Monday in Motion

I feel like I did not accomplish my goal of doing something active every day this past week, but in my defense it is was a ridiculously hot week. Like 40 degrees in the shade hot. So I most definitely did not bike to work! Also the AC at work was broken until Thursday so it a sweatfest regardless. Thank the lord for AC repairmen!

But onwards and upwards to a recap of my week!

Monday- Holiday here in Toronto and I got in almost 10,000 steps according to my fitbit app on my phone (which means it only records my steps when my phone is on me, and therefore excludes my many walks to the fridge ;) ). I didn't do much beyond walk to Queens Park to lie in the grass and read with my friend.

Tuesday- Did another 10,000 steps I went out for dinner with my friend in Koreatown (mmm bibimbap) and also traipsed all over the west end buying birthday presents for my niece.

Wednesday- 5.7km run. Went in the late evening to cut the heat!

Thursday- 8km run. Also went later in the evening (but not late enough) and pushed the pace. It was a good, but tiring, run. I crashed at 8pm.

Friday- 12,000 steps. Ran a bunch of errands. Got my nails did

Saturday- 5km run at 8am. 8am was not early enough. Very hot!! Spent the afternoon/evening celebrating the first birthday of this little cutie. Where does the time go?

Sunday- 9km run at 8am. 8am was not early enough (and I really should have known this). It was supposed to be 11.6km, but between the heat and my hip flexors, which have been sore lately, it was just not happening and and I came home and went back to bed.

All in all in was a good week, and I'm surprised how many steps I got in! Over 10,000 each day! No wonder my hip flexors are feeling it!

I also mentioned last week that I signed up for another half marathon!! I am running the Beaches Jazz Run on July 24th!

I have no intention of PRing at a half marathon in JULY right now, but I figured it would keep me running all summer (I have a lazy bone in me that cannot be removed), and it was reasonably priced, AND it looks like it is the first year this race will be time-chipped, have medals, have FREE photos, and it's being run by a local club so it feels like it will be a good, fun race. Kind of an inaugural race. Since the Midsummer's Night Run is seemingly gone for good, it is nice to find a new mid-summer run!

Anyway, I am trying to work on speed this summer, so I am hoping that maybe I can finish around my PR of 1:55 (however, that was on a nice cool day. July won't be as favourable weather-wise). But I also super enjoyed the pace of the first half of my marathon (I ran the first half in 2:06) and I am hoping to just enjoy my race like that again. so maybe somewhere in between? 2:00? We will see how training goes!

Toronto Graffiti Art

I have been slow to put new art up above my couch as it is the only real "wall" in the main living area and I really wanted to make sure I found the right piece or pieces for there- something that reflects me (and I guess Cam too)! So this whole time I have had just my favourite Toronto neighbourhood map up there while I ruminated.

For Christmas my friend got me a lovely wooden postcard with a picture of the Front St. street sign on it that was made by a local artist (I lost their name). And I also have my awesome graffiti style pillow on the couch, designed by another local artist- Nadia Lloyd. I felt like my decision was made for me- I needed a Toronto themed gallery wall, which would be a nice accompaniment to my travel themed gallery wall in the front hall. It all sort of works- an ode to my travels by the front door, but an ode to my beloved city in my living room.

However the wooden postcard and the giant neighbourhoods poster are way too different in size to work together so I began to keep an eye out for other pieces to add to my collection. I was on Reddit some months back perusing the local subreddit /r/toronto for local news when I found a really cool collection of prints of the city skyline made with shots of local graffiti. The person had just made them for fun, but I messaged him/her and asked if I could buy some prints of them and the rest is history!

Here is the person's website to see some of their other items. I don't think these prints were ever publicly sold.

I love that they add some colour to wall, but are modern looking too. The seller and I discussed various ways to print them, but I liked the portrait style with tons of white space so that is what I chose! I also tried to pick 3 colours that would work together and go with my style.

PS- do you know how hard it is to find a frame with 3 vertical photo slots? It's impossible!! I gave up after a month of searching and ended up just making this out of an Ikea Ribba frame and just threw out the matting, painted the plywood backing, and taped the photos on. And then of course 2 weeks later someone in my neighbourhood buy/sell groups puts up a 3 photo vertical frame for sale. Of course.

Oh well my method works well and looks good!

Monday in Motion

Hello!! It is a long weekend in Canada this weekend (Victoria Day, also known as May 24 weekend where everybody in Canada opens their cottages with a 24 of beer on hand. Except I have no cottage so I am here in the city). It also happens to be a GORGEOUS weekend here in Toronto. Sunny and Hot!!

