Tattoo or Bust?

Big fat freaking BUST.   I decided to get a half marathon related tattoo.  I should say that I decided against the tattoo I posted in the last blog. . . at least I had decided against it.  On Saturday.  When I made my appointment for 5PM.  I had decided on a different tattoo.  I had recommendations for 2 people from 2 different friends.  Rick, the first recommendation, and I chatted on FB.  He's an apprentice but has been doing this for years and does good work but it's not his full time job.  He told me 1-1.5 hours for my design. He did not answer the question though regarding if that was all needle time. lol.  The other guy, Bert said it would take 15-20 mins.  I knew that was needle time.  Bert was cheaper.  Bert was not an apprentice.  Bert has a LOT of pics on his FB page and the work is good. Bert works full time at Screamin Demon Tattoo.   I chose Bert.  I couldn't call till noon on Sat.  I was leaving the barn just after noon (I had to ride one more time before I couldn't stick my foot in a boot for a couple days!) and I called from the parking lot.  He says to come at 5PM.  Didn't take my name (which he knew from FB I guess), didn't take phone number. . . just "come at 5".  

My husband is harvesting, but he wanted to quit a few hours early to come with me.  I was pretty nervous.  If for some reason he changed his mind, my mom would go.  I had a few hours at home to sit and ponder this whole things. . . alone.  I got nervous.  I had a complete meltdown.  I decided to drink a mudslide to chill out.  I was sitting on the couch.. . . I got warm. . . it was 81 degrees in the house.  I was hot.  I texted my husband... . we agreed to turn the air on since it was going to be in the 80s for a couple days. . . I start crying. . . do I really want to do this?  ha ha. I'm messaging a friend on FB and she talks me off the ledge.  I don't know what my problem was.  I think I worked myself up over the pain.  When a friend posted her foot tattoo on FB and said it felt like "razor blades scraping my skin off" . . . well what would you think?  Pain!  I also have this fear of having another tattoo that I hate.  I have a tattoo on my lower back and while I don't hate, I don't love it and no one really knows what it is.  I hate explaining tattoos.  I also asked way too many people their opinion on my design.  So I was unsure what I wanted to do regarding that. . .  I read too many forums about foot tattoos and pain.  What if I couldn't handle it?  Would I end up with half a tattoo?  Lol. 

So meltdown over.  I'm happy again and my husband gets home.  We leave . . . we stop at a gas station down the street from the tattoo shop cause I forgot anything to drink and I figure I might need that at some point.  We go to the shop and it's this small rinky dink place.  No real photos of anyone's work.  There are 2 ladies waiting in the waiting area and a receptionist that  really looks like she doesn't want to be there.  She tells me I can sit down when I tell her who I'm there for.  I see her post-it note schedule and I see "5PM work for Bert".   In a few mins Bert comes to the waiting room and doesn't really acknowledge me.  He speaks to one of the ladies waiting. . . Then he goes to the receptionist.  I only really know it's Bert cause I know what he looks like based on stalking his FB page.   I hear them chat. . . he then speaks to the woman. . . apparently both women want a tattoo (the same one I think) and he only has them down for 2.  Bert and bitchy face receptionist chick talk some more. . . I hear them mention the 5:00.  They call me to the desk.  I see Bert talk to another artist who says "I don't have time".  Bert tells me that John (I forgot his name, but let's go with John) is going to do me.  He doesn't ask if this is ok.  He just tells me.  I'm like what?  I mean don't you choose your artist based on their work?  I don't see any photos around of anyone's work.  I chose Bert cause I got a personal recommendation. . . cause I stalked his work on FB and I liked it.   Bitchy receptionist hands me a clipboard with paperwork.  I sit down and tell my husband I don't want anyone else to do this.  Meanwhile John went back into one of the rooms and he's yelling to see my design.  Bitchy receptionist tells me to go back and show him.  2 people follow behind me (his next appt I guess, I have no clue at this point).  I show him. To say this guy is a prick would be an understatement.   He's like "oh well I thought this was some complex design".  No it wasn't. I wasn't getting a huge several hour long tattoo.  I say I can reschedule with Bert. I think I say this at least twice.  He's like "fine, reschedule".  He may have said "I don't care".  I don't know.  The guy was an asshole.  I go back to the waiting area, tell my husband we are leaving.  I throw the clipboard on the reception desk. . . . I have no clue where that crabby chick went.  We walk out.  We left.  I was in tears because I felt horrible for my husband quitting harvest hours early to come with me and now we have no tattoo.   I cry because I cry for every emotion I have.  I'm a crier.   I'm pissed off.  So I'm crying.  I understand being late. . . tattoos can take longer than you planned.  But those ladies (well at least one of them) were the 4:15 appt.  And here's the thing. . . I will not be rushed.  I told my husband that before we left. I didn't want to be rushed through the design process.  I wanted to LOVE this tattoo.  So let's say I waited for Bert. . . did he have anyone after me?  Did he have plans after work?  I don't want to be rushed.  And I certainly wasn't letting jackass John do it when he said he didn't have time! So in 5 years I can look at my foot and say "well this would have been cool if he had had more time".  No thank you.  No way.   And if I didn't want Bert to tattoo me I'd have walked into any shop and taken the next available person!  I chose the artist for a reason dammit!  And I made a freaking appointment!!! (but I did have this feeling . . . this whole come at 5 bullshit wasn't going to work out) Bert did send me a FB message minutes after I left.  But let's be honest, he barely spoke to me while I was there, so the content isn't even worth mentioning.  He isn't any better than asshole John in my opinion at the moment. 

