It's been awhile.

Hi strangers!  I know I have been absent for a while.  Life has been crazy.  Lots of new things have happened and I really couldn't be happier right now.  School is going well.  I ended last quarter with a 4.0 and have all A's at the half-way point of this quarter.    May 2nd I did the biggest thing physically I have ever done... completed the Broad Street run.  All 10 miles in the heat and with my best friend by my side.  It was a great day and I was super proud of myself and her.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows however.  Starting the day off, I had an incredibly nervous stomach so had to take many bathroom breaks.  I know, TMI.  I worried all morning: did I train enough?  Am I going to finish?  What if I get sick during the race?  What if I don't finish?  The starting time was getting closer and closer and it was time to push that all aside.  I was about to do something I had never thought possible. We approached the starting line and took off.  I told her it would be more fun if we finished together (that's what she said) and we would be able to motivate each other when things got tough. It was so nice to see the people along Broad Street cheering for us even though they had no idea who we were.  It was about 800 degrees so some of the fire hydrants were open along the course and, like a kid or a girl running 10 miles in sweltering heat, I ran through all of them.  We took walking breaks at the water stops and, in my case, up the hills.  All down hill... yeah right.   We passed Temple and it was nice to see some familiar territory.  Before I knew it we were at mile 5 and City Hall.  I'm not going to lie; this hurt.  After awhile, my body just kept going.  We knew our friends would be waiting for us at mile 8 so that definitely kept us looking forward.  After mile 8 it was two more miles to go.  We were passing the sports stadium and the Rocky theme was playing.  Girl Talk came on my ipod and kept playing "watch my feet, watch my feet."  Then I started singing it out loud.  We came up on bff's family and knew we were close to the finish.  That last .5 miles were so tough I think because we were so close.  The finish line got closer and closer and before I knew it we were crossing it.  It was an awesome feeling. My legs felt like jello and I had a lovely sunburn.  The outline of my ipod (as seen above) was burnt onto my arm and my hilarious friends asked me what gig I was wearing.  It took about two days to walk normally again and I spent plenty of time waddling around my office and house.

Now that it is over all I want to do is run more and more (which I plan on doing as soon as I hit publish.)  I really want to do the half marathon this coming November so that I have the time to train safely.  If I could do this, what can't I do?