I am trying to make an effort this summer to move every day. I still run 4 days a week (I signed up for another half marathon for late July to keep me motivated), but I am trying to fill the other 3 days with fresh air and exercise as well! Last week I dusted off my bike and rode to and from work on Thursday, which is a total of almost 28km! I am such a slow bike rider (though, I blame my bike), but it was a great ride and a couple of summers ago I could NEVER ride to work and ride home the same day, so clearly all this running has massively improved my cardio! I am hoping to get up to riding 3 days a week.

Sweating it out!

I gained about 5-7 pounds with my half marathon training last fall and then full marathon training over the winter. You would think I was burning a million calories with all that running, but the body adapts to running and becomes pretty efficient. Plus it makes you so hungry you eat like a horse, even on non-running days. Plus it gives you an excuse to say yes to everything ("Oh, a box of donuts? Well I did run 30K today"). So I gained some weight that needs to go because my white jeans no longer fit. Or I may buy new pants. We will see how the summer goes ;)

I also got a pair of Jaybird X2 wireless headphones for my birthday! Nothing makes me wanna run more than fancy new gear!! So far I really like them and I do not miss dealing with a headphone cord! I am wearing them in the above pic.

So what have I been up to this past week?

Tues: 5.7km run
Thursday: 14 km bike ride to and from work (total 28km)
Friday: 8km run
Saturday- lots of walking! 16,000 steps!
Sunday- 10km run

This week I intend to be moving every day!

My Day with Matt Damon

On my 30th Birthday Bucket List last week I mentioned starring (ahem...being an extra) in a movie with Matt Damon and I figured I should elaborate on that since it was a really cool experience! The only issue is I signed a non-disclosure agreement so I can't tell you what scene I was in, my costume, my role, or even show you the picture I took of me on set that I was totally not allowed to take. But I shall tell what I can!

So basically a couple months ago I got word that there was a big Hollywood movie filming in Toronto and they were looking for extras. I thought it was a really cool opportunity to do something different and exciting so I applied and got in! Filming for my scene was just one day at the end of April and it was supposed to take all day so I got there at 6:45am. I had previously had my costume fitting so I was immediately whisked off to makeup with a few other extras. Makeup was really fun and interesting (they covered my tattoos 100%!) AND the makeup artists told us we were going to be shooting a scene with Matt Damon that day!!

We got back to the set after makeup and changed into our costumes and sat around for awhile. Then we did one scene over and over for awhile, but by the end I was actually cut from the scene (there were a lot of extras and sometimes they pull you out or move you until the director likes the shot). However, in the next scene we were shooting I got a PRIME spot and I ended up walking directly behind Matt Damon and in front of the camera over and over! And they never did that shot without me there so if it makes it into the movie I will 100% be visible in it!!!

I wasn't really in the scene after that since I was so prominently in the scene before, I guess (not that I minded!), so basically after that I just sat around until lunch and after lunch we wrapped and got sent on home. I had been expecting a longer day so that was nice.

All in all, it was a really cool experience. A lot of standing around while they reset scenes and a LOT of repetitive motion. But I got to meet the director (who is an Oscar winner!) and all of the various staff and other extras were so nice! A lot of the extras had no experience like me, but it never really felt awkward or anything.

I also never actually "met" Matt as I didn't want to bother him and my spot behind him (which I would stand in, waiting, for 5-10 minutes between every 20 second take) was about 10 feet back from him so it would be a little awkward to start asking him questions or bother him when he was trying to work. But we did smile at each other as I passed him on my way to my spot once. :)

Anyway- that is the story of my day with Matt Damon! Once I get the all-clear on the NDA being up I will post more details! The movie doesn't come out until Dec 2017 so it could be a LONG wait.

Totally Rad 80s Prom Gone Bad!!

It was my 30th Birthday last week and I decided that that milestone warranted an extra special birthday party! Last year I held a Silly Hats Only Party, which was a complete blast, so I knew I had to up the ante this year. I have always wanted to do a Murder Mystery, and I found a company that sells different mystery games online so I decided to throw the Totally Rad 80s Prom Gone Bad party! The company is call Night of Mystery and they have a TONS of murder mysteries for all different types of parties.

