My First Marathon, with Four Different Climates

On Sunday, May 25, 2014, I reached a huge milestone life goal by completing the EMF Edinburgh Marathon (same for the Cordovas). I honestly didn't think I would finish due to the back problems I had early on and a nasty sickness at the end of my training cycle, which forced me to go into the race having only ran 15 miles as my maximum mileage. This also was my fifth or sixth attempt to run the marathon (and some that I registered for) since 2011, but had to bail, because of random injuries, surgeries, and/or sickness. I kind of got the impression that the Powers that Be were against me. But now, I can say that I'M A FREAKING MARATHONER!!! And nobody can take that away from me.

And not only that, but it was a pretty epic trip to England, Scotland, and France with some great people.

Thanks Martha for this image right before my race!

So, let's recap this thing we call a marathon.

We rolled into Edinburgh, Scotland, on May 23 (my birthday), which included activities, such as falconry (the best experience ever non-running related and will have a post on that later), whiskey tasting (um...we WERE in Scotland), and drinks at the Brew Dog Beer Pub (known for the world's strongest beer). I wanted to get there two days earlier to do touristy things on Friday and relax on Saturday. Mission Accomplished.



This is probably the best selfie ever with Puck the Owl.

Jim, Helen, me, Ray, and JL at the Scotch Whiskey Experience. There is over 300 bottles of whiskey in that room. 

Drinking a very strong and good beer at Brew Dogs.

And then we got the news...RAIN! It would rain most of the weekend, especially on marathon day. I wasn't so worried about the temperature or the rain; I was more worried about the 10-15 mph winds coming off of the coast. Yeah, the course was mostly a long the coast. Awesome.

We deemed this night Our Last Supper at Vittoria Bridge in which I had a wonderful salmon dinner. I highly recommend this place for dinner in Edinburgh. Thanks to Helen for getting our reservations early; people were being told that tables were ready around 9 p.m. early in the night.

I had a horrible night's sleep due to anxiety and back rub gel that JL put on me before I went to bed. I did it for the half marathon and loved it, but I had been going through hell with some kind of allergic reaction on my back. This basically intensified that and I couldn't sleep. I started freaking out until I remembered that most people do not sleep very well on the first marathon anyways. I felt like I joined a club or something.



Our Last Breakfast picture.

So, I fretted most of the weekend about what to wear on race day, including that very morning. After my breakfast of a piece of toast, with peanut butter and slices of banana, cornflakes, and some watermelon, I went upstairs to get ready for my FIRST EVER MARATHON. Thankfully, it was just drizzling that morning and not too cold. So, this is what I decided to wear.



Of course I was wearing my Texas Run shirt. I got a few compliments on the course. Also, you can't tell in this picture, but I was freaking out on the inside.

There was a rollercoaster of emotions pumping through me, including excited, nervousness, anxiousness, fear, dream like state, etc. by the time I got downstairs. JL was super nervous and I did what I could to take her mind off it by threatening to punch her in the lady parts so she wouldn't feel scared anymore. She politely declined, but you know what, she was smiling after that question. My wonderful boyfriend extraordinaire had brought us all rain slickers that kept the rain off and bonus points for being a bright orange color so we could see each other quickly if we got separated.

The Cordovas and I trying to release some of the nervousness.

Finally, it was time to go. Helen, JL, Ray, Jim, and I headed out the door of our perfectly located hotel (seriously half a mile from the start). We saw outside the window during breakfast how busy it was down there and now it was a mob of 8,622 people. We found our corral, did some stretching, went to the bathroom (men got to pee outdoors in the trough looking thing), and listened to some music until it was time to get in our corrals.

I originally wanted the Best Day of My Life song to pump us all up, which was used as the New York City Marathon's theme song, but didn't have it apparently on my phone. But Your the Best was of course the next best song and got us all smiling, especially when I performed some high kicks as a warm up.

Reason #2 for Jim being the best supporter and boyfriend; he thought to bring these slickers for us to help with the rain. #1 being because he's Jim and awesome and a giant.  

