It was stupid...but I did it!

Last Saturday on the 30th on October I ran a Halloween half marathon. The whole idea of running isn't my favorite. Since this was a Halloween race however, that meant that costumes were involved. Since it gave me a chance to dress up I decided to run it. This is all thanks to my sister Kelly and my brother in-law Bill who had asked me if I had wanted to run it with them. If it wasn't for their motivation there is no way I would of even considered to have run the race. However, it may just be my first and my last half marathon and the story of it goes as follows...

Pre-race
So typically before a half marathon a lot of training takes place. As for me I was okay with playing basketball and maybe running once a week-if that. And if I did I would run only about 4 miles. Granted one Saturday I ran 11 miles with my sister and brother in-law and that was the extent of my training. Anywho, that was just to get the point across that I wasn't greatly prepared.

Pre-race/Morning of
So the day of the race comes and I could of slept better but all and all I was ready to go. I got up and crimped and ratted my hair and added some fake eyelashes to my 80's attire (in my pictures you can tell that my eyelashes look like they are going to fall off, and what stupid girl wears fake eyelashes as she runs anyway? Me I guess...I had them for Witches Night and I ended up wearing different ones, so I figured I had to wear them for something). Once we were all ready to go we took off and we parked at the University Mall so that buses can haul us up to the starting point. The line was long and it was a bit chilly but it went pretty smoothly. Once we got on the bus however I started to realize that I hadn't felt so great. I was starting to feel queasy but I wasn't going to let it get to me. I didn't feel nervous in the slightest, but I just shook it off as nerves. Eventually we got to our destination (which is within Provo Canyon) and we just waited around more until it began. Mostly the waiting around consisted of bathroom breaks, bathroom breaks, and more bathroom breaks (the porter potties and lines before races is quite the sight).

The Race
The scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfect. The trail was extremely down hill for at least the first 5 miles, but you just run and try not to think. The craziest thing I saw during the race is that this boy was running with no shoes. I was shocked. My brother in-law saw him also and I guess he talked to him for a little bit. The boy had told him that he hadn't worn shoes since May. I would think that even if you have built up some nice calluses you would still need shoes for the shock factor. I know that my calves and Achilles were rock hard by the end. He should of dressed up as Fred Flintstone or Tarzan but he hadn't.

Post Race
I finished with a 2:18 time. With bathroom stops though I think I'm going to claim 2:15-it just sounds better...haha...Once I crossed the finish line and saw my sister I gave her a hug and at that moment I wanted to cry. I didn't know that I was going to feel so spent. However, I held in my tears, but my sickness manifested itself quickly. Sadly getting back to the University Mall was a nightmare. The buses were lost and confused and it seemed as if there was only one bus taking runners back to their cars. However, we eventually made it back to Spanish Fork (where my sister lives). The rest of the day for me was not one that I want to remember. I was throwing up, plus very dehydrated, and body aches on top of that. Once we made it back home I made my Mom hold my hand or put her hand on my forehead while I laid down. I felt miserable, and I don't remember a time that I had felt so sick. Needless to say I now have a very sour taste in my mouth when it comes to races. I'll probably do it again, but for now I'm not going to do one anytime soon. Sadly if I did it on another day it would of been fine, cause I probably caught a bug from a kid at work. Oh well, at least now I have bragging rights and can say that I ran 13.1 miles...Wahoo...and this is coming from a girl who cheated while running a 5K and who used to think that running the mile in the sixth grade was just pure, inhumane torture.