Happy, ouch, Monday, ouch. Why the ouches? I completed my first 1/2 marathon on Sunday at the Diva Dash in Branson. Woot! Woot! It was one of the toughest things I have ever done. I did not train for it and was sick the day before and that morning, but I completed it! Now, don't get me wrong, I do exercise. I walk on a semi regular basis, but nothing like 13.1 miles in a row. I am usually a 2-4 miler. And I walk, and run a little. Well, let me tell you...13.1 miles is tough! I was doing fabulous up until about mile 7 1/2. I stopped sweating at mile 8 (was dehydrated) and had to sit down and rest. I replenished with gatorade and poured a cup of water down my back and kept going. At mile 9, I got my stride back and felt better until about mile 10. My friend Patty, who is my hero, came back on a golf cart to finish with me. It was our first 1/2 marathon together and she is in much better shape than I am, but we just wanted to finish and were not concerned about our time. She concurred that I was dehydrated so she poured countless glasses of water down my back, heavenly, and sat with me for a bit while it soaked in. I then drank 2 more glasses of gatorade and we continued on. The last mile was horrible. The course was 70% hills and it was 92 degrees. To finish, you had one last hill to climb, and then it was all down hill or flat. We rested for a bit at the bottom and then made our way up. My friends sent encouraging messages and as extra motivation told us that half dressed firemen were awarding our medals, so that definitely helped! When I saw that finish line, I was so happy. We actually danced our last bit into the Marathon to "Happy" which was very appropriate. I managed to finish in 3:46. I wanted 3:30, but at that point I was just glad I finished. I am so very thankful to my awesome friends for helping me scratch this off my bucket list and also to my darling husband who took care of all the kids this weekend and sent me beautiful text messages throughout the race to keep me going. I am so very blessed with the people I have in my life. My friend Jeanne, who is a real runner, came in first in her age group and was awarded a medal by Barry Williams(Greg Brady for those who remember the Brady Bunch). She said it was the toughest course she had ever ran, so I feel really accomplished that I managed to finish. I did manage to lose 2 1/2 pounds, but burning 1500 calories will do that for you. So, tip of the day: make sure you train before taking on a half marathon! Will I do one again? I doubt it. I am happy to stick to 5 and 10 K's and be the cheerleader to all my wonderful running friends. I am motivated to work on my time for a 5K which may turn into something else, but who knows. The rest of the weekend was awesome! I love my friends. We always have such fun together. We stayed in a beautiful condo with a gorgeous view of Table Rock Lake, so we had dinner on our screened in patio and just enjoyed the view and the company. It was so relaxing. And of course, on Saturday when we got there we had to hit the Outlet Mall. I restrained myself in the Coach store(first for me), but managed to find a super cute top for only $7! Love a good bargain. One of my friends bought Mark and I matching Tervis Tumblers. His says "Mr. Right" and mine says "Mrs. Always Right". They are awesome!
Hope you had a fabulous weekend. The weather was amazing. Jake had a soccer game which they won and therefore had an undefeated season! Rader was busy with homework and a life guarding course. He will be working at our Village Pool this summer so I am excited for him. Ellie had cheer tryouts and played 3 soccer games in a tournament on Saturday. Her team won, tied and lost. She crashed out at about 9:00 pm and pretty much rested on Sunday. My parents had a safe trip back home and managed to come out to a soccer game and eat with the rest of the family. I have not seen them yet, but hopefully soon. I missed them.
Now, time to take some ibuprofen and be thankful I have a sit down job.
Hugs!!!
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