Monday, June 22, 2009

Finished!

It is done. The first major "race" of my life is over... it will not be my last. I have to say it may take me a week or so to recover from it, but it was definetly a come to Jesus moment.

I started out by getting the worst night's sleep ever. We all tried to go to be early the night before so that we would feel rested for the early morning ahead. That idea worked for some (Brian), worked to the advantage of others (Just bring Cole to bed, so that he will go to sleep), and worked to my HUGE DISADVANTAGE. Lights out at 10:00, I finally fell asleep around 1, had to get up and pee twice because of all the water I drank in the evening, we got a prank phone call around 4:00, and the alarm finally went off around 5:45. I was never so glad for a night to be over just so I didn't have to worry about sleeping anymore, and I could move on.

I got up and around to a quiet house, to quickly notice it was raining, HARD. So I called the Y to make sure the race was still on, and runners much like golfers do it in anything... GAME ON.

We arrived at the Y 30 minutes before the race with cheering section in tow. (I am so lucky to have supportive friends and family.) My friend Sarah and I met up and did some pre-race pacing (aka: stretching and psyching yourself up to run 5 miles in the pouring rain).




As the rain continued to come down, we lined up, and the horn blew at 7:30 sharp. We took off. Now, please remember that I never claim to be a fast runner, so when everyone took off at a true runner's pace, I was screwed. It really wore me out in a hurry, so I had to drop off from Sarah and do this on my own. I trudged on through each mile, praying I would finish, wondering what to do if I didn't- not an option, and pushing, pushing, pushing.


At mile 3, a blister on my heal popped leaving exposed skin rubbing on my shoes, oh so painful, but the worst is my left big toe, it is black and blue, and disgusting. I am not sure how much running of any kind I will be doing this week.

So here I am, finishing the 8K (4.98 mile) race in 1:02:15. Not pumped about my time, in fact I have done it faster on the track, but I had to remind myself that on the track it was not hilly, and pouring.

In the end, I finished, with family and friends to greet me
and a smile on my face.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing this...

11 comments:

  1. Congrats Mandy! You've come a long ways! Hope to see more of this from you, and to see you at the races. 4th of July, Derby firecracker 4 mile!!!!
    Think about it!

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  2. Congrats! Who hoo! I hope to join you next year! :)

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  3. Hey Mandy, it's Sherry from Mom group. Awesome job on the run, I would NEVER be able to run that far!!!!

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  4. Congrats Mandy!! You look great! :)

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  5. So proud and impressed with your determination! You deserve a big nap like Carter :)

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  6. Hey big sis, I have been waiting for this post for so long! I am so proud of you I have tears pouring down my face! Would you have ever thought one year ago that you would be doing what you are doing and feeling as great as you do? You are such an amazing woman. Mom would be so proud, of you... oh yeah and jealous, both me and mom are jealous! LOL I love you!

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  7. Just saw your updates, and way to go!!! Our race was raining as well, so they cancelled the bike and we just swam and ran. Thought about you that morning. When's the next one? :)
    Kenna

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  8. Congrats Mandy! That is awesome, you should be completely and totally proud of yourself. You ROCK!!!!

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