My Cowtown Experience

You know I CAN'T write a blog without being ugly and honest. So with that said, why do men think it's okay to run without a shirt? Moles, freakles, birthmarks, backne, hair, skin & bones are not attractive! Is a shirt that heavy? Heck they make that dri-fit crap now that's virtually weightless, put one on for the love! So, unless you a have '300' Gerard Butler body, keep your shirt on! Next,when you are running TRY to put your empty cups in a trash can, it's not that hard to hold it for a few more seconds until you get to a trash can. People have to pick all that crap up. People volunteer to support runners, they are not getting paid you litter bugs! When you start a race, get in the correct corral. That means get in the right heat according to your mile time. If you know you don't run a 9:00 minute mile, then don't get in Corral 2 so people don't have to hurdle your butt when you start walking at the first turn. Last thing, if you're wearing a tutu, first off you're dumb, then you're not serious about this and stick to the Jingle Bell Run or some fun-run elsewhere.


Today was a special day for me. I had been training for a marathon for a few months now, by myself. Word of advice: you can NOT just go out there and run a marathon, you have to train for it.  Every weekend consisted of a long run and a few runs during the week. I would do weights once or twice a week. It's really not that hard, just very time consuming and you gotta find ways to keep motivated. That is why I had the 26.2 sticker to keep me motivated. It may seem dumb to you, but it is big time for me, and it will forever make me remember the hours of hard work I put into this marathon. NO, I will not have it on my car forever, just one year and then I will take it off.  Unfortunately you do feel guilty with wasting so much time running, so I would get up early enough to run so I didn't leave Jerry with Bailey all the time and I could still enjoy the weekend with them. I would run on the treadmill if was too cold outside. I would run on my conference so I didn't take away from family time. I planned everything around my runs. I was really getting tired of it too. I'm so thankful this day has finally come and I reached one of my goals. I finished 16th in my age division (30-34) man I hate being 30!  I was 6 seconds away from being 15th place, dangit! I finished in 4:16 with a 9:51 mile time. The person who finished 1st in my division had a mile time of 7:48 and finished in 3:24. That's insanely fast and there's no way in God's green earth I would ever beat that. Good job homegirl!


The race goes by so fast. I looked down at my Nike+ and it said I was already at mile 7! Geez! I started the race off real slow so I wouldn't tucker out at the end and it helped. (Thank you Amy G.)  The last two miles I probably passed 20 people. There was the biggest, longest incline at mile 9. I was very thankful at that time that I live in a neighborhood that doesn't have one flat area. I have to go run along the access road of 820 for flat land and I just run back and forth, which still has a slight incline. I broke this race up into three parts. Mile 10 so I could see Jerry, mile 20 to see Jerry again, and the finish! You have to break it up or you will die. When I hit mile 20, Jerry started running with me for a 1/4 of a mile. He told me I looked hot and slapped my flat butt and went back to meet me at the finish line.  He's so great.  Did I say the race goes by so fast? I lied. At mile 20 and thereafter, the marathon only begins and it takes FOREVER! Your body is so done and you just have to play mind games to keep going. You try to forget about all the pain, you even resort to talking to people to keep your mind off everything. I finished strong and even sprinted at the end. Another good thing is that I didn't pee or poop on myself like I have heard some runners doing.


Somebody said that if God gives you a talent, a way to pay him back is to use it. (That actually came from Uncle Jessie on a Dukes of Hazzard episode.) Regardless, I can run for days without stopping and I think I used that talent today and I do thank God first and foremost. Secondly, I want to thank My Lover, Jerry, for being there for me today. He stayed with me before the race started, ran back to the truck to get my pre-race goo pouch, watched me get started, met me at mile 10 with my fuel, met me at mile 20 with more fuel, ran with me, and then saw me cross the finish line. I want to thank my mother-n-law for always being there with her camera ah blazin' to support everything I do (again the mother I never had), and my friends Josh and Michelle. I love you guys! I want to thank all my family, teachers, and friends who supported me through this and kept me going. A marathon is tough. I mean tough.  It truly is the hardest thing I have done in my life. I would go back to a miserable volleyball practice with the worst coach on earth than do that again, at least for today anyway. Indian tempo ladies!


I use to think running was all mental. "Is that all you got" is what I would tell myself to keep myself going. I used to think it was 90% mental and 10% physical. WRONG.  It's more like 50% mental, 50% physical when it come to a marathon. Whatever it is, it was truly rewarding for me. 


26.2 Holler!