So there you have it.  Total BUST and I have a naked foot.  

Post race thoughts

It's been a few days since my run.  I'm still kind of dragging.  It's been a busy week I wish I had taken Monday (the day after the race off work).  I think I was the most sore on Sunday afternoon.  My hamstrings hurt more and more as the day went on.  I realized that when I crossed the finish I grabbed food (bananas and a power bar) and gave them to my husband standing outside of the barriers.  I never ate any of those.  Even the Noosa yogurt (did I tell you Noosa is the BEST yogurt ever!?!?!) we brought back home with us.  I drank 2 cans of Michelob Ultra Light though! :)  But I didn't eat.  I would estimate it was an hour or just over till we ate lunch.   I probably should have eaten something immediately following the finish line.  Not that it would help with my soreness, but probably my level of energy later. 

Living in this area my whole life I've always thought it was flat.  I remember growing up and we'd get a lot of rain and things would stay wet for a long time.  My grandparents farmed (as did my own parents for many years).  They both raised pigs at some point and the pig lots would get so sloppy.  My Granny would say "we live on the flat part of the round Earth".  Lol.   I'm here to say that St Louis is NOT flat.  And it sure drives like it's flat.  It "looks" flat.  It's not.   Here is what my Garmin says - the top is the elevation chart for my KY Half and the bottom is St Louis

That's quite a difference when you are on foot.  That makes me super proud that I beat KY by 6:20 mins.  :)   I will say that I'm quite sad I didn't make the 2:30:00 finish for this race but with the Garmin being off by 0.1 miles and at times my confusion over how fast I needed to run to make that time, I'm not sure I could have pulled it out.  But I was just so close!  I'm almost tempted to find a flat flat half marathon in Nov to do so that I can try to make that time, but I don't know if I'm that crazy!

Monday I went to work and I think I was brain dead.  Certainly stiff and semi sore.  I went to the barn to ride Eli after work and my legs were *so* tired. My calves didn't hurt till I squeezed them the first time when I was riding. Ouch!  Overall though it loosened me up and was a good thing, even if it was an awful ride. 

Tuesday I took Eli to my trainer's barn about 1.5 - 2 hours away (2 hours with road work this time) for a saddle fitting and a lesson. 

The driving made me stiff but we had a really good lesson and my body felt good after.  It seems the longer and more I run, the shorter my riding legs get.  I had to shorten my stirrups a hole before the half marathon and it felt like I needed to again after,  But I refuse to go up 2 holes!!

Last night my trainer was at my barn and I got another lesson.  *happy dance* for a lesson 2 days in a row.  But Eli and I were both tired and it wasn't that good.  Eli did really correct work on Tuesday.  He hadn't been anywhere in 2 years and I was super proud of how well he did.  But I think the long day tired him out.  

