Toenails are for sissies.

If a year ago someone had told me I would run a marathon, I would have laughed in their face and told them they were crazy. Turns out, I'm the crazy one.
Back in the beginning of July my visiting teacher Lori somehow talked me into running a marathon with her. I don't know how she did it. She must have said something very convincing or maybe I just don't have the ability to tell people no.
At any rate I started my training with only 10 weeks to go. Training is not fun. It's very time consuming and what normal person really enjoys getting up early on a Saturday to run 19 miles? Definitely not this girl. But I did it.
Sadly the marathon was the same day my dad had a 50 mile bike race so mom and dad wouldn't be able to come. THEN dad had to work Friday night at the MoTab concert so they couldn't even just skip his race. I was a bit sad. I mean a marathon is kind of a BIG DEAL. Oh well. My cousin was going to come and cheer for me as were a couple girls from my ward.
So Friday I headed up to Salt Lake to get my packet. Then I went to stay with an old roommate from college. We went out to dinner and caught up on what's been happening in life. Then we were back at her house. It was only 9 so we decided to put in a movie. Walk, don't Run. I recommend it to anyone. It was super funny and cute Lindsey left a note on my bag in the morning that said Run, don't Walk and a good luck message. It was a great way to start my day at 4 a.m.
I got to the bus with plenty of time and we headed up the canyon. It was a very long bus ride. I headed straight from the bus to the porta potty line and as luck would have it I found Lori! In the dark! at 6:15! But the line was slow moving and when it was finally my turn, the race started. Oops.
So I finished my business and then got out there. It was just after 6:30 and kind of cold. I had forgotten my long sleeve shirt, but they had given us some gloves so I just hoped I'd warm up after a mile or two and sure enough at 2.5 I was tossing the gloves to the side.
The canyon was pretty steep and by mile 8 my knees were hurting pretty bad. I was glad I had decided to wear my knee brace. I took some advil or aleve or whatever they gave me at the first aide station and kept going. The canyon was BEAUTIFUL!!! Perfect for the first day of Fall. The temps were great and the leaves were amazing.
Coming out of the canyon at mile 14.5 I could hear someone cheering for me. I was expecting my cousin to be there so I was looking for him. Instead I see this man on a bicycle and had to do a double take. IT WAS MY DAD!!!! I almost started crying right there. He biked around with me and ahead of me for about 3.5 miles. It was good to have him there. The uphill started at about 15.5 and I was getting kind of tired. Mile 19 was super painful with it's downhill again. My muscles did not appreciate that at all. From there on out it was a mile at a time. Usually it was more of a song at a time. Lori and I were together from about 15 to 20. Then I could always see her just ahead of me.
At mile 22 or 23  (it kind of starts to run together by this point) I was super mad at the world. I hated everyone and everything and I was ready to be done. Dad found me again around this point and helped me through and then dad was with me again through mile 24 and my cousin was at mile 25. I was SO thirsty by this point and that last mile might as well have been another complete marathon.

My cousin walked with me through the aide station while I drank all my water (3 cups) and was still thirsty but still had that last mile to go. It was awful. My right big toe had started to hurt at mile 23 because of a blister and it was hard to figure out how to run without that hurting super bad. At mile 26 that blister popped and there was no way I was going to run with my shoe rubbing against that. So I took off my shoe. I was going to run with just one shoe on but that was awkward so I took off the other one and ran the last .28 miles in my socks. I had just enough left in me to run across the finish line, shoes in hand, and then I was completely spent. I cried.

I can't believe I actually did it. It was hard and not very fun, but what an accomplishment!
My mom and dad drove me home and stayed for a while, but they had to head back to Idaho because my dad had to work today.
It was good and I suppose I'm glad I did it. I'm feeling pretty sore today and I imagine tomorrow will only be worse. I lost one toenail in training and I'm going to lose both my big toenails. They hurt almost as much as my muscles. We saw a sign as we were running that said "toenails are for sissies". Guess I'm not a sissy.
I'd do it again if I didn't have to train for it, but it just takes too much time. For all you who can keep on doing it, kudos to you. As for me, I think once was enough.

