This race was amazing! I physically felt better than I have in most races. This is the first one I have not cried at the finish. I did end up with a bit of a bug after the weekend. I guess running all that distance was rather taxing on my immune system. And actually, I did mention to my mom I thought I might be fighting a cold before the race. I have a little fever but it’s no big deal.
Shout outs:
To the dude running on two prosthetic blades, that was inspiring to see.
To all the pregnant ladies who beat me, holy hell I don’t know how you do it! Congrats!
To my mom and dad, thank you for doing this with me again.
To the woman with the sign that said, “Half-marathon today, Netflix marathon tomorrow!” So true.
To Alicia, I was so happy to see you out there. You are wonderful and I cannot wait to trick you into signing up for another one.
Thank you to all the people who came out and cheered us on. It’s hard to walk when people are cheering for you.
Last I would like to say thank you to Lynell who held up a sign for me. Love you girl. Thank you thank you thank you!
The actual race, or ‘all the times random people stopped me from walking’:
When the race started I immediately regretted my choice of bra. “Have my tits always been this heavy?” I asked myself. Yes, probably. Aside from the weight of my chest, I went out strong. I did my first two miles at about a 10:30 pace and stayed close to the pace group for a 2:30 time until around mile 6.
The hydration station just before mile 6 was out of Gatorade. That was a major blow to my morale. I had skipped the previous two stations and I was counting on that little boost of fuel. Water was just not quite cutting it for me.
At this point the bra issue started getting worse too, I felt a sharp pain on the underside of my left tit which I recognized as chaffing. I tried to ignore it but I was kicking myself for not buying a new bra for this race. I started brainstorming all the sports that are not running that I could be doing instead of this torture. Maybe I should take up boxing instead. I would rather someone punch me in the face than run another step.
That’s when I saw the dude who was running on two prosthetic blades. This dude has no feet and I am complaining about my stupid boob? I snapped out of it and ran on.
Another dude with dreadlocks in a Black Girls Run t-shirt ran up and shouted for everyone not to give up and to push forward. “YOU CAN SLOW DOWN BUT YOU BETTER NOT STOP! LET’S GO!” He gave me a high five when I picked up the pace running up the hill. Thank’s mister.
In the final 3 miles, I was approaching a hill that I have named “The Frowning Hill” because it is a truly brutal climb. Brooke, who I work with, ran up behind me. I cannot believe she found me in the final stretch! She pushed us to run up that terrible hill. Once we were over it she ran ahead and finished about 3 minutes ahead of me. GO BROOKE!!
Finally, some lady named Rachel, number 17621, caught me walking in the last half mile. She made eye contact and smiled at me and waved me on to follow her. Rachel, you are amazing, whoever you are. Thank you for making me run when I wanted to walk.
I finished with an official time of 2:37:26.
On Sunday I took a long hot bath with my new favorite Lush bath bomb. “Lord of Misrule” Looks like a blood bath. Smells like a dream. Unfortunately, the left tit situation is still pretty painful. I don’t care what the appropriate police say, I am not wearing a bra till this heals. It is basically a burn about the size of my thumb. It will be okay though.
Oh, and I did beat Alicia.
Fast girls have good times 
You are amazing!! Such an inspiration for anyone who reads! **love**
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