I'm thinking of running 3 miles today after work.  I signed up for my first virtual race and it's a 5K.  I could just do it tonight.  The medal is already in the mail to me: 

My husband signed up too and I will not let him have his medal until he runs the 5k!  I think that's one thing I don't like about this type of thing.  It's kind of like buying a medal.  But you better get your butt out there and do the work.  For me I do races because of the atmosphere.  The shirts are fun.  Medals are a plus.  Well medals are a *must* for longer runs and so fun!  This last weekend was the first time I got a medal for a 5K.   So I'm not sure how I feel about just running a 5K from my house to earn this medal.  But I'm going to give it a go!  

So one thing I wanted to do after my *first* half was get a 13.1 related tattoo.  When I finished the race I thought "that was a fluke" and I didn't earn the tattoo.  I'm whacked!  The training I put into this distance, the time commitment and the actual run are all worth it.  But I signed up for another just so I could make sure it wasn't a "fluke" and earn my tattoo.  I'm kind of having second thoughts still on whether I should do this.  I still don't consider myself a runner.  But . . .  currently this tattoo is tops on my list (I have many pinned on pinterest).  However, when I show this to people they really do not see what it is.  (I'd use 13.1 instead of 26.2 obviously).  I don't want a tattoo I need to explain all the time.  I already have a crap tattoo that no one can recognize.  Maybe that's why I have cold feet. 

Rock and Roll St Louis

This weekend was the Rock and Roll weekend in St Louis.   I wrote about my plans to run (walk) a 5K on Saturday and run a half marathon on Sunday.  It's now Sunday and thankfully the weekend is over! lol 

Yesterday the 5K started at 8:00 am.  I live about 30-40 mins from St Louis so we left fairly early, but not as early as today.  My husband ran the 5K with me.  I told him he could just go on ahead of me, as I wanted to walk.  He wanted to stay with and I found out I have no patience for walking a 5K.  We did run a few times.  I tried to keep the running to 1 mile or less mixed throughout (like when we were going downhill!) to save my legs for the half.  

I was really just doing the 5K for the medal and the extra remix medal for running both days.  I say the 5K medal because this is my first 5K to receive a medal. :)  I thought they were pretty cool!

The race this morning started at 7 am. I was so worried about how early we had to get up (4:15) that I was afraid I wouldn't sleep so I took a nap in the afternoon after the 5K.  I never nap! 

So we got up early. . . we wanted to be parked before 6 as the packet said road closures would start at 6.  I actually told the guy at the parking lot on Saturday that we would be back on Sunday.  LIE! The roads were closed when we got there at 5:45.  Ugh.  There was literally no where to go.  Everywhere I ran into a closure.  I parked in the Ballpark Village parking lot as it said it was $5.  LIE!  It was $9 when we left.  

It was in the 40's this morning.  Fantastic running weather! And yes, I wore a tank top.  I'm hate hot running!  It was much more crowded than the day before.  I did manage to run into an ex-coworker which was fabulous and a total chance given the crowd size.  There were a *lot* of porta-potties but the lines were still long. I'm paranoid about having to pee on course.  So I managed to go twice.  The race started in waves, which was much better than my previous half and helped space out the crowd.  It took me about 15 mins after the first wave to get to the start.  I felt really good at the beginning and was trying to control my pace. I knew there would be hills, but I didn't think there would be so many or that they would be so long (if not steep).  I had my own water this time just in case the stations were a hot mess.  But they were well run and I was able to get water and gatorade easily throughout the course.  They said there would be Gu at mile 7.5 and the official flavor was salted watermelon.  Mile 7.5 comes and what do you know?  LIE!  No Gu.  No table.  No nothing.  Other runners (that were in the front of the race) also said there wasn't Gu.  I was disappointed.   I started to drag at mile 8 unfortunately.  But I was making good time and was really trying to make my goals.  I did meet up with the 2:30 pacer but couldn't hang long :(  In my previous half, my calves hurt SO bad during the last 2 miles.  I mean I thought they would explode.  I did not have that problem this time and I felt stronger.  Maybe that was due to training 4 days a week (instead of 3) and doing some hill work on some of my shorter runs.  Hindsight is that I should have done longer runs with hills, but the town I live in is super flat. 

