't had one of those since my first half marathon!
After a few moments of walking with my arms above my head, I was ready to go again. I wanted to finish this run as strong as I could. So I pushed. And pushed. And pushed for the longest .3 miles of my life. As we passed the barriers signaling the start of the park, we hit our 20-miles and I was done.

I became completely overwhelmed. I was tired physically and mentally. But I was also so proud of what I had just accomplished. So of course, I started to cry. Not bad tears. Good tears.
The "holy-shit-look-what-I-just-did" tears mixed with a little "holy-shit-my-butt-cheeks-are-killing-me-tears". They were awesome awesome tears.

Jim took me be the arm and told me to keep walking so my legs wouldn't cramp. While were walking into the park I told him that I was a mixed ball of emotions.
For some reason Jim kept walking into the park to the left instead of straight ahead toward the car. I followed but was definitely a little confused.

There is a creek that runs through the park with a pretty bridge just right ahead of where we were standing. As Jim walked toward that bridge, my confusion was building. Until he started to kneel down.

He said to me "I know you are a mixed ball of emotions right now, but I have something I need to ask you."
He reached into the ankle pack that he ran with "to carry our IDs and cash" and pulled something out of a tiny black bag.
And then there he was, on one knee with a beautiful ring in his hand saying "will you marry me?"

My engagement ring! Cornflower blue sapphire in the middle of two diamonds in a white gold setting

It was the happiest moment in my life and I completely lost it! I couldn't keep in anymore tears and I just let them all fall out. I made the head motion that meant "hell yes!" since apparently my hysteria was rendering me temporarily unable to form words.

We cried and hugged and kissed and I completely forgot every ache and pain and grueling mile.
At that moment, I felt like I could run 20 more and not even feel it.

Our friends Ellie and Jason were running the same route and met us in the park with big congrats. I started crying again. I couldn't help it!

Jim told my brother-in-law John that he was planning on asking The Question so he and my sister came to the park and waited for a very long time until we finally made our appearance. My sister ran to me with the biggest grin on her face and I lost it again! More tears!!

Jim said afterward that he wanted to catch me off guard because he knew I was onto his original plan to pop the question at our marathon.
I'm so glad he did. I loved that I had no idea it was coming. It was the most amazing moment I've ever experienced. And even though I looked like death with my hair in complete disarray and sweat dripping down my face, he still looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
I wouldn't take back a single detail of my engagement. It was absolutely perfect.

Best. Run. Ever.

Thank you, Kathrine Switzer

If it were 40 years ago, my training and excitement for my upcoming marathon would all be a pipe dream. As recently as 1967, marathons were a boys sport. Women were considered too fragile and not physically capable of completing 26.2 miles. Because she was fantastically stubborn and ready to prove the running world wrong, Kathrine Switzer registered for the prestigious Boston Marsthon only using her initials.

Can you imagine what it was like for her at the starting line? The only woman in a sea of men? A few miles in, spectators and the race director realized there was a girl in the race. *Gasp!!* The race director ran into the race yelling for Switzer to get off the course. He took a hard hit from Switzer's boyfriend who was an All-American football player and Switzer continued on to complete the 1967 Boston Marathon with an "unofficial" time of 4:20. The marathon officials refused to acknowledge her time as she was disqualified from the race for being female. By 1972, because of women like Switzer, Title IX was passed and woman were welcome to marathons all over the country.

Her activism in the coming years paved the way for women in sports. The running community now recognizes women as power houses and no longer doubts our physical ability to kick some major ass. Thank you, Kathrine Switzer.

Click for an article with more information on her wicked awesome accomplishments for those that want more girl power in their day!


Officals attempting to remove Katherine Switzer from the 1967 Boston Marathon - Source: katherineswitzer.com

 

Shameless Horn Tooting

Don't you hate it when people just brag about how awesome they are? Especially when they show you evidence of their awesome-ness as if you really needed to see it?
Yeah, me too.

Hey, guys! Guess how awesome I am!

