I'm still ticking!

Apparently I've just turned into a bad blogger.  I can't say for sure I will get back to my regular blogging self anytime in the next century, but what I can do is blog when it's feasible and not blog when it isn't.  Sounds fair to me!

Since we last parted ways...

I've suffered the loss of a friend.  My friend was Friday Night Lights.  I watched all 5 seasons on Netflix and then...felt empty.  For 5 seasons I lived in Dillon,TX.  For 5 seasons I "cared" about football and the lives of my many "friends".  For 5 seasons, I got all caught up in the drama and then....nothing.  Empty.  I'm trying to replace my friend, but so far nothing has hooked me yet.  I will let you know if/when that changes.

Since we last parted ways...

I've traveled to Huntington Beach, CA to visit my brother and sister-in-law.  I arrived on Friday, 2/3.  Eddie took me to our Surf City Marathon Expo where I stocked up on all sorts of goodies.  Have you ever tried the Halo brand sweat bands?  OMG!  I have never in my life worn a sweat band that truly did not allow sweat to drip in my eyes.  Best. Sweat Band. Ever.  I also purchased a visor with a built in sweat band, but I've yet to try it out.  I then purchased a pair of Experia Cool Max PINK socks which are awesome!  We all know how much I enjoy NUUN, so I bought a few cylinders of various flavors to tide me over.  Wouldn't you know I would forget my SPIbelt?  No worries...I bought a bigger one at this Expo which totally holds everything I need - including my cell phone!  =)  Yes, I totally dropped a small fortune, but it was well worth it!

After the Expo, we headed to Slater's 50/50 - Burgers by Design.  Eddie had been telling me about this place for quite some time.  He wanted us to be bold and daring and try the Peanut Butter and Jellousy.  We had amazing service and we were even encouraged to each pick out a burger and then they would split both burgers for us so we could each have half of the other's burger.  We decided on the PB&J burger (pb, strawberry jelly, bacon, burger on a honey wheat bun) and the special of the month, the Pizza Burger (1/2 beef 1/2 Italian sausage burger, fried cheese sticks, red pepper pizza sauce, and pepperoni on a Ciabatta roll).  Though we both enjoyed the pizza burger, we agreed the PB&J burger was the MOST AMAZING BURGER EVER!  I might have convinced him we needed to go again to experience it in all of it's glory once more before I left. 

Saturday was more or less a chill day with plenty o' carbo-loading.

Sunday was race day.  Eddie and April had never done a half before.  This was my 8th.  I was, of course, walking the race since I have not been running for almost a  year now.  I have to say that it was probably the most boring course I've ever been on.  You may recall that I did the OC Half back last May and the course, though VERY hilly, was fantastic taking us along the beach, cliffside, and through some beautiful neighborhoods.  The Surf Side City Half was a different ballgame all together.  We started on the Pacific Coast Highway (or the PCH as the cool kids call it) and with the exception of a 2 mile detour off a side road which looped back to the highway, we remained on the PCH through the finish line.  Although I did appreciate the beach scene, it wore out its welcome at the 8 mile turn around.  I will say that the runners and walkers in the race were incredibly friendly and supportive.  The staff members working the race were helpful and sweet dispositioned.

A few cool / mentionable moments.  Around mile 3, I met an older couple.  We were chatting as we walked and they told me the best experience they have ever had was walking the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer two years in a row and that they looked forward to walking it again this year.  What you don't know is that I've been listening to the advertisements for the Houston Walk on 96.5 thinking that this may be something I want to participate in.  More on this subject in another post, but needless to say, I took this as a sign I needed to walk the walk!  Near mile 4, I hit up a hydration station and disappointingly noticed they didn't have any Vitalyte available.  I knew I needed electrolytes to help stave off the calf cramps, so I asked oned of the volunteers and he said he would look for some.  I told him thanks, but not to worry about it and kept marching along.  He apparently found some and ran it over to me.  What a great guy!  Then, around mile 6, I was traipsing along and some really awesome girl who was on the other side of the highway about 4 miles ahead of me came running across the median to give me a bracelet and some words of encouragement.

Overall, I was okay with my performance.  I maintained a decent consistent pace through mile 8 and then it went completely downhill when the calf cramps blasted me around mile 9.  I had a hydration plan of only drinking the Vitalyte at all stations, but the first one didn't have any and then I was only able to find it at the second and third.  By the time I hit the 4th station, they were out.  I hit up a medic tent around mile 10.5 and got a cup of Gatorade that took me to the finish line, cramps and all. I didn't end my race listening to music, so there is no finishing song on this one.

I think it's time I buy some salt pills to take with me on my journies.  =/  Any suggestions of brands?

We pigged out on pizza Sunday evening.  I think I was trying to replenish the 2260 calories I burned during the race. 

April and I got foot massages on  Monday.  Then I headed back to Houston on Tuesday.

Wednesday was a pamper-me day.  I got a MUCH needed haircut in the morning followed by a 70 minute hot stone massage that I purchased via Living Social a long time ago.  Although the massage was relaxing, I have to say that I still prefer my deep tissue torture sessions.  ;)

Thursday, I had eye surgery...AGAIN.  6 years ago, I jumped on the lasik bandwagon.  Right before I was to have standard lasik surgery, the doctor decided he would prefer to do a procedure on me called Epilasik.  This was as a result of my astygmatism and it meant a longer recovery period.  I remember being totally miserable for about 5 days or so.  Well several months ago I noticed that my vision had changed and since I had paid for a "warrantly" of sorts on my surgery, I was entitled to free touch-ups as necessary.  I went through the whole process with Lasik Plus before they determined the procedure would be beneficial to me.  This time they decided to do PRK surgery - slightly different than Epilasik and a longer recovery period.  I wasn't able to return to work until the next Tuesday and even then...my eyes were not as they should be.  My left eye was slightly over-corrected and my right eye was lagging behind.  It made for a very unbalanced vision causing me eyestrain and glaring issues.  It has since improved, but is still not perfect.  My doctor basically told me to have patience.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures in this post.  Not only am I bad blogger, but I'm a terrible picture taker, as well.  =/

I have so much more to catch you up on, so hopefully I will get to writing another post ASAP so you can share in my family's excitement!

M.I.A.

Apparently I went missing again.  Not from the real world, but I've been relatively quiet on the social media front.  I think, as a whole, I'm not very happy with this year.  That makes me sound like a spoiled brat when you read what I've been up to in my absence, but doing things and feeling things are sometimes two VERY different things.  Does that make sense?

October 18th was the last time I blogged.  6 weeks ago.  Bad Blogger.  Here are the highlights of things that happened during my disappearing act...

Painting Class
I bought a Groupon for one of those painting classes at Merlot to Masterpiece a while ago.  It took a bit of coordination to get some friends and fellow bloggers (Kim, Amanda, Marg, and Britt) together, but we finally managed to swing it.  Here is what the "goal" was supposed to look like:

Here was my finished (and framed) product:

The group shot:

Top Row - Amanda, Me, Kim
Bottom Row - Marg, Britt

Vacation
I headed to Chicago at the end of October to hang with family and participate in The Monster Dash.  My cousin Courtney and I walked 13.1 decked out in Angry Birds gear.  It was Courtney's first (and I'm told last) half and I promised her we would stay together.  I never left her side and we finished it.