I had 3 goals in this race.   The first goal was to not walk.  I ran the whole thing minus a few seconds in a few water stops which is expected.  Goal 2 was to beat the time of my first half marathon.  I accomplished that (by just over 6 minutes!).  Goal 3 was to have a finish time of 2:30 or less.  I just missed that as my official finish time was 2:32:05.   Dang it!  I told you I couldn't keep up with that pacer.  I was somewhat disappointed, but I know if the course was flat I'd have totally done it.  

Speaking of going to the bathroom. . .how does anyone do this during a race?  The lines always have a min of 5 people. . . if I stopped to pee (I felt like I had to at mile 9) I'd have probably not PR'd.  

Here I am right after the finish.  I'm still in the secure finish area. 

Here are my splits.  A bit more varied than I had hoped.  My Garmin said I ran 13.23 miles and during the run people were talking about how off their watches were.  Some more so than mine.  Initially the mile markers were 0.05 miles off. . . as the race went one they were a consistent 0.1 miles off.  It's so tough to know you really have to run 0.1 more than you were planning!  I was really really dragging it at the finish line.  I felt like I was running in place.  The final part of the run was uphill. . . my guess is for a half mile. . . till we turned a corner for the finish and that part was just 0.1 or so. . . I was never so happy to be on a flat road than at that point. 

Here is a combined photo of my Garmin results and the official results on the bottom. 

The finish time is super close and I think I started my Garmin just before I crossed the start. There were two of those rubber strips to cross and I started min on the first, which wasn't correct I think. 

The official avg pace is 11:36 and I like the Garmin pace of 11:30 better :)  I've really been trying to keep my longer runs at or below 11:30 min/mile. 

Here is the half medal.  I love it!  So St Louis-ish! :) 

Part of what I was looking forward to with the Rock and Roll half was the bands about every mile on the race.  I didn't find that as motivating as I expected.  I often just let my own music play. . .when I turned off my music I wasn't that impressed with the bands.  We had received an email that they had to relocate the bands between miles 6-9 due to neighborhood issues.  I didn't pay close enough attention but it seems there was a lot of time without any bands. 

The crowd support also wasn't nearly as strong as my first half in KY.  I found that disappointing.  Those of you that know runners - if you can get out and cheer them on, please consider it.  I was thrilled to have my husband waiting for me at the finish.  But I don't think people realize what an accomplishment this is.  And how much this means to the person running the race.  I know my parents don't.  I had mentioned to my mom, when I signed up, about coming along.  I would have loved to have my mom, or both her and my dad, waiting at the finish - or cheering me on somewhere on course.  They also don't really care much when I show off my medals.  I do get FB comments from my mom. . . but . . . well support your running friends and family when you can. This is hard work. For me this was a cumulation of 12 weeks of training. 

So remember I said if I ran both days I got a 3rd medal.  Here is the remix medal.  The middle part turns!  It's a fabulous medal and I'm so glad that I did decide to run both days (I was worried that was the wrong decision)

And just cause I want to show off - here are all three medals. 

When I stopped my Garmin I got the notice that I had three new records!  I knew one of them would be the fastest half (duh) but I didn't know the other two.  I beat my fastest 10K record and then I got longest distance.  I should have realized the longest distance, but wasn't expecting it. 

Michelob Ultra gave every runner a free beer.  I so *love* beer after I run.  As the day goes on, I'm getting more and more sore.  I went to get a pedicure and the lady really massaged my calves. . . unfortunately she didn't massage my feet at all.  I was so disappointed!  I've taken some meds to help with soreness.  I was going to ride Eli today, or I was hoping to, but I gave up that idea.   

I'm wondering if I should consider trying to meet my goal of a 2:30 half somewhere flat?  :)  I tend to forget the pain of running when it's over :) 

I'll leave you with this random photo of some head we ran into on the way back to our car.  Thanks for reading!

2 weeks. . . 5K and Half Marathon

Hey everyone!  It's been a *long* time since I posted.  Mostly cause I haven't done jack with my weight loss. Total stall.  Slight gain.  Slightly bouncing around.  I struggle to lose weight during half marathon training when I have longer and longer runs.  I think in some way my body is always in a state of inflammation.  I will gain 2 lbs shortly after a long run. . . try like hell for a week to get it off and then have another long run.  Sucks, but it's life.  I'm hoping to really buckle down once the race is over.

