26.2 Doesn't Even Begin To Cover It...: June 2011

So yeah, I've got my running schedule planned out from this Sunday until the Little Rock Marathon next March. That 10th anniversary medal better be frickin' ginormous.

Because I know myself and I know how much running can suck sometimes if you're REAAAAALLLLY not feeling it (not a "ew I'd rather not run today" but an "I would rather use a toenail to give myself brain surgery and temporarily disable my legs than run" day. those happen. occasionally) I've built in enough time that missing a run (or two or three, since I usually get a lovely illness in late-fall/early-winter) won't be a problem at all. In 8 months, I'll have (hopefully, please dear God let me have) conquered my first (and perhaps only) 26.2. And I'll have the baddest-ass sticker on the back of my car to prove it.

Cross-training will be used 1-2 days a week, and may be used to substitute for runs in the event of emergency. Sprinkle copious amounts of yoga and a dash of Zumba and you've got a winning recipe.

I believe the week of March 11th looks fantastic. If it's on the schedule, you have to do it!

I'm now a MEDIUM at Banana Republic and a size 8 at J. Crew.

Hell. Freaking. Yes.

I would also like to acknowledge that I suck at this.

Sorry.

Between finals, life, moving into my apartment(!!!!!!), and working (like a grown-up), I just haven't found time.

I would like to take this time to post what I had in a draft the day after I (ahem)...

RAN A HALF-MARATHON!!!!!

Saturday was, by far, one of the most exciting, thrilling, terrifying, exhilarating, and completely exhausting days of my life. Sara Ann, Dad, and I were lucky enough to get a room in the hotel directly across the street from the start line, so Friday was spent going about our normal routines while pausing periodically to glance over at what would become the gathering point for one of the largest crowds I've ever seen. After a good night's rest, we woke at 5AM (ew) to go grab a bagel (which was nowhere near enough food, but oh well... you live and you learn), take the monstrous dose of Tylenol and Advil the nice doctor at OrthoArkansas told me to take so that I wouldn't be able to feel my bruised kneecap when it got mad, and try not to completely spazz out. At 6:45AM, we dropped our "swag bags" off with the handy UPS people and moved merrily/spastically along to the corrals... Merrily was Sara Ann, spastically was me.
CORRAL TIME: At this point, it was abundantly clear that this was indeed my first time at the rodeo. I was freaking out as literally every possible scenario played through my mind of what could go wrong. Being trampled, hyperventilating, heat exhaustion, lightning strikes (it was sunny, mind you), re-spraining my ankle, tripping and looking like a complete moron, running and looking like a complete moron, and anything else that you could possibly imagine going wrong was shooting through my head faster than a Kenyan. (Sara Ann was wearing a shirt that read "In my dreams I'm a Kenyan... Very appropriate.) Cue more nervous twitching on my part and a separation of Sara Ann and I. (She was about 6 corrals behind me for some reason that I do not know.)

STARTING LINE!!!: It took about 30 minutes for me to get from my corral (ahem, 26) to the start line. Every step I took I was more and more scared. The same fears (see: Corral Time) were shooting through my mind. I made small talk with some girls around me, 'cause that's what I do, and put my game face on. When I actually got to the start line and finally got to the start, I was in the zone, and I was going.

MILES 1-5: I was going strong for the first few miles, and it was glorious. I found my pacer dude and was going strong with him until I realized A) the course map lied and B) I was spawning the blisters of the century. The course map said that there was the "big hill" around mile marker 3, and the rest was relatively flat. Well, my friends, that was bullshit. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. The hilliest run of my life. It was also the hottest run of my life, and I adapted a very advanced method for cooling and hydration. At water stops, one cup went to the mouth, one went to the head. That worked well until I put my phone in my sports bra for safe keeping and then poured water on my head. Cue the spastic cleaning of the phone. I was gonna choke down a GU but it fell out of my belt, so I nommed down on some delicious, yet ridiculous to chew SportBeans. Sara Ann also caught up to me around mile 5, which was a good thing since she was running with partially healed shin splints and, in the off chance she should need to stop, I would know when I passed her.

MILES 6-10: The extent to which the bastards lied about hills was completely evident here. I took some GU Chomps at about mile 6 and they were surprisingly delicious, considering the fact that GU itself makes me want to vomit. Continue running. I saw Dad, and that was a nice little morale boost. Keep on running. Cue "'Till I Collapse". Cue "Heart of A Champion". Cue "Bring It All Back" by S Club 7. I was chugging. I also took a course-provided GU at mile 10.4. So gracious of them to offer GU THREE MILES AWAY FROM THE FINISH. It would have been better used around, oh I don't know, mile 5?

MILES 11-13: We went down and up some more, and the hill to end all hills was from about 11.5 to 13. It sucked. It sucked bad. EVERYONE was walking. EVERYONE. Some volunteers hollered "ONCE YOU GET TO THE BRIDGE IT'S ALL DOWNHILL!!" I made it to the bridge. That was the most beautiful bridge I've ever seen in my entire life.

MILE 13.1... AKA THE FINISH!!!!!!: I freaking sprinted the entire way from the bridge to the finish line. As soon as I saw it, I started crying. All the miles I've run, all the hard work, all the pain, all the blisters were worth it. I saw my dad after the finish line and broke down. After I composed myself, I got my picture made, got some food, found Sara Ann, and we hopped our exhausted asses on the bus (that got lost) and went back to the hotel.

BACK AT THE HOTEL: We hobbled up to the room, where we changed out of our DISGUSTING clothes and our appetites came in full force. We hopped over to PF Chang's and I devoured an ENTIRE Beef with Broccoli entree. It was delicious. I enjoyed every single bite. I then slept halfway coming home. Life was grand.

THE FOLLOWING WEEK: I couldn't walk normally. I was sore, achy, hurting, but I relished in every single second of it. I've never felt more badass in my entire life. Will I keep running? Hell yes. Will I keep running the half-marathon? I LOVED the distance. Will I try a full marathon? One. Just once, just for the sticker on the back of my car.

SOME SNAPSHOTS: