13.1 miles, cause I'm only half crazy!

So the big race went by as quickly as it approached. With the support of family and friends I surpassed my $2,500.00 goal for Team in Training!

In Honor of

Our niece Hailey Barnes

Race recap:

Saturday night we enjoyed an inspirational pasta dinner with all the coaches, staff, and runner from team in training. We had a survivor speak that was diagnosed with Lymphoma 2 years ago. She and her husband were planning her funeral. She was skin and bones and was in a wheel chair. Thanks to The Leukemia and Lymphoma society she was running in the half marathon with us.

The pasta was tasty, and the speakers made us laugh and cry. After our carb overload Scott and I headed back to the hotel to meet up with our friends before an early bedtime. I use the term early loosely. I was very sleepy, but had a hard time falling asleep. I even found myself telling Scott he couldn't fall asleep before me, because I was going to be mad if he did. Eventually I drifted off to sleep to wake at 1 am to use the restroom. All the pre-race hydration woke me up bright and early. Do you need to guess how long it took me to get back to sleep? Long enough.

Sunday morning!!! Race Day! Wake up call at 4:30am. Why do we put ourselves through this? Whit and I started the morning with a bagel, peanut butter, banana, and honey. At 5:30am we headed towards the start line. Our sweet husbands drove us to the start line to make our morning as hassle free as possible. We stood around for an hour waiting for the race to start. Too be honest, the time went by pretty quickly.

Lobby of the hotel. Heading to the car. I think we still look half asleep:)

7:10am we are off! The first 7 miles were great. I was running all miles in the 9's. Then came the hurt. The last half of the race was miserable for me. My IT bands were so tight that not only where my hips hurting, my knees hurt, and my butt hurt. Yes that is right, my butt. So for 6 miles I ran in pain, but I ran! I wasn't going to stop and walk. I worked too hard for this race and I wanted it over quickly. At mile 11.5 there was a sign that said Pain is temporary and Pride is forever. After the sign and a motivational talk from a tnt coach I made my way to the finish line.

You will notice in the pictures the difference in my running posture and enthusiasm from the start to the finish.

At the start. Look how excited I am.

And there you go. Running in total pain.

At least there is a smile.

Yay! I had my chair, medal, and water...oh yeah, I was also finished! I was a happy girl.

We did it!

Shannon and Lance ran the race in under 2 hours! Whitney beat her goal for the day:)

I ran the whole thing and finished!

But when it is all said and done, I would do it all over again. It must be like childbirth where you block out the pain, because you do it again. I am planning on a Rock n Roll next November in Savannah....or the Vegas Rock n Roll next December. These races are addicting.