hanging up my shoes.

what a weekend.

i know myself pretty well. my last post was almost pitch perfect.

i strayed in the time i would crap out and the drinking one too many beers.

i was home by about 430, and i had stopped drinking a good bit before that.

but let's backup to saturday morning.

andrew and i went and ran a really fun 5k. everyone was dressed up. i wasn't going to push it this race, and if i would have known, i would have taken praiagirl with me. it was a dog friendly race. anyways, it was probably the shortest feeling 5k i have run in a while, or ever for that fact.

not my best time by a stretch, but that's totally okay because i knew i had a long day ahead of me and this little thing called a marathon to run the next day.

rocked some neon green ProCompression socks and my new lavender Mizunos. mmm it was a cute combo. some guy right at the 400m to the end told me he liked my socks. yea, well like them while they pass you...BURN. no i didn't say that, i grumbled some sort of snortty thank you.

then i rocked my ProCompression sleeves under white pants. breaking all sorts of fashion rules right there. totally okay with it.

bar hopped for a little while and then i bounced home to eat some cold pizza, drink a lot of water, and take a nap.

sunday morning came a lot earlier than i was really ready for. i was awake, but i was slow moving. my hips didn't hurt, which is always a good start. i donned a different pair of neon green ProCompression socks, my lavender Mizunos, some awesome shorts from target, and a tank top.

it was awkwardly cold at the start, but i shed my throw away shirt and set out.

i felt strong for the first 12 miles or so. about mile 13 i started to not feel so hot. mile 16 my stomach decided it wasn't in the race anymore. i had to stop and pee, and then not vomit. BRUTAL. i eeked it out until mile 18 and then i was done.

so i did what any normal person would do, and i ate EVERYTHING that was handed to me. girl scout cookies, m&m's, freeze-pops, oreos. all of it. why not?

i met this amazing lady stephanie, that walked with me from about mile 23 on and then ran the last 100m across the finish line. she was super nice and was fighting an upper respiratory infection.

the problem with this race, is that the split for the 1/2 and the full are at mile 7. and as most runners can attest, at mile 7 you are a little tired, but are by no means out of juice. you also can't really gauge how the next 19.2 miles are going to go. you feel good, but 3 miles later you may start to hate life and you don't have any option but to power through. 

i felt fine at mile 7 so i kept going. i was going slower than my normal pace for anything, but i expected that and was totally okay with it.

so with number 2 in the books, i am going to hang up my shoes for a little while and focus on 5ks (because those are mainly what i can get my friends to run) and 1/2s. i like the 1/2 distance. a lot actually. you leave knowing you left it all out there, but wanting to run more.

i will get more in depth with the race and everything later, but i figured i should at least get something on paper.

race photos courtesy of a little borrowing from marathonphoto...

how to train for a marathon...

if you want the proper answer, or even a valid answer, then you have seriously come to the wrong place.

but if you want an honest answer, then you may have come to the right place.

if you want to know how i trained for a marathon then you are definitely in the right place.

let's start off with defining training.

january we started off strong. which led into february where we fell apart.

i ran a total sum of 14 miles in february. PATHETIC.

but like i said, life got in the way.

things like this:

running in shorts in february

funfetti dip for the WIN (i mean super bowl)

this face

that face playing in the snow

a little trip to the great state of mississippi

making some badass tables

being summoned

having the best boss ever

a visit from this face

crazy sky in north georgia

being a good blogger and never blogging but taking pictures of my yogurt stash

SAMUEL L DOGSON

typical

day drinking

so if you are like me and life gets in the way of being able to train, you have to wing it. and by life i mean i worked some crazy hours. i drive a truck and trailer and i can't be exhausted. it's not in the cards, and running, well running makes me exhausted by about 2 pm. so it had to be put on hold. evening runs were out of the cards, because most nights i ate oatmeal (like i am a million years old....just add some prunes) and fell asleep by about 830.

here is me winging it:

friday (ahem today):

• pick up race packet 
• get made fun of for getting the men's shirt. whatever the women's are cut weird and i don't like em. 
• panic because you remember you left your brand new shoes at the shop - 2.5 hours away. 
• buy new shoes! really, really purple shoes...

saturday:

• run 5K (oh yea, this is a tradition apparently now. just go with it. it's not because i am an idiot)
• keg's and egg's. because after all it is st. patty's day and day drinking is a must.
• most likely drink one more beer than necessary
• crap out at about 8. 
• chug some water and pray

sunday:

• wake up at ASS crack of dawn. 
• scarf down whatever food there is that can be consumed with peanut butter
• get in car
• ride to marta 
• ride with your other sleepy enemies, i mean runner friends, and zombie walk to corrals
• have a little race day panic party
• run a race

oh and wear a ton of compression gear.

and mainly just remember this because it's hilarious. here are some tidbits...

 all very helpful. and all eerily true.

here's to being dumb and attempting a round two battle royale with 26.2