Creepin on Old Men

So hey, I ran 13.1 miles and survived! In high school, I never would have dreamed of running that far. And you wanna know what's nuts? I have this itch to run another half marathon now, and another after that, and then another. I think I'll just stick to half marathons though. Nothing about a full marathon sounds appealing or fun. It doesn't even sound healthy to me. I mean, yeah, let's go run 26.2 miles and run our bodies into the ground, and then we'll have run so far and for so long that we will no longer be able to control our bladders and we can pee in our jogging shorts. Sounds fun, doesn't it? But really, after the way my body has felt since running on Saturday, I can't even imagine the soreness after a full marathon. Sunday and yesterday I was wobbling about like a grandma. I feel like I should have worn a sign that said, JUST RAN A LOT AND HAVE  REALLY SORE MUSCLES. DON'T JUDGE THE WAY I WALK.

Seriously though, I had such a fun weekend. Even though I was hanging out with a bunch of moms ;). Just kidding. Honestly, I think I like hanging out with moms more than girls my own age. Moms are actually a lot of fun and they aren't dramatic and ridiculous like some 20 somethings.

We woke up Saturday morning to hear rain hammering the roof of our condo, so that was pretty terrifying. Thankfully it cleared up, so most the run it was just overcast or sprinkling rain. At my last mile, the rain began to pour. Maybe it made me run faster though because I just wanted to be done. It was such an adrenaline rush to cross the finish with people cheering and rain drenching my clothes though. So neat. And I loved watching my mom cross the finish. I am so proud of her. God gave me a top notch Mom. She's bursting with fun, determination, and awesomeness. That's for sure.

I've had some people ask me how I got through the race and how I paced myself. Personally, I just focused on getting to the next aid station. I tried to not even think about how many miles I had left total. And also, I found it nice to find someone to follow. You just pick someone that is going at a pace you like and then stick by them. It's like you're becoming their friend without them even knowing. And then if your friend you pick ends up getting too fast or too slow, just ditch that friend and pick a new one. For some odd reason, all my pickings were old men. Not super old. Just older. Like late fifties, early sixties. And they were the type of old men who were in incredible shape. I followed one guy for probably about four miles. He was about six feet tall and shaved his head. He had ripped calves, like more ripped than college boys. He was a good looking older guy, so I guess I picked well. We took turns passing each other and then we'd run side by side. When we got to an aid station, I was supposed to eat my energy jelly beans. I pulled them out but I couldn't get the bag opened while running slowly. So I stopped. And fumbled with the package. I looked up to see my old man friend ahead of me. He was turned around and looking at me, almost like, "Are you coming or what?" I lost the good looking older man after that. I even bolted from the aid station and weaved through people for a while trying to find him, but I failed. Don't worry though. I found another man about his same age and speed.

Sorry Brian. I almost feel like I cheated on you in some weird way by running around with old guys and checking out their muscular legs. At least you know you have a lot to look forward to, right?

Well, due to the rainy weather, we didn't take any pictures of our race. Later Saturday night, we did meet up with my great-aunt and cousin, Megan (they live in St George) for frozen custard. So some random person took a picture of us with our medals. And Megan just got in the picture because she doesn't need a medal to be cool.

So the lady that is not my mom who is standing next to me is my aunt Amy. People always get us mixed up and think we look alike. Do you think we do?

Well, that's all I have to say. I think I'll go stretch my legs out now. If you have any fun half marathon suggestions, I'd love to hear. Because I think it's in my blood now.