So here's what happens in 2 weeks.   I run (well I think I will be walking to save my legs) a 5K on Saturday the 18th.    I get this medal:

The next day I run a half marathon and I get this medal:

But because I did both I also get this remix medal.  Apparently the middle part spins.

Who doesn't like race bling?  That's the *only* reason I'm doing both of these - for the bling.  First of all I have never done a 5K and received a medal.  My very very first 5K that I ever signed up for, gave away medals.  But it was rained out.  I still got my medal.  And I cried!  No joke.  But eventually after doing a few races I threw that medal out.  It didn't count.  My husband is doing the 5K with me and I think this will be the one time he finishes before me!  I'm really worried about putting those miles on my legs the day before a half.  Last month we did a Run or Dye (one of those color runs) and we walked quite a bit of that.  My legs were sore.  You use different muscles to walk than run.  So I'm kind of torn on if I should really walk this 5K.  I've not fully decided yet.  It will be hard to walk it cause I'll have fresh legs and I will want to run!

My half training is going well.  I'm following Higdon's novice 1 plan. I followed this the last time as well. However, I had just finished a 15K using his plan for that distance.  And I ran 3 times a week.  The half plan calls for 4.  For my last (and first) half marathon I tried that for 2 weeks and just couldn't commit to 4 days.  So I tossed the really short run in the middle of the week and did 3 days.  I figured it worked for 15K - 9.3 miles, why won't that work for 13.1?   It did work.  I mean I have no reason to believe it didn't.  But this time around I'm doing all 4 runs.  I have hopes that getting my weekly base mileage up will help those last couple miles of the race where I was just dying the first time around.  I should note that really I'm only doing the runs on this plan.  Not the strength and cross training too.  I wish I had the time for all of that, but I have too many other commitments. I ran 9 miles on Sat and I looked back at my 9 mile run for the first half (cause let's be real, I never run 9 unless I'm training!) and my avg pace was faster.  So maybe the 4 days is helping.  I'm not going to lie, it's hard.  I've really struggled last week.  And I struggled in the last 2 weeks of the plan the first time as well.  So I have a 10 miler this weekend and my fingers are crossed!   I really want to PR this half, but I know the course will be more hilly and I will be running alone (I had a friend with me the first time) so I really don't know what to expect.  I want to run the whole thing first and if a PR happens then that will be great.

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Last but not least - any baseball fans out there?  I'm a new baseball fan.  This is really my second year of paying attention in a way that I can knowledgeably talk baseball, I can identify the players on the field, etc. The St Louis Cardinals (my home team) are in the playoffs.  I'm going to game 4 of the 5 game NLDS series tomorrow.  I have tickets to 2 games for the NCLS should we make it that far.  I'm not sure we will.  The Dodgers are tough, among other things.  But my fingers are crossed.  I'm struggling with my soda drinking habit, so I was thinking I may give up soda once the Cardinals are done with their season.  I haven't fully decided. It's such a drug.  It's emotional for me too, but sometimes I just *want* a soda.   In the meantime Go Cardinals!

What's on your keychain?

I had an Albanese gummy bear on my keychain.    Albanese makes the world's best gummy bears!  They have an "A" on their bellies and you can often find them repackaged as a different brand if you have the eagle eyes to notice the A.

I retired my gummy bear keychain after many years for this:

I thought it was a fun little way to keep the memory of my half marathon with me.  Thanks to  Crow Biz Etsy shop for making this!

I kind of went crazy looking for 13.1 stuff after the race. As you know I have the sticker on my car.   Well I also just ordered a necklace from Etsy as well.  I will post that when I get it.  If I get it.  I asked for a variation of a necklace after not being able to find what I wanted.   *fingers crossed*   Now I just need a 13.1 shirt that will fit my fluffy self and isn't cut for a stick thin person. :)

KY Derby Half Marathon

Let me start by saying that this was the hardest and most rewarding thing I've done.   The experience was like none other.  I get teary eyed just thinking about it. 

Friday morning I drove to the airport in St Louis to pick up my friend Mary Kate.  She had to get up at like 2am in Colorado to catch her flight.  We headed straight to Louisville from the airport - about a 5 hour drive.  We arrived at a good time (4pm) at our hotel.  One of the reasons she flew in so early is so that we weren't arriving so late and feeling so tired and rushed getting to the expo. The line for check in was long.  We were staying at the official race hotel, so that may have been why.  The hotel was crowded, the elevators were hot and crowded and took a lot of time.  