Seriously, this is the best boyfriend EVER. He allowed us to stretch our legs on him since the ground was all wet.

I immediately noticed that we (by we, I mean the Cordovas and I and not Helen) were in the wrong corral (Black Corral). It was closer to the front and we were the slow ones. Oh well. We decided to move to the side when we started. Although, moving to the side is different for Americans, because we generally move to the right when going slow and the British people move to the left. During the run, everyone was just flushed to the side if going slower than the traffic. So, we gravitated to the right.

And then, the countdown started. OMG! I was about to start my marathon and I could already feel the tears just hinting to start. I pushed them back, because it was too damn early for this to happen.

This was my first international race. American races always play the Star Spangled Banner before each start and I guess I was expecting something like bagpipes for this one. They didn't. We also took off our slickers, because the rain had completely died and the clouds were lighter.

The plan was to do a couple of miles slower than normal to keep our legs rested for the rest of the marathon. Helen would stay with us for a mile and then take off since she was trying to get a Personal Record (PR)/Personal Best (PB) for the Brits. However, at the start, I did the one thing I was warned not to do; I ran faster than average speed. I couldn't help it. I was caught up in the moment and the runners and with Helen. I kept looking back to the see the Cordovas trailing behind and it finally clicked to me why I was ahead of them. DUH! So, I slowed down and eventually Helen left us.

Mile 1:  OMG! I'M RUNNING A FREAKING MARATHON! Excitement, craziness, speedy were all things happening to me at once. The scenery was beautiful and people were running and cheering. We also got to see Jim taking photos of us on a wall and I threw him my jacket, because it was already getting hot. This was the last time I saw him until the Finish Line.

This was the start and took us awhile to make it to the actual start line. It was a lot of starting, stopping, starting stopping.

Yay, my first running step in my first marathon.

Ray, JL, me, and Helen waving to Jim. This is the only shot of all of us on the course.

We made it to mile 1. WOOOHOOOO!

Miles 2-9:  The Cordovas and I kept a good pace doing 5 minutes run, 1 minute walk. It wasn't fast or slow, but just where we wanted. It started to get windy and then the clouds parted around mile 5(when we hit the coast). To have sun in Scotland or the UK is rare, so everyone was out. You could tell some people didn't even know a marathon was going on at all. The coast was beautiful and I couldn't stop staring. I was in such a great mood and enjoying my time saying thank you to everyone until about mile 5 when I went to the bathroom for the first time. It would be the first of many long bathroom stops for me on the course. I'm not sure what upset my stomach, but whatever it was, sucked. I do have some theories including too much water, pasta lunch the day before, nerves, etc. Thankfully, they had toilet paper. I like to note that each time I stopped, I grabbed some paper for the road, which proved to be an awesome idea towards the end when the toilets ran out of paper. Mile 5 was also the time the sun came out and stayed out until probably mile 18. Mile 9-10 was about the time that JL started to have issues with her IT band and my phone died, which prevented me from updating Jim on where we were. At mile 9 is also where the course splits from the Finish Line area and starts the big roundabout for the rest of our mileage back to the Finish Line. I was hoping to see Jim there to just hug him and get the banana in his bag, but no sign of him.

I'm not sure where this was, but it was in the beginning mileage.



Mile 1-2 had some of the best scenery.

I'm not sure where these drummers were, but they were amazing. You could hear them miles away.

The Scottish coast was beautiful.

Not only am I running a marathon, but I'm learning, as well. East Lothian is home to the Scottish Flag.

Even Ray still has a goofy smile.



This was taken somewhere around Mile 5.

We made it to Mile 7.

Miles 10-13:  As I mentioned before, JL started to have issues with her IT band and had to walk a great deal. This section of the marathon is when it got really bad for her and we walked most of the time. I wanted to stay with them, but I couldn't keep up with all the walking. So, I told her at mile 13, I would be taking off on my own. And when mile 13 hit, I bid adieu to the Cordovas and wished them well.

