I'm baaaaack!

Ok, I've been away.  Regrouping.  And I didn't want to post until I had my act at least somewhat together.  (Note the "somewhat"!  I am still very much a work in progress!)

The last three weeks, I have started doing a 30 minutes bike followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill at least three days a week.  I have done a longer (1 hr) treadmill on Saturday or Sunday.  I am only walking fast on the treadmill, but will start working in intervals next week.

I am trying to not expect perfect fitness and perfect speed right away - which is really hard for me!  I honestly think one week at the gym should make a huge difference and it just doesn't.  I read somewhere recently that it takes 6 weeks to see improvement, so I hope to see better results then.  But until then, I have got to celebrate the small victories (who I am kidding - HUGE victories) of just getting out there and doing it each day.

I am 8 weeks away from Dumbo.  I am doing back to back Friday and Saturday longer runs to prepare.  Two weeks after Dumbo, I have an Olympic Triathlon (the Outer Banks Tri that I did last year) so I CAN NOT SLACK.

Ok - this is my public declaration.  I will try my best and work hard now through Dumbo, through the Oly Tri, through Wine & Dine, and keep moving forward.  I can't be discouraged that I am not faster.  I must appreciate that I am just getting out there.

2014 - Goals, Plans, and Races - Oh My! (Part One)



YES! 2014 is here and it's time to start anew.  Here are my goals for 2014!

At least for the first 6 months. 

I need to get through the Half Ironman in June before I even think about what comes after.

Or IF anything comes after....

 Goal #1 for January is to get settled into a workout plan and build some consistency.  This is going to be a particular challenge, in that I am going to be away from home 12 of the 31 days in January.  I'm going to Wichita for 5 days next week and then on the 24th, I head to Japan for a whole week.

Truthfully, I feel like I'm starting the year swimming upstream.  It's exciting and all that, but Jeeze, it's going to be pretty easy to put training off unless I fight hard to keep on track.  But keep on track, I MUST.

Also, I should mention food here.  I have really let myself pig out over the holidays.  I'm very interested in learning more about nutrition and proper fueling this year.  And weight loss - oh yes.  I am down a wee bit from last year this time, but I gained 5 lbs over the holidays (this is even with having the flu the last 5 days and eating the cumulative amount of a sleeve of saltines in that time)

Our first race of the year is the famous Krispy Kreme Challenge on February 8th.  The challenge is that you run 2.5 miles, eat a dozen hot donuts, and then run 2.5 miles back - all in under an hour.  You wouldn't believe this by looking at my beetonk, but I can't eat 12 donuts in a whole day (let alone less than 10 minutes), so I entered as a participant instead of a challenger.  I am running this one with my son, Wil, and we are pretty excited.  I think a 5 mile race is a good place to start and this is an iconic event for our area.  We plan to dress up as the Eleventh Doctor (Wil) and the Tardis (me) because dressing up for the Krispy Kreme Challenge is definitely encouraged.

Food-wise, following up my mention on eating better with the KKC might seem like I am not fully committed to... anything healthy.  I totally get where you are coming from, and I have absolutely no excuse or justification other than I get to dress up!  LIKE THE TARDIS.  If I get real ambitious, I'm going to put Bad Wolf right across my ass.  That's worth a few unhealthy donuts!

March 24th - 31st is the World Balloon Convention in Denver, CO.  I am teaching for the second time at WBC, which is a pretty stressful undertaking.

My goals for March are to lose enough weight so I can squeeze into the silver dress to the right on the finale night.  It almost zips up now, but I went ahead and bought it anyway because it was at Kohl's and I think they coat their Kohl's Cash with bad judgement gel.  In any event, I bought the dress in hopes it will fit nicely in 3 months.

I'm looking for a Sprint Tri this month but all I can find so far is during WBC when I am out of town.  In that case, I might look for a nice half marathon and there are a few choices, including the Tobacco Road Full & Half.

Most important in April is that it's my birthday!!  I'll be 44.  Next most important is a huge decision, which is... which race to choose?  I was looking at the Rock N Roll Full on my birthday, April 13th, but there is an Olympic Tri nearby on the 19th.  I seriously doubt I can do both and remain standing.

I am leaning more toward the tri because it will help me get more prepared for the HIM in June.  I am SUPER EXCITED about another Olympic Tri.  I feel like I learned so much last time and definitely need all the Tri practice I can get before June.

