From the beginining
We are feeling much better today.
Whew.
That was a close one.
We're telling ya, ZICAM can cure anything (write that down).
Anyways, when we were lying in bed last night, we couldn’t stop thinking about running. This Saturday we will be running our second half marathon of our life, and for some reason this time around we feel more prepared, both mentally and physically. Even though we have been running for about six years, it has taken us a long time to say that we are in fact a runner.
We started running when we were in college and it was definitely not love at first sight. Yikes. We hated running and large part of that had to do with us huffing and puffing because we smoked cigarettes (total crazy town, we know).
After about a year of trying to smoke and run (who does that?), we decided that it was time to give up running or smoking cigarettes. We physically couldn’t do both. Thankfully our holistic angel showed up on that fateful day and told us to stop smoking. Okay, you’re the boss!
Best decision of our life. Well, besides marrying Mr. B of course.
Once we quit smoking, we started to see running in a whole new way. First of all we could breathe. And second of all our body was able to progress (i. e. running faster). Who would of thunk? Geesh.
In our early years of running, we would run three to four times a week either by myself or with girlfriends. Nothing over 3 miles because after all, we were still in the infancy stage. But with each step we took, we knew we were one step closer to becoming a real runner.
Our senior year of college is when we blossomed. We remember the first time we ran 5 miles with Jamie. We ran laps around the track at the Rec and we thought we were going to die (such a drama queen). But we didn’t quit. Once we finished, we were in complete shock. Did we just do that? Holy bananas! We remember texting Mr. B and telling him that we ran 5 miles. His response, “Why would you want to do that?” Little did he know that he would eat those words six years later! (He ran a half marathon this past April).
Soon we realized that running made us feel fantastic. There’s nothing like a good runners high to make your world seem a little brighter. We looked forward to running every day because it was a way for us to have quiet time and clear our mind. We were hooked.
Fast forward to the summer of 2008. Mr. B and we had been in Denver for almost a year and started playing kickball with the village. At one of the games, Listy asked us if we wanted to run a half marathon with her. She had a couple full marathons under her belt so was ready to rock.
But this was not an ordinary race. The Golden Leaf is a trail run that starts at 9,000 feet at Snowmass Village and ends in downtown Aspen. We were like pssshh. There is no way in hell we would be able to run that far at that altitude.
She convinced us to say yes in about 5 minutes (Listy is good). The next week our training began. You would think that we would have had at least a 5K under our belt, but no. Apparently we like to do things the hard way.
Our training was a mess. We didn’t know how to run properly (so awkward). The eating and drinking part was a killer because back in 2008 they didn’t have all the fancy organic GU shots. All they had were these nasty, watered down GU shots that tasted like crap and made us sick. So we decided to 86 the GU shots and not eat while we were running. Brilliant. Plus, we ended up having to train on our own because Listy hurt her knee.
Can you feel the deck stacked against us?
We have no idea how we completed our training, but we did. When race day arrived, we were an effing mess. We remember standing at the starting line with Mr. B about to ball our eyes when the gun went off. It was time to nut up, or shut up.
The next three hours were insane.
We ran up a side of a mountain, jumped over streams and boulders, and even passed a hunter with a bow and arrow. In a way, we were running to survive. It was epic.
We finished in 3:02:00. We didn’t care. We survived without refueling and with little water. Once we saw Mr. B at the finish line, we were so overwhelmed with joy we couldn’t help but cry. It was truly a life changing moment.
Now it’s 2011 and we are about to do it all over again. Things are different, but the nerves are still there.
We thought we would share some of the pros and cons between the two years:
2008
Pros:
– complete ignorance
– 500 runners
– heart rate monitor
– cute Nike outfit with hair in pig tails
Cons:
– ran the race by myself
– no other races completed (not even a 5K…what’s a bib? timing chip?)
– no fuel
– hardly any water ( we actually drank water out of a man’s hand because the aid station ran out)
– no trail running shoes
– never ran on an actual trail
– never ran above 5280 feet
– didn’t take a single picture
2011
Pros:
– running with friends
– fuel (Cliff Shots!)
– camelbak (h2o baby!)
– trail running shoes
– garmin
– full marathon under our belt
– camera + flip video
– wardrobe upgrade: running tights and dri-fit shirt
Cons:
– 1,000 runners (word got out)
– taking pictures while we run (damn blogging)
Given all of this information, we should have a better race.
But.
We shall see.
Muhahaahhh!