The game works pretty easily- you download a huge PDF and a set of character invites from the website. The PDF includes all instructions and materials needed for the game, and you just assemble it yourself! My friend Jeni did most of the planning and hosting, and together we assigned all the characters, Jeni emailed all the guests their character profiles, and I assembled the actual game for when people arrived. It was really hard to put all the packages together without spoiling who the murderer and victim were! You had to put everything together without reading! But we didn't want to find out so we could play along.

Everyone's instructions and flowers

Jeni and I also prepared for our totally rad party by making up corsages and boutonnieres for all the guests! And everyone got an awesome pair of neon sunglasses and rings pops/candy necklaces. It was so much fun! We also prepped my now-tradition of turning the den into a giant photobooth which turned out amazing. And we had an actual record player courtesy of Cam! This 80s party was ready to rock.

Photobooth Backdrop

Prizes- 80s cartoon pint glasses (and my awesome singing Cat Balloon)

Candy and popcorn station

The record player playing Thriller and The Best of Kool and the Gang all night

Also, my friend Steph totally surprised me by showing up with this AMAZING cake covered in edible pictures of me with my friends and family. It was such a shame to cut into it, but it was as delicious as it looked.

So the game is pretty straightforward. Everyone got a detailed character description with their background story leading up to the prom. When they arrived at the prom (AKA my place), the hostess Sarah Social (AKA Jeni) explained how it worked. Everyone got 2 envelopes- A & B. The A envelope gave instructions for the beginning of the party- what questions to ask certain people and how to answer questions asked of you. One person's A instructions would also tell them they are the victim and to fall down when the lights go out. You also got to vote for prom king and queen! B envelopes were to remain sealed until after the murder.

After awhile, Sarah Social announced the Prom King and Queen! I won't go into details, but it there was quite a shocking reaction that resulted in broken candy necklace all over the floor!

After we had crowned the King and Queen we continued socializing and getting to know all the scandals that seemed to be going on at our high school. The least of which is that our Dolly Dancer apparently got knocked up by Bobby Backer. Ha!

Dolly Dancer and Coach Walters

But the suddenly the lights went out and someone was dead!! We expertly outlined the body with tape and the Principal took hold of the situation and gave us our next instructions- which was to open envelope B and start our investigations. There were some comments about we probably should have called the police. But no! The fellow prom students and staff could totally solve this! :P. The B envelopes gave further questions to ask, rumors to start, and evidence. Plus everyone had much more juicy information that could be bribed out of them.

We continued our sleuthing and trying to figure out what was going on. Some people had evidence and everyone had $500 to bribe with (giving at the start), so money and rumors were flying! Even the victim came back as a zombie and tried to solve it. Who had done it?!

I turned the lights red after the murder

Finally Principal Simpson had gathered all the evidence and presented it to everyone to try and use to help with their investigations. At this point some of the characters had taken on a life of their own/ had too much to drink (someone had spiked the punch!) and it was getting pretty funny and entertaining.

Peter Prez, Kevin Catcher, Gabby Backer, Cindy Sensational, Clerical Katie, JJ Smart, and Alan Alegebra

Photobomb in the front by Teach Tanner

After little more detective work it was time to fill out a ballot of who we thought had done it, and also vote for best dressed, best performance, and most money (from accepting bribes). After handing that in to Sarah Social to tally up, Principal Simpson came out with the results of his investigation and who the murderer was! It was quite a shock and also we all completely sucked at figuring it out- only one person managed to guess the right person! Here is a hint- pay close attention to the evidence!! However, the game was so much fun to play even without solving the murder! The character acting and rumors were hilarious.

I am not telling who the victim and murderer were by the way- you will have to message me privately if you want to know the whole story! But lemme tell you- everyone had a motive. That is one drama-filled school.

After all the murderer was solved (and the murderer basically got a slap on the wrist), we continued with the prom and had a great night!!

Sarah Social (Voted Best Dressed), and Larry Lefty

Peter Prez (Voted Best Performance) and Gabby Backer

Cindy Sensational and Sally Spirit

Bobby Backer and Clerical Katie

Sarah Social and Cindy Sensational

Kevin Catcher and Cindy Sensational

My High School Friends (IRL)

Dolly Dancer and "Dave"

All in all- it was such a fun night!! Even if we sucked at solving the murder, the characters and plots were hilarious and I had such a fun time! I'm not sure how I am going to beat this one next year. Here is to turning 30!

FYI- My dress was actually my Mom's in the 80s!

The Big 3-0!

Today is my 30th birthday!!!!

*cue fireworks*

I know a lot of people get hung up on moving onto a new decade, but I am actually pretty jazzed about my birthday because my twenties were so awesome and I am sure my thirties will be so exciting in so many new ways!