While in Chicago, I made sure to eat all my favorite foods.  I hit up Portillo's twice - the first time for Italian beef and the second time for hot dogs.  We may or may not have managed to get the car towed while on our hot dog run during rush hour traffic downtown.  =/

I managed to pick-up some of my favorite candies from Fannie May - most notably Trinidads.

The beauty of a Trinidad lies in its decadent layers of rich, creamy real dark chocolate,
covered in a golden toasted coconut shell.

Of course, the best breakfast in the world can be found at Walker Bros. Pancake House.  Carbo-loading at its finest.

Post race, Courtney and I indulged on the BEST Chicago-style pizza EVER - Lou Malnati's.

Although it's hard to beat the BBQ of the South, Famous Dave's is quite delicious especially when hanging out with some wonderful cousins!

While downtown, I got to experience Chicago from the tourist perspective instead of my usual in and out of our designated commitments routine.  It was a nice change of pace.  I saw the famous Forever Marilyn statue (26 feet tall) and the Cloud Gate.

Management Meetings
Not even 2 weeks after my Chicago vacation, I set-off for Chicago again for my company's annual Management Meetings and Award Banquet.  Every year a book serves as the theme for the meetings and the upcoming year.  This year, Ubuntu! was the chosen one.  The basic concept is that "I am because we are" and that "we are all in this together".  In short...teamwork.  I have to say that some of my disgruntlement regarding work this past year has been as a result of a lack of teamwork, so this book and theme were much needed and appreciated (and will hopefully pay off).

After arriving in Chicago on Thursday, 11/10, all the managers (traveling from 12 Service Centers located nationwide) were whisked away to check into our hotel and then managed a caravan downtown to meet up with all the management of our headquarters to the Signature Lounge at the 96th Floor of the John Hancock building for a marvelous dinner (and an open bar).

Friday was filled with various meetings and followed-up with our Award Banquet.  Upper management has been really great about giving us monthly and quarterly statistics so most of us had a basic idea of our rankings in each category, but there is always one award whose recipient is always a mystery - the Service Center (SC) of the year award.  This award originated 8 years ago.  My SC won it for the first time in 2008.  We won it for the second time in 2009 becoming the 2nd SC to manage a repeat.  Then came 2010...we had dreamed of a 3-peat just to end up in 6th place (boo!).  I had a plan to win it back.  I can honestly say I worked the hardest I ever have in all my 12 1/2 years with this same company.  It paid off!  Now the only problem with being #1 is that there is a large target on your back!  =)

On Saturday we spent half a day finishing up our meetings and then it was off to my aunt and uncle's house to hang with family for the evening.  Wouldn't you know we managed to get our happy Lou Malnati's pizza for dinner!


Thanksgiving
Apparently I like to fly every 2 weeks.  =/  I only get sick EVERY time, but no big deal.  So we decided to resume our annual Thanksgiving trip to Vegas despite the fact that younger sister Linda and brother-in-law Craig were not going to be able to join us because of the upcoming arrival of their first child.  Older sister Cathy figured out that this was our 15th Thanksgiving in Vegas.  We spent 14 of them in a row, but detoured to Orlando last year for a fun-filled week in Disney and Universal Studios.

My parents stayed at the Venetian while the "kids" resided in my grandmother's condo located a couple of miles from The Strip.  This year was a bit different, though.  Normally we manage a movie or two walking from The Venetian all the way down to the Showcase movie theater by the MGM.  This year, we didn't see a single flick.  I also normally hang out at Casino Royale, but...not this time.  I mostly gambled away at The Venetian, the Palazzo, and the Las Vegas Hilton (because it was located across the street from our condo). 

We did swing a show - taking in Sting at Caesar's Palace.  It was in the Celine Dion theater, so a more intimate setting.  I loved listening to the background story of how his songs were conceived and I have mad appreciation for his violinist who made amazing music!

The ladies swung a spa day!  My mom treated older sister Cathy, sister-in-law April, and me to a spa treatment at the Canyon Ranch Spa located in The Venetian.  I chose a European facial and experienced rejuvenation in my skin!  I literally felt my skin glowing the rest of the day.  Upon completion of our respective services, we spent over 2 hours in the wonderment that is the spa-experience...the Hot Tub, Steam Room, Sauna, Herbal Laconium, the Igloo (yes, as cold as it sounds) Salt Grotto, and Wave Room while sipping on orange-infused water and delicious herbal teas.

Though I pretty much came home a big loser, I had some really nice hits throughout my gaming that kept the days fun and entertaining.  My favorite slot machines this year were Quick Hits and Hot Shots.  I will definitely be revisiting them next year!

And that's about it in a nutshell.  Hopefully I will be posting more frequently since it is now "the most wonderful time of the year!"  I leave you with this pretty dress displayed at The Venetian:

display dress made entirely of paper and ribbons

Kim versus the Half Marathon - The Hottest Half

Well...it was a personal worst, but I did it.

13.1 is far, y'all.  For reals.  13.54 is even further!  I don't know about you, but there is nothing that agitates me more than seeing the distance I truly traveled in a race you only get credited for 13.1.  Usually I can look back and see where I did some weaving (or...um...getting lost), but since I put myself at the very back and walked The Hottest Half, well...there wasn't much weaving at all.  =/

So, it would be VERY easy for me to tear myself apart with regard to this race.  I mean I hadn't trained for it except for a few longish walks and a couple of weekday jaunts - none of which ever attained my goal pace and none of which lasted more than 8 miles.  As I've mentioned before, I've gained some weight back and I just haven't been eating as well as I should and I haven't been moving as much as I should.  To bottom-line it, I'm out of shape.  I thought about opting out of the race altogether and/or knocking my registration down to the 10K (which also would have granted me a medal upon completion), BUT I decided I was to be punished for my wayward lifestyle as of late and that come hell or highwater (in Houston?  in Dallas?  in this drought?) I needed to complete this race and use the blood, sweat, tears, and pain to catapult me into getting back on the right track.

I will say that this was one of my most humbling experiences of all time.

After splitting a peanut butter and honey sandwich with That Pink Girl, we headed out to White Rock for our race.  On a side note, I think I liked the PB&H over oatmeal as a pre-race breakfast.  This was a smallish race in that there were 1375 finishers.  My goal was to not be last.  haha!  Well I had more goals - although I wanted to finish in legal time, I knew my lack of training would probably not allow it.  I was right.  So my other goals were to not dehydrate and just to finish.  Pretty simple, right?!

I had a hydration plan.  I was going to take water from all 6 hydration stations on the way out (it was an out and back course) and then drink from my Camelbak (filled with G2) on the way back.  It became clear pretty early on that this plan wasn't going to work for me.  It was hot y'all AND I'm one sweaty girl AND seeing as I was walking the course (not in the best shape), I knew early on to avoid cramping calves and other symptoms of dehydration, I needed a new plan.  I ended up grabbing a water from all 6 hydration stations on the way out while sipping on my Camelbak in the interim.  On the way back, I alternated between water and Powerade at the stations.  This all paid off - by 10.5 miles, I had drained my Camelbak.  By mile 11.5, the twinges started in my left calf.  Some volunteer had offered to let me re-fill my Camelbak around 9 miles, but silly me thought I still had plenty left.  =/

Mile 1 was pretty smooth sailing save for the bridge located around 0.5.  Now, I'm not one of those chickies afraid of a bridge, but I am a chickie with some equilibrium issues and many runners/walkers and bike riders trampling over a bridge makes for quite a bouncy experience.  Can you believe there was another bridge around 1.5 miles?  In my head there were two more, though I might be mistaken.  The one that was located right before mile 5 (and mile 8 on the way back) was by far the worst.  Coming off that cRaZy bridge was a hill.  We all know how much I love to hate hills.  My legs felt disoriented from the bridge and it was just a bad feeling all the way around.