I am also concerned that I have 4 months to train and that did not seem to be sufficient on my last Olympic Half.  I can honestly say my training was inconsistent and I really didn't start to swim or bike until 1 - 2 months before the event, so I believe I can go in more prepared this time.  It's local, which is nice.  And I can do some Open Water Swims at the location before the actual race.  All good.  I'd like to do this as a confidence builder towards the HIM, so I have to work up some of that "can do" spirit by April.

 May is kinda up in the air!  I don't want to do anything extreme as I taper, but a cool Sprint Tri would be nice.  I did find one pretty interesting event that could double as a mini-vacation for my family. 

The Carolina Beach Double Sprint is May 11th.  It's Swim/Run/Bike/Run/Swim, which sounds like a fun twist.  Carolina Beach is about 2 hours away and close to where we normally take our beach trips.

Ironman Raleigh 70.3 - Yeah, this is happening June 1st.  THIS is my big race this year and everything I do between now and June 1st will be leading to this event.  I am excited, but terrified.  I can imagine that the following two weeks will be spent doing some well-deserved ass-sitting.

I don't know what else to say about June.  I am dreading its arrival and thinking the first 6 months of 2014 are going to blaze by.

CONTINUED WITH PART TWO AS SOON AS I FIGURE IT OUT!

I'd like to add more events, but even these listed will be a stretch financially.  You may have noticed no RunDisney Races and that is purely financial.  The average RunDisney half marathon is $180 now and that doesn't include travel and hotel, or even time in the parks.  I'd love to do Wine & Dine again, but this may have to be a Disney-free year.  The truth is that I can do THREE local races for the cost of one RunDisney entry and that is hard to ignore.

 

Wish me luck with my first 6 months of 2014!  They should be jam-packed since I usually travel about 6-10 days a month in addition to training.  I am hoping for a more quiet year, but I don't think that's going to happen.  I hope YOUR 2014 is going to be successful and exciting!

 

 

 





Favorite Posts of 2013

**Full disclosure - I am shamelessly stealing this idea from my blogger friend, April.  (check out her excellent blog at http://www.runthegreatwidesomewhere.com/)**

2013 has been a big year for me.  I ran three Disney races and did my first triathlon.  I traveled all over the US teaching balloon decor and met lots of wonderful people.  I also didn't do a few things that I wish I would have started... but that just means I have a great list of TO DOs to start 2014.

Here are my favorite 5 posts of 2013 and a little bit about why they are special to me.

1) One Week From Today - I think this was the first time I really found my blogging voice.  I was honest about feeling crazy and insecure, while trying to speak like I do in real life - only with pictures to back up my weirdo train of thought.  I was a basket case before my first triathlon and I think that's pretty clear in this post.

2) 2013 Tinkerbell Half Marathon - Disneyland, CA - This was my favorite half marathon of the year.  I enjoyed the others, but this one was fairly stress and problem free.  I loved the whole trip to Disneyland and was excited for this first leg of my Coast-To-Coast medal.

3) So I've Signed Up For A Triathlon... I've Lost It, Right? - I did my race reports at the beginning of the year and then didn't blog again until August.  This was my first post back.  It's not funny or full of great pics (except one of me and a 40lb weight loss), but it was my return to my blog and my public commitment to getting back to training in 2013.

4) The Importance Of Recovery Time - I think this post gives a little peek into my life outside of running and how recovery time is a challenge when you have so many other things going on.  That's a problem for all of us, right?

5) SlugShaming Time - I'm deferring the WDW Full Marathon to 2015 -  This is still pretty fresh and was my stages of grief in letting go of the WDW Full for next month.  I had to be honest with myself on not just my physical readiness, but also the mental part.  This was a hard decision and I tried to share what went into making it.

I am still sorting out my plans for 2014 and will post those when they solidify.  Here's wishing you a wonderful holiday and a great start to the new year!

Commitment Issues are BAD

I was re-reading SwimBikeMom's book yesterday and she mentioned a magnet she had on her fridge that says:

 

This is an interesting question and I have been thinking about it a lot as I plan for my 2014 races.  On one hand, I am overwhelmed at the two I've already committed to - a full marathon (really, Lisa?) and a half Ironman (almost comical).  I think I've got a training plan that will prepare me, but I have already been lax on getting back to training for the upcoming half marathon in TWO WEEKS.  My problem seems to not be in creating goals or even attempting them, my problem seem to be in consistent effort to work towards the event.  Am I not consistent because I am inherently flaky?  Am I not consistent because IF I fail, that will be a good excuse?  Do I not want to commit 100% to something because I have (well-documented - just ask my ex) commitment issues?

