Hello There! I’m back. I’ve been missing because of my ridiculously busy life for the past week, but here I am with plenty to share.
Today I completed the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY–they biggest 15k in the country–and boy, it was BIG! This is the farthest distance I have run to date, and I am feeling pretty proud of myself, but more on that shortly.
Yesterday morning, my partner in racing Yvette and I drove to Utica (about an hour from my hometown) to pick up our packets for the race. We left at about 6:45 because we had to be back by 11 to attend a memorial service for a friend of both of our families. The packet pick up and expo had me VERY excited for the race, especially when I recognized Ashley, as we were browsing the same booth at the Expo! I am so excited to meet a blog celebrity, especially one that I read frequently. She was so sweet and took the time to chat with me for a few minutes and snap a picture with her camera (of course I left mine in my car!)
From there, Yvette and I rushed back home to attend the memorial and then I took a nice, wonderful, fabulous 3 hour nap on my mom’s couch. It was everything I hoped for and more.
At around 5:00 I got myself organized and got ready for an evening wedding of a close family friend. DeAnna and her daughter Cassandra have been friends of my family for years and I can remember Cassandra’s 1st Birthday party! Time flies, and now she is in high school, all grown up, and beautiful. DeAnna married Todd yesterday at a beautiful location right on the water. It was gorgeous and lots of fun. But before the wedding I scarfed some pasta with butter—my childhood favorite meal—to carb up for the race today. I knew that the wedding would be mostly appetizers and I wanted to guarantee I had a good meal
Cute, no?
Cassandra walking down the aisle before her mom.
DeAnna walking down the aisle with both of her parents.
My date, my mom and I at the reception.
Yvette and I enjoying our ONLY drink of the night because of the big race this morning.
We left the wedding around 9:00 and made our way to ANOTHER family party that we both had to attend. This was an extension of the memorial service earlier in the day in the form of a big bash on the beach with fireworks and music. I only stayed for about an hour because I knew that 5:30 am would come quickly and I needed to rest my body so I could be fully prepared for the race today.
There is nothing like fireworks on the beach on a hot summer night!
My good friends Luke and Mike play music together. They are incredibly talented and I love listening to them. This beach house is right on the lake and I think the acoustics of the water made them sound even better than usual.
So, the race. My morning started at 5:00 am. I quickly changed and gathered my gear that I had laid out the night before. I packed a pb sandwich for the ride and a few granola bars and I met Yvette at her house at 5:30. We arrived in Utica at around 6:45, and thank goodness we did because we waited in line for the portapotties for probably 45 minutes. My nerves were building, but my adrenaline was rushing and I was feeling very ready for the race ahead. Did I mention there were 13,000 runners today? Yes, Thirteen Thousand. Ridiculous. While we were waiting for the race to start we were feeling very claustrophobic, so when the alarm sounded and we started to move I was thankful. It took about 5 minutes to cross over the start line and for a while I felt like cattle being herded. When I finally had some space, I felt much more comfortable.
I was aware that this course was hilly, and I knew about the first two, grueling hills and was prepared. Mile 4 is pretty much all up hill through a golf course and I flew up it and even faster down it. That was the second hill, so when I was at the bottom and on flat ground again I thought the hills had past–boy was I wrong. Mile 6 was by far the most difficult part of the course with a gradual, long hill that is about a mile long. My legs felt heavy and I lost some steam, but the thought of stopping never crossed my mind. Yvette and I were separated, but at around mile 7 she found me and we were able to finish together! I absolutely loved that this race had bands or dj’s every half mile and that they crowds cheering you on were huge. Water station were very frequent, but I found my new favorite race treat–freeze pops! People in the crowds were giving freeze pops to the runners and I had three during the course of the race. The cold, icy pops are refreshing and the sugar gives you a burst of energy. I was in heaven! The only real complaint I have about the race today was that after we made it through the chute at the finish, we walked for about 4 tenths of a mile before any water was to be found. I asked a volunteer where water was and she snapped back at the to keep moving. Finally we found some Vitamin water because I was starting to feel a bit faint.
In case you didn’t know, the Boilermaker ends with a HUGE party at the Matt Brewery with free beer and live bands. It was pretty much heaven. I had a few cups of Saranac Pomegranate Wheat beer, enjoyed my free lunch, and listened to great music. The crowd was dancing and loving life! Yvette and I both said we will definitely do this race next year. I’m still unsure of my time since there was such a delay crossing the start line, but I am confident it was under 1:30, which is all I was shooting for. I’ll search the website tomorrow to see if the times are posted yet. I left my camera at the car, but here is one shot of us getting back in the car after taking the shuttle bus back to the start area after the party
The hour ride home was a bit torturous. My legs started to cramp up and my stomach started to feel a bit off, but it was nothing that a shower and quick nap couldn’t fix.
I left my moms and was happy to get back to John and the apartment. We went to a BBQ at his Aunt’s house and I spent some time after visiting with my friend Jess.
I’m about to watch an episode or two of Alias on my computer in bed and zonk out–I am so exhausted. I found the first two season’s of Alias on dvd at my mom’s and I’m loving watching them. It was my favorite show when it was on tv and I was pretty devastated when it got cancelled! Jennifer Garner is my girl crush…just sayin’!
Do you have any shows that you wish you could bring back to primetime that got axed?
I also feel that way about Veronica Mars!
See Sing Live 