13.1

Finally, some strain of hope for myself. I accomplished something I really thought that I could not do. One week before the race I was crying on Jason's bed thinking I had no chance in hell of completing this race because I hadn't trained at all. His words of encouragement did help and I felt calmer about it, but not at all more confident in myself.

Come race weekend I woke up every hour, on the hour on the night before the race. I even dreamed that I missed the race and couldn't get to the start line and didn't have my mp3 player, which was tragic. Finally, I awoke from the dream naturally at 4:59 am and the alarm went off promptly at 5 am. Krista and I were on the road at 5:30.

The race was not exactly what I expected, but still very fun. There were just SO many people! I was expecting myself to complete the race in 3 hours so my corral was #26, WAY in the back. I didn't get across the start line until 8:30 something. Come mile 1, I already had to stop to use the restroom. The break only took 2 minutes, which is a record for a big race. Mile 2.5 was the Alamo. The thing is so small a lot of people missed it, but I have such fond memories of visiting that thing. Miles 4 and 5 were in the King Williams district, which was beautiful. Come the 10K mark I knew had just ran farther than I had ever run before and I still had 7 miles to go! I took a shot of GU and kept on trucking. Miles 8, 9, 10 went through residential areas and I was feeling really good, but by mile 10 my legs were starting to tingle. The tingle was the beginning of fatigue and I really felt it. I really had to push through miles 12 and 13 because it hurt! I had Spring Awakening blaring in my ears, so that was somewhat inspiring. I couldn't believe that the last kilometer was entirely up hill! I saw Krista so that was a huge push to run through the end of it. When I ran through the finish line, all I could think of was the free food we get at the end, oh, and the metal.

I truly accomplished something I was convinced that I could not do. This was huge for me. Being all around dissapointed with myself for a while now, this was something I can be proud of. I think I was happier about this than I was of graduating earlier this May.

Now on to the Austin 1/2 and maybe someday a full marathon. I can handle endurance, but I'm not a speedster.