I love this picture, because I'm just caught in the moment of running.

Miles 14-20:  What was I thinking leaving the Cordovas? I was alone; my phone died and had no way of contacting Jim and hadn't seen him in awhile. My stomach was causing me all sorts of issues. I realized at some point that it might be the water causing me problems. In the beginning, I would grab two bottles of water and chug them immediately so I wouldn't get dehydrated. Eventually, I started only grabbing one and then slowly drinking it all, which decreased my stomach pain/digestive issues drastically (more on that later). I was also hot and was now sunburned from the sun, because no one thought to bring sunblock on what was supposed to be a normal rainy day in Scotland. Poor Jim came out with a sunburned head. I started talking to people running with me, but for the most part it was just me and my thoughts. Somewhere around mile 16 or 17, I started to hit my low. I hadn't seen a bathroom in a long time, the turnaround point was much farther away than I expected, and I was about to go throw up on the side of the road. I was contemplating giving up completely when out of the crowd, I hear, "TEAM TEXAS." It was Helen yelling for me on the other side making her way back to the finish line. I just perked up immediately and gave her a hi-five or a hug or something. At that exact moment is when I needed to see her face or somebody I knew to keep me going. It put a pep in my step and I started talking to more people, smiling, and before I knew it, I was hitting the turnaround point at mile 18. And then, the clouds came back as I headed into what would be the most beautifully boring miles to run. It was cold, there were very little supporters left (except for two big groups; one group played La Bamba outside their house), and the roads were muddier and rougher to run on than the other part of the course. It was my least favorite part of the marathon and I was thankful to get out of there quickly. You could see and hear the thunderstorms in the distance and what looked like right around the finish line (Jim did informed me that they got soaked). And then around mile 19, the rain hit starting out as a drizzle and then slowly getting harder. About this time, I started talking to a lady and I told her that I am hoping to just get to mile 20 to put a fire inside of me. She asked me why and I responded with, "Because it's in the 20s and there's barely anything left of the marathon." She replied, "Well, I'm hoping that will be at 0.2 for me." I laughed. I never saw her again and I hope she made it.

Miles 21-25:  It wasn't mile 20 that did it for me; it was actually mile 21. I kept up the 5 minutes run/1 minute walk intervals after I left the Cordovas; however, at some point (can't even say when), it turned into 5 minutes run/2 minutes walk. But at mile 21, I went back to 1 minute walk. I also started to run just a tad bit faster. A house was playing Chariots of Fire and I began to smile and picked it up even more. Somebody yelled out to me that they were glad I was still smiling after all these miles. I also noticed people went from "Good job" to "Good effort," because I was basically at the back of the pack. People were packing up and there weren't many supporters left. At mile 24, the rain stopped and I just ran and ran and ran. I didn't want to walk anymore, I wanted to get it done.

Miles 26-26.2:  I finally caught up to this lady that I trailed most of the marathon. So, we talked until the final turn...the 0.2 left to go. I couldn't believe I was about to finish my first marathon. I picked up speed. The rain was completely done and the supporters were limited. And then I saw Mr. Boyfriend Extraordinaire on the sidelines taking pictures. I wanted to rush over to him and hug him, but I needed to finish. I immediately teared up when I saw him. I picked up even more speed and finished my very first marathon in 6:15:47.

This is me trying not to cry.

And then I saw Helen rushing over to hug me in celebration and I couldn't stop the tears. I have no idea what I mumbled to her, because I couldn't form sentences or think. She walked me over to get my medal and my finisher's shirt where I learned they ran out of every size but extra small. I grabbed it anyways. We headed over to the Finisher's section to take photos.

Thank you Helen for being there for me at the end! 

 I'm looking pale for a marathoner, but who cares really? I just ran a freaking marathon.  

