A Day in the Life

Yes, I have been bad at updating as of late. The thing is last week I got in a horrible funky mood, which does happen from time to time and I was just not feeling it. Any of it. Turns out it was my pre period PMS week and I didn’t even realize it. Explains a lot. Nonetheless, I was just tired exhausted and overall a bit pissed at life. I’m better now. I pretty much think I am better now because I ran a half marathon this weekend. There is something ridiculously cool about that feeling of self-worth that comes from achieving such a cool thing. The more I run, you’d think the less cool they’d become but I am finding that the more I do, the more I appreciate the epic-ness of them. Or rather the more I start to understand how truly unique, special and sometimes HARD they may actually be.

In the beginning I was naïve about what sort of undertaking I was doing with running so much but the longer I go on, I being to realize that running half’s is not as easy I thought. With that said, I’m not saying it’s something I can’t do, but rather I am appreciating my body and its ability to do what I ask of it. I find that it’s a blessing that my body finishes each time relatively unscathed. My body performs amazing tasks and I often take it for granted that I push myself consistently thru the ringer and love every stinking second of it. It’s called endorphins and that is what my body craves.

With all that said, it’s been a little while since I updated last so I should say that in keeping with the spirit of documenting my journey, the previous weekend I ran a little 5k, the Rad 80’s run. It was a nice easy Sunday morning run. Sometimes it’s nice to run a simple 5k where when I hit that 3.1 mark I am done and don’t have to mentally tell myself, okay, only 10 more miles to go. Ha. So I ran a 5k. There was a photographer and he got a couple shots that I didn’t HATE. I ususally hate my running photos because let’s face it; running halves is hard and therefore the pained expression on my face and the funky angles are always present. But this photographer was decent. So here is the stuff from that run.



I realize that a lot of other things have happened between my last post and this last weekend but honestly one can’t recount everything in detail always so I’m just going to gloss over the rest of it. Like I said, not the greatest mood all around.

This last weekend brought me a half marathon and a 5k yesterday. My sister and her kiddos were in town to help celebrate my nephew’s birthday, he recently turned 6. Fun age. He is just stinking adorable. I have to say despite whatever is occurring between his parents in terms of a divorce and such, the kids seem to be doing great. This is a testament to my sister’s desire to always put her children first. To shield them from the unpleasantires of the situation as much as possible. The kids are just happy, healthy, and well adjusted.

Friday night I took off from exercise and immediately after work went and saw my kiddos. They are amazing little people. I did leave about 9 PM to go home, eat some spaghetti and get some rest for the Saturday morning half. I have to be honest, for some reason I was not 100% excited about this one, but I was doing it. I never let myself even think for a second that I wouldn’t do it. I was just going with the flow.

The forecast teased us with the possibility of rain and when we got to the vineyard where the run started/ended at, I had a moment where I was afraid. We all lined up to start and literally 3 minutes before race go, rain drops started coming down and I’m like, of course. But it literally sprinkled for a few seconds and stopped and we never saw another drop the entire morning. So we started and I of course try my hardest to not think about the reality that I am running 13.1 miles. If you honestly think about that as a whole you will get freaked out. I try to break it down into smaller chunks. My chunks are the first 5k, 3.1 miles. Then from there my next big milestone is 6.55 miles, the halfway point. Then I look for 10. And then of course from there it’s just a struggle to the finish. So pretty much after mile 10, each mile I pass is important.

I liked a lot of things about the race in particular. We were running out in the country and after mile 1 we ran thru the most gorgeous tree lined roads and it was a perfect temperature and solidly for a mile or so I had this reoccurring thought and moment of utter satisfaction…. The thought was this…. Oh my, outdoor running how you have ruined me for the rest of my life. No other form of exercise will ever compare to the beauty you present. You have ruined me for treadmill running forever. You have even ruined me for gym workouts. Let me see, do I want to go to the gym on a Saturday morning and hull up in a little room doing burpies and jumping jacks for cardio, or would I prefer this? Every fiber of my being knows the answer to this question and this my friends is exactly why I look for runs every weekend. I want and need to exercise, but nothing compares to the open road, the smells, the wind, the air, the trees, the sun, the everything. I am hooked.

I also had another thought, after consideration and many runs, I have realized I much prefer country runs to city runs. Granted there is value in both. But country runs are just so gorgeous and freeing. Once again this race took a long time for me to get warmed up and find my stride. My slow stride that is. But nonetheless, I was feeling a little off for the first part of the race. I realized that I was hot. Yup, what was rain threatening actually turned into a warm run. The sun would peek thru at points and I felt hot. I was wearing a tee shirt over my tank top. I felt like I wanted to remove it for the first four miles solid. I also knew I had a lot of running left to do. The problem is this, my race bib was already safety pinned on the front of it. My headphones tucked thru the shirt. It is an ordeal to change all this mid race. I kept thinking in the end it would be worth it to run more comfortably but alas, I hate losing my momentum. Back at mile 2 I stopped at a water station to take a drink and instantly choked on the water, inhaling it too fast and had a coughing fit, which resulted in me slowing down for too long and thus making it harder to get back on track. With fresh visions of water chocking in my mind I did not want to stop for too long.