Last weekend Jim and I ran a Shamrock Half Marathon in Saratoga Springs. We were really excited for this race not because it was anything special or a big race. In fact, it was pretty small and in the middle of freakin' nowhere. But we haven't ran a race since December in Vegas so we were both a little anxious to get to a starting line--and even more important, a finish line.
The race started out at a steady incline and quickly transitioned into a decent climb only about 2 miles in.
It didn't stop there. If we weren't running up a significant hill on the side of a highway, we were running through rolling hills of neighborhoods and unfinished subdivisions.
The wind was pretty intense in some parts. We were lucky in the sense that we eventually got the wind behind us and I'm pretty sure that mile 11-12 was as fast as it was because we had a little assistance.
As we ran down our last hill at mile 12, I took a glance at my Garmin and started crunching some numbers. At the pace I was running, I was really really close to my time for the Provo Halloween Half Marathon-- which was almost entirely downhill! There was a guy up ahead of us that Jim and I wanted to pass and that made me kick up the pace just a little more. I can keep this pace! I can seriously keep this pace!
There's a couple up ahead of us. Maybe we can pass them. I'm not going to speed up. Maybe I will just lucky and pass them.
Yep, passed them. We picked it up in high gear the last .2 miles and as I crossed the finish line I checked my time. 2:32!! And what was my time at the Provo Halloween Half? 2:32!!
Damn straight. I just ran a mostly uphill course in the same amount of time it took me to run a downhill course last year. I felt amazing. I was on a runner's high all day.

Shamrock Half Marathon - Saratoga Springs, UT 

On a separate but equally awesome note - we finally organized our race bibs. We made racks a little while ago to hang our medals but our bibs were just kind of hanging on the end.
We found a post on Pinterest (yes, Pinterest. I'm obsessed. Don't judge. Most of you are, too) where someone displayed their bibs in a collage.
So we did it! And they turned out awesome!

The board on the far left and the medals on the white board are mine. It's a work in progress!
Jim had enough bibs to fill one and a half boards which is awesome. Looking at the blank spots on our boards made us more excited to get some races done this summer. Good thing we're coming up on racing season! Woo Hoo!

Only 6 weeks away from the marathon now. (eeeek!)
We have an 18-mile and a 20-mile run on the schedule in the next few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes

Or brag about it. Whatever.

Excess Amounts of Ketchup

Sorry!!! I know..It's been foooooorrreeeeevvvvv-er. We are in full-blown marathon training mode and it's time that I finally let you guys in our progress.

Because it's been so long, there's a ton of stuff that we've done that I can't remember.
In my last post I told you guys that we were getting ready to run the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in December.
Well, we did! There were pros and cons to that race which I'll tell you about but let me preface this list by saying that we will probably never run that race again. OK...

Pro 1:. I got to see Vegas for the first time. Seriously. I finally saw Sin City at 25 years old. I was excited to see all the lights and sounds that Vegas has to offer and it was everything I thought it would be.

At the starting line outside of Mandalay Bay

Pro 2: My sister and John came to Vegas to hang out / support us in the race. I was really happy that the first time I got to play in Vegas, I had my little sister and bro-in-law along with me. Plus it's convenient that John is Jim's best friend so double win for us.

Pro 3: We got a medal. And it glows in the dark.

Blue medal for the half marathon, pink for the full. Which some people complained about but we found later that we had a ton of respect for the people wearing the pink medals that weekend.

Con 1: There were WAY too many people at that race. They should have capped that race way before they actually did. When you have over 20 different corrals of people to start the race and it takes you 40 minutes just to get the start line once the race begins, that's just TOO many runners.

Con 2: It was ridiculously cold for Vegas! I know it was December but DAMN! I might have had a little bit of a skewed idea of what Vegas weather is like but even Jim said it was unusually cold. Add that to the fact that we had to stand around in a crowd for 40 minutes before we could even move and that made for a very uncomfortable start. 