I don't know the answer.  But it is something I need to figure out before I am successful at anything in life, let alone these races that REQUIRE that level of commitment before the event.

I watch this new show called Boundless on the Esquire Channel.  It is about two endurance athletes attempting different races all across the world.  I love it because on race day, they seem as unprepared as I have been for races.  By that I mean, they have trained for the event (sort-of) but they aren't real, real serious or safe about it.  They never trained in open ocean water for an 8hr ocean paddle board race.  They hadn't been biking in years before a grueling mountain bike race.  Junk like that.  DUMB.  I look at them attempting things they think they can not fail and all I can think is: BUT YOU HAVEN'T TRAINED FOR THIS!!  Even if they succeed, how much easier would it have been if they were better prepared?

And that is my own problem.  I don't worry about failure too much - I am pretty convinced I can do anything I set my mind to.  But at what commitment level is my mind set to to do the work to reach that goal beforehand?

 

I think my body is amazing in that it can keep chugging along no matter the pain or fatigue it's experiencing.  I think my mind is strong because I don't give up when I know I have a goal.  So what is holding me back from committing to full time, full-court-press training?  Why is it so easy to skip the training sessions I KNOW I need to do in order to be the most successful?

 

If I figure this out for training, can I use it to change my whole life?!?

 

In looking at 2014, I'd like to do at least one race event per month, with the possible exception of March when I'll be pretty busy with World Balloon Convention, where I'll be teaching.  (Maybe a sprint tri for that month.)  I'd like to do another Oly before the half Iron but a lot of smaller races aren't scheduled yet.  I'll probably have to wait until closer to the time to see what is available within my reasonable travel distance.  I definitely want to do the Outer Banks Tri in September again to see how much I can improve on my Olympic time there with an extra year of training.  The two other major races I was considering are the Rock N Roll Full Marathon in Raleigh on my birthday (April 13th), and the Beach2Battleship in Wilmington (the half-Iron distance - I want my first full Iron to be Ironman branded).

 

Big goals.  Now I need to see if I've got the commitment to follow through on them...

 



The importance of Recovery Time

I am sitting here a exactly a week after my first triathlon and I am utterly exhausted - STILL!  Part of it was because the week I had following my Saturday race.  It goes like this:

Saturday afternoon:


I took the kids to the beach while mom took a nap.  I laid there on a blanket and didn't move for about two hours.  I think people wondered if I was dead or possibly needed to be rolled back into the water.

Sunday:


NC Aquarium!  These are my actual children, Wil & Zaine.  After this, I was wadded up in the front seat of a car for 3.5 hours.  I was stiff when we got home.  I had to do laundry and pack Sunday night.

Monday:

"Since it's so damn early, we probably haven't had THAT much to drink!" said my Delta pilots.
At 3:30am Monday morning, I got up for my 6am flight to Florida where I was teaching a one-day balloon seminar. 

This is how many balloons needed to be inflated for my pre-class prep on Monday.

This was this problem: I had gripped my handlebars SO tightly that my hands did not work.  I couldn't tie balloons so I had to enlist the help of the sales rep.  This resulted in slower work effort, meaning I was on my feet from 11am to 5pm.  Back at the hotel, my hands were too weak to open the plastic on the soap.  It was very sad (and dirty) indeed.

Tuesday:

Here's one of the things we made in class - it's an 8ft Awareness Ribbon.
I got up at 5:30am and got back to the hotel at 7pm - on my feet all day!

Wednesday:


Back home!  Up at 5am for a 7:45 flight.

Straight from the airport to carpool pick up for the kids. Then dinner, homework & bed.

Thursday:


Up at 6am to get the kids ready for school.  Carpool in between periods of vegetation.

Friday:

Ok, this was actually fun, but I was freaking exhausted by Friday night.
http://www.wideopenbluegrass.com/

Saturday:
I did sleep in until 8:30am this morning, which is a huge feat!  Today was supposed to be for carting the kids around with friends, but it looks like that has been put off until tomorrow.  A week later, I can honestly look back and say I am proud and exited to have completed the triathlon.  In fact, I feel a little like this:

Hopefully tomorrow I will have enough energy to pick up my own pug and do this exact same thing.