This is the view from our room.  Too bad I didn't see much of it!

We went to the Expo and it was kind of smaller than I expected.   Of course my shirt was too small and they didn't have a bigger size to swap.  But I went back after we ate dinner and managed to get one. :)  I do think the shirts are kind of strange, in color and design, but at least it fits.  The *one* thing I wanted at the Expo was a 13.1 sticker for my car.  There wasn't a single sticker to be found. :( 

I bought some headbands at the Expo.  There was this one booth - Ponya Bands that had these bamboo lined headbands.  They were on sale for $18, but they were handing out coupons for online use that made the price cheaper.  I was going to wait to order one online, but the lady gave me the coupon price.  This band is suppose to really absorb the sweat so I'm excited to try it this summer.  I didn't wear it during the race cause I didn't want to lose it.  I like to wear a band that I know will be secure for events. 

The Ponya band in on the left.  If you feel like ordering, use coupon code DERBY419 through the end of May for 25% off ;)  I wore the new band on the right since it's the same style/cut I normally wear and I knew it would stay.  Gotta love some bling!

The morning of the race we woke up shortly after 5 to eat breakfast.  I don't normally eat much before runs, but I also couldn't just walk out the door and start on my run. My friend talked me into breakfast.  We left the hotel at 6:45 (7:30 race start) and the elevators were soooo slow and crowded we walked down 14 flights of stairs.  Nice warm up huh?!  The start was just a few blocks away.  It was already crowded and so were the porta-potties.  But we heard about a set in the reunite area that wasn't crowded so we walked there. As we were walking we heard the bugle player at the start line playing the "Call to the Post" that they play for the riders up call at races.  YAY!  Starting this race KY style.  It sent shivers down my spine. :)  Getting to our corral was so crowded we got there with a minute to spare.  In hindsight we should have just waited for the people from our corral to get up to us, closer to the start.  They didn't stagger the starts - just let us go like a herd of cattle and that was disappointing.  It took us several mins to get to the start, but the race route was crowded the whole time.  Too crowded for my comfort, but what can you do?  This was our quick selfie before the the race started. 

I was very energetic at the start of the race. I was waving to spectators and cheering at them to get them to hoot and holler for us. Mary Kate said "how are you so energetic?!".  Ha. We weren't sure if we were going to stay together or not.  We have the same pace, but I had trained a bit more as she had been sick quite a bit in the past month.  Her parents happened to be in Louisville last week and stayed an extra week to see us.  So they were hanging out near Churchill Downs which was at mile 8.  We hoped to be together at that point.  I felt like I could have went a bit faster at the beginning but I knew not to.  The first 5 miles flew by.  My knee was bugging me at 2.5 miles and worse at 6.  The water stations started to suck and be unorganized.  The last station before we went into Churchill Downs just didn't have enough cups full.  We didn't get any water.  :(  We saw her parents just before we entered the track.  That was motivating.  I took a photo while running:

 Once we got inside we stopped for some photos.   Here's my selfie with the famous twin spires in the background. 

We probably shouldn't have stopped.  It felt so good cause of the lack of water. . . we continued walking.  There were horses being exercised.  We both own horses and so we were distracted. lol.   We walked more than we should have.  We started running once we got out of the tunnel that takes you under the track (the tunnels in and out were probably the most hills of the race. They seemed steep and certainly our knees felt it.  

Coming out of the track, we finally found a water station.  We literally stopped to drink.  I drank a water and a powerade.  Mary Kate drank 2 of each. We felt better.  I don't remember much about miles 9-11.  But 11-13 sucked.  We were slower.  I was anyways.  Mary Kate seemed to get her energy then.  She was like "2 more miles! Let's go!"  My calves were on fire.  It's funny cause in my long training runs I had knee and glute issues.  At this point in the race neither of those hurt but my calves felt like they were going to explode!  I wanted to walk soooo bad.  I really was thinking at this point "I'm never ever doing this again!"   We walked through the remaining water stops and at one point when they gave us oranges.  We had run past so many oranges on the ground, but we didn't get any till much later.  Mary Kate kept pulling me along even though I told her she could go ahead.  Again the course was just too crowded for me.  We had only half the road once the marathoners joined back up with us.  It squished us together.  The crowds got more and more as we got closer to the finish and that helped.  Yet so many people were walking. I had the energy to run a straight line, not to weave in and out of people!  We finally made it and it was a tad slower over all than I would have liked. I wanted a sub-12:00 pace and closer to 2:30 as the finish time. 