Con 3: I bought new shoes and they hurt my feet. All I wanted at the end of that race was to be out of the cold and rain (oh yeah...it started raining the last mile) and off my swollen feet. And thank goodness we didn't end up trying to take the light rail back to the hotel because that would have required us to go into Mandalay Bay which apparently turned into a news-worthy nightmare. An insane amount of people rushed into the hotel to get out of the crazy cold rain and literally got stuck in the hallways. Too many people in one place at one time led to reports of runners vomiting, fainting and not receiving medical attention due to overcrowding. We avoided it but it was kind of crazy to be part of something that runners were talking about for weeks later. 

Con 4: The race was at night so we could experience the lights of Vegas but because of that we couldn't really "play" Friday night and all Saturday afternoon. Which doesn't seem so bad but in the end we decided that races done of out of town need to be planned better because waiting around to enjoy our vacation until the last day didn't really work out in the end. Now we now. 

OK....so now we are up to the point where we get into full marathon training mode. Jim made up a calendar with all the training runs he did to train for his marathons last year. We've been following a set schedule of long and short runs that vary locations which also mean a variation in elevation. 

Last week we ran 16 miles from Sugarhouse Park, through the avenues, up to the capital and back to the park. Which meant ridiculous amounts of hill climbing including..........Virginia Street. The worst uphill climb I've ever done. After that street we had only run 8 miles and I was exhausted. I told Jim I was feeling a little emotional and if I cried at the end of the run to not be surprised. By the time I got to the 13 mile mark, I took a peek at my Garmin and found that I had ran the 13 miles in the same amount of time that it took me to run my first half marathon which was completely flat. 

So basically, I was able to climb several hills and run the same distance in the same amount of time. 

I had a moment when I was actually pretty proud of myself. I've come a long way since July when I almost died in the Legacy Half Marathon. 

Now I just have to add on an additional 10 miles to the run I did last week to finally complete a full marathon. 

I'm getting more and more anxious / excited for California. We've bought our plane tickets, hotel and registration. 

No turning back now!! We're 9 weeks away from the hardest physical accomplishment I will have completed to date. 

More blog posts to come, I promise. This was way too much ketchup. 

But you guys ordered it! So eat up! :)

More Ketchup Please....

Hello friends!

Did you think I forgot about this little ol' blog? That I've walked (or run) away and left y'all behind?? Don't you worry. It's time for more "ketchup". I fully admit that I have no clue what week of training I'm in. My bad.
And to avoid this being a ridiculously long blog, I'm just going to stick to the main events in my little quest over the last 3 months.
Sound good?
OK...here we go.

A few months ago I came home from work to a surprise present from Jim. In order to better track my progress and feel more like an "official" awesome runner, Jim bought me a Garmin Forerunner 210. It's a great GPS running watch that keeps track of my heart rate, distance, pace and elevation all at one time. Its light, convenient and super accurate. After a run we can come home and upload my run info right onto the computer and watch my progress. I haven't done a single run since then without it. I HIGHLY recommend one of these. Totally worth it.
Thank you, Jim. I love you :)

Garmin Forerunner 210. For those who want to be more awesome....

So, it's no surprise to those of you that know Jim or have been following this blog that he started seriously running about a year before I did. He has a lot more experience with the ups and downs of being a distance runner and, of course, has completed more races than I have.

His collection of medals was starting to get more and more impressive and I was starting to get a small collection of my own. We wanted to find a place where we could proudly display our accomplishments because it just didn't feel right leaving them in the closet. We worked hard for those medals. And we are definitely the kind of people that want to show them off. 

So we did.

We built our own display board for our medals and running bibs and hung them in our dining room. 

My board is so sad compared to his!! I'm working on it, though. Next to my board there is a calendar that starts December 2011. This is our set training schedule for my first full marathon in April. More on that in a minute.



