21,636

Well! I did it! Another race in the bucket. 10 miles in 1 hour and 48 minutes! I beat out 21,636 people. It didn't go as well as I had hoped, considering I haven't been able to train for the past month since my shoulder injury. You wouldn't think shoulders are that important in running, but you try it and tell me if they aren't. And go figure, it was like 70 degrees this morning...I thought this was October???

It was an amazing race, I really like running military based runs because people are actually respectful when it comes to the National Anthem. That and some of their stories are just so inspiring. I saw a lot of older guys (who I assume are retired military) just putting along the race course and are just happy to be finishing. While I also saw a lot of wounded soldiers at the finish line (they ran closer to the start line and finished WAY before I did.) I saw a double leg amputee finish 10 miles. I saw lots of 1 legged amputees and a few with other types of injuries. I think a few even used special hand peddled bikes to compete. It really puts all of your complaints into perspective...what do I have to complain about? Absolutely nothing.

The weather would have been amazing to watch the race in, but def not to participate in! It was super super hot and I wasn't expecting it so I wore a long sleeve technical shirt (the thin shirts that wick away sweat) and these capri running pants. BAD IDEA. The shirt came off at mile 2, then it was just me running in my sports bra. And then I was also wearing these capri pants...that are CLEARLY not meant to be worn in warmer weather because I was DYING. And this lead to some major chafing in a not so pleasant spot. Thank you Mel and Becca for experiencing this first so that I wasn't quite so freaked out when it happened. Oh the pleasures of being a runner.

Clearly I wasn't the only person who was caught off guard with the weather. However, there were just no excuses for some of the "running gear" that I saw. In no particular order I saw: someone running barefoot (apparently that is a back to basics type of thing that I've read lots of articles on lately), JORTS (really, jorts?!?!?!), jeans (jeans?!?! I can only imagine his chafing!), traditional German Lederhosen, swimtrunks, collared shirts, and the list really goes on and on. It was so weird. Sometimes I like ot run races just to people watch.

Thanks to Mel Bell for coming out and cheering me on! You have NO idea how important that was to me. I was good up until the 5 mile marker then I was like "shit, I can't stop now..I don't want Melissa seeing me walk! (not that you would have cared, but this helped me!) Thanks for helping me through a mental roadblock :)

Thanks to Dad for coming up and seeing me race. Its always great to have someone to calm your fears prior to the race and knowing you have to finish because someone at the finish line is waiting for you! I have no idea how but I was able to find him along the finish line! I shouted, "DONT GO ANYWHERE!" And thankfully he didn't because I had no idea how we were going to find each other. Though I was rushing to get through the the crowds of people and I didn't stop to see if they were giving out a medal or coin so I finished but I got nothing :( Oh well, I have my memories and my official time to prove I ran it :)

One more off the bucket list!!!

Me at the beginning. Its all thumbs up and smiles...that is until I start running.

The Army Special Ops Black Daggers parachuted out of planes right before the start. That's them on the far right. The parachute on the left was some weird balloon thing. Apparently those are the traditional military chutes.

Dad came to cheer me on!

Me at the finish (thumbs DOWN!)