Here is the offical race result:

We found water. . . bananas. . . chocolate milk (fantastic!). . . I felt like my stomach was going to explode. lol   We met up with Mary Kate's parents.  We did see them just before we crossed the finish.   We took our medals to be engraved.  It was $10, but it was so worth it.   We got our free beer.  That was the best beer I'd ever had.  Thank you Michelob Ultra!  At this point the endorphins were high and I thought "I could totally do this again!".  Ha!  I'm whacked.  It's ok.  You can say it. '

When I saw this photo of myself I got tears in my eyes.  I thought I might cry when I crossed the finish line, but it was seeing this photo. . . realizing that was me and I did this. . . I held back the tears though. 

I love the medal.  This is my first medal of any race I've done.  I didn't get one at my 15K which was really kind of a let down.  I didn't think it mattered before hand, but it totally does. 

We hung out for just a bit but then had to get back to our hotel cause we had a noon check out.  That was after asking for a late checkout.   We wanted to shower and change before we hit the road.  The 4 hour drive home was tiring.  We stopped a lot to move about.  Last night once I finally laid down my body started screaming.  I will say I took Aleve and Tylenol the night before and the morning of the run to try to help in advance.  I took some last night before bed as well.  I tossed and turned. . . I was so uncomfortably sore . . . I didn't fall asleep till 1 am or after.  I stopped looking at the clock.  I was so mad I couldn't sleep.  I felt like a zombie today.  I'm not sore, but I'm soo tired. 

Overall I'm really happy with the run.  I'm so thankful Mary Kate was there to run it with me.  I'm thrilled her parents were there to cheer us on!  That was so helpful and motivating.  I kind of wish we hadn't walked through Churchill Downs, but we picked this race for the feature of running there.  And honestly I don't think I would have absorbed it as much if I was running. . . and thirsty as heck at that point!  I'm really not sure if I will do this again. Part of me wants to and part of me doesn't.  Mary Kate and I talked about looking for a race in Kansas City MO as it would be kind of in the middle.   I need to have a break and figure out how to lose more weight, cause running does not do that for me.  

Here are the official splits from my Garmin.  You can see where Churchill was. . . I estimate we walked maybe about 1/2 a mile, but it impacted the time and we were slower after. Though if we hadn't walked, we can't assume we would have been any faster.  

My brother in law makes stickers.  What a convenience!  So I looked online at designs and kind of meshed some things together and I ended up with this sticker today.  Totally made my day!  

I leave Wednesday morning to head back to KY.  Lexington this time.   It's a crazy week and I hope I can keep up!  

To sign up?

Well New Year's was a crappy as I thought it would be.  I gotta confess, if you haven't figured it out already, that my marriage is pretty rough.  On NYE I almost ended up leaving at staying at my parents.   Given the face that my husband's first wife left him on new year's eve, I was trying not to repeat that.  Honestly I just don't understand men.  I really wanted to go to the movies that night.  Yet it didn't happen cause he couldn't get his ass in from the shop.  His nephew was there, but really - they had been to lunch and had been talking in the shop for 2.5 hours.  IMO it was my turn.  But apparently I was the only one that thought that way.  Whatever.  I said I hated this holiday and that continues to be true.  We ended up watching Pitch Perfect and went to sleep at 9-ish I guess.  I can't even remember.   I got one text at midnight and Roger got 2 or 3.  I can't remember.  I know someone sent him a mass text and so one of them was a reply to that from someone that he doesn't know.  Why do people need to "reply all" on phones?  I have *never* done that.  I was cranky to wake up just after midnight.  I was sleeping rather well.

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Yesterday we went to the outlet mall.   I wanted to go to the Disney store to get a Frozen figurine set for myself my nephew. Ok we will share it.  They didn't have it, but I could order it from them and get free shipping.  So I did.  In the meantime I got the last stuff Olaf they had.  They said they have a hard time keeping him in stock.