We recently took a trip back to San Francisco. Perhaps you might remember that during our last trip to San Fran, we ran in wigs along side some nakeds in the Bay to Breakers 12k. We weren't there for a race this time. Jim was a groomsman in the wedding of one of his good friends/fraternity brothers so we had the opportunity to party in one of our favorite places and Jim was able to catch up with friends he rarely gets an opportunity to see anymore.
And of course while we were there, we wanted to do a few runs. We were so lucky in the fact that our hotel was only two short blocks from the ocean and there was a trail along the beach to run. SCORE!!
We ran twice while we were there and took the trail along the beach and into Golden Gate Park.
Anytime you have an opportunity to run along the beach...TAKE IT! Maybe its just because I'm a land-locked runner but I was soooo excited to get the opportunity to look at the gorgeous waves and have the ocean breeze cool us off. I know that sounds cheesy but I don't care. It was awesome. It just made me more excited for my first full marathon. More on that in a minute. (I promise)

We didn't take a picture of the trail. So here is a picture of us later in Golden Gate Park.
(Go Bears!)

Halloween Half Marathon - Provo, UT

I was so excited for this race!! I hadn't done a race since July and was starting to get a little anxious. Jim ran this last year and had a lot of fun so I was happy that we got to run it together this year. 

And since its a Halloween Half Marathon, we just HAD to wear wicked cool costumes. 

Hence the Ninja Turtles. 

Pre Race 

The great thing about this race is not only the costumes but also the downhill. We started up Provo Canyon at the Alpine Loop which is about 2 miles past Sundance Resort and we ran down. And when I say down...I mean it. Downhill is fun because you feel really speedy but after a while it really starts to impact your body. My quads, butt and feet were KILLING me by the end of this race. 

But during the 13.1 miles, we were able to really enjoy the gorgeous scenery. The leaves are all changing color and falling to the ground. We ran through a park along a small river with trees that formed a canopy above us. We saw pirates, clowns, cheerleaders, vampires, football players, BYU fans (boo!), robots, a sumo wrestler and one group who dressed up as the cast of Despicable Me. 

This was nothing like the last half marathon I did. It was nice and cool outside. There were tons of people and the race started at 9am on a Saturday. Not 9pm on a Friday. 

I didn't feel nearly as tired and there were no episodes of hyperventilation. It wasn't until about the last 2 miles that I was really getting anxious for the finish line and that was mostly just because my feet hurt so bad. I've put a few too many miles on my running shoes and I could certainly feel it at that point. But when we crossed that finish line and I heard the announcer call out our names and the little kid dressed as Dracula handed me my medal, I was happy. And not JUST because the race was over. But because I actually enjoyed myself. I actually had fun.That's very important, people. Don't do something you don't enjoy doing. You're just going to be miserable.

Oh and in case you were wondering about my time.....2:32:09!! Almost a full 30 minutes faster than my last race. Hell yeah!! (Jim was 2:32:12....hahaha!) 

Post Race with our medals. I'm tired but very happy. This is a real smile.

But alas, the next morning when I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a semi. Every muscle in my body hurt. It took a lot of effort to get out of bed and walk around. Jim lovingly called me Gimpy and it was totally true. The worst of all the muscle groups at that time was my ass. No joke, you guys...I covered my butt cheeks in Icy-Hot.

Then we went to my sister's house for brunch and football. While in the kitchen my brother-in-law, John, says "What is that smell?" And I had to bow my head and admit "It's my ass. My ass smells like an old man."

There was so much menthol floating around that house that our breakfast burritos might as well have been topped with Icy-Hot instead of sour cream since that was all we could really taste anyway. I actually made Jim massage my butt cheeks. In front of my mother. I didn't even care. They hurt. 

And all I could say in response to my offensive smell and lying on the couch getting a good ol' fashioned ass massage? "I'm an athlete!"

So now, we get ready for the big stuff. We are keeping ourselves in shape and ready for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas on December 4th. We are still debating on our costumes for that one so keep your eyes on Facebook for pictures the day of the race. 

Before that we have the Cottonwood Heights Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. This was the fist race Jim and I did as a couple when we first started dating last year. My sister, Carly, called it our "5k-versary". Ahhh...how sweet. 

Then, when we get home from Vegas we start our serious and structured full marathon training for the Big Sur Internationl Marathon in Monterey, CA on April 29, 2012. We get to return to the ocean and run a full 26.2 miles along the coast line. We are running this marathon with our friends Ellie and Jason. This will be the first full marathon for all of us but Jim. I can't wait to see how gorgeous this course is. I'm excited to run at sea level again. And I'm excited that apparently we get beer at the end of this race. SCORE AGAIN! 

