I did it!

It's an incredible feeling. And I think I'm hooked. It was SO much fun! If I could skip all of the crappy training and just do races, I would be sold for sure. I loved it. The running culture is so neat all together. It's one of those things you know nothing about until you enter into it - the energy, the people, the fun. People were dressing up crazy for the "Shamrock" theme, everyone's so encouraging. They're just there to have fun. I felt like we were all gathered to do something incredible together. Let me tell you, there were so many shapes and sizes and ages there. I was blown away.

So I'm having a hard time knowing where to start with all of this so I don't miss sharing my whole experience with you....

My morning started early at 5am, yuck. It was still dark. I HATE getting up when it's dark. It's not natural. Here's something funny. I had a superstitious breakfast. It started last week when I ran so well after our 11 mile run. This is what I ate then, so I went out at 8:30 last night and bought it again at the store thinking it would work this time. Feel free to gag. :)

Odwalla Superfood Green Smoothie

Cheddar Cheese Rice Cakes

We arrived at J'aime's house at 6am, well actually 6:10 or so. I'm always running late.

We look sleepy. It was still dark out and sooo cold and windy. The forecast was 39-63 degrees and windy.

Jake was really sleepy. He worked a horrible shift yesterday starting at 8am and didn't get home until 11:45pm. Poor guy got up just to support us and watch me finish!

I'm married to a very sweet man.

We put on our race bibs and time chips and stretched out.

We got to Raley Field around 7am but stayed in our car with the heat on. They told us to plan on getting there around 6:30am so we wouldn't miss the start. It was crazy. Even as we were at the starting line there were tons of cars backed up to get in. I'm so glad we got there early and didn't have to worry about it. It finally got light out around 7:30am.

We got up to Raley Field (our minor league baseball field) and both J'aime and I needed to pee. She waited in this horrendous line and I decided I'd pass and just sweat it out. I honestly thought we wouldn't make the start if we waited in line. Wrong-o! J'aime got to go and I spent my entire run focused on not having an accident.

Yeah, we didn't stand here (below). We were more towards the back. It doesn't start your time until your racing chip goes over the green line, so we were in no hurry. To be honest, I was worried about getting trampled on by the stampede of people. It's really claustrophobic at the start for the 1st mile. Lots of people to dodge and bump into.

And then we ran. And ran. And ran. :)

Before more pictures, some things I don't want to forget about the race...

• I regret not wearing my iPod even though the rules said you couldn't. I really wanted my Nike plus to record my run and wear it (without the headphones), but I was too scared that after all of this training I'd be DQ'd. Guess what? Everyone and their mom wore iPods. I called them jerks everytime they ran by.
• The bands at every couple of miles sucked. It was either kids with wooden recorders, scary monster music, or a saxophonist playing "smooth operator" and "I shot the sheriff". Not really my idea of running music.
• I went back and forth and back and forth about whether or not I would wear my sweatshirt for the race. Remember, it was butt cold out at the start. I'm so glad I did. It was a pretty windy run and so it totally helped. I couldn't feel my hands for about the first 3 miles. At about mile 10 I took it off and wrapped it around my waist. I want to remember this for next year. Did I just say next year? :)
• I should have gone to the bathroom before the race. I went at J'aime's but then I drank my Odwalla and some water. I felt like a race horse with a tied up "you know". A couple of liquid stations had port-o-potties but at each one there were about 10 people in line. I was not going to stop! It was so funny. At the first mile I saw a bunch of people just jumping behind bushes in the race to squat and go.
• J'aime's husband Tim gave us strict coaching, "Fatigue is for cowards. Run the whole thing!" He's so funny. We stuck to it! I can honestly say we didn't stop or walk for the entire race.

I came in 1,863rd place out of 2,644 people recorded.

I know there were over 3,000 that ran, but they were probably too late to get their time clocked.

J'aime was .9 seconds ahead of me and got the 1,862nd place. You go girl!

My total time for the run: 2 hours, 25 minutes and 53.9 seconds. About 11:08 miles.

Jake got a really cool picture of us finishing. J'aime's got her hands in the air victoriously, and I'm just trying to finish the run hard.

Here we are! Isn't it cool that we got to finish like this inside Raley Baseball Stadium? It was seriously cool. We were on the big screen with an announcer calling out our names as we crossed the finish. All of our peeps were in the stands cheering. Even Jake's friends Nick & Drew showed up. I felt so honored that they came. I think the announcer called me Brian Johns and pronounced J'aime like the Mexican boy name Jaime (hi-me) Rosales. She gets that all of the time! lol Oh well.

Can I let you in on a secret? My anxiety (or excitement) kicked in once I saw the 13 mile sign and knew we were only .1 mile away from the finish. I could hear the crowds and I was really hyped. Just after the finish I seriously struggled with keeping myself from throwing up from being so overwhelmed. I was afraid as the person cut my running chip off that I might just ralf all over her. Below I'm smiling, but I'm actually trying to hold it together and not toss my cookies. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I get so worked up!

Me and my medal. I am soooo proud. After the race Jake and I went straight to Chipotle for some lunch. I wore it inside while we ordered. I wanted to bask in my glory for the day. Maybe I'll wear it everyday! jk

So what now? Lots of stretching and rest today. Then, I leave with my teens on Tuesday for our annual trip to Mexico to build houses. I'm definitely keeping this blog for just regular life stuff so stay tuned. And hey, maybe I'll train for another race and record it here. I don't have any concluding thoughts but these song lyrics that were in my head the entire run, from the song "Brave" by Nichole Nordeman...

So long status quo

I think I just let go

You make me wanna be brave

The way it always was

Is no longer good enough

You make me wanna be brave

Brave, brave

I love you all so much! Thank you for being a witness to this very new adventure in my life.