I Did It!!

This last weekend, I ran my very first 15K. For those of you that aren't unit of measurement savvy, a 15K is equal to 9.3 miles. If you all recall, I ran a 5K back in November. This is my new kick that I'm on. Its healthy, and I'm sticking with it. I've always loved running, but stopped doing it after high school. I have found my love for running once again. For me, running is a release. I do it alone, with or without music, and it gives me time to ponder the thoughts floating around in my brain; time to figure out how to conquer the world. Okay, maybe not so much conquering of the world, but definitely a lot of pondering going on. I joined a running club back in November as well. Unfortunately, I just haven't found the time to keep up with running with them every Tuesday night. Anyhow, back to the task at hand. I get distracted a little too easily these days. I ran my first 15K. My time was garbage, but that didn't matter to me. What mattered most was crossing the finish line and not being the last person to do so. I managed to do that. There were about 30 or more people that finished behind me. Goal accomplished. :) I finished running in 1 hour and 47 minutes. I took my iPod with me, which is a rare occurrence. I don't often run with music, but I'm so glad I did this time. I woke up at 4AM to get to the parking lot, find a good parking spot, and catch a bus back to the start line. There were about 80 school buses there, and I sort of felt like I was back in high school for a split second. I managed to get on the first bus, and it just so happened to have the race director's wife who was doubling as a photographer for the event. She snapped a few pictures of everyone, and she kept insisting that we were on the party bus, except no one was feeling her caffeinated pep quite like she was. The trip back to the start line was uneventful. I popped my headphones on and turned up the volume as loud as possible without hurting my ears. Once we got to the start line, we still had an hour to wait until the race actually started. Luckily, I planned ahead and was wearing sweats as well as a sweater over my running shorts and shirt. I stayed bundled up plastered against a wall, praying for a tall person to stand in front of me to block the wind. I still had my headphones in and was still head bobbing to all kinds of rock music. I only took them out when someone would talk to me. They usually wanted to know what time it was, or to state the obvious, "It's freezing out here!" Anyhow, the race eventually started, and when it did, my body went into complete shock. There was just no way to properly warm up before the race. I did what I could. When I first started to run, I thought I was going to collapse because my legs felt numb. Then I realized I wouldn't collapse from numbness, but might collapse because my muscles were tingling. They were frozen, and were just waking up. And of course, being the over-dramatic, but in a hilarious, oh my gosh, you are so stupid kind of way, I thought, oh no, what if I have a blood clot in my leg and its blocking my veins! That thought left my mind just as quickly as it entered, and I laughed. By about a mile and a half in I decided I had enough. I was ready to quit, but a great Lenny Kravitz song came on and it got me pumped. Anyone who knows me, knows that Lenny is pretty much my dude. By that point I had decided to at least keep running until I got to the first bridge. I made it, and I felt great, so I decided to keep running until I got to the end of the first bridge. Made it there too, without a problem. The inclines were hell, but I made it. Then came running through Gulf Breeze. That was a cake walk. The entire time we were running, there were school buses loaded with military personnel. They of course were yelling out the windows at us. I just stuck my hand up and extended my index  and pinkie fingers. haha. Not what you were expecting I'm sure, but that's what I did. Rock on. :) Okay, so then I made it to the second bridge and at that point, I had made it to the 6th mile marker. I was feeling like dookie, but a great Van Halen song came on, and the lyrics "finish what you started" got me amped. My left knee was in so much pain that I really wanted to give up. I stopped only to stretch my knee out. That was a big mistake. I regretted stopping, because when I did, I immediately felt the pain generate a million times more sensitivity than before. At that point, I had to do something to keep my mind off of the excruciating pain. I started singing. Yes. Singing. I'm sure the people around me were thinking, what the hell is this chick doing running up this bridge singing "Mudshovel"? I'm sure it was quite comical for anyone within earshot, but I didn't care. I was focused on the lyrics of the songs, and kept running and singing...horribly, I might add. By the time I reached the finish line, I was half limping, half jogging, but hell, I made it, and that's all that mattered to me! I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this goal that I thought was going to be so difficult. I rewarded myself with walking up 2 flights of stairs for some free post race food. The menu was quite amazing, sarcastically of course. We had rice, beans and more rice. Oh, and don't forget that one piece of baby shrimp that was in there, oh and the bread roll. LOL. It was actually good, and I didn't eat it all anyway, so what the hell am I complaining about? I then sat on the beach for about 2 hours, just relaxing. It was a cold day out and the wind was brisk, but I didn't care. Anyone that knows me, knows how in love with the beach I am. Its my most favorite place on earth, it relaxes me, calms me, and makes all of my worries fade away. I laid there listening to the waves crash in to the shore. The pesky seagulls kept hovering around waiting for me to toss them some food, but I refused. You give them an inch and they want a mile. The smell of the ocean is so relaxing to me. I love it. So, I took it all in for a couple of hours until I couldn't bear the cold a second longer and headed home. I could hardly walk by the time I got home. My knees felt like someone shoved metal rods right behind my kneecaps. It was awesome. I iced them until they were numb. The pain actually wasn't so bad once I got up and moving. The problem was sitting down relaxing and then deciding an hour later I was really thirsty. A set of crutches, a walker, a wheelchair, a cane, anything to assist with walking would have been ideal, but I toughed it out. Here, 2 days later, the pain isn't so much in my knees as it is in my quads, but there is still pain. It will subside, and when it does, I'll be getting ready for the next event. I'm very much looking forward to spending several Saturdays this year running. Call me crazy, but I can't wait. This run was a challenge for me, but I love a good challenge. It was also one of the best runs I've ever had. Running over at least 4 miles of water was not only gorgeous, but priceless as well. I will definitely be out there next year when they hold the race again! Go Me! I'd also like to give a special shout to my mom, my awesome sister, and my amazing friends who supported me and gave me words of encouragement for the race. I appreciate you all, and every single one of you is pretty freaking awesome in my book!!!