back in the saddle again

Well it's been a while since I blogged (and ran).  I've been trying to give my foot some time to heal, so I decided after the marathon to take up yoga. I bought a month pass to a yoga studio and I have been enjoying that. It's better than yoga in a gym because they have lots of props that are fun to use and all sorts of classes. Some are harder and some are relaxing, one is on meditation and one is even about sleeping!!  I wanted to try that one but I missed it over thanksgiving break.

I know you think this is me but it's not.

However I've been itching a little to run, and over thanksgiving break I went for a 4 mile run/walk with my aunt and uncle and felt great! Also, after boards a few weeks ago there were a few of us that went out to a bar and we found (or I found on my phone) a 10k in january that looked fun to do. So now that I think I am cleared to run, I have been looking online to find that race again. I like to use this site to find races by state. So I found the 10k that we were talking about that night (Yeti Set Run) - Brad and Colin are you in?  However, in my search, I ran across this also.

What I would most like to point out on this is the "17 mile Blaylock Creek Fun Run." A 17 mile fun run??? That is ridiculous. Sometimes (well most of the time) I enjoy my long runs, even when they get that long...but still to call it a "fun run" sounds masochistic. 

FINISHER

Well...what to say? I finished!! Yeah!!

Saturday was the expo and it was sooo cold and snowy! That was bizarre. I was not happy with the "electronic goodie bags" and was also slightly disappointed with the lack of free samples available at the expo. Still got a few good samples though. Not to sound too complain-y but the shirts were strange? They are long sleeved 100% cotton mock turtles. I got a small which is very tight in the waist but the sleeves are really baggy and it is a strange fit. Oh well. 

Scott and I in the freezing cold after visiting the expo.

Well the marathon started off pretty good.  The weather was almost perfect and I was feeling great. Around mile 2, I found Laurel....I thought I would never find her, but I did and we ran together for ten miles or so? Then Scott and I had to stop for the bathroom and Laurel kept on and...that was the end of us seeing her. It sounds like she had a great run and finished strong!! I wish I could have kept up with her!

We stopped a few times starting around mile 12... Scott's stomach was giving him fits...mine was a bit too. I don't know why because I don't think I ate anything too different. Next marathon (yes, I said next one...I need to redeem myself!) I will keep a food log during my training so that I hopefully can avoid the terrible bathroom situation. The lines at the bathrooms for the first 13 miles or so were horrendous. After that they weren't too bad but of course we didn't need them then!

I think around mile 4 or so, my foot started bothering me - the same foot pain that kept me from running for the last 3 weeks -  but I kept running through it. Sometimes it would be worse and sometimes it would not hurt too badly.

I'm not sure when but probably around mile 15 or so, Scott's knee was really giving him fits. Then my right hip started hurting and we were quite a pair because it hurt more for him to run and more for me to walk. There were times when we each held each other back, so I'm sure we would have both finished faster if we had done it alone, but we had each other to talk to, complain to, blame each other (why in the world are we doing this??), so that made it better.

Mile 16 or so I remember thinking OH MY GOSH WE STILL HAVE TEN MILES. And it was STARVING. In fact my mom has a video of me running by and I said to her "I'm so hungry!!" So everything along the way that I could eat, I ate. I'm sure there will be pictures of me stuffing my face and that is pretty much my memory of the race. Pretzels, gummy bears, cookies, oranges, sour patch kids, donuts..... none of those things upset my stomach. Everything tasted SO GOOD. All I could think about while I was running was salty potato chips or french fries. So I figured that I probably needed the salt and I drank double gatorade at each of the water stations.

All in all, I ended up finishing in 5:39. I was hoping for around 4:30 and if I would have kept up with my pace from the first 12 miles, I think I would have made it.

I finished, so that's what counts, right?

Wow I look great.

We found Dr. Cassa!

I'm sure what kind of pose I was making. I was hurting and tired!

Already trying to figure out which one is next.....any suggestions?