In an effort to provide real information, I did do some reading online about recovery times.  I found this article, which I thought was helpful: http://beta.active.com/triathlon/articles/determining-your-race-recovery-time-877436.  Most info says 6-10 days before you're feeling like your old self, so I have a few more days I can milk this and sit around.  I do plan to go back to the gym on Monday.  I will be looking at training plans for the Raleigh Ironman 70.3 so I am better prepared, but before then, I have a half marathon in November.  I was going to do one in mid-October, but I don't know if I will.  I was racing for time to get bumped up in corrals on the WDW full marathon (deadline for submitting times is in October) but I just don't know if I have the speed to do it.  I will re-evaluate after next week.

Race Report - Outer Banks Olympic Triathlon

My first triathlon!

September 21, 2013

Swim - 1500 meters
Bike - 24.5 miles
Run - 6.2 miles


Outer Banks Olympic Triathlon
Manteo, NC

 

I have to admit that I was SCARED going into this big event.  I questioned everything - my training, my dedication, my ability to finish.  Yikes.  It was the longest and fastest week at the same time.  Finally (suddenly!), Friday came around and I packed Mom and the kids in the car and off we went for our 3.5 hour drive to Manteo.  The informational meeting was at 5pm and we arrived at about 4pm and went to packet pick-up. 

Swag!  It's a solidly confirmed fact that I will do just about anything for a free t-shirt.

I had received info with two bib numbers via email on Thursday - one said I was Athena (so despite the fact no one responded to my call and email, I guess they made the changes?) and one said I was Age Group.  When I checked in, I showed them both numbers and the Athena bib had some guy's name on it, so the lady looked up the AG and it said Lisa.  I asked again about switching and was told that I *could* but I shouldn't because the Athenas were a faster group.  What?  The chubby girls are faster than the super-fit early 40s ladies?  DOES NOT COMPUTE.  But the official said since this was my first triathlon, I should stick with Age Group.  Who am I to argue?  I know nothing about this, right?  The meeting went quickly and we headed to the hotel on the beach at Kill Devil Hills (about 15 miles away).  I slept poorly and woke up dizzy and nauseated.  I ate some popcorn (which is what I eat for breakfast every morning.  Is that weird?) and felt a bit better.  I briefly considered that I might not make it to the start line feeling this way, but I think I willed my body to cooperate by sheer force.

 

Transition set up was from 5:45 - 6:45am, with the Olympic start time being 7:45am (the Half peeps started at 7am).  We got there and I picked up my timing anklet and got marked up with my number: 537. 

Setting up transition was something I had read lots about, so I felt good about it.  I put out a little towel and had my running shoes out with socks in them.  I have not yet committed to cycling shoes so I planned on wearing my running shoes for the bike and the run.  I had two bags - one with a red shirt to put on for the bike and some snacks to eat in between the swim and bike, and another bag with my run stuff: my red Sparkle Skirt and more nutrition for the run.

I started off in a red/black/white TYR trisuit and had a wardrobe change for each leg.  Why? Because I'm FABULOUS!  Ok, not really.  I wanted the shirt for the bike because I didn't want to worry about looking fat in my trisuit on the bike, but I did add the Sparkle Skirt for the run to be fabu.  I felt like I needed something fun to finish this thing out.

But let's start at the beginning, with the...

SWIM!

Here's our wave swimming out to the Olympic buoy - the yellow one.  See how far it looks?  Yeah, it was further than that.
From the shore to the yellow buoy was 1/3 of the way.  We then swam across to another yellow buoy 500 meters away
then back to the shore.  It was FAR.

I made some friends at the start line who were also doing their first triathlon.  We were all extremely nervous and decided to be last in the water so we didn't get swum over.  Since we were the last wave, we were THE VERY LAST into the water.  We all good-naturedly argued who would be last out of the water at the end.  I ended up winning this argument when it took me 1:17 to make the .9 mile swim.  This pretty much was my pace in the pool, so I was not surprised or disappointed.

The Good:  I made it.  And Lordy, it was hard. 

The Bad: I was exhausted when I got out of the water, unlike anything I've experienced at the pool.

The Ugly:  I was last out of the water by like 10 minutes.  I hated being last.

What I Learned: So much!  I needed more swimming practice and especially more open water practice.   And maybe a wetsuit.

