A half marathon and some change...

Well, I'm officially the worst blogger ever. It has been almost three weeks, and I know that's terrible. To my 5 followers..... I'm very sorry. Okay, now I'll update you!!

So the last you heard from me I was getting ready to run my 12 miler in D.C with Doug. Well, I did it, in 2 hrs. 2 mins. And, Doug was on his bike the whole time riding along beside me. I give him a lot of credit, because I was going pretty slow (although he did point that out several times). It was really cool because I was running all around the Mall, seeing all the monuments, the museums, and around the Capitol building. It was also the National Day of Prayer, so we were also able to see all the protesters and life-sized replicas of the 10 Commandments. Wow.

Then, the next week, I was thankfully back down to 8 miles. I never thought I would be happy to run 8 miles, but it was such a nice break. I ran with Wendy, which is always nice because I swear she can talk for a full 26 miles, making the run so much easier. I can't remember the time, but we were running through uptown Charlotte, so I was looking at all the old beautiful houses, it was a nice change of scenery.

And then this past Saturday, the big guns. I ran 14 miles in 2 hrs. 22 mins. I was beyond nervous for this run. I was all by myself and I just couldn't imagine running a whole 14, but it actually went a lot better than I had envisioned. I took a gel shot after the first 40 mins., and then I used Bloks for the rest of the run, about every 15 mins. I also used Gatorade for the first time since I've started training, and I think it worked really well for me. I was tired, but I never felt completely exhausted, and I didn't stop and walk, I just stopped at the water stops to refuel. So all in all, it went really well and I was really excited about it. I did spend the rest of Saturday alternating the ice pack from my knee, to my foot, and then the other knee. I'm still a little sore (pathetic, I know) but I'm happy I did it!

Friday of this week I'll be running 16, back in D.C again. I am definintely nervous, even though it's only two more miles than last week. It's just daunting to think about "oh I'm just going to go run for 3 hours, then ice my body for 2, and then I'll be done, no big deal". But I really can't complain because everything is just going so well. I have raised over $3,000.00!! So I have surpassed my goal, and I am so thankful that I don't have to worry about coming up with the money in time, I just have to concentrate on the running.

I'm getting so excited for the day of the race. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's both a relief and a little sad. I think I'll miss the team once I'm done. Everyone has been so incredibly supportive, cheerful, and friendly. It has been so much fun! Okay, I promise I'll try to get better about posting, but really, you probably shouldn't expect too much :)

We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the only string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. - Charles R. Swindoll