Mile 22? Maybe. Dad said smile, I said no. He said fake it. So I tried.

I'll keep my toenails from here on out.

The Blog chain

My friend Jenn tagged me in this blog thing

The rules are as follows:

1::Each person tagged must post 11 random facts about themselves

2::They must answer the 11 questions posted by the previous blogger

3::They must create 11 more questions to ask their tagged bloggers

4::They must tag 11 blogs with less than 200 followers

5::The bloggers must be told

6::No tag backs 

 

I'm gonna have to do the parts 3 &4 later. Maybe when I'm laying in my bed dying after my marathon.

11 Facts about me:

1:: I love barns

2:: I have a fabric addiction. It's hereditary.

3:: Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday

4:: I really want people to like me. All people. I don't have to be their best friend, but I don't want them to hate me. It's a problem.

5:: I have been bitten by a monkey. It hurt. Real bad.

6:: Pizza Pie Cafe is my most favorite pizza ever!

7:: I hate pears and cantaloupe. Disgusting.

8:: Lasagna and sloppy joes are my favorite. I could probably eat them everyday and be just fine.

9:: I lettered in boys basketball. Twice.

10:: I love to quilt.

11::  I'm a loyal friend. If the other person will put in some effort, I'll be your friend forever. I tried just being friends with everyone forever, but it was too much. Gotta have some effort on the other side. It makes me sad, but so did trying and not getting anything.

 

Here are your questions:

1:: What is your favorite movie soundtrack?

I really like the soundtrack to Tangled. Don't judge. If we just go soundtrack and skip the movie part I choose Wicked. 

2::What is your favorite go-to pair of shoes?  Why?

I have a pair of black sandals that i just love, but they are close to death. I love them because they are easy to put on, they go with everything and I can wear them to work or church or just in life. So great. 

3::What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

 It use to PPL but I gave up on that when I missed a couple episodes. So I'm going to go with eating Nutella and watching the Cosby show. A complete waste of my time and calories, but it's just so great.

4::What's your favorite smell in the entire world? 

I can't think of anything I LOVE, but I really like the smell of fresh cut grass. And dirt.

5::If you could take ANY class, what would it be?  (get creative)

 If I could take a dance class and not just learn to dance, but really LOOK legit, I'd choose that. I look like a fool when I dance. No matter the type. Or maybe welding. My odds would be pretty good in that class. ;)

6::What is your all time favorite junk food?

 Peanut Butter M&M's

7::What is your favorite day?  (Could be day of week, holiday ect...)

Thanksgiving. Good food. Family time. Reflection. It's good. 

8::I often say that many things are a "nightmare."  Explain what your absolute worst nightmare would be.

Public speaking. Especially if I have to sell anything. Shoot me now. 

9:: If you got to live any love story (from history, movies, books ect) which one would you choose?

As I'm thinking of all these different stories, I'm realizing that although there is a great love story there is the depressing part too. I realize that's life, but it's kind of depressing. So having said that, I think . . .  Titanic, or Return to Me, or the book Hearts in Hiding.

10:: As of right now, what is your number one personal goal and career goal.

Personal goal: Run a  marathon. Guess as of tomorrow I'll need a new one. Career goal; can't I just get married and have some little babies? I like that. Good goal.

11:: List one thing you wish you had the guts to do right now.

Ummmm, ask out that one guy . . .

Who wants a taco?

I've decided I really like the people that I work with. They are super nice and can be pretty entertaining. Sometimes without even trying. Like today for instance.
I work with 6 men and one pregnant woman. Yesterday Becky left early to go to the doctor to find out if she is having a boy or a girl. Collin bet it was a boy since Becky already has 3 girls. This morning when I got to work I asked her what she is having and it turns out, she's have another girl. :/ Collin was not yet at work.
Later in the day, around noon I warmed up my lunch and Collin commented on how hungry his was. Becky then told us she was going to go and get some lunch. As she was getting ready to leave Collin called out "Wait! What are you having?!" To which Becky replied "I'm going to get a taco. Do you want one?" This made perfect sense to me. Collin stared at her for a minute and then said "What is the sex of your baby?" Becky started to laugh, as did Collin and I. She then said "I'm having a taco!" Followed by "It's another girl". It's been cracking me up all day. Maybe it was one of those things where you had to be there, but what perfect timing. What are you having? A taco.