After we got our bags and the Cordovas bag, I saw Jim walking towards me. I wanted to run to him, but I couldn't. He just picked me up and I started crying again. I wanted him to pick me up and carry me to wherever I needed to go, preferably with beer and food, but we needed to wait for the Cordovas. I was almost positive they got picked up by the late van (picks up people that wouldn't make the cutoff time of 6 hours:30 minutes). Jim set off to find someone to tell us where they were since it was passed the cutoff time. However, they were still announcing racers crossing the finish line. After much confusion, the Cordovas crossed the finish line just under 7 hours (so much for that strict cutoff time). They didn't get any supporters, a medal, or a finisher's shirt. But they finished.

Then, the rain came crashing down on us as soon as the Cordovas showed up. This nice volunteer drove us to the buses where we had one of the most amazing bus rides back to our hotel. This awesome group of Scottish people (I think they drank some booze in celebration) started to sing. We sang the whole freaking away home. They asked for Texas songs, but the Cordovas and I were just too tired and zombie like to remember Deep in the Heart of Texas. We tried. The best was when they sang Proclaimers, I Will Walk 500 Miles. It made the long bus ride home that much better.

I wish we were in the right mind to take video, because it was priceless.

We finally got back to the hotel to shower and go out for food. One thing we should have done beforehand was made reservations or picked out a place to go after the marathon. Many places were packed and one pub shut down on a holiday...at 6 p.m. We ended up at this one dark pub that had some good fried pub food and good beer (loving Scottish's Three Hop beer). Then, it was time to go to bed. I did not take an ice bath like suggested, because I was freaking cold. I didn't get warm until probably 9-10 p.m. I couldn't move to foam roll and I just didn't think about an Epsom Salt bath, which we bought in England and learned that it's used for constipation. However, I'm not sure it's the same. I took an Epsom Salt bath the morning after, but it didn't soothe me.

Helen eating her medal like an Olympian.

I bet the beauty queens haven't ran a marathon and then went on to win a beauty contest...but we did.

The happy couple with their temporary medals.

My giant taking care of me.

I'm a marathoner.

And since I didn't want to bombard you lovely readers with tons of photographs, I decided to make a photo video presentation instead.

My overall thoughts for my first marathon was that my time wasn't my best by far, but I knew that going into the run. I was hoping for sub 6; I think walking in the beginning and long bathroom stops hurt me in the end. I know what I need to fix in order to improve my time for Route 66 Marathon, November 23, 2014. It was also crazy having basically four different climates in one marathon:  cold, rain, wind, and sun.

The Good: 

• This was my first marathon and that experience and feeling alone can't be taken away from me. Plus, it was in a beautiful city.
• It was a nice flat course, with very little uphills. The scenery was beautiful.
• They had a decent amount of bathrooms in the beginning and throughout the course.
• The volunteers were great, especially the one that drove us to the buses.
• They weren't strict on the cutoff time or the bus tickets.
• I loved the finisher's shirts and long sleeved shirt.

The Bad:

• When we couldn't find the Cordovas, only one person out of all the people we talked to could tell us where to go if they were picked up by the late bus. The information booth had already packed up and left. That man told Jim to go to the Main Gate where they dropped off the people; however, no one at the Main Gate even knew that gate was called the Main Gate. It took forever to find them and we didn't know where they were. It was quite scary and we didn't like it.
• The website proved to be hard to navigate and well, not true. We could have music and there was no strict cutoff time. And when I bought the bus tickets for Jim as a spectator, there were different descriptions than when I printed the tickets.
• They ran out of all sizes (except xs) for me and had already packed up the shirts when the Cordovas crossed the finish line. We were all required to give our shirt size and they were supposed to have shirts and medals for everyone. I feel this was a big letdown.
• The park part of the run was boring.
• From mile 15-19, there were no bathrooms or any bathrooms that I saw and no water.
• The bathrooms ran out of toilet paper.

Would I run this marathon again? I probably would. They need to fix some stuff, but so do I.

