13.1 Miles (Because I'm only 1/2 crazy)

My title was taken from a t-shirt I saw at the Surf City Expo where I went to pick up all of my race stuff and I thought it was very well said.

I RAN A HALF MARATHON!

And you've got to be half crazy to run 13 miles, that's for sure. What a feeling of accomplishment and what a blessing to be able to share the experience with my sister and friends Mina and Talitha. The 4 of us had a great time and have a pretty cool medal to show for it (even though my kids are wearing it all of the time and are wondering when they can get their own).
Will got some pictures of the event so I'll take you step by step through the morning.
It all started at 4:15am...yes, 4:15am. Can you believe that humans can wake up that early? Believe me, it was very difficult to drag myself out of bed and get dressed for the race but my adrenaline had already started pumping and I was ready to run the race I had so diligently trained for. Luckily my wonderful hubby woke up with me and took some pre-race photos. Yep, I'm smiling at 4am. I am crazy...Cara and I rhinestoned our pants for the race, kind of like a tattoo of sorts. "13.1" was what it said...or what it was supposed to say. For some reason, my gem glue didn't seem to take to my rhinestones and they started falling off 1 by 1. By the end of the race, the 3 remained and the 1's were history. I'm going to have to fix that. Cara's, of course, looked marvelous. She must have the right touch...or the right glue. Anyway, here's a leg shot of my "tattoo."...and this is what it looked like at the start of the race. When we registered, Cara and I thought we were going to walk some of it due to some health problems Cara was going through so we were stuck all the way back with the "runningsoslowyou'dthinkIwaswalking" group and, I tell ya, the WHOLE race we were dodging people left and right just to run at a good pace. Next time we'll start a little earlier and maybe get some road to ourselves. So, this next picture was Will's attempt to take a photo and pray that I was in it. I'm not. I'm probably moving like a sardine toward the back of this lovely group. It took a while for all of us to get past that starting line.
While I was running, Will made sure the kids had lots of fun. First they went sunbathing (and showing off those amazing physiques).
Then they went surfing for a little while.
Mikayla, the pro, had to show them how it was done. Look at her go!
After noticing on a lattitude application (Will had installed one into my iphone) that I was 4 miles away from the finish, he found a place near the finish line and waited for me and my sister to run by. I'm warning you, this next photo is NOT Quasimodo with Cara...it's me. I saw Will, waved a hand while shrugging to say hi to the kids and *snap* Will caught my every action with the shutter of his camera. It is the ONLY action shot he got. Oh, and poor Cara looks surprised to see my hubby at the exact same time I'm acting like a hunchback. *sigh* Oh well, action shots aren't the most flattering, that's for sure.
Cara and I finished the race in 2:07:15. That's a 9:45 minute mile, or around there. My friend and training partner, Mina, finished slightly before us and got a great time as well. Here we are with our medals and what is left of my 13.1 pants tattoo. We did it!
Here is Mina, finishing slightly before us even with a side cramp and small shoes. She was such an encouragement to me throughout this whole process. I ran my first 6, 7,8, and 10 miles with her by my side and it was awesome to finish this journey with her. She's hinting at training for a full marathon...I don't know if I'm that brave.
My friend Talitha was there as well and has more courage than anyone I know. After finding out that she has a slipped disk, she still ran in the race and finished with a great time.
Oh, and one more thing. You'd think, after wearing your shoes for at least a month and building up "shoe resistance," I wouldn't get a blister? Well, you'd be wrong. A week before the race, the old blister skin fell off and new, more tender skin replaced it so, come race day, the blister started all over again. I felt it around 6 miles and, 7 miles later, I was afraid of what I'd find. Sure enough, it was a pretty nasty sight. My poor feet-so irritated.