Should you want to see pictures of what we will be running, here is the link to their website. 

http://www.bsim.org/site3.aspx

OK....I think we are all caught up. I'm sure there is stuff I missed but I will include it in a future blog. 

Sorry for the long post again. 

My bad! 

Legacy Midnight Half Marathon : A story of survival

So as you might have seen / heard on Facebook, I completed my first half marathon this last weekend.
And forgive me for saying / typing this but Holy Sh** Balls, Batman. That was rough!!
Let me tell you the story of how I barely survived 13.1 miles.

And how I'm crazy enough to do it again....

The half marathon was scheduled for 10pm on Friday night. Which meant that we (meaning Coach Jim and I, of course) had to work all day and then go run for a few hours. And of course, because I needed time to de-stress and relax for a few minutes, I missed the Trax train home and had to wait a half hour for the next one. Which made me late to get home which left no time to get rid of all the clutter in my brain.
I was off to a fantastic start.
So after a quick little hissy fit about being too tired to do this crap and dragging myself to the car, I shrugged off the negative attitude since that just won't help anyone and we headed up to Farmington.
We had to catch the bus to the starting line at 8pm and I'm really not sure why they left that early because the race didn't start for 2 hours so once we got there we had to just stand around and wait. And of course, since we forgot to put on bug spray, there were mosquitoes everywhere. (Wow...we're good at this.)
We sat around and contemplated our bitchin' outfits for a while. That passed the time.

Notice all the glow sticks behind me. We weren't messin' around...

The whole time we were hanging out before the race started, I was mostly thinking about what to do to make the best running-friendly glowstick outfit. Not so much about the fact that this wasn't just another 5k. I have to run 4 back to back 5ks.

But we looked good! See! 

I like that Jim looks like a super hero with the Spartan logo and a utility belt :)

We didn't get a picture of the starting line but it was a lit up archway in the middle of the dark trail. It looked pretty cool. And it wasn't until we were herd like cattle to the front of the line that I realized, "holy crap. I have to do this now. It's time to run....for a really long time. What have I done??"

I tend to do better in races and I think it's the energy from all the other racers that help me stay pumped.So I tend to take off a little too fast from the starting line which wears me out after a few miles. For those moments when I start to slow down or get a little frustrated, I have an awesome coach to help me stay motivated. 

That said, the first 5 miles went by pretty smooth. I would say they went by fast but that would be a total lie. If it wasn't so dark outside, I probably could have seen that stupid snail cruisin' past me. Damn, he sucks. 

At the 5 mile mark, Jim's mom, aunt and nephew were there to cheer us on. I couldn't believe they were up that late. I mean, it was past my bedtime on the bus ride to the starting line! So they snapped a few pictures while I was still feeling good. I just wish it stayed that way!! 

(staged) Action shot! I'm surprised she even got this picture. I mean, we're so fast....

Miles 5 - 7 were pretty uneventful except that I had to pee really bad. Running when you have to pee sucks! I felt like I was carrying an extra 50 lbs around in my bladder. And it got worse as the miles went on and on and on and on. 

But somewhere out in the dark, dark distance we could hear a tiny little voice yelling "Gatorade, water and Gu!" I hear you little kid! And I know there's a porta potty up there with you! I can make it....just a little bit farther until the sweet, sweet porta potty. 

Ew...this blog totally veered left. Sorry..back on track. 

I think I started to notice how tired I was about 8 miles in. By that time, I had matched my farthest distance. Every mile past that was marking another small victory. But it was painful. 

We got to ten miles and the guy at the water station reminds us of how many miles we have left. "Just a 5k left now," he says. 

I can do that! I've done a few 5ks! This is nothing....

WORST 5K EVER!!! 

My feet were screaming at me. My legs are like jello and I feel like no matter how hard I try, I can't catch my breath. Which actually led to a scary little episode where I actually hyperventilated. No joke. 

I really don't want to admit that because its not like I was competing in the Iron Man! I've only run 11 miles! 