I still felt strong Miles 2-5 as there was quite a bit of shade along the course.  During Miles 4-5 I practically had my own cheer squad.  As the runners on their way back passed me, many of them would high 5 me or clap or shout out encouragement.  It truly brought both a smile to my face and some tears to my eyes.  It was extremely heartwarming that people were so awesome to take the energy out of their own race to help motivate mine.

Miles 6-8 were okay.  At some point, I made a friend.  He was walking the race, as well, and we just chatted along for a couple of miles. 

Miles 9-11 were rough.  I wanted to quit half a dozen times, but I reminded myself that punishment isn't supposed to feel good.  I wasn't hurt, mind you, so there was really no reason to stop...I was just tired (well except for that stupid left calf that started acting up right past mile 11).

Miles 12-13 felt like they took an eternity.  The aid vehicles kept passing me and the girl in front of me.  She was struggling with a hurt leg, so they asked her a time or two if she needed help, but she declined.  We both just wanted to be done.

Around 12.9 miles, TPG came from around the corner and I swear to you that she was the best thing I'd seen all day.  She instantly put a huge smile on my face before she put her coach face on told me to start running to the finish line.  I tried for a few hundredths of a mile, but that lame calf was threatening me.  I started walking again and I was telling TPG about a dude who almost knocked me over around mile 4.  He was coming in the opposite direction of me and stopped to tie his shoe - without pulling to the side.  Some girl told him to get off the course and without looking, he scooted over onto my side of the course.  I girl-screamed in fear of falling over and somehow managed to avoid him and the ground.  TPG pointed out that if I had enough energy to tell a story, I had enough energy to run the rest of the course (I love when she goes all coach on me), so I started running and as I neared the finish line, the MC shouted my name and where I was from.  A fairly large group of spectators cheered for me as I crossed the finish line. 

The Hottest Half peeps handed me a medal and I thanked them for allowing me to finish and giving me the medal even though I didn't finish in legal time.  She laughed, congratulated me, and told me she was proud of me.

Nice people rock my world!

After some much needed water, TPG and I headed towards the car.  A nice aid guy stopped us and offered us a ride.  I didn't want to take him up on it because of pride issues, but then he said if we didn't let him take us, he was going to have to go back and become part of the clean-up crew.  We laughed and thanked him for the ride.

I will say that this was one of my favorite races as far as organization, staffing, and hydration stations go.  It was the absolute best race as far as my fellow racers go. AND if I could ever get my act together...despite the heat...I would consider doing it again (the right way).

I will leave you with a couple of pics and my stats.

This is a pic of my fingers after the race (no, they were not painful, but definitely uncomfortable)...

These were my fingers 24 hours later...

This was my post race AWFUL pic, but hey...it's me with my medal and TPG was kind enough to take it...

Time - 3:57:57
Calories Burned - 1989
Finishing Song - Lady Gaga's Paparazzi
Next Stop - Beach Palooza (5K obstacle course) in Galveston on September 24th.

Kim versus the Half Marathon: The OC Half

I flew into LAX on Saturday, 4/30.  My brother Eddie and I had a plan to go to the Expo after we ate lunch after he picked me up from the airport. We both have A.D.D.  At 3:45pm, Eddie reminded me I needed to pick up my packet. We had dinner reservations at Banderas with some friends at 5pm. Ooops. Eddie and April dropped me off at the area near the Expo and then I walked a really fast half mile to the actual packet pick-up. My little swag bag had a sample size Clif Bar, Barnie Butter, a fruit strip , bandaids, and coupons. I was pleased. I would have liked to walk around the Expo and maybe do some shopping (you know how I love to buy me some NUUN), but alas...there was no time.  After my speedy half mile back to the car, we took off to the restaurant...being 25 minutes late. :(

Since we all know I really like having a friend in the race with me (despite the fact that we only see each other at the start), this race was no exception.  My friend and co-worker Carie came cross-country with her husband (and also co-worker), Joe.  Their son and daughter-in-law live in Huntington Beach, the same city my brother and sister-in-law live in.  Though Carie eats 13 miles for breakfast every weekend, she had never actually ran a half marathon, so she was eager to jump on-board my crazy train.

My brother and I met Carie and Joe at Starbucks EARLY Sunday morning and then my brother took us all to the start.  Carie and I did the whole porta-potty thing and hung out until it was go-time and then we parted ways.

My legs felt like lead for mile 1. I was so stiff even though I had stretched. I just couldn't seem to pull the same speed I had in the earlier miles the previous week. Just after mile 1, there was a huge downhill. I decided to run it to gain some time. When I hit mile 2, I was pleasantly surprised to see I had regained my lost time from the first mile and that my legs felt better. This boosted my confidence. Mile 3 offered up another downhill opportunity,so I ran that one, too. I gained more time.

The course was absolutely beautiful.  It offered up a lot of scenic views of the ocean and the mountains.  We ran along some beautiful homes and fragrant flowers.  Shade was offered along the way, as well. 

The race was well organized with 9 water and/or Gatorade stations along the first 13 miles (the marathoners and half marathoners broke off from one another right around 12.25) and there were numerous porta-potty opportunities along the way.  Rarely would anyone actually have to wait in line for their use.  I know I didn't have to and that made me happy!  I was a bit put off when I did have to wait for a light to cross the street around mile 5, though.  I've never had that happen in a race before.

One of the reasons I chose The OC Half was because it offered a negative net elevation.  I think, in my head, I confused this with it being a flat course.  It was anything but flat.  I also know that about 2 months before the race, they changed the course for whatever reason, so perhaps that had something to do with the hills.  Regardless, I totally know why I never drive a course before I run/walk it.  I'm better off not knowing what I'm up against.

The course got kind of weird around mile 7.  I started feeling a little sick and I was moving really slowly.  I started feeling better around mile 8 and then right before I hit 9, it was a straight uphill.  Ugh.  The same thing happened right around mile 11.  Double Ugh.  I just kept marching along.

I told myself no charlie horses.  I carried (and drank from) my new handheld Amphipod 20 oz water bottle filled with water and a lemon-lime NUUN tablet and I stopped at every single drink station and had 1-2 drinks.  I'm proud to announce that I managed to complete this race charlie horse free (and without getting lost like I did the previous week).

Carie killed it with a time of 2:05:02.  She is awesome!  Now she is talking about going back to the OC to run The Surf City Half on Feb. 5th.  It's tempting, so we shall see!  This one truly is a flat course and that truly makes me happy.

Upon completion of our race, we were all handed a bottle of water, a bottle of Gatorade, and a little goodie bag with a banana and a Clif's Mojo sample size bar.

