...And I'm Spent!

Its over. We are done. We finished in just over two hours, which was my goal. We didnt quite make it as fast as I wanted, but we were only 2 minutes slower. If we hadn't stopped to pee, we would have been fine. Actually, out of some 900+ people, we were about 300. Not too bad; I think on a bell curve that would be a B.

It was a beautiful day, 65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky... We ran the first few miles pretty easily, then Kaylen joined us around mile 5 and ran with us to about mile 10. Those miles flew by; I don't know if it was becuase Kaylen was there or what, but we seemed to reach mile 10 very quickly. It was more difficult to get from 10 to 11 and even more so from 11 to 12. When we reached the 12 mile marker, we tried to speed up a little, but by that time I could not feel my legs and my feet felt like they had been trapped in my shoes for weeks. Mira was having leg trouble; I was having foot trouble. We limped along until the last little bit where Dad joined us and ran with us to the finish. We sprinted the last 100 yards and made it across the finish line at 2:13.

Not bad for someone who could barely run two miles without having a coronary three months ago.

So - what is next, you ask. That has yet to be determined. Possibly another half (it is a good excuse to travel around and see new places) or maybe a sprint triathlon (3-4 mile run, 12-16 mile bike, roughly a half mile swim).

The world is my oyster!

Day 82: The Pressure is On

Countdown until the race is almost over. 2 days left....Yikes!

Today we are going to take one last short run. The weather outside is beautiful; it is about 70 today. We plan to run a few miles just to stay loose and then rest all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night we are having a carb load (pasta) pot-luck where we will stuff ourselves silly in hopes of sustaining energy for the next day, and then....

...we will run. We will run as far and as fast as we can.

The race begins at 7, so will we will be out there at 6, jiggling up and down, stretching, peeing one last time... I don't know what it is (nerves maybe) but right before a race I always have to pee about 45 times. If you wait until 10 mins before the race, there is a line about a mile long. Actually, random fact - we were talking about what serious runners do when they have to pee (or worse!) during a race. Apparently they just go. On themselves. Obviously I AM NOT a serious runner. I don't mind adding 1.4 minutes to my time in order to experience the comfort of peeing in a toilet.

Another thing you often do not hear about is the chafing effect which comes from sweating and then rubbing your legs together for over two hours. This is a serious thing. To avoid it, many people take large handfuls of Vaseline or Boudreaux's Butt Paste and shove it down their pants and between their legs before and during the race. I have yet to witness this, but I cannot wait. Luckily, I do not really sweat, so hopefully I will not be using the Butt Paste.

I am nervous; I am excited; When I complete this, I will have completed my longest run ever AND a half marathon. Next up - sprint triathlon...

WEEK 12 (the last week):

Total Miles Run: 185
Ave per week: 15
Longest Run so Far: 12

Day 73: I am Not Dead Yet!

…And it keeps getting easier. Last Friday, we ran 11 miles. The week before that, we ran 10 miles. After that 13 is just another drop in the bucket.

We began to do this after looking at a map and realizing that from the office to our hotel was roughly 10 miles. We have since switched hotels and now it is 11 miles to our new destination, which is even better. It is a nice run too – from the office, we run along the levee for about 5 miles, then cut over to the park, run along the park for about half a mile, then cut over to the street and run up St. Charles Ave the rest of the way. St. Charles Ave is where the streetcar used to run along before the hurricane and so now there is a nice area right in the middle that is not being used and is a perfect running trail.

Last Friday, everyone was getting ready for the Mardi Gras parades, so it was quite an adventure. People with BBQs, kids, booze, food, chairs, tents and dogs were setting up all over the place. There were cops everywhere; in fact I think the average was about 5 cops for one block. I did not know that there were that many cops in New Orleans! I think they must bus them in from Disneyland or something.

We arrived at the hotel in about 1 hour and 50 minutes, which is consistent with our 10 minute per mile pace. I think we are ready for a full 13 miles!