San Diego Half Marathon:

Pictured below L to R

{Jessica, Natalie, Amber, Amy, Chelsea, & Candice.}

Last weekend I ran my second half marathon. When people ask me how I did or how my race was, I feel like when I try to explain my, "out of body experiences in running" I start to freak people out. I think the other girls share this same love as well. Like seriously, I'm obsessed with the feeling of running alongside 8,000 other people. I couldn't get my feet to stop during the race even if I wanted to. I had more fun during this run than I ever have and I beat my last marathon time by 20 minutes?! What-the-what?! TWENTY minutes?! Dude, That's what I said!

Usually when we train, I like to take breaks (because I'm lazy, or tired, or bored...) but I can't remember stopping once the entire time. I slowed down to grab water but I was so pumped and was having so much fun, I didn't want to stop. These big races are so much fun because when you grab your water, you drink it and just throw it to the ground, so as you're running, you're stomping over hundreds of paper cups and water's going everywhere. You feel like such a friggin' rock star. It's so much fun.

We got to the drop off spot and were standing there talking and stretching before the race started. I was talking to Candice and Amy, and typical me starts blubbering and crying. I'm all, "I love you guys! What if this is the last race we ever do because I move, I couldn't have done this without you!....." So I'm balling and they're hugging me and this girl comes up behind us and says, "DO YOU GUYS HAVE A TAMPON!" To which we all start laughing... (I also cried in the bus sitting next to Candice looking back at the journey that brought me here, and the fact that these girls birthed such a great love for running in me. I wouldn't have started doing this without them.) She says she didn't know I was crying, but I know she's just trying to protect my pride so I don't feel like such a marshmallow.... I feel sorry for them, really I do. I get so emotional over races and when we have really good runs. (The first time I finished an 8 mile workout, the three of them were cradling me in their arms because I'm such a baby. It's quite embarrassing.) Every accomplishment is so big when It comes to running.

High lights of my race: I ran with Amy (passin' fools and weaving between people) for about the first 2 miles. I had a few cramps but worked through them. We started near the ocean and ran up hill for a while which was such a trip for me because all you see are bodies in front of you going up this hill. It's a sea of people all running, no spaces hardly, just a street full of people. I was so in awe of it, I stopped to video tape how cool it looked to see everyone, but there's too much fog in the way, so you can't get the real idea of how crazy it was as I looked up that hill.

I got into my groove at about mile 4 and from then on, I kept looking down at my watch, and at my pace and was like, WHOA, I'm actually maintaining my time and staying consistent! I remember thinking to myself when I was feeling so proud of my pace, "This is exactly why I got up at 4am to run."

Mile 1:

We ran through some neighborhoods where people were sitting in lawn chairs waving, clapping, smiling at us, high fiving us and had signs telling us to "DIG DEEP!", while they all sipped their coffee. I guess it would be a sight to see 8,000 people running past your front door! Having complete strangers cheer you on and saying "Keep going, you've got this!" was a really neat feeling.

Side note: A little boy had written in chalk on the street where we were running "I love you Mommy, love Lou." (Lou is Conrad's nickname. We call him Lou probably everyday. It's short for Bubba-lou-lou's....anyway) I thought it was a sweet gift of encouragement, even if it wasn't intended specifically for me. God is so sweet to me. I also saw a lady with a shaved head whose shirt read "Cancer can kiss my ass!" I lost it, I'll admit. Seeing her was a really sweet moment for me especially because I used Bobbie as my inspiration to train and used a lot of my running time to cover her in prayer. This race was definitely dedicated to Bobbie.

Mile 7 came and I couldn't believe it. It all went by so fast.

I saw Dustin with Conrad in the Bjorn next to Candice's husband cheering us on at mile 10. I ran up and kissed both of them, he snapped a few pictures and as I ran past them, I was thinking, there is NO way they're going to see me finish. The kiss was good enough though. I was really sad at mile 10 because I knew it was almost over.

I was running and as the course looped around, I see Amy in her neon green tank and we both started waving at each other and jumping up and down. That was a fun moment.

The last 2 miles were all up hill. Right when I turned the corner and saw that hill, I changed my ipod to get me pumped up, and tore that hill a new one. It seemed like people just stopped dead in their tracks at the hill. It wasn't easy, but it was NOTHING compared to the hills we ran at Red Rock.

The finish was one of the most awesome feelings of my life. Tons of people lined up on each side screaming and cheering you on. I looked over and saw Candice and her husband cheering for me. I ran so hard. I seriously had SO much fun. My body felt great, the weather was INCREDIBLE (compared to our 100+ degree weather we trained in) I wasn't aching, I wasn't tired, I just loved every minute of it. I kept thanking God for running during the race and kept trying not to cry. God, I'm pathetic.

I feel like everyone should train and run a half at least once in their lives. It's so rewarding.

So I texted the running buddies yesterday about the rock and roll half in L.A. on Oct 24Th and I think we're all in...... These marathons are addicting! (We could all get our triple crown! 3 half marathons in a year!!)

Thanks for all of your support guys. It's so fun to share these memories with you.