Time-  3:28:55
Finishing Song - Natasha Bedingfield's Touch
Next Stop- The Hottest Half on 8/14 in Dallas - I will be running this race in its entirety (save for walking thru the water stations) - I have a training plan in place - there will be a PR...just you wait and see!

official finisher's photo

Eddie's pic of me



Kim versus the Half Marathon: Hippity Roc Half

I totally had a bad attitude about this race.  It's not like me to have a bad attitude about a race.  It started out with the fact that I have been sick for nearly 3 weeks and unable to run do to a bronchial cough and major congestion.  Then my bad attitude grew wings and took off from there.  I found out there were only 375 registrants.  Pretty sure this is the smallest race I've "run" yet - and it was a half marathon!  BUT then I found out it was capped at that amount and that there was a waiting list...that made me feel a little bit better.  I have to admit I thought it was awfully cute that there was an Expo.  I mean my two Rock 'n' Roll half marys had Expos, but The Houston Half (that hurt me) didn't have one and the RunGirl 13.1 I was signed up for but couldn't run (because of the pelvic stress fracture) didn't have one.

I'm a bad blogger.  I totally forgot to take a picture of the Expo.  =(  I was uber impressed.  There were a few local businesses pushing their products - kettle corn, I believe, and a massage place, amongst others.  The thing that turned my frown upside down was the packet pick-up.  In my head, I had decided this was a rinky-dink race that wasn't even going to have a tech t-shirt.  I knew they had gender specific shirts (which I appreciated), but I was wrong...it's the best tech shirt I've received yet!  Normally a packet pick-up comes in a paper envelope or a plastic bag.  This one came in a purple reuseable bag - something you could use for grocery shopping should a girl choose to go green.  There were all kinds of awesome swag goodies inside.  Check it out!  Yep, a reflector for night running, a water bottle with the race logo, sports beans, 2 Gu packs, and a Chomps pack.  Best swag bag to date!  So...total shift in attitude.

Race morning I made arrangements to meet up with my race buddy Melissa in the parking lot of the high school located across the street from The Bridgeland Community.  Once there, I completed gearing up (accidentally leaving my visor behind - MISTAKE #1) and we trekked over to the porta-potties.  It took us about 30 minutes or so to get through the line and then we stretched and grabbed a place at the start.  This was where I found Bobbi Jo!  Remember her?  We did the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago half together last year - my very first half!

Now I decided I was walking this whole race - something I've never done before - because I had not run in 3 weeks, I was still a bit congested, and I have another half marathon in 8 days.  I had a goal in mind of 15 minute miles, but secretly, I knew I could maintain a faster pace - at least for half the race.  Since I wasn't running, there would be no sloshing around of my system which meant I should be able to make it without a bathroom break AND I did just that.  I knew without a bathroom break I might just have a chance of PRing the race (sad, but true story since I'm THAT slow of a runner -ha!).

I started off incredibly strong.

Mile 1-  14:33

There was a water/Gatorade station around 1.5 miles.  I bypassed it.  MISTAKE #2.

Mile 2-  14:28

There was a water/Gatorade station just past mile 3.  I grabbed one DIXIE cup (yes, that small) filled with the most watered down Gatorade you could ever imagine.  MISTAKE #3.

Mile 3-  14:29

Mile 4-  14:22

Just past mile 5 there was another water/Gatorade station.  The Gatorade wasn't quite as watered down, I grabbed two Dixie cups.  At the start of Mile 4, I could tell I was developing a blister on the upper edge of my right heel.  Courtesy of wearing brand new socks, perhaps?  MISTAKE #4

By now the wind had picked up, but it was a weird wind.  Sometimes it was hitting us dead on.  Other times it was coming at us from the side.  Since there were so few people in this race, most were runners.  I was with a group of about 8-10 walkers.  There were 5-6 behind me.  As the mileage grew, so did the gaps.  Eventually I was alone.

Mile 5-  14:43

Around 5.5 miles or so, I passed Melissa and then Bobbi Jo as they had done the turn around and were headed back in the opposite direction.  It made me feel good that I wasn't TOO far behind them considering I was walking. I couldn't wait to get to the turn around - this was an out and back course as described in the information packet.  I figured with having the drink station at Mile 5 and the advertised drink stations every 1.5 miles, that the turn-around would surely have another drink station.  I WAS WRONG.

Mile 6-  15:04

Wind was still very much an issue.  It was HOT outside.  This course offered no shade at all and remember I left my visor in the car.  I could have cried when around 6.65 miles or whatever when we did the turn around and there was no drink station.  This meant I would have to wait until I go back to the one that was at Mile 5 - which would now be Mile 8 to have another drink.  I was dying.

Mile 7-  14:54

As soon as I saw the water station ahead, I got my Larabar out of my Spibelt and started eating it.  Now, I had made the executive decision to bring a Larabar instead of my usual Clif's Shot Bloks because my Larabar had 200 more grams of potassium in it and I was trying to avoid Charlie Horses - MISTAKE #5.  The only flavor I had was Chocolate Brownie.  I was overheated and despite the fact I was chewing gum, my mouth was dry.  Trying to eat the Larabar was like trying to eat dirt or mud - it was disgusting and so hard to digest. When I hit the drink station, I discovered they were out of Gatorade.  They handed me two Dixie cups of water.  I took them, gulped them down, then went behind them to the table and just started slamming Dixie cups like I had been in the desert for years without water.  I had to have taken another 6 to 8 of them.

Mile 8-  15:44

I was trying my best to ignore the blister.  My mouth still felt so dry.  I knew I just had to make it another 1.5 miles until the next drink station.  My pace was slowing.  I kept trying to will myself to go faster.

Mile 9-  16:43

I was getting hit pretty hard by the wind.  It was a weird feeling.  On one hand, it felt really good, but on the other, it was getting harder and harder to walk through it.  I started feeling dizzy.  I got to the drink station and they still had lots of VERY watered down Gatorade left, but they actually had some bigger cups.  Some kids handed me two Dixie cups.  I slammed them.  A woman handed me a larger cup.  I slammed it.  They could tell I was dehydrated.  Another woman filled up two more of the larger cups for me "for the road".  I slammed them both and kept going.  So many times I just wanted to pull over and just stand there, but I told myself to just keep going.

Mile 10-  18:06

I started feeling that all too familiar twinge in my left calf.  I didn't understand it.  I ate two small bananas with breakfast.  I had a banana every morning all week long.  I hydrated all week and even had 32 oz of water in the morning before the race.  I swapped out my usual plain oatmeal from the cannister that I make every morning for the pre-packaged crap (as recommended by some peeps on the internet because of the sodium content).  I tried to ignore it and kept going.  I felt so alone.  At this point I knew there were still 4 people behind me, but they were so far behind me that I couldn't see them anymore.  The two that had passed me were so far ahead of me that I couldn't see them anymore.  There were hardly any cops out at all - just a bunch of cones where we were supposed to make our turns (or so I thought).

I just kept telling myself I had to make it to 11.5 miles or so for the next drink station and then I would be okay.  My Garmin was showing 11 miles, but I never did see the mile marker.  I was confused.  I know I was walking a lot with my head down because of the sun, so maybe I missed it?  I just kept walking, but so slowly now.

Mile 11-  18:58

At some point, I crossed paths with another girl.  She was one of the people who had been behind me.  Yes, you read that correctly...we CROSSED paths.  She asked me which way to go.  I was confused.  We were passing each other.  Up ahead I saw a yellow-shirt wearing volunteer on a bike.  I called out to her and asked where we should be going and she pointed to the right up ahead - not the direction I was heading.  I then asked her where I was supposed to be coming from and she pointed in the direction the other girl came from. OH NO!  I had somehow gotten lost.  I trudged back up the road and turned right and saw a mile marker in the distance.  Imagine what it did to my head and heart when it read - Mile 11.

