Half Marathon

 We did it!  We ran the whole way!  Jared, Mara, our friend Wes, Brendan, and I ran the whole dang thing.  Paul ran 10 miles then walked 3, but he did it with pretty much no training so we hate him.  Here is us pre-race.  See how happy we are, and how we're not sweaty yet?

Pearl and Sherry walked the 5K while the rest of us ran the half marathon.  My favorite part (besides the finish line) was when the half marathoners caught up to the slowest 5Kers (of which Pearl and Sherry were a part) and I got to wave at her as she made her first turn.  Sherry says she did not want to leave the finish line because she didn't want to miss me coming in:)  So glad she could be a part of it!

The race was super well organized, water and bathrooms every two miles, so that broke things up nicely.  We got glowsticks at mile 8, and it was just getting dusky and super fun to watch a sea of bobbing glowsticks ahead of you.

Including all my bathroom breaks, I ran the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes, which put me at an average pace of 12:23.  I was thinking it would take me 2 hours and 30 minutes, so that was pretty close.  If only I hadn't needed every single pit stop!

Jared was a trooper and powered through even though he had pulled a calf muscle in the last few weeks of training.  Which means he won't be running for a while, but now he knows he can:)

Here we are at the end.  I must say, it did feel like a major accomplishment.  By the end, my body was just hurting so bad, I'm fairly certian I have no need to do a full marathon to prove anything to anybody.  But I would run a half again.  I enjoyed training, and since I followed my training religiously, my recovery was pretty good.  I was able to run all my days this week, even from Los Angeles (we left for LA less than 12 hours after we finished our run:)  And five miles still doesn't seem like such a big deal:)

Running

Jared and I ran our first 10K on July 4th.  I've run six miles lots of times.  I've run MORE than six miles lots of times.  It was still different running the race, I'm glad we did it before the half marathon coming up.  There are all these PEOPLE in your way, messing with your pace, getting in your way... it's so different.  One of the things I like best about running is the feeling of aloneness it gives me... with so many people asking for my attention all day, it's nice to just be ALONE.

 This is us before the race.  See how we're happy and relatively sweat free?  We ran together for about the first half, then, just as I was getting my stride at about 3 miles, Jared got a cramp in his calf.  So, I ran the rest of the way alone (well, kind of).  There was finally enough space (translation, I was finally far enough behind) that there weren't so many people and I could find my rhythm again.  The last half was more fun than the first:)

This is Jared finishing the race.  There is no picture of me finishing the race because I smoked him.  (Ok, I came in like 4 minutes before he did.)  My average pace was 10:34, which is pretty good for an old lady who ran four miles (ok, lets face it, I'd never run 2 miles!) for the first time in her life 11 weeks ago.

I am really enjoying running, but every once in a while I ask myself why I'm running places, circles in fact, to get nowhere.  The answer?  The way my calves look in my four inch heels on Sunday.  That's what it's all about:)  No, seriously, it's all mental.  I never thought I was one of those people who could do it.  Running is serious exercise, for serious athletes.  My sister in law Lora asked how I was feeling about the big race coming up, and my answer is, nervous.  About what, I don't know.  That I won't finish?  Not likely.  And besides, if I don't what is there, a half marathon police that gets you if you walk the last mile?  I think I'm hoping it will be almost... fun.  I have religiously followed my training, I hope this race cements my enjoyment of running and that my body is not so trashed at the end that I never want to run again.

Because, guess what?  I'm a runner:)

Rasberries

Miss Lu started blowing rasberries last Friday... right on time, I must add, speech development-wise.   Her face is SO CUTE when she does it, I have been trying for days to catch a picture... and here she is!  Just look at that PUCKER!!!!