I mean how cute is he???   Yes I spent $40 on a stuffed animal.  But I didn't even care at this point.   I'll admit that I have a shopping problem but it makes me happy when not much else does right now.  And this morning when I woke up and saw him sitting there, I smiled.   How can you not? 

We also got a carpet cleaner.  A Hoover SteamVac something or other.   It was at this direct tools store I think.   We only went in cause it was a "man" store and I felt like Roger should get to look at something :)   Anyways it was $129.99 and 35% off.  We get our carpets cleaned twice a year professionally.  The cats just make that many stains.  I love it when they are clean.  That costs somewhere around $100 I think.  So we figured we would try this.  If it fails we will sell it.  But hopefully it works and we can keep up with the carpet ourselves.  Or at least have it professionally done only once a year.  

Oh and I got the Under Armour slash tights.  They are cold weather tights.  I saw them last time I was there (Nov) and didn't get any.  I should have cause they only had this green-ish color left in my size.  Well they only had yellow left in general.  This color looks yellow, but we noticed it's slightly different.  Normally I wear a large in UA, but I got XL in these.  They just looked better and showed the lumps and bumps a bit less.  If that's possible.   I don't have my own photo, but they look like this.  Honestly in person they look more yellow though.  Eh - not the best color compared to the choices they had 2 months ago, but the price was acceptable and I wanted just one more pair of cold weather tights. 

After we left the outlet we went to lunch.  What an ordeal.  I was hungry!  We saw this restaurant called Mimi's Cafe.  It was cute.  It was not small (like cafe would imply).  I fell for the roof of the building as lame as it sounds.   There was sign in the lobby that said sirloin pot pie.  Ok great.  I wanted some kind of nice hot comfort food.  The wait was short but as we were waiting we decided it seemed like a french cafe.   We got seated.  After a brief look at the menu I said I didn't want to eat there.  I didn't want some fru-fru croissant that was overpriced.  I'd rather just eat at Bread Co.  So before the waitress could come get our drink order, we left.  Just walked out.   We went down the road to Brick House Tavern & Tap.  Cool place.  Good food, but the waitress was SLOW.   I got a turkey club actually cause it sounded so good.  It was topped with deviled eggs if you can believe that.   But really the bill was $35 and we tipped $2.  I was so mad at how long everything took.  Even getting our check. . . then getting our receipt.  Ugh.   

We did stop at Dillard's on the way home to see what this big New Year's sale was about.  OH MY GOODNESS!  That place was trashed.  For such an "uppy" store the place looked like a tornado went through.  I rarely shop there cause it's just too expensive.  It looked horrible.  I wanted to find some bed sheets or a new comforter.  But we came up empty handed. 

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I want to run a half marathon.  It's my next running goal.  In 2011 my friend came to St Louis, from New York, to run the Rock and Roll half.  I almost signed up cause I was going to have hip surgery in a few months and wondered if this was my last chance to run.  You never know how you will recover.  We were walking around the expo and saw a booth for the KY Derby Half Marathon.  We both love (and own) horses.  Oooh how fun to run through Churchill Downs!!!!   But it's always been the same weekend that I am in Lexington KY for Rolex.  Except this year.   This year it's the weekend prior.  It's Easter weekend.  The race is on Sat the 19th.  My friend now lives in CO and said she'd fly to StL and we could drive to Louisville and do the race.  Ironically the 20th is her bday.  Expensive gift to herself huh?!  But we kind of need to sign up. And I'm kind of worried about my knee.  Today I got a $5 coupon code.  Is that a sign? Do I just take the plunge and sign up?   Figure out my knee as I go?  I was going to sign up for a half on April 6th and training wasn't scheduled to start till mid-Jan.  With the race a couple weeks later I wouldn't have to start for a couple more weeks.  Maybe even beginning of February.   So I can rest.  I was going to run yesterday but ran out of time.  Now we have some really cold weather settling in.  Monday will be below 0.  That doesn't happen too often here.   So I don't know. . . do I run a few times before deciding?  Or just rest and suck it up and sign up?  I can't decide!  But my friend would need to book plane tickets soon and we'd need to book a hotel.  I suck at decisions!