The AWESOME: My family was at the shore screaming and clapping like I was the FIRST one out of the water.  I always love them at my races and this time was especially wonderful.

I had a private escort as they patiently watched me swim.  The lifeguard on the board was awesome and so encouraging.

Finally out and smiling (probably just grateful that I didn't drown)

Transition went well except I messed up my Garmin and it locked up.  So I had to go into the bike segment totally blind on time/pace/mileage.  I think my transition time was between 3-4 minutes.

BIKE!

Obligatory butt pic.  Here's me leaving for the bike leg.

I got on my bike and headed out feeling pretty proud I'd finished the swim.  It was more challenging than I thought and I just kept thinking, "If I can get out of this water, I can SIT on the bike and rest!" HAHA!  Wrong!  The course was extremely flat which meant NO COASTING and constant peddling.  There was a cool 3 mile bridge between the island and the mainland, but they didn't close any of the roads so there was not a lot of room to move over as cars sped by.  There was one pretty big hill on the bridge, but it was doable.  It was very windy and wind was blowing directly into my face.  I just kept thinking it would be at my back on the return so if I could just make it to the turn-around, the trip back would be easier.  It was somehow worse!  I felt like I was in a pool of water trying to peddle.  It was like I wasn't even moving forward sometimes.  The wind was THAT bad! 

Four days after the accident.  This was one of several bad
bruises all over my body.

Finished with bike leg and giving an exhausted smile.

Because of the wind, a few things happened.  One, I was gripping too tightly on the handlebars and had some lasting problems from that (which I will cover in my Recovery post later on).  I was not relaxed and this was not a good way to ride the bike.  Two, it was getting harder to keep the bike steered straight and maintain control.  I was getting tired and it was work to keep on course.  Then "Three" happened at about mile 14 of 24.5.  A car swooshed by pretty close to me as I was changing gears.  I pulled kinda hard to the right and went off the side of the road, down, down, down, and tangled up in my bike on the ground.  I don't remember it being scary or painful at all.  I popped right back up and rechained my bike.  I was looking it over when the bike tech pulled up to help.  I had knocked my handlebars out of whack and broke my front breaks.  He suggested I go to medical and I told him I was fine.  The he pointed to my right leg which was gushing blood.  I told him I had a band-aid, so I'd be ok.  He literally laughed in my face because that was the most ridiculous thing I could have said in light of the situation.  He went to his truck and got a huge stack of Taco Bell napkins and a bottle of water for me to clean up my leg.  It would not stop bleeding!  He finally stopped suggesting I go to the medical tent when it became obvious that I was unreasonable (LOL) and I went on my way.  I did have to stop and rest a few times.  Between the accident and my few rests, the bike segment took 2.5 hours.  It did not seem like that long at all.  It was slower than my training pace, but the wind and the accident really threw a loop in my overall time.  I know I gave it everything I had, so I can't be hatin' on my effort here.

The Good:  This was the farthest I'd gone on my real bike!

The Bad: The fall.  Yikes.

The Ugly:  The wind.  Why is this worse than the fall?  Because I fought it the whole time and it was miserable.  The fall was over quickly and I was so pumped with adrenaline that it barely registered as a blip.  But the wind was taking my breath away with its force and it was so hard to peddle against.

What I Learned: I need to spend more time on my real bike.  PERIOD.  The gym is nothing like outdoor training on a bike.

The AWESOME:  Most everyone that passed me said something nice and encouraging.  I was so impressed with my fellow triathletes and their support.

Transition between bike and run.  I was putting on my skirt here.  I can't believe I sat down and then actually got back up!



Leaving transition - total time 6 minutes.

RUN!

or more accurately...

WALK!

 

Yeah, walk.  My Garmin was key-locked and not working so I had no interval alerts and honestly, I was so damn tired.  I tried to keep a brisk pace, and I did run a few times, but I really didn't have a lot more to give and I wanted to finish in the upright position.  At this point, I knew I was going to make it, so I think mentally, I decided to take it easy and just FINISH.  As proud as I am of my swim and bike (because I gave it my all), I am not proud of this last leg at all.  And that's really an ongoing issue with the half marathons I've done.  I just do not leave it all out on the course and this bothers me tremendously.  I don't know how to get around it.  My time was my worse 10k time ever - 1:44.

The Good:  I got A LOT of compliments on my Sparkle Skirt!