I thought about writing a 30 before 30 list, but then I realized that my life has basically been some people's completed Bucket List? For instance...I can cross all these off

1. Buy a home (I have bought two now!)
2. Go skydiving (did that back when I was 22!)
3. Run a marathon (did that one just in a nick of time!)
4. Star in a movie with Matt Damon (Being an extra counts, yes? I should blog about that...)
5. Travel (I have been lucky to go on so many amazing trips!)

Ok I don't really know what other kind of nonsense people put on those lists, but I do think my 20s were by any definition a huge success! SO BRING ON THE 30s!

My Balloons <3

Sporting Life 10K 2016 Race Recap!

Another race in the bag and a new PR to boot! I ran my 4th edition of the Sporting Life 10K in 52:42, obliterating my previous times of 1:00:14, 55:14, and 55:15! Woo hoooo!! AND I also PR'd the 5K distance, running the first half of the race in 26:13 (unofficially it was actually somewhere in the 25:XX range since with weaving I actually ran farther than 10K by the end). Go me!

I run this race every year with my Mom and Stepdad and I didn't want to miss out this year just because I had a silly little marathon to run the weekend before. So I signed up, but had no intention of pushing the pace or anything. After the marathon I took Monday-Friday completely off from running and I had a massage and saw my physiotherapist for my very last appointment (I will miss her! If you need a physio for running in Toronto, just message me because she was amazing!). I also stretched and foam rolled and stretched some more! By Saturday my legs felt completely normal and I went out for a 5K that was actually pretty tiring.

So Sunday rolled around and I got up at the ungodly hour of 5:00am, but I probably got 4 hours sleep, which is a solid sleep for me before a race. My parents stayed in my building's guest suite downstairs and Cam and I met them at 6:00am downstairs! Cam didn't run, but he was kind enough to drive us to the shuttle bus and save us a 20 minute walk in the cold morning.

We got there and it was freezing!!!! There was a lot of hugging and trying to stand in the sun while we waited almost an hour for our start time. Finally at 7:50 we were off!

I was feeling good so I decided to speed up and see how I felt as I went. I had no shame in walking if I needed to!! The first kilometer was really slow as there are soooo many people in this race. But around km 2 or 3 it opened up a bit and I was able to get a steady pace. I was shocked when my watch was telling me I was running roughly 5:10 minutes per kilometer! I have never ever run that fast in my life and that is a whole MINUTE faster per kilometer than I ran in my marathon! That's huge.

(Mom's Picture)

But it was only 10K so I wasn't worried! I did finally warm up around Km 3 and I removed my arm warmers (made of a pair of Cam's old socks). It was actually a perfect day for running this race- around 10 degrees, sunny, and no wind! I felt great and I was able to hold onto my fast pace the whole way. I was definitely pooped at the end though. No way could I have run the marathon with such speedy legs!

I met Mom and Lee at the finish (they both did amazing too- Mom PR'd and Lee came near his best time from a few years ago!).

After the race we walked on home, showered, and rested for a bit before heading out to brunch/lunch! I had booked a restaurant near me a few weeks ago because brunch is impossible to get a reservation for in Toronto (most don't take reservations for brunch), and it was Mother's Day to boot! Lo and behold, when I looked up the restaurant's address before we left I realized it was IN the Skydome, and we were seated next to the window and got to watch the Blue Jay's warm up while we ate! How neat is that?? We opened the small gifts I got Lee for his birthday (which was on Saturday) and Mom's for Mother's Day and then we toasted to a race well run and happily ate back all the calories we burned!

All in all it was a great day! Now I can actually rest too, because my next race isn't until the end of June! Crazy to think how it was just 3 years ago I decided to run my first 10K for my 27th birthday and now here I am! I can't get enough!

Further Thoughts on the Marathon and Recovery!

Thank you all so much for all your kind comments on my marathon! I have a lot of other one-off thoughts and things I wanted to talk about, but I didn't really feel fit in with the recap so I thought I would list them here!

• I am still shocked I ran the whole thing. This never entered my mind as a goal, considering the furthest I had run straight before this was 2 hours (for my first half) and I had done 99% of my training runs as run 10, walk 1! I think I ran 1 hour straight ONCE in training

• I was also shocked with my form. I always have terrible form when I get tired but I was so conscious of it because bad form= IT band issues and I didn't need that pain back in my life! But my form was strong and my knee never hurt once. I think maybe good form kept me from getting tired too. I tried to keep my head up and forward the whole time, but wind and rain did cause me to have to put my face down now and again!

