OUC Half Marathon

Today was another milestone run, because it was our second race! We did the OUC Half Marathon this morning and celebrated afterwards.

After watching the Spirit of the Marathon last night , we were inspired and pumped and ready to take on the course in the morning.

So guess whose alarm failed to go off this morning? You guessed it! My phone rang this morning, I bolted up, looked over at the clock and screamed "OH $H*T!" I'm late. Sure enough, it was Big B calling to find out why the house was dark and if in fact I was still sleeping. Needless to say, I dressed in about 3 minutes flat and was out the door with breakfast in my hand in about 7! Seriously! I can't believe I overslept and my alarm didn't go off.

Anyway, we arrive with plenty of time to spare so while I jump in line to get our race chips, Big B goes and tells Burnham we'll be there in a few minutes for the group photo but returns to tell me that they aren't organized and we'll make the photo no problem. Guess what... we missed the photo while waiting in the long line and then navigating the crowd to get to the photo site! (Sigh)

Anyway, once we got our chips on, we needed to make a "pit stop" and who should we run in to but DDD and DDR's wife! (Remember DDR is currently on the mend- but was TOTALLY at the finish line with Bailey's on ice waiting for us all to come in!). So, back to the pit stop, we all chatted while waiting to use the porta potties (never a pleasant experience under any circumstances) which the one DMC (DM would be "Dancing Mom") and I used (not together!) was so beyond gross because someone didn't exactly get over the potty before their bidnezz began...guess it was an early case of "Runner's Trot."

So after enduring that nightmare, we went to the start line and waited for the horn...and waited...and waited...and waited some more before it finally went off and so were we! Big B got the crazy notion that she wanted to complete the half in 2 hours (we're a bit ambitious- but we were both super inspired after the movie and both feeling really good this morning) so we started at a 9 minute/mile pace. By mile 4, my knee started to bother me (BAD) and I slowed considerably, finally settling into a comfortable pace by about the 6th mile. Which I couldn't tell you what it was b/c my STUPID Nike iPod thing-a-ma-chig was off by a half mile, eventually getting an entire mile off! AAARRRRGGGGHHHH! However, I wasn't alone in my anodynes b/c Big B's was doing the same thing!

Needless to say, this was a hard race for me and ultimately, I wasn't feeling it. At one point, I almost threw in the towel- but then I remembered what the "Higher Authority" said and "Don't ___ out!" However, what really kept me and Big B going, was that cheer leading husband of mine, who I didn't expect to see except for at the finish line and instead saw him at 4 different points on the course and then at the finish line. I was hurting today and felt like I barely made it, but I managed to cross the finish line at 2:21. Big B came in at 2:18 and was anxiously awaiting for me to make the turn in the home stretch and she joined me as I crossed the finish line! We were so elated.

Afterwards, we celebrated with a little Bailey's (as previously mentioned), waited for DDD to cross the finish line, where we all headed over to the beer tent, where we proceeded to close the beer tent down! Two beers and allot of animated conversation later, we were on our way. We topped our morning off with a few more beverages at the Burnham after party but then treated ourselves to lunch at Dexters before heading home!

It was a long day, but a good one. And even though I didn't finish in 2:10 (which is what we typically run our 13 miles in so that tells you we were all kinds of wonky today) I'm still happy. I got my medal. I'm going to proudly sport it at work on Monday and then I'm thinking I'm going to hang it on my Christmas tree!

Until the 11th...
Little B

P.S.
If you haven't done so, don't forget to donate! You dollars are helping the Burnham Institute for Medical Research find cures for diabetes, cancer and other terrible diseases that affect thousands of people everyday.

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