WE DID IT!!!

 Saturday morning we headed over to the Georgia Dome to pick up our race packets and goodies. It was the first time I've ever been on field level at the Dome and only the second time I've ever been there. We learned A LOT about what to do/eat/wear/breath before/during/after the race. Katie and Abby got some miracle sticks. No really. They make miracles in your muscles happen. I'm too cheap to even purchase a miracle stick, but I did buy TWO 13.1 stickers!!! Seeing as that was my original reason for running this thing, I figured I should get two. After leaving the Health and Fitness Expo at the Dome. We drove around the race route and it definitely looked doable. We headed to Atlantic Station for lunch. I got to act as tour guide and chauffeur for the weekend, and I loved showing the girls Atlanta! For dinner that night, we went to Buckhead to a place called Figo. I had never been before because I had heard that it was a "GREAT" pasta place, and well, I don't do pasta. I decided, though, to take the girls there because I know that carb loading is a plus before the race. It turned out to be a really great place. I had soup and a salad and really loved it! We called it a night pretty early since we would be getting up at 5:30 the following morning.
Sunday. Race day! We woke up at 5:30, fixed our blueberry bagels with bananas, got dressed, woke Abby up, and headed downstairs. We met Abby's parents in the lobby, and mine were frantically driving. No really, I thought my mom was crying because she was about to miss my start. Seriously though, I would have been sad had that happen, BUT good news: it didn't happen. My parents arrived about 15 minutes before the race started. They met us and brought me a Team Bruner singlet that I wore during the race. It's clearly hard to run at all and not think of John, but especially after training for four and a half months, I felt it necessary to run for him. He was always such an inspiration to me, and even though it has taken me this long, I have finally been able to run in his memory.
Back to the race, Abby, Katie, and I headed to the start line. Abby started ahead of us, and Katie and I never found our corral, so we broke in front of everyone too. Once we got to the start line, I literally sprinted (bad choice) to get out of the crowd. I was slowed down back to my race pace and was just trotting away listening to my jams when at mile 1, my ipod died. WHAT?! It was completely charged when I started. I guess after 3.5 years it's little ipod heart just gave out. Well hello 12.1 miles WITHOUT tunes. Let me tell you, I have the rest of my life figured out. That is a LONG time to be with your thoughts (oh and 17,000 of your closest running buds too). The race was very hilly. You don't actually get that when you're driving so much. UP and DOWN (repeat for 13.1 miles). It was a great route though. We went through all parts of downtown Atlanta. We finished the race running around Tech's stadium. Did you know that that's pretty much straight up hill? Well, it is. It was a tough ending, but I won't lie. I shed a few tears as I crossed the finish line. I had just completed the greatest accomplishment in my life thus far.
You might think that I have run my feet into the ground, but I haven't. I'm afraid to admit that this is the start of a new hobby for me, MK. I love running! I just hope my body feels the same way for a really long time!
Guess this is good-bye. I hope that you too will consider setting some sort of trianing goal and reach it. You'll feel so accomplished too, and I know you can do it! If Katie and I could train for a half marathon, anyone can. I promise! If you need help, advice, or encouragement, talk to us!!!! Remember you can, you will, and you are able!
Peace, MK

Katie, Abby, and Me after the Race

DONE.

quite possibly the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life.

i have officially completed my goal AND got the sticker...and I never plan on running 13.1 miles again in my life.

I finished in just under 2 hours and 12 minutes and I got 239th place out of 538 in the women age 20-24 division. Much better than I expected!

Okay i'm too tired to type anymore...