Who knows

This morning I slept a little longer than I should have. I still had time to get ready and figured I'd just take my breakfast with me in the car. It's been done before and I will probably do it again. For some reason today it just did not happen. I got out my frozen fruit and put it in the magic bullet glass. I then got out my juice to add to it. Opened the juice and immediately could smell that I would not be using that juice. Poured it in the sink and went to use my roommates juice. It was bad also. I finally just went with orange juice and twisted the lid on. I put in on the blender motor thing and it started up. I took it off and shook it and then put it back on. When I went to take it off, it wouldn't budge. I had to unplug it and then I still couldn't get it off. It's still sitting on my counter. This has happened before and it's super obnoxious, but as I got to work I just wondered why. Maybe it was just bad luck. I got up late. Two juices were bad. Then it got stuck. But maybe there was some higher power at play here. Maybe if I had been drinking my smoothie in my car on the freeway something bad would have happened. There is no way to know, but thinking of it that way helps me be less irritated by the whole situation. Who knows how many times things happen to prevent other things from happening. I think I'll just say a prayer of thanks for all those unknown to me times and be happy that I'm alive, and although I may be hungry, I've got a lot to be grateful for.

Sometimes I run 19.28 miles

But let's be honest here. I've only done that one time and that was this morning. Marathon countdown is 3 weeks from today. Today was my last long run before the race. Nothing more than 10 in my future for a while. I had great plans. I'd get up and run at 6. That would give me time to get out run before it got hot and be back to take a package to the UPS store by 10:30 to mail to my sister in the MTC.
All my plans went down the drain when I woke up at 5:30 to thunder and lightening and pouring rain. I got up and watched it for about 15 minutes, reset my alarm for 6:30 and went back to bed. Luckily it had stopped raining and I was out the door and running at 6:50. First 6.3 miles were great. Second 6.3 miles weren't bad, but the hour was getting late and I didn't think I'd have time to make it to 20 miles like I had planned AND make it to the UPS store. After the 2nd 6.3 ish miles I stopped at home and got the package and keys all ready. Took me about 7 minutes. Then I went out to finish the running. It was 9:10. At about mile 14 it started to thunder and lightening and I kept praying as I ran that I wouldn't get struck by lightening. Then at about mile 15 or so, the lightening stopped and the rain started. I kept trying to think how I could do my run so that I'd at least get 18 miles and still make it to mail the package. Time was getting short (too bad I can't just run faster, THAT definitely wouldn't work for me). I couldn't really figure out how to do it so I just ran some and hoped it would be good. I ran the final stretch to my house, hurried inside to grab the box and my keys and then back to my car. As I was getting into my car my right foot started cramping. I pulled my shoe off and rubbed it a bit and then headed to the UPS store. It was 10:18. Of course since I was in a hurry I got behind every slow car there was. If I managed to change lanes to get around them, some other dumb car would cut in front of me. I was not a happy camper. I finally made it the store and headed in. Let me remind you, I had just run a very long way, I was hot and sweaty and wet and very smelly. I also only had one shoe on. Don't worry I had my roommate take a picture when I got home so you could see just how lovely I was looking.

This is with my hair not so wet and the sweat marks dried a bit. It was real bad.

I got there at 10:30 and luckily they hadn't sent the shipment out yet. They told me I had to write my name, address and phone number on a piece of paper. I got my name okay, but I struggled with my address and phone number. My brain just wasn't really firing on all cylinders. The man said, oh it's okay, it's early. Early definitely wasn't my problem. At least I had put my other shoe on by that time. At any rate, the package made it and I watched them load it into the van to be delivered. I did eventually get my phone number and address written down. I then went outside and stretched for a while. AND I went to the store. Lucky for me I didn't see anyone I knew.I called my dad and told him my story. He got a pretty good laugh out of it. I've done nothing for the rest of the day. I tried to take a nap, but that didn't work. Maybe I'll be a productive human being, but I'm betting it won't happen. Good thing I don't often run that far, I'd be completely worthless.