13.1

that's how far i ran today in one hour and fifty minutes. shocked? yeah, me too. i was just praying i would finish in 2 hours. every mile when i checked my trusty watch i had to do a double take. i was soundly running under 9 minute miles and i couldn't believe it. i felt so good, other than the fact that i kept burping garlic from my pasta the night before {don't ever eat olive garden EVER EVER EVER EVER before a race}. the weather was perfect and my ipod shuffle was sreamin in my ears and i was surrounded by people who had trained and prepared just like me {maybe a little harder than me, but hey} the best part of the race was chris and his family. they were waiting for me at mile 6, 8, 10, 11 and of course at the finish. i was so excited to see them cheering and encouraging me on, it seriously helped my get to the finish line as i would smile and push myself a little harder each time i saw them. the worst part of the race {besides the garlic of course} was the little surprise hill at mile 6. the race coordinators didn't think it was important to put a trail map on the website so i had no idea that at mile six i would be climbing for almost a mile and a half. that put a little kink in my mental stamina, but my cheering squad was waiting at the bottom of the hill and got me going. when i crossed the finish line i was overwhelmed with adrenaline and when i saw chris beaming at me on the sidelines i started crying and i was so happy that i had done it {and even happier i didn't have to go another 13.1!}. there was tons of great food {fruit, popsicles, Hogi Yogi smoothies, pancakes} at the finish line and i was so excited for that but when i finally was able to partake i didn't want any of it. i just sat there on the grass in the shadows of the thackers happy i had finished the race and ran in a time i could be happy with. now excuse me while i go ice my legs again and take another round of pain pills.