Great Experience, Great Time, Still Alive.

love life xoxo

ahhh

AHHHHH i cannot sleep I am so so so nervous for sunday!!! oh dear oh dear! also, yes i have a sinus infection and yes i did not do one physical thing for 3 days in a row the WEEK before my race. but its okay i will CRAWL across this finish line if I have to! Right now i am just very worried about my sleeping schedule because the race is at 7 AM on sunday which means i have to be up at like what 4 AM??? I don't even know. Does that mean I have to go to sleep at like 5 PM on saturday night? So yes I am more nervous about getting enough sleep than running 13.1 miles at the moment. cool.

first 10k baby!!!

hello hello! well yesterday MK and i ran in the Reedy River Run and did our first 10k ever! that is 6.2 miles...very very hilly miles that is. I finished in 54 or somewhere around there with MK in front of me by about 30 seconds it said in the paper...i felt pretty proud not gonna lie. however, it made me terribly nervous for the half marathon because I was so so tired just from 6.2 miles and i gotta do 13.1. oh well its gonna be an INTENSE 2 weeks. I am so burned out but i AM going to finish this thing. I need to find a 2 week diet that will help me eat the right things before this race because I don't think I am getting the right nutrients and vitamins these days...okay im making out a new running schedule to up the ante a bit.. here it goes...

8 Monday: weightlifting, 10 miles

9 Tuesday: pilates, 5 miles, circuit

10 Wednesday: 3 miles, abs, and kickboxing

11 Thursday: pilates, 5 miles, circuit

12 Friday: 4 miles

13 Saturday: 10 miles

14 Sunday: Spinning, circuit

15 Monday: weightlifting, 3 miles, kickboxing

16 Tuesday: pilates, 5 miles

17 Wednesday: kickboxing

18 Thursday: pilates, 4 miles, circuit

19 Friday: 4 miles

20 Saturday: 2 mile jog

21 Sunday-----> HALF MARATHON!!!!

22 Monday....i have my life back! countdown to graduation!

love life xoxo

Well it happened....

What happened? You might be wondering what the answer could possibly be. Well it has taken me a week to get up the courage to say.... I fell face first last week while running. Oh, you say. It's fine because you were probably just jogging along and tripped over a very large tree branch that fell just as you were crossing the street of a small neighborhood. Well, you would be wrong. It all began as Katie and I set out for a nice 6 miler (on our day off). We were feeling pretty good after a rough couple of days and a rough start. It was about at the 2 mile point when we were falling into step (excuse the pun). We had just turned onto Jacobs Highway (yes, you read that right HIGHWAY, meaning four lanes with a turning lane, so make that five lanes of traffic) and were approaching the stop light (yes, where several cars were pausing to create a nice flow of traffic). When all of a sudden, I was on the ground. I remember it vividly as I'm sure you remember one of the most embarrassing things you've ever done too. It went in slow motion. My legs continued to move, but my feet did not. My hands (my life(face)savers) led the way to the ground. My knees followed. I remember thinking, "Hmm, now would be a great time to ask Katie for help!" Just like that, I hit the ground. BOOM! SCRAPE! TEARS (both meanings of the word, just in case you are in 3rd grade and are learning about homographs) (lots of tears)! My left foot decided to hang out in the shoe lace of my right foot for a second, without my consent, and down I went. Remember how I was on that four slash five lane highway. I was mortified! How embarrassing! But good thing I was running with such a great, wonderful, caring friend. Katie didn't act embarrassed (though, how could you not be when running with such a klutz!). No, she just sat down on the grass with me as I shed some tears, and saw that my pants were ripped. Looking back, I think the tears were from the ripped pants more than the embarrassment because those things are NOT cheap! Anyhow, I got some pretty sweet bruises and cuts as a result of this occurrence, and after Katie was able to assure me that life would go on and people wouldn't forever remember me as that girl who tripped over herself on the four slash five lane highway, she and I walked home.
I have since learned that falling is apart of running (that's what I've told myself at least) and all good runners have done it, so hopefully that means I'm getting some where. You'll be happy to know that I have since also gotten new shoes with shorter laces, and I'm still running! Training has been a bit slow lately, but Katie and I are running in a 10 K on Saturday for practice with the whole racing thing! Ours is TWO weeks from SUNDAY!!!!! AHHHH!!! Ok, hope you're doing well! Peace!