The Bad: Walking.  Ugh.

The Ugly:  The fact that I didn't finish strong. 

What I Learned: I've got to work on giving my all during a run. 

The AWESOME:  I actually finished this thing!

Getting my medal.  I did not ugly face cry, but I did get a little teary-eyed.

 

 

So, I did it.  WOW.  I honestly can't believe I finished.  I was not happy with my time, but it was about what I'd estimated (5 hours) plus the wreck, and transition, adding another 44 minutes.  I was not dead last and there were people who DNF, so I was ok with it.  My plan for next year is to take two hours off that time for a totally doable and reasonable goal of 3:44.  I'm going to go ahead and sign up for 2014 this week!

Being an Athena Triathlete

Athena sounds like a skinny girl.  I think they
should have called it the Roman equivalent -
Minerva.  You just KNOW Minerva is
stuffing her face with oreos somewhere.

When I registered for the Outer Banks Triathlon months and months ago, I weighted 168.  The new 2013 Athena Division rules bumped up the minimum weight from 150 to 165.  Since I was so close, I figured FOR SURE I would lose at least 10 lbs in the training process before the race and would only qualify for being an Age Grouper.  But, nope.  I didn't lose a single ounce!  This has been frustrating, but I'm trying to focus on the training and not the scale.  My guess is that I was not eating enough (as counter intuitive as that sounds) and I really just decided about two weeks ago to stop worrying about weight loss until after the tri.

Today I called the race director to see if I could switch divisions to be an Athena.  I have really mixed emotions about this!  On one hand, it makes sense to be with ladies more my size, I guess.  And it might mean the difference between being dead last in the Age Group vs. at least out-waddling one or two gals in the Athena division.  On the other hand... I don't wanna be big enough to be an Athena - even by 3 lbs.  And it's disheartening to struggle with weight issues and have to accept being more suited to the bigger girls' group.

I really just have to get over it and give myself a reality check.  For one, it's my FIRST triathlon and who I start with will make no difference in my finishing time.  That's my personal battle.  Second, I consider myself a huge lard ass but I would NEVER consider other ladies in this group as anything other than amazing athletes working hard to achieve their goals.  Why am I so hard on me then?  Issues, much?

Athena was the goddess of  wisdom, courage, inspiration, among other things.  Maybe I need to focus on what's amazing about being an Athena and not the junk in my trunk.

Related, is this survey from the USA Triathlon about the Athena and Clydesdale divisions.  It has some interesting questions and might lead to more events focusing on these athletes.  Check it out!
https://usatriathlon.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1Yz2fQGErE91fzD

One week from today!

In 7 short days, I will be competing in my first triathlon!  Competing is a misnomer since all I am trying to do is finish, but I guess in a way I will be competing against one of my biggest foes:  FEAR!  I am flipping terrified. 

Of this:


Fat girls make tasty snack!  YUM! 

Or this:

Should have started swimming earlier than 2 weeks before the tri.  WTG, fish food!

 Or this:

Nice work with all of 5 hours of practice on an actual bike!  But congrats on not falling off the stationary bike at the Y!

Or this: 

Legs too tired to move.  Caught in stampede.  Night night.

BUT MOSTLY THIS:


HOW DID YOU SQUEEZE INTO THAT TRISUIT, FATTIE FATTIE TWO BY FOUR?
(This is what everyone will be thinking.  Well, the ones not thinking about sharks.)

So, as you can see, I'm not mentally in my happy place.  I have a week to try to tame my fears and actually attempt to enjoy this experience.  I give that idea about a 15% chance of working.  I do feel like I've trained semi-well (although I wish I had 4 more weeks), and I do think I can finish just because I am not generally a quitter.  In fact, I believe that if I can make it through the swim (.9 miles), I can take it pretty easy on the bike (24.5 miles) and slog through the run (6.2 miles).  Right?  You agree that I probably can do it, despite being fat, tasty, clumsy, and tired?  Well, good, at least I have you on my side!

All I know is that if I finish, I am going to UGLY FACE CRY when they put that medal around my neck.  This is the first race where I feel like I will have accomplished something HUGE.  My half marathons were fun, but I never thought I couldn't do it.  This race is so different.  And if I can pull this off, I will have really felt like I did something amazing.

I finished!  Gimme my medal before I snot all over you!
(And damn, is this a creepy gif, or what?!?)