I want to take the time to thank the Cordovas for randomly saying yes (well, JL said yes and Ray was told) when I asked if they wanted to come run a marathon with me in Edinburgh. I'm so glad they went on this journey with me and hope for many more to come. And thanks to Helen for being there, as well and being there when I needed you most (both times). You were so supportive before, during, and after. Thanks to everyone that ran with me during the training cycle or just gave me advice, especially to Jim (the other one) who was like a coach to me. And last but certainly by no means least, thank you to my wonderful giant, Jim. You were absolutely amazing to take us around, support us, hang out for six plus hours by yourself (while getting sunburnt and rained on) just to see me cross the finish line, carry my stuff, find the Cordovas, and everything else you did that day/night. I love you so much! 



Traveling to a Marathon?

The EMF Edinburgh Marathon is fast approaching and about to head out for another adventure of a lifetime with my man, the Cordovas, and Helen. I read a lot of blogs and Runner's World articles about what to bring, what to do, etc. when it comes to traveling for your marathon. I read so many that I won't be able to quote everything, because I don't remember everything.

First up...packing. 

1. My marathon is in Scotland and the weather can be cold and windy and rainy, but it can also be pleasant. The important thing about UK weather is to layer (thanks babe). So, I have brought three different scenario outfits (with an option for another long sleeve layer not pictured) depending on the type of weather.

This is for Houston warm type weather

 

This is most likely what I'm wearing, but I may wear the shorts in previous picture instead of capris (yes, those are capris)and lose the jacket. The cat is not included.

 

This is for OMG! It's fraking snowing in May? AHHHHHH! Also known as my ninja super suit.

• I'm wearing my shoes and bringing most of what's in the second picture and my Garmin watch on board with me just in case the airline loses my luggage.
• I packed other running clothes, too, because I plan to do some light running before the marathon.
• I'm also bringing my other pair of shoes just in case something happens to my primary shoes. Although, this is still up for debate and I have some time to remove from my suitcase, because that is heavy.
• Thankfully, JL is bringing the foam roller, but I'm packing my exercises.
• Bandaids are packed for expected blisters, as well as all of my nutrition stuff like gels, chews, etc.

Other Advice I learned:

• Do NOT be a typical tourist the day before your marathon. I read in Runner's World and I believe Runner Beans' blog about how you will exert so much energy walking around and checking out the sites. I learned that walking around for the Great Urban Race on a Saturday made me sore the next day for my long run. Therefore, we are going to Edinburgh two days earlier, which is my birthday to do all the touristy stuff like drinking scotch, visiting castles, and participating in the coolest thing ever, falconry.
• Find a meeting area that's not just in the designated meeting area. I read a lot from people that it took forever to get to the meeting area and it was so crowded making it almost an hour before they saw their family. So, we will have Plan A, B, C, and D as the designated pub.
• Check out the route beforehand and see good places for Jim to set up camp. I'm lucky that my baby is a giant and it will be easy to spot him. However, he may get a balloon to hold or a bright shirt (to his dismay). Also, check out the pub as the final meeting place. They have one online listed, but that's probably going to be crowded.
• Make reservations for dinner the night before. You don't want to be searching around for a place to eat late at night with all the other people.
• Have a high carb pasta for lunch and medium carb for dinner.
• Chill out on Saturday; maybe go watch a movie and relax. Whatever we do, it won't be too much walking around.
• Bring a sweater to throw away in case it is super cold waiting for our marathon to start.
• Print up all of the information, including bus tickets for both marathoners and spectators.

What would you add to this list?

I'm super excited, but anxious. Wish me luck! 

Gait Analysis Completed

A couple of months ago, I read an article in Runner's World about this writer going to New York for a running assessment (see summary article here). A team of people put this writer at different stations, evaluated her, and then gave her a report and rehab exercises. I got curious. She even mentioned about how she had done a Gait Analysis previously, but it wasn't as detailed as what they did in New York.

What the hell was a Gait Analysis? According to Active's website, a Gait Analysis uses a map to reveal the programming of everything happening within your body—from kinesthetic awareness and habit to individual levels of mobility, stability, flexibility, and functional strength. The analysis of all these different elements taken together is what creates a complete picture of a person's gait.