Mile 12-  21:41

My Garmin was reading 12 miles.  I had somehow managed to walk an extra mile!  At this point, I had gone 2 1/2 miles without a drink and the drink station was another 1/2 mile up the road.  My calves started seizing up.  First the left.  I would stretch it and try to walk again.  Then the right.  I would stretch it and try to walk again.  They asked me if I wanted a ride.  I said no.  I had to finish.  For the next half mile, I pulled over several times to stretch my tortured calves.  They must have radioed ahead to the drink station because as I approached it, one of the volunteers met me and asked me if I was okay.  She said she was a nurse and heard I was having trouble.  I explained that I got lost, it had been 3 miles since my last drink, and that my calves were in bad shape.  She hurried me over to the drink station and they put wet towels on my neck and started giving me cup after cup of ice cold water (they had also run out of Gatorade).  They asked me if I wanted a ride.  I told them that I needed to at least complete 13.1 according to my Garmin.  I said I would accept a ride after that.  The nurse, her name was Anita, said she would follow along in her car and I should just come to her when I had hit my 13.1.  My calves didn't seize up on my anymore once I had that water in me.  They were still so sore, but at least not seizing.  I finished up the 0.6 miles remaining and then let Anita take me to the finish line.  Once there, I briefly explained what happened to the race director and asked her if I could cross the finish line.  She said, "well you sure did do your half marathon, now didn't you!"  I said, "yes, ma'am"!  and then she crossed it with me and a little boy handed me the medal.

Mile 13-  23:52

Mile 0.1-  19:09

They explained to me they still had water left, but that they were out of cups.  I was desperate for more water.  A man had an empty water bottle.  I didn't care that it had his germs.  I filled it, slammed it, refilled it, and slammed it again.  Then I felt like I wanted to throw up.  I then hobbled to my car - pretty far away - and had to wait for my calves to stop screaming before I could drive home.

When I switched out my running shoes for my flip flops, this was the loveliness that awaited me:

I've never had a blister like this in my entire life.  The only other time I formed a blister while running was during my first 10K - HEB's Bayou City Classic - last year - when I didn't know about moisture wicking socks and just wore regular cotton socks.

So, yeah...this was a PW - personal worst.  I stopped my Garmin at 13.1 and my time was 3:39:27.  Whatever the official time is will be worse than that given the time it took to drive around avoiding the closures and my time explaining to the race director, etc.

Lessons learned:
#1 - remember the visor
#2 - get drinks from all drink stations
#3 - get the appropriate # of drinks based on the size offered
#4 - don't wear new socks
#5 - don't switch out products that have been tried and true
#6 - start carrying some type of Electrolyte drink on me
#7 - pick up the pieces / suck it up - many more races to come

Finishing Song:  Gnarles Barkley's Crazy

I think I've also determined that my issues with my Charlie horses come from dehydration after all.  I hydrate plenty the week before the race.  I just dehydrate during.  I usually don't drink the electrolyte drink offered during a race as I try not to drink my calories.  I made the exception during this race since I didn't have anyone passing me off drinks and I was trying to avoid Charlie horses.  Unfortunately, skipping the first drink station, the fact they didn't have a water station where they should have (at the turn around), and my getting lost amounted to three 3-milers without drinks, all leading to my demise.  During the Houston Half (that hurt me), I didn't experience Charlie horses at all.  I took water at all the drink stations and my siblings met me at various spots along the course with G2.  It was a hot/humid day that day, as well.

One of these days, I'm gonna get this whole fueling/hydration thing right.  One of these days...

Kim Versus the Half Marathon: Dallas Rock 'n' Roll

I woke up at 4:30am, having only gone to bed 5 1/2 hours earlier.  ugh.  At least I was able to get in 8 hours the night before!  I had hydrated my heart out all week long and gave myself one last opportunity Sunday morning with a Nuun tablet in my water and some oatmeal as breakfast.  I left my friend Julie's house in Fort Worth at 5:40 to go pick up Melissa at her hotel.  At 6:30 and we were off to The Finish Line as we were instructed to park there.

The highway was jacked up, yo.  What should have taken us 30 minutes to achieve, took us well over an hour.  We weren't alone in this, so we weren't panicking about missing the race or anything, but it left a sour taste in our mouths prior to starting.  Rachel was ahead of us somewhere - we never were able to meet up with her.  Once we finally parked, I had to stop at the porta-potties - it was like a desperate situation as in there may or may not have been dancing going on to avoid an unfortunate incident.  We then finally made it onto the shuttle bus and arrived somewhat near the starting line around 8:15ish (for the 8:00 race).  We made one more pitstop at the porta-potties and then walked up to the 15th corral just as it was walking towards the start line.  Yes, it was like that.  I guess in a way it was a good thing we didn't have to do a whole lot of standing around as it was 51 degrees at the start.  Brrrrr....

I felt great from the get-go.  I had a huge smile on my face and I was just trying to absorb stuff - you know...trying to be a good blogger and whatnot!  I have to say the cool air was welcomed, especially after Saturday's beautiful but scorching upper 80s.  Around 1.7 miles, I was approaching the 2nd band and they started playing a new song - I felt like it was just for me as it was one of my all time favorites - Brown Eyed Girl.  I could just imagine my friend Laura and I squealing "We are brown-eyed girls" as we used to do in college.  another smile.  Shortly thereafter I hit mile 2 and got slapped in the face with a very steep hill.  I tried to run up it, but then realized halfway up it that I was killing my energy, so I got smart and walked the rest of it.  Once it was behind me, I began running again.  I saw some people (in tutus) dart across the road in front of me because they wanted to take a picture of some spectators.  I looked and sure enough - it was my caped crusader friend, That Pink Girl (only she was now Pink Gurl) and some of her super hero super star spectator friends!  I, too, darted across the road (only after looking both ways first since this was not a blocked street).  It was around 2.5 miles or so and I was so happy to see them.  I hugged TPG and got a picture with her and carried on.  another smile.  3 came pretty fast, then the 5K mark.  Started having some stomach issues and needed to find a bathroom STAT which brought mile 4 on pretty quickly.  There was a line and I knew I couldn't wait until the next set of bathrooms, so I was forced to wait in the line.  The entire process took me 6 minutes.  not smiling anymore.

I resumed running - more hills.  I started getting that all too familiar pang in my right side, then in my left.  The side stitches were returning.  When this happened during my training runs, I called it quits.  I couldn't do that here.  I made it to about mile 5 and then I decided to walk for a bit.  We were in an area called Highland Village.  If you are from Houston, I would liken it to River Oaks.  Beautiful older LARGE homes with amazing landscaping lining the streets.  Such a pretty picture, so serene.  I often joke that I run slower than most people walk.  Well during this time, I was walking faster than I run.  smiling resumed.  The winding through this area ended around 6.5 miles and I began running again.  Side stitches were very much still an issue.

I saw TPG (she took my pic as I approached) and her gang around mile 7.5 and they were such a welcomed sight.  I complained about my problem.  TPG said she would walk with me for a bit and explained to me that I'm breathing too shallow and need to take deeper breaths.  She also had me put my arms above my head to help with this.  We parted ways with a promise to see each other at the finish line and I resumed running.  My sides felt a bit better.  smiling and running.
I hit mile 8 and there was a female police officer that made me chuckle.  She was encouraging us to keep on going and telling us we were doing a great job.  She then added that what we were doing "is not considered normal behavior."  So funny.  smile returned.