It’s better to get going, albeit slowly, than to completely stop in a run. Once you stop, it is infinitely harder to get started again. I have experienced this time and time again. Then at about mile 5 I spied a giant hill which I knew that I was going to pretty much walk up anyway so I decided it was time to seize the moment and immediately started unpinning my race bib. It was now or never for the great t-shirt removal endeavor. So I unpinned, unplugged the headphones which resulted in a big debacle because somehow in the maneuver I killed my music. I kept hiking up the hill while trying to readjust myself. My shirt got shoved into my pants and then I had to get my music going again. Fun times.

By the time I was at the top of the hill I wasn’t exactly finished yet with the switch but I knew I had to keep going so I started running again. It was hard to get back to it, but I did. Each time losing a little more time in the grand scheme of things. But I picked my feet up and started running again.

I kept a solid pace for most of the run, until about mile 10 or so when I think I give up mentally more than anything else. It has become harder and harder for me to find any extra motivation at this point when my body is exhausted. In the end it’s like what does it matter if I finish in 2 hours 15 minutes or 2 hours 22 minutes? What does matter is how much I am exhausted this second. I am finding it hard to push thru those last couple miles. Right after mile 11 there was a water station where I drank and then from there on it was difficult to want to run again. Especially because drinking 2 glasses of liquid instantly made me want to vomit. I seriously was walking for a few seconds thinking oh gosh I am going to throw this up. Seriously. I know this is not uncommon in the grand scheme of things, people throwing up while running, but I’ve never done it. I felt close to vomit. But I pushed on. I forced myself to run a little bit. Then seriously the last quarter mile to the finish was all uphill. I walked. My body was exhausted so I walked up it, I sprinted the last little stretch thru the gates to get my medal.

I may get medals for doing 5k’s and 10’ks but nothing is as rewarding or feels as special as a half marathon medal. Those babies are priceless to me. Because of the amount of effort and how much I earn them. Thus the whole reality that I am beginning to realize just how much work and how special these really are. Running a half marathon is not something that anyone can just show up and do. It requires a certain amount of mental toughness that you either have or don’t. You can train for it, but you have to possess some greater inner strength to push thru. I LOVE this.

Post run we were treated to some food. Chris and I were sitting down at a table and a nice couple came and asked if anyone was sitting with us, we said no, go for it. Turns out this was one of my highlights of this race. This couple was amazing! They were in their middle to late 50’s, have been married forever, and have been racing together for 25 years. Yup, 25 years or traveling and racing. I was in love with their lifestyle and their cute/happy demeanor. Perfection. They said they did 20 half marathons last year. I said, we are doing that this year and people think we are crazy. He said, oh, we don’t think you’re crazy, no one here thinks you’re crazy we understand. This is what I adore about racing, right here in a nutshell. Likeminded people. Happy, healthy active people.

I often read about how nice and encouraging runners as a whole are. I have not thus far experienced anything to the contrary. I told Chris this is what I love, everyone is amazing and nice. He reminded me it’s because of the endorphins. We all have just finished a half marathon and are caulked full of happy endorphins so of course we are all nice! I love it. It’s true. That couple was the epitome of what I want my life to be. Obviously in love and happy, traveling around together enjoying life. We talked to them for quite a while about running and traveling to run and races. I was beaming ear to ear. This is the experiences that make the whole thing worthwhile.

They had a friend come over and talk to them and they introduced their friend to me, saying that I’m sure we will be seeing each other around because we are doing so many local races this year. Eventually we are going to make friends I am certain with some of these people we see over and over. I am finding a community where I feel connected. These are the things that have been missing my entire life. The things that make life worth living. It was a beyond satisfying experience.



After it was done I was tired but went home, showered up and then headed to my mom’s to celebrate and hang out with my family. Sunday morning we were signed up to do a 5k. I had every intention of running the 5k but then my adorable 9 year old niece Kayden wanted to do the race and I said of course! So we stopped by Sunday morning picked her up and headed to the race. I registered her on site and then walked the race with her. Infinitely more memorable than running a 5k. I got to spend time walking with my adorable little girl being happy and healthy. This was her first 5k ever so I will forever be a part of that. At the end of it, we all got medals; she got her little medal and wore it. It was priceless to me.

She was hungry so we stopped at Shari’s for a post-race breakfast. It was so nice getting to hang out with her a little bit. I don’t see her often enough as it is so it was an excellent treat. After breakfast we had about a 45 minute drive home and the little girl was all tuckered out from her race and food and fell asleep in the car. It was so stinking cute! I could not imagine a better way to spend a morning.



I always feel better after a good half. Now I am moving on to some exciting events that I am very excited and ready for. This weekend is just a nice little 5k walk with my mom on Mother’s day next Sunday. But then the next half is the Rock N Roll Portland on May 18. Followed by a nice little Rum Run on Chris’s birthday May 25. This is just a little 10k, no medal, running totally just for fun! Then May 27 is my birthday, no runs, just thought I would mention that. But then on May 31 I get on a plane for San Diego. This is VERY exciting to me. I LOVE my running trips. So for the next 3 weeks I am totally ready, happy, and excited about all the coolness I have coming my way. Good times!!!!