I can't walk today!!

That race was HARD!!  My legs feel like total JELLO!!  More than half of it was uphill!  I don't just mean little rises - I'm talkin HILLS!!  The last mile and a half or so was ALL HILL!  I wanted to die!  I'm pissed at myself for walking for about 20 seconds but then I talked sense into me and started running again. 

Oh - so I got my new sneakers!  WHOO HOO!!  I can't believe it!  I FINALLY sold something on Craig's list - THREE HOURS before I had to leave for the race!  I raced down to the running store and bought them!  I was SO excited to have them - they were SUPER comfortable!!

I wish I had remembered to cut my toenails before the race - my one toe hurt SO BAD by the time I got to the finish line!  I think it's going to be just fine now but WOW did it hurt!  I learned that lesson the HARD way!  OUCH!  Well, there were THOUSANDS of people at the race.  Thousands more just WATCHING the race!  I did manage to get a before the race picture with my kids!

Pete got a video of me running to the finish line. I looked like I was about to die. HAHA  Honestly when I rounded the corners and saw MORE hills I thought DAMN IT - I'm gonna DIE!!  Anyway - I'm the fat one in the red shirt who is running with my head down.  That was the only way I could get through those hills -with my head down and my determination screwed on!  I'll tell ya - this video bugs me - I thought I was looking so good, but next to all these slender people - I look like a fat red tomato.  :-( 

I'm not sure if I need to recalibrate my foot pod, but my watch told me the race was 3.44 miles.  So my time of 43:32 wasn't that bad - that is about a 12:38 pace!  I started out too fast - but you kind of HAD to go fast - if you didn't, you would be trampled!  There were WELL over 6000 people running!  It was INSANE!  I wish it wasn't so hilly - I could have enjoyed it more!  There were THOUSANDS of people watching (cause there was a parade after the race) but they were ALL cheering - it was wild!  The kids all stood at the side of the road with their hands out so the runners could give them high fives!  I gave quite a few - that was fun!  They were so cute - it was like they shook hands with celebrities or something!  Shortly before the race, the announcer said that the only race in the USA that has more spectators than this one is the NYC marathon!  Pretty cool! 

After the race I realized that none of us had eaten dinner yet - at 9 pm.  Good job on my part huh - I scored some crappy mommy points for that one.  So we walked down and got a pizza and we all split it while watching the parade.  It was actually a lot of fun!  Then we rode the train back to the car (I think this was my son's actual favorite part!) and drove the hour back home.

Well, I'm off to enjoy my birthday!  I was HALF right about my gift - Pete got me a runner's world magazine - but not jammies.  He got me a really nice travel coffee mug! 

Thanks for reading!  Have a GREAT day!! -Monica

p.s.  WHOO HOO!!  I just found out that other people got 3.4 miles too!  That means I DID PR - not by much but SHIT those hills were STEEP!!  So if it was a true 5k I would have finished at 38.37!  Maybe a little faster because I really hauled cookies at the end - well, as much as I could after those brutal hills!  Can I talk about how bad those hills were enough?  Do you believe me yet? HAHA