I hit mile 9 and I started to feel the twinge of pain in my calves - charlie horses were coming to attack.  I tried to fight them off, but I was forced to return to walking as they were less painful that way.  Intermittently I tried to jog here and there.  By mile 10, my calves were screaming.  Whenever I tried to run, my toes curled and forced my feet to sort of buckle inward.  It was a very weird feeling.  At 10.5, I couldn't take it anymore, so I pulled over and stretched my calves using the curb.  I then tried running and made it about a quarter of a mile before they started screaming again, walking resumed.  so not smiling, like not in the slightest.

At mile 11, there was another band playing another favorite song of mine - Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" (Ahhh....Glee).  I wasn't going to give up on my PR - I had it, I knew I had it...I just had to keep trucking along no matter what!

At mile 12, I desperately wanted to finish out the race running.  I tried and failed.  About a quarter of a mile before the finish line, TPG jumped out from the sidelines and came to my rescue.  She said encouraging, beautiful words, and ran with me until we hit the 13 mile marker.  She sent me on my way to finish and I ran out the remainder with a big smile on my face.  I crossed the finish line with tears in my eyes.

I was emotional because I came back from an injury (pelvic stress fracture) and PRd - despite it being a tough race with lots of pain.  I was emotional because there was one amazing friend who ran with me and encouraged me and then when I crossed the finish line, there was another who had finished almost 45 minutes before me ready to give me a hug.  I was emotional because I hurt..

After getting my bottle of water and medal and hugging Melissa, we went to get a banana, a Snickers Marathon bar, and a bottle of Cytomax and then we went to go find TPG.  We got some pictures and then we headed out.  My calves were screaming so badly, I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to drive. Shockingly, once I got out of my shoes and into my flip-flops, they started being a little nicer to me.

Melissa and me:  Half Marathon finishers!

Pink Gurl and me (she's my fave super hero)

Melissa and I went back to her hotel to shower and change and then we went with her boyfriend, David, to eat at Chuy's (we were FAMISHED) before heading back in our respective cars to Houston.

Official Time:  3:18:03 (a PR of over 6 1/2 minutes)
Finishing Song:  "Rock Star" by Nickelback  (kinda fitting for a Rock 'n' Roll race, eh?)

Next stop:  Tomball's 5K Bunny Run on April 9th (totally feeling a PR for this race)

On a side note - I need to do some research on these charlies horses.  I used to think they were as a result of improper hydration, but that cannot be the case as I consumed mass quantities of water and Nuun all week long.  I wonder now if my issue is from losing too much salt.  I am a VERY sweaty girl when I run.  Perhaps I need to start carrying salt tablets or green olives?  ha!  Anyone else out there suffer from this?  Tips appreciated!

Kim versus the Half Marathon: The Houston Half

Today didn't go as I had hoped.  There are two road I could travel right now.  One path leads down a road of negativity filled with tears, doubt, and all those bad things that fill my head trying to destroy my spirit.  The other path leads down a road of tears (cuz I'm still sad), perseverance, stubbornness, and all those things that make me want to pick up the pieces and try again.  I'm gonna go down that second path, if you don't mind, but it's still a struggle.  Thankfully, there is another opportunity on 12/12 with the RunGirl 13.1 to try to get this right.

I'll bottom line it for you and then I will take you through all of the events of today.  Sometime just short of mile 7, there were policemen that made us turtles take a shortcut.  In other words, we were not showing signs of finishing in the 3 hour time limit, so they cut our run short approx. 1 1/4 miles.  My initial instinct was just to stop running and walk the remainder.  My second instinct was to run to my sisters and brothers-in-law who were so awesomely out there supporting me and then have them just drive me to the finish line so we could cheer on our friend Melissa, in other words...QUIT.  My third instinct was to suck up the shame that washed over me and carry on.  I followed my third instinct, but with a little less skip in my step and a little less pride in my heart.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night.  I tossed and turned quite a bit allowing the nervousness to bother me.  Eventually, I drifted off to sleep, though.  I woke up at 4am.  The dogs were insistent they were famished - I had my doubts since it was about 2 hours before their normal feeding, but whatever!  I had a breakfast of a half a multi-grain bagel with Justin's maple almond butter and a banana.  My friend Jon had suggested drinking NUUN the night before, morning before, and then again after the run.  I had already had some the night before, so I drank some with my breakfast.  I got all geared up, and went to pick up my friend Melissa.  We found a parking spot in a $20 parking lot once we got down town.  I didn't care as it was close to the start/finish line.  I received a text message from one of my employees letting me know he couldn't go out of town, so I had to make a call to another employee trying to fix the situation (nice).  After a frustrating phone call, I think it got squared away.  Then, there was some parking lot drama, but I don't really feel like getting all into it.  Let's just say a mood was set.  I'm used to people being all happy and friendly on race day.

Melissa and I got in the LONGEST LINE EVER to use one of the 12 port-a-potties that were available (in the dark).  Afterwards, we stretched and headed to the back of the lined up crowd for the START.  This was Melissa's first Half, by the way.  =)  It was nice to have a friend there!

Craig providing "free" high fives

We started.  It seemed pretty uneventful.  I was just listening to my tunes and running.  The first few miles are always so hard for me...it's hard for me to get my muscles ready to cooperate.  They had water around every 2 miles, and as I mentioned in my last post, my plan was to walk through the water stations.  I did this.  I knew my family was planning on cheering Melissa and I on around Mile 3, so it gave me something to look forward to (that and I knew they were going to have a little cute bottle of G2 for me).  I was super excited when I saw them around 3.  They had a sign for me which made me smile, but I was wondering if they had made one for Melissa.  I figured it had to be on the back of my sign.  I greedily drank my G2 and then continued running.  Between mile 4 and 5, they had another water station and I saw an empty port-a-potty, so I jumped in and out as fast as possible.  I also threw back 3 bloks from my Clif's Shot Blok pack and grabbed a cup of water from the station which was just a head.   A little while later, I saw a dude coming back on the opposite side almost pass out...it was scary, but a medic was on it!  I saw my family again just after mile 5, but this time I didn't take them up on their offer of contraband.  I did notice there was no "Go Melissa" sign on the back of mine, so then I was thinking they were rude.  ha!  I found out later they had a whole bunch of signs.  They did actually have a sign for Melissa and they had a "free high 5" sign, too.  Brother-in-law Craig was really getting into it!  I think next time he will bring a sweat towel and some hand sanitizer!

I remember hitting the half way point and being disappointed in my time.  I knew stopping at the bathroom hurt me, but I had to go!  I also knew that I WAS HOT!  It was way hotter than it's been and it wasn't helping.  I just continued running regardless.  Up in the distance was the 6-10 turn around, but the policemen didn't let us get that far.  They made us U-Turn at the Memorial Loop.  At first I was confused like I had misunderstood the map, but then I realized what was going on and then well...I made a decision to stay in the race in body, though my spirit was somewhat broken.  My miles started getting slower and slower, I started feeling more and more defeated.  It took everything in me not to give up.  Melissa ended up passing me (again).  She must have been confused by this.  I explained what happened.  At some point I should have taken 3 more bloks, but I didn't.  I was just blah, so apparently I was showing me.  =/  When I passed my family after mile 9, I explained what happened to Linda and she told me that I was still doing it and to keep going!