• There was a lady in front of me for the first couple kilometers who had one of those belts with the tiny water bottles attached and she lost the same water bottle THREE times in the first couple km. Every time she had to run back to get it. Some say she is still completing her marathon to this day with a run forward 10 steps, run back 5 routine. But seriously- had she never run with this belt before the marathon?

• On that note, I ran with my handheld water bottle (This one). I trained with it so I was very comfortable holding it. I loved avoiding the slow down at water stations! I filled it with Gatorade and it lasted me 36 km, when I thankfully found Steph, who topped me off with water. If I run another marathon I may just buy a 2nd and have someone meet me for a swap.

• I saw some funny signs from spectators (besides my friend Steph's!) such as "Go, Random Stranger, Go", "Your Feet Hurt Because You're Kicking Ass", and "I Trained All Week to Hold This Sign Up". I love the spectators. Especially when they read my name on my bib and yelled "GO CASEY, YOU GOT THIS. YOU'RE STRONG" and I would be like "YES I AM STRONG!!!! GO MEEEEE" (there is a good Oatmeal comic on this)

• I used two free apps for my friends and mom to find me on the course- Find Friends for Apple phones and Gympse for Androids. Both worked really well, but Glympse only lasts for 4 hours max. Also one of my friends using Glympse never saw me run by when the app said I was there. But it was a deary day out and I was all in black so she may have just not seen me :\. Cam said it worked well for him.

• There was a guy on the route in a full suit. But not any suit- an effing green suit with playing cards all over it. I found a photo for your enjoyment. I also ran for awhile behind a man in a tight blue dress. I imagine he was cold as it was not dress weather. Suit guy was probably loving the cold weather.

• I didn't wear the shoes I planned to. I always wear Asics GT 2000 in size 10 9I now have 4 pairs and I rotate them!) and had been training for months in my newest pair for all long runs, which are a stylish black and turquoise and are the 3rd version. However I read a few weeks prior that the 3rd and 4th versions are a tad smaller in the toe box. I tried on one of each (old and new), and lo and behold they WERE. That explains my half black toenail from my last long run! I ended up wearing my older white Asics and my toenails are all very happy. Not even a blister!

• I didn't listen to any music or audiobooks. I always have my headphones in and I even purchased the Hamilton soundtrack for the race (omg, I've listened to it 10 times now. It's amazing), but I decided to leave my headphones off for the beginning and just enjoy my first marathon- and I never had a desire to put them on! My friend asked what I thought about for almost 4 and a half hours and it's crazy but I have no idea- I think it was just "in the moment" things like "oh look a dog" and "hey that girl's shoelace is untied". And by the end it was just pure focus. The race passed pretty quickly and I was never bored.

• If you think my race photos look pretty good, please note that I always have terrible race photos so every time I saw the cameras (which was a lot as the marathon crowd was pretty thin so I was solo a lot), I made an effort to smile or wave. So I look like the happiest marathoner ever. Goal completed.

THE AFTERMATH AND RECOVERY:

I have had a lot of sweet tmessages from friends and family asking how I am feeling and I must say I am good, with the exception of my quads, which are angry still.

Right after the race I tried to keep walking as I thought my legs might stop working if I stopped or sat down. My mom had brought me dry socks and sweats, but I told her I honestly didn't think it was possible to get my shoes off and back on again. We walked slowly home and my legs started to loosen up a tad over the walk. I got home and usually I would stretch but I actually could not pick up my leg to stretch my quad and I just looked at my foam roller on the ground and laughed. 

I got in the shower for a LONG time. I had to slowly increase the heat because even a little burned at first. I am sure my core temperature was super low. Eventually I warmed up and I was able to do a few painful stretches of my quads and calves. We went out for lunch and I took a long nap after.

Monday my quads were still really sore. I was able to do some stretches, but the stairs to and from work were brutal!! I got a massage in the evening and it was heavenly. It didn't help my legs too much, but my back was very happy after. It is now Tuesday night and my quads are still sore, but much improved. I can stretch pretty easily now and I am foam rolling twice a day. I have one last physio appointment on Wednesday. I think by the end of the week I will feel normal! I am hoping to do 5km on Friday just to stretch the ol muscles back out and get back into running regularly. Plus I have a 10K race on Sunday. Oops. But it is a tradition to do it every year and I am just going to take it nice and slow. 10K is nothing now!!