Hmmm...I'm having a great deal of back issues and feet issues. I wondered if this is why I am having these issues. Could my running form be the mysterious answer to my problems with pain. I decided to get myself analyzed while I run. So, I started researching where to go for a running clinic like the writer. I looked at New York and California. And then, I found all sorts of testing at Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Institute in Houston right down the street from my work. For $75, I could get the Gait Analysis and other things analyzed if I wanted. If this didn't work, then I would look into trying the more expensive running clinic in New York.

After some scheduling conflicts, I finally made it there to meet Kimberly. We went in to a back area with a treadmill and cameras. I told her my concerns about my back and she brought in another lady to do some tests and give me advice. Then, I got on the treadmill and started the test. When it was done, she asked about my shoes and I told her that I wore Saucony's equivalent to the Asics Nimbus, but I didn't think I was happy about them. I also mentioned that I never had any body issues with my previous wornout pair of Nimbus. She immediately noticed that I overpronate and my current shoes weren't helping me at all. She told me to look at Asics GT 1000 or 2000 and then go back to Nimbus if those didn't work. I did have pretty decent form. However, she identified some problem areas. I point my toes up when I run and angle them outwards. I also need to lean forward when I run and straighten out my back leg when pushing off. These are all things that could be affecting my back.



This is my left leg mid-stance view. Picture by Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Institute.

Afterwards, she asked me to show her the foam rolling exercises that I currently do and she greatly improved on one and added more to my repertoire. She also gave me some exercises to strengthen my back and help with stability. After a couple of days, I received a detailed report (which I only gave you the highlights on this post), PowerPoint of all of the exercises, and a video.


Since the analysis, I bought the Asics GT 2000 shoes and absolutely love them.

Aren't they beautiful? And not freaking pink.

My right foot feels like I'm running on clouds in Heaven. I am still having issues with my left foot, but I'm handling that with my Orthopedic doctor who did my bunion surgery. I have had minimal to no back issues since the analysis and especially during my runs. Although, I'm only doing a handful of the exercises everyday. When I get back from my marathon, I'm going to work on incorporating all of them into my daily routine. Right now, I do the hip abduction (30 reps), hip bridge (2 sets of 15reps), clamshell hip abduction (30 reps), and planks (2 sets of 30 seconds) every morning when I wake up.

This is the hip abduction. Picture by Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Institute.

I do the foam rolling every time I run and only some of the time when I'm not running.

My absolute favorite (but oh so painful) foam rolling exercise. Picture by Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Institute.

I feel like my money was well spent with Kimberly and this Gait Analysis. I highly recommend doing one if you are a training for a marathon.

Have you ever done a Gait Analysis? What did you think?

Speaking of marathon...10 FREAKING DAYS until my first ever marathon. I'm not sure how this is going to go since my training has been less than stellar. But whatever, I'm doing it. Hopefully, they won't sweep me up in the bus of shame, because I didn't make it under 6 hours, 30 minutes.

2014 Sprint For Life 5k Recap

It's May and you know what time of the year that means for me?! That's right, it's Sprint For Life 5K time where I run to raise money in the fight against ovarian cancer. I do this run every year in honor of my Great Aunt Betty and MaloRee, BranDee, and MegGan's mother who both died from Ovarian Cancer. So, this is the one time of a year where a race actually means something to me (besides of course my first marathon in 2 WEEKS and the first annual Quadraman this year). Check out previous years' post here and here. Also, this race is literally the race that started this blog and training even though I didn't participate. The only differences were that Kate didn't run it with me (BOO!) and freaking MaloRee surprised me that day to run it with me (YAY!). And I also registered for this at the last minute and didn't really do a proper fundraise. Oops.

Super excited I got to run with this beautiful lady who just finished her first half marathon!

Even though this race means something to me and I look forward to it every year, I hate the start time of 7 freaking 30 in the morning. Thankfully, I live close by, but I still have to get up early to take out the dog and get there before they start closing off the streets by my house. I also can never remember to park in the free event parking lot and instead go to the standby pay lot. I so blame Kate for this one.

