Rediculousness

It dawns on me today that Chariots of Fire never even entered my mind yesterday. Surprising since I used to play that record all the time on my parents stereo. I guess the focus required to not curl up into a ball on the pavement as I ran my first ever half marathon took most of my mental energy.

Not that it was that bad, the pain mostly came after the race when my legs became solid tree trunks as they remain a full day later. Don't let that deter you if you're training for a long run, it's actually pretty fun. Getting up at 6 am, jumping on a school bus up to the start of the Toronto Marathon. I sat beside a pale and stubbly man from St. Loise who had huge bags under his eyes, though I'm sure I had chinchilla like luggage under mine. It was a very collegial run with orderly lines for the port-a-poties at the start line and cheering squads with signs like "Go Mommy Go!" down most of the race course.

It was a cool morning on Sunday and I have to say I was feeling pretty good. At around 17 km, Jodie found me and I got to hand off the long sleeved shirt I'd taken of 1o minutes into the race. Somehow in the hand off a threat caught on me sending Jodie to the ground but as I stopped to help her she just looked up and yelled keep going. What could I do? I turned around and kept running. The guy beside me turned and with a spittle filled smile said, "I think she's falling for you." Well that earned some serious respect from me. Cracking jokes at 19 km into a half marathon shows true character.

I kept running and next thing you know there was the finish line. Every step took a little more concentration but I made it and with my last ounces of effort I managed to not toss my cookies at the finish line. A couple Gatorade's later and Jeremy and Jodie (aka Cheer Team) were off to Fran's Diner and a BIG breakfast.

The pain continues but I think I did pretty well.
Half Marathon (21.1 Km or so): 1:44:40 (that's 1 hour, 44 mins and 40 seconds) and worth it I think... hopefully I can walk better tomorrow. The question is what now?

Well done, man. That's awesome.

Go for the marathon next, and then that desert race where they run for like 4 straight days.

What a cutie. Can't wait to run with you and Jill in Ottawa!