It was a hard race - because we were moving around Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive, there were several hills.  We do a little bit of training for these in my group, but I hate them and I could feel these hills attacking my left hamstring.  Thankfully, my feet felt fine (despite me making the cRaZy decision to wear my new shoes).  A couple of times I got some all over body tingling - not sure why, and then my feet tingled too, like they had fallen a sleep.  Weird.  I got a little light headed once and made myself walk for 30 seconds.  I walked 2 or 3 more times for 30 seconds a piece during various times throughout the race - while going uphill.

When I saw the 13 mile marker, I booked it to the FINISH line.  Finishing song - Flo Rida's "Low"!

Oh and props to everyone who offered me up songs to add to my iPod for the race - it brought a special little smile to my face if/when your song suggestion made it to my ear!  I saw my family and Melissa right before I crossed the line.  That made me happy!  I was handed my medal right away.  Where was water?  None to be found by the race peeps.  Cathy gave me a G2 which I chugged and then Melissa and I took some pics like this one: 

Then Cathy, Jay, Linda, and Craig went to find a restaurant for us all to have lunch at while Melissa and I went to go find our finisher's shirts and some water.  We had the worst time finding water.  The first bucket we came to was empty.  We had to ask where we could get some.  Most races hand you a beverage when you finish a race, I'm just sayin'.  Eventually, we found some.  I got greedy.  I grabbed a Sobe Life Water 0, a grapefruit juice, and a water.  I quickly drank the grapefruit juice and the Life Water, and then I felt like I was going to be sick.  While I was getting us drinks, Melissa went and got our shirts.  We then headed to the car and we were thankful to change into our new shirts and to put on our flip flops.  We were also thankful to discover that our $20 parking lot was FREE!  Yay!

We met up with my siblings and their spouses at Grand Lux (one of my fam's favorites) and had a much needed lunch.

The weird thing is that my knees don't hurt AT ALL.  Both thighs are KILLING ME and then there is the left hamstring which is just a mess.  Maybe the new shoes fixed the knee issues?!  Hmmmm...

So, two paths to choose from and as I've mentioned...I'm gonna go positive here.  I'm not giving up.  I might not have done what I set out to do today, but I did something AMAZING and I'm going to be proud of me regardless of the outcome.  That's the path I choose.

Special shout out to Melissa for kicking booty on her first half!!!

Special shout out to Cathy, Jay, Linda, and Craig for their love, support, and hydration provisions!

Here are some more pics:

Jay is holding the sign

action photo

Jay is holding the sign





action photo

While at Walgreens buying drinks, Linda found me Granny Panties with pockets...she thought I could put my iPod in them while running.  Cathy was holding them up for the pic!  gotta love my family!  =P

Linda had her camera ready to capture the moment I opened my panties with pockets present.  =P





Kim Versus the Half Marathon: Chicago Rock 'n' Roll

It's been a long time since I've been able to give a race report.  How sad is that?!  April 10th was my last race - The Tomball Bunny Run (5K).  Looks like my next race will be my next Half Marathon, the Houston Half on October 24th.  I really look forward to seeing how much I can impove in these next 11 weeks! 

So, I'm trying to figure out where to begin.  I guess it's only right to just discuss the whole weekend.  I flew to Chicago with my 2 double cousins, Danielle and Nicole.  They were flying home and I was flying in for the race.  We had hoped some kind person would switch seats with me so I could sit next to them.  Such a person did exist, but sadly for me it meant a wet seat.  We weren't sure what made the seat wet, but thankfully Continental peeps were on it and I got a new seat cushion stat!  Once we landed, We met up with Bobbi Jo (a friend of mine who instigated this whole Half Marathon shenanigan) though she, too, lives in Houston, had made alternate flight arrangements.  My aunt and uncle then picked us all up from the airport and took us back to their house.  We socialized for a bit and then went to bed.  I took some Nyquil because I already felt a bit gunky and wanted to kill the gunky dead.  Around midnight, I got a work call.  I don't do well on medication and midnight work calls (especially when they are not emergencies), so I'm pretty sure I yelled at my employee and hung up on him.  I did end up getting 8 hours of sleep which was good because I had only slept 5 hours the night before.  =/  My aunt, cousins, Bobbi Jo, and I then went down town to meet up with my grandmother and the old folks for breakfast.  Apparently my grandma has a weekly breakfast gathering at a local deli and we were all invited to go.  The kids, which consisted of Danielle, Nicole, cousin Courtney, Bobbi Jo, and I got banished to our own table.  We were HUNGRY and ordered ridiculous quanitites of food.  I had an egg white pizza omelet (pictured above).  It didn't come with any meat in it and I needed my protein, yo, so I ordered a side of turkey sausage.  Then I realized it didn't come with any carbs and I was totally in need of CARBO LOADING, so I ordered a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.  Yes, I was a little piggy.  Since the minute we got there, Bobbi Jo was eyeing these giant cupcakes that were spinning around in a glass display case.  My grandmother insisted on buying desert for my cousins and BJ before we left for the road (I declined because I didn't want to jack up my stomach).  I threw in a couple of wheat bagels for BJ and I for the next morning, however. 

After breakfast, we headed over to my grandma's condo to get our bags situated and then my aunt gave BJ, Danielle, Nicole, and I a ride to McCormick Place which is where the Expo was being held.  It was a bit intimidating because the place was HUGE.  We went up some escalators, found our corral numbers, got our bibs, then went and got our shirts - I was surprised to see they were really nice shirts versus t-shirts, and then we got a bag to put it all in.  After that, we went to the merchandise area where you could purchase race paraphernalia.  Meliska had suggested to me buying a pin so that I would have a pin for each race, so I did.  Then we moved onto the actual Expo.  I was hoping to find Bondi Bands (and I did - yay).  I bought 3 of them.  One that had lime green in it to match my race day top - not that it even mattered because I wear a visor, so it really didn't even show, but I KNEW.  Then I bought two other ones with cutes sayings.  I had hoped to buy a pace bracelet, but I didn't see them there.  We did get all kinds of samples -  my favorite was the Titan bar - a low sugar protein bar that tasted delicious!  After the Expo, we grabbed a cab back to the condo to relax until dinner time.

My grandmother took us to dinner at Petterino's.  They provided us with a bread basket - normally I would not partake, but I was CARBO LOADING, so I had a couple of pretzel rolls and some flat bread backed with parmesan cheese.  I ordered a Fritzel small salad to start with - boston lettuce, hearts of palm, avocado, tomato, lorenzo dressing (yum)!  For my meal, I ordered - Pappardelle Bolognese - hearty meat sauce, parmesan.  It's been over a year since I've had non whole wheat pasta.  It was quite delicious.  My grandma offered us dessert, but we all declined and headed back to the apartment.  BJ and I had planned on going to bed at 9pm.  We actually laid down at 9:15.  I tossed and turned for an hour or so...around 10:30 older sister Cathy text me "good luck"...around 10:45, my mom text me with "good luck" and that she was "gonna get me" (inside joke).  They assumed I would have my ringer off.  I was up anyway, but more concerned about BJ.  Then I turned my ringer off.  I still tossed and turned for quite a while and eventually fell asleep.  My alarm went off at 4am.  I'm guessing I had about 4 hours of sleep.  Oh joy.

BJ and I got up and got dressed.  My grandmother insisted on making me eggs, so I let her.  Then BJ and I ate our bagels.  I had brought Justin's almond butter to spread on mine.  We headed out the door a little after 5:20, I think, and grabbed a cab to get as close to the start line as possible.  We found our corrals, grabbed some bananas, ate them, then headed to the port-a-potties, then got into our respective corrals and awaited the start of the race.