Only problem left to solve is where to put the 10K medal. Marathon kind of ate up all the free space. When in the world did I become someone with so many medals?! :D

Goodlife Toronto Marathon 2016 Race Recap!!

4:21:17!! AND I RAN THE ENTIRE RACE STRAIGHT!

Ok, let's start back at the beginning! Saturday night I slept horribly as I always do before a race. I estimate I got 1-2 hours sleep. Not an exaggeration. I could not get my adrenaline down. I got up at 5:00am and got ready with my usual green tea and PB on bagel. I dressed in black capris (which I had only bought on Saturday!), a grey technical shirt, and navy arm warmers I made out of knee high socks from the dollar store that I planned to ditch once I warmed up. I also had a grey hat and a black Buff on. It was the most boring outfit ever, but it was exactly the right one for the weather- which was COLD and RAINY and WINDY! The worst!!

I left my place around 6:00am to catch the shuttle bus, which was only a 15 minute walk from my place. No issues getting to the start. I wore some warm clothes from Value Village (that all got donated to charity at the start) and a dollar store poncho as it was pouring rain and cold out. Lovely. Got to the start, used a port-a-potty, and then hung out inside where it was warm. At 7:25 we all went out and lined up for the 7:30am start. There were only 1800 marathoners so the start was super organized and fast! Off we go!

We ran down Yonge for the first 9km or so. I saw Michelle at km 8! I was feeling pretty good. Just trying to ease into a 6:00 minute per kilometer pace, which was my goal for the first half. There was a huge hill at km 5, which was plain evil- but it meant lots of downhills to come! We headed west into a nice residential area, which was enjoyable. Lots of light rolling hills, but nothing remarkable. There were some nice downhills, which I took with short, light steps to conserve energy and save my quads (downhills can be hard). Around km 12 I had a horrible shooting pain in my left big toe but it thankfully disappeared.

After this we ran along Davenport (where I missed a friend who came to see me- sad) and then Rosedale Valley- which is a very scenic road. I was feeling amazing. I was flying and banking some time. I finished the first half in 2:06.

I was still feeling great going into the 2nd half so I didn't slow down. We ran across downtown and I missed another friend at km 24 because I was going too fast and she didn't get there in time! I did see Cam in front of our condo at km 25 and blew him a kiss! Still felt great! I saw another friend at km 27!

The last part of the race is an out and back along lakeshore. I was still feeling good, but Lakeshore is notoriously windy because there is no shelter. I think I started to tire around km 29/30, but I had made it that far without stopping so I just kept trucking because I am a stubborn fool :). I spent the next 5km just begging for the turnaround point to show up. I thought it never would! I finished my Gatorade and worried about needing to stop for water- but then another friend showed up- DRESSED AS A BANANA! It was fantastic and she had made me two signs! AND most importantly, she brought me water and brought her bike.

She changed out of the banana outfit, refilled my water bottle, and biked up to meet me down the road. For most of the last 5K she was able to bike nearby me on a public trail, which was so amazing. I was so tired and there was a horrible headwind and she just kept pushing me (and those around me!) on. Nothing particularly hurt at this point, but I was so tired and my legs were lead. But I knew if I stopped I might not be able to start again so I just concentrated on every step. Finally I got near the finish and Steph rode up to watch me come in!

My mom was waiting at the finish and she took a video of me coming in. She then put down her umbrella and ran the last 0.2km into the chute with me! I told her it probably wasn't allowed, but she is a rebel and it was so great running in with her. I started getting all teary!!

I crossed that finish line in 4:21:17, having completed the last half in 2:15!!

After the race we walked back to my place and I took an extremely long shower to try and get my core temperature up, and reduce the crazy swelling in my hands- yikes. It rained the ENTIRE race and I was soaked to the bone. My outfit was perfect for the race, but I was cold as an iceberg once I stopped running. I never even removed my arm warmers like I had planned! Thankfully mom had brought me a warm sweater to wear after I finished. And she brought me cookies!

I am so proud of my race, especially given the weather I ran it in!! I still can't believe I ran the whole thing and I definitely will do another full one day- I think I could even manage a sub-4 hour time if I had better training!! I never really hit "the wall" that people talk about- sure I got tired, but I seemed to be laser-focused on my goal. I didn't even listen to music or anything the whole race!

All in all a great day. My knee never hurt and all I am dealing with now are some very stiff legs! :D

Now onto my next race- a 10K with my mom and stepdad next weekend! I hope my legs work by then!