But that was still farther than I had run so I was tired and not paying attention to my breathing. It only happened for about 20 seconds or so but it was enough to scare the crap out of me and Jim. Once my lungs decided to stop freaking out, we were on our way again with only 1.5 miles to go. 

The last mile was the longest mile I have ever run....ever. This was the point where I started to feel a little emotional. I seriously had a moment where I thought the finish line was fictional. All I wanted in my life in those last few minutes was a view of the finish line so I knew it actually existed. 

Finally...in the distance...in that smelly parking lot in Farmington, the finish line stood gloriously ahead of us. I'm pretty sure I blacked out the last few feet. I heard Jim tell me to smile as we crossed the line. I don't remember what I said in response but it probably wasn't even in words. I think it was more of a grunt. I didn't smile. But I made it. 

A few feet from the finish line. I'm dying right now!

The cut off time for the half marathon was 3 hours. My time.....2:57:51.

Ha! I did it!! I successfully completed a half marathon! Woo hoo!

I have never been so physically exhausted in my life. 

Forced smile...barely conscious

Even though it was rough, I'm really glad I did it. It's such an amazing feeling of accomplishment when you're finally done and can actually comprehend what the hell is going on around you.

So, on that note, I have 3 more half marathons to do before this year is over. 

1. Fire Station Half Marathon in Sandy, UT

2. Halloween Half Marathon in Provo, UT

3. Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas, NV

And then.....the first FULL marathon. 

We're all registered for the Big Sur International Marathon along the California coast line in April.

I've got a lot of work to do, y'all. And don't worry, I'll keep you posted on the ups and downs. 

I have a feeling there will be a lot of them. 

Good run, bad run and my figurative taunting bug.

First of all...let me start out this post on a positive note.

I ran the Freedom 5k over the 4th of July weekend. My last few 5ks I've completed in about 35-33 minutes. So I wanted to finish this one with a 2- in front. I didn't care if it was 29:59, as long as it was under 30.
The route was almost the same as the Pride Day 5k I did in June so I thought I might be able to do it.
The first mile I ran in about 9:30/mile! That's speedy for me! I mean, I was probably a giant blob to the people around me. Especially snails. I imagine it was a little like this....

Note the pink shoes. Yeah..that's pure awesome.

As I got near the finish line, my RunKeeper conveniently announced my time....30:10!
11 seconds off!!! I was soooooo close!! I'm bummed I didn't get the time I wanted but I'm glad that I'm really close to getting there. I have no doubt that with a little more training, I can get a 5k under 30 min.


Now for a more negative / serious note. I'm just 3 days away from running my first half marathon and I just don't know how this will go, you guys.

The Legacy Midnight Run starts Friday at 10pm on the Legacy trail and goes from North Salt Lake to Farmington. They light the trail with neon lights and even the coolers are lit up with glowing ice cubes. How awesome is that?!

Check it out    http://www.legacymidnightrun.com/

13.1 miles is still a long distance for me. So when Coach Jim and I had a training run this last weekend, I wanted to get 10 miles under my belt.

Damn. It was NOT pretty. There were tears involved. And the last mile or so was all just walking and fuming while my loving boyfriend was smart enough to not say a word and when he did, they were encouraging. I don't know if you have picked up on this while reading this blog, but I can either do awesome in a run or I do crappy and beat myself up about it.Then I pretty much give up and get super negative and Coach Jim does what he can to make me feel better. And really, I can't even tell you why it was bad except maybe that it was a little hot and my first few miles I went too fast and got tired. But really, when I look back on the time and distance, I didn't do as bad as I thought I did. But at the time....it was horrible! Needless to say, I only got about 8 miles and they were slooooowwww.

*sigh*

I'm going to try my best to do well in this race but mostly I just want to cross the finish line because this will be the farthest distance I've done. And overall, I think it will be fun.

Wish me luck this weekend. I'll let you guys know how it goes. And if that snail "accidently" gets squished.

(wait, I can't even joke about that. Poor smart ass snail. I couldn't squish him. He's totally figurative anyway)