I felt calm, kinda, but anxious.  I said a few prayers.  The air was warmer and more humid than the forecasters had predicted, but less than Houston so I can't really complain.  They had the first 24 corrals go about 2 minutes apart from one another and then they let the last 5 corrals go all together at once.  I just remember thinking there were people everywhere.  It was sort of intimidating.  I did some weaving in and out, but tried to watch my speed.  It was very hard to do this at first because we were sent through some tunnels and that kills your Garmin.  Then we got sent over a bridge that had these crazy steele plated circles as the running terrain - it was just kind of awkward to run on them.  BJ ran the Chicago full marathon last October and said they had actually carpeted the area.  I think that would have been better.  Later in the race ,around mile 3, I actually had to sort of side step a dead rat that was crushed into one of those steele plated circles when we had to run over yet another bridge like that.  The race promised bands every mile or so and totally delivered.  Most of the time, I couldn't even hear my iPod.  Most of the bands were rock 'n' roll, which was, of course, very fitting, but there were a couple of jazz bands and I also heard an Irish band.  Somehow, I must have taken the road less traveled (the far lanes, the zig-zagging lanes) and I ended up off the mile marks by about 0.4 of a mile around mile 5.  This was kind of obnoxious - already knowing I had run further than necessary.

Meliska had told me to write Kim with a sharpie on my arms.  I had my cousin Danielle do this for me and some people would shout out my name as I came running by.   This was pretty awesome!  There were also spectators that would give you high 5s and that just kinda made your moment, too!  The day before, I had made plans with my aunt and cousins to meet me at a specific intersection near mile 4 - we were purposely avoiding water stations to avoid crowds.  It worked out perfectly.  They brought my Powerade Zero!  Yay!  and my aunt even had it in a cup for me - so sweet!  It was an awesome feeling to have a cheering section!!!  We had next thought for them to go to Mile 7 or 8 depending on what worked for them. 

Around Mile 2, I had to go to the bathroom, but I told myself NO.  I saw some bathrooms around mile 3, but there was a really long line, so I kept on keeping on.  Just short of mile 6, I couldn't keep going any longer, so I stopped.  It took me 6 1/2 minutes to get through the line and use the bathroom.  Talk about frustration.  When I got back into the mix again, I hit a hill.  Chicago claimed to be flat.  BJ assured me it was flat after we finished.  I understand it is a flat city just like Houston, but flat is my subdivision.  Overpasses and what have you are hills to me.  It seemed there were several of these and I didn't like them.  So, anyway...after the bathroom frustration/fiasco, I got hit with the hill and then my left calf decided to go all charlie horse on me in a bad way.  I did my interval thing until I hit mile 7 (which by now was really 7.62 according to my calculations) and then I had to walk - or at least try to walk off the charlie horse pain.  I walked fast, though...sometimes I walked faster than I was running before - ha!  I was swinging my arms like it was nobody's business.  I saw my aunt and cousins after mile 8, but before mile 9, so I started running towards them despite the cramping.  They had my Powerade Zero and I was hoping the sodium would help.  I drank 3 small cups full and started running.  I ran for about 3 minutes and the cramping continued, so I power-walked my way throughout most of the rest of the race with increased frustration.  I NEVER EVER have encountered charlie horse issues while running.  I NEVER EVER have problems with my left leg.  Any running related issues are always with my right side and right leg.  WEIRD!  After mile 12, I caught up with Bobbi Jo, who it turns out had gotten very sick and needed medic assistance around mile 11.  She was walking to the finish line because she was bound and determined to finish NO MATTER WHAT - what a fighter, she is! 

Okay, so I made the last turn for the race and just started running.  I saw my cousin Courtney, but not my aunt or Danielle and Nicole.  I thought this was odd, but I just kept running for the finish line.  Right before I crossed, I saw my aunt and D & N.  Then as I crossed, I heard the announcer announce something like "There's Kim, she's lost 105 lbs and just finished her first half marathon."  I was like...huh?  What?  I was confused and I was like...well actually it's 106 lbs (haha) and then I wasn't sure if she was really talking about me cuz how would the announcer know that?!  Anyway, a volunteer handed me a water bottle and another one handed me an iced towel and then the annoucer chickadee was announcing for me to come back over to her for an "interview" of sorts, so I made my way back to her (without having even had a sip of my water) and she asked me how I started my journey that lead me to doing my very first half marathon.  It was awesome, I have to say.  I downed some water, then on my way to go talk to my aunt and cousins a woman stopped me to congratulate me and tell me that she has lost 150 lbs. so far, so we bonded and then a couple other people congratulated me.  Then I went over to the gate where my aunt and cousins were standing (this is when I found out they were the ones who shared my story with the announcer - apparently she was looking for stories about the racers from the spectators and my cousin flagged her down), they took my pic (right here) and text it to my parents and siblings and then I saw BJ coming along.  BJ and I went and got our medals, grabbed a popsicle and Lara bar respectively, and made our way to the designated meet up place.  Five for Fighting was playing (YAY!), and we sprawled out on the grass.  Charlie Horse attack #137 came along and I was in soooo much pain.  My aunt was telling me to flex my foot, only it wasn't registering and finally I realized what she wanted me to do and did it and it worked.  Then she wanted us to get out of the sun figuring we needed some shade (smart thinking), so we somehow got up and made our way to a shaded area.  We chilled for a bit and then when I went to get up again, I got a horrible cramp in my left thigh.  Have you ever had a thigh cramp?  OMG - it was horrible!  I just kinda walked that one out and we made our way to a cab.  While walking, I could feel two of my toe nails (one on each feet) depart.  Nice.  So then we cabbed it back to the condo.  I took the best shower of my life, changed into my Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Shirt and proudly put my medal on and then we left BJ with my grandma because she was taking a train out to see her dad and then my aunt and cousins and I went back towards my aunt's house, stopped for lunch - a last hoorah before I go back onto my strict South Beachy thing - and then chilled before my flight home.

Last thoughts - Chicago Rock 'n' Roll rocked my world!  First of all - the water and Cytomax stations were amazing - quite often lined up on both sides of the road.  There were a few misting stations, too.  One time, I even got a wet sponge - let me tell you how wonderful that felt!  The bands were great, the volunteers were fantastic cheerleaders, and it was just very well organized!  Oh and the medals are HEAVY!  BUT, I'm not complaining - I love mine!  I'm wearing it all week! =D

My initial reaction to my performance was disappointment.  I had a strong first 5+ miles until the whole bathroom incident and then the charlie horses.  I hated walking as much as I did, but then I think...I finished a half marathon and I did so UNDER the time limit.  For the record...my Garmin calculated it at 13.83 miles.  I really need to learn how to go the road more traveled in these things so that I'm not going any further than necessary.  I am super excited for my next one in October because I will have been training with my running group and it will be so interesting to see how that pays off.  I have also had a really hard time with training these past few months, so it's down to some serious business here!  I am going to kick some half marathon butt in October, y'all!  Oh and in case you were wondering how the Bondi band worked out - it was freakin' amazing - totally kept the sweat out of my eyes - YAY!

So, here are the stats:

Time:  3:24:39
Finished 17933 out of 18555 (still beat 622 people and 62 of those were women in my age group)

Finishing Song:  Flo Rida's "Low"

Burned 1963 calories.

Now I'm stiff and sore...getting a massage today (yay)! 

Anyway...how was your weekend?