It's NOT Barbie, it's 'The Beach!'

Sunday, September 19, 2010

This is no lie, baby!!! I ran a half marathon yesterday!

Okay, now I haven't posted here in a while and I'd like to rectify that. I have become an addict. I know many people will balk at this. Please stand by me. I need all the support I can get. While I have kicked my addiction to phonics, I am now hooked on running. I finally made it to my half marathon goal yesterday in Buena Vista, CO! And, on top of making it there, I made it to the finish line! It was so so so great! I was dying for the last 4 miles where there was no shade, lots of hot sun, the switch from dirt to pavement, and NO AID STATION! I think the last of only three aid stations was somewhere around mile 7. The first part of the run was so gorgeous. I ran through the golden aspens of Colorado as they start changing colors for the fall. Here, I'll post a picture for you:

Oh, wait...turns out this was the wrong road that we found as we were scouting out the trail the night before. Needless to say we were a little scared. Especially after we drove up this:

So here's the real path I started out running on:
But here's a better picture where you can see more of the trail:
I also had 6 awesome running companions who completely inspired me in one way or a million.

So we all go up the night before and spend an awesome night in a motel laughing and swapping sob stories, crying and bonding and trying to eat some delicious pasta that turned out not so delicious. After sitting for almost an hour, we still hadn't gotten any food. But here's a fun picture of us anyway.
Some of you might want to know their names, so from left to right they are as follows:
Nichole, Joy, Tirsa, Michelle, me, Allie, Wendy

After we complained about the food and got some pizza instead, we went back to the motel and there we laughed until we passed out, each of us waking up intermittently throughout the night due to various stages of nervousness. But here we were in the morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed sucking our guts in to look as skinny as possible in our hot pants.
Before the fabulous bus ride to the top, it was a tad chilly. We liked our new running jackets so much that we wore them even when it wasn't really THAT chilly. But dang it, we were counting on it being super cold!


We can't say for sure, but some of us believe that Allie, who is a super runner, went up somewhere to the front of the line and missed this fabulous photo op.

Now tell me that this isn't a gorgeous view to be able to run in. I felt like I was in the mountains. Wait a minute, I WAS in the mountains.


Now, counting down from 5

4

3

2

1

GO!
Now for a lesson in stark contrast 13.1 miles later:
Now I know it looks like I may be dying in this picture, but I assure you I was only close to dying. Right before this I had been walking and running the last two miles and praying for a miracle. The finish line is around the corner and I look over and see my big white ugly suburban parked at the intersection waiting for me. They had JUST driven up...my beautiful children and my amazing husband who made the 3+ hour drive that morning just to see me cross a finish line. I rallied all my muscles, encouraged my lungs to cooperate, screamed at them (my family, not my lungs) that I loved them, punched the air with my fists like a huge dork, and ran for the finish line. When I rounded the corner here, I hear my name being screamed like I was a rock star and my friend Wendy, pictured above in the other stunning black jacket, came out to push me on.


I sprinted for the finish line that was down this road, around a corner, over a bridge, and down a path to victory!! I didn't even look at my time because all I remember seeing were some water bottles with someone's hands attached to them being held out to me like a saving grace. I tore off my tag, handed it in with my left hand while my right hand grabbed that bottle of liquid gold and my legs sort of carried me around random spots while I stumbled around guzzling water and running into things until I finally settled on a large boulder somewhere near Wendy and Tirsa. It was amazing. And I finally had a normal look on my face once we all made it across. My time was somewhere around 2:20 or 2:25 but I'll have to wait and see the official posting of the results. Either way, I made it, alive.