Troublemaker!

The registration and packet pickup was a mess. We had to get in line alphabetically and get our bib number and then get into another line that corresponds with that number. If you are like me, you aren't very much awake at 7:30 a.m. and really can't process this whole needing to know your bib number instead of going by your last name. I got up to the front (thankfully, my line was the shortest out of all the lines, but not by much) and forgot my damn number. So, I had to get out of line to get the number and then wait again. They also ran out of shirts in my size, but I didn't care too much about it since I don't wear the shirts ever. When they announced that they were starting in two minutes, I just looked around at the crowd of people still waiting to get their bibs. They did push the start time, but not by much. I hope they don't do it this way next year or figure something out to make it more efficient.

But, it was a beautiful day to run...not too warm, not too cold. Although, I have noticed that for some reason, this run every year always starts with a cold morning, which is not the norm for May in Texas.

Dan, Mal, Sammi, and myself left the line and headed to the start where everyone was already going. We walked at first and then eventually moved to running around the walkers. It took awhile, but we finally got through. Dan and Mal were off and Sammi and I hung back. I was okay taking it easy since I didn't know my physical capability after the Norovirus incident I just got over.

Love going over Brays Bayou. I need to run there more.

On a side note, I did pretty good.

Eventually, I left Sammi and caught up with Dan. We ran and walked and ran and walked. We saw Mal on the other side heading back (she freaking finished it in 28 minutes...awesome!).


Look at that smile!

Then, it was our turn to head back where we saw Sammi. We got towards the end and I told Dan that we are running the rest of the way to the finish line. He agreed. Before I had a chance to look back at him, he was gone sprinting like some weird gazelle trying to do a 5 minute mile. I am not made for that speed and certainly can't keep it up. So, I picked up my pace and ran it in by myself where I saw Mal cheering me on the side line. We then turned around to cheer on Sammi.

I'm here, aren't I?! 

 I didn't get any sleep and I'm up exercising in the morning. Something is not right with the universe.

Cheering on Sammi.

Running in for the win over those other girls.

First time together running this event.

And these are my new shoes, Asics GT 2000. Aren't they so freaking beautiful? Thanks mom for the wonderful b-day present. I have decided that Asics are my shoes and I will never leave them again. I was so stupid in the past. This type of shoe fits my running style better. It's like Heaven on my right foot, but still having issues with the left.

After we finished, we went over to the after race party area. We got some Ovarian Cancer items from the store (first time they have been here, I think), had some food, and took off. I was happy they had the Coconut Water brand that I like.

It was a great morning and a great run. I felt strong and confident enough to run six miles the next day. Since I registered so late for this run, I didn't do a good job fundraising. I did manage to raise $175, which is better than nothing. You can still donate for a month I think. Thank you to everyone who supported the cause and Dan, Mal, and Sammi for running with me.

BranDee also ran 3.1 miles around her house since she could not be in Houston for the actual event. These were her pictures from the run and it couldn't have been more spiritual seeing those rainbows.

Double rainbow!

Next big event will be the EMF Edinburgh Marathon Festival in almost two weeks. OMG! I can't believe it's coming up so soon. EEK! Slightly nervous. Okay, take deep breaths, deep, long breaths. I will be fine. I will be fine. WOOOSAAAAA!

The Walking Dead Escape Recap

On Saturday, April 26, 2014, I participated in the Walking Dead Escape hosted by AMC and The Walking Dead creators. It was my brother's birthday weekend and this is how he wanted to celebrate. I didn't complain. Sara, my brother, and I all got VIP passes, meaning we got to be a survivor and a walker and also got special treatment. My sister in law (SIL) was just a walker, but she still rocked it out with the best of them as a cool ass walker bride.

I was worried about this event, because I literally just got over my own zombie like plague called Norovirus the day before. Sara was suffering from a horrible foot injury. We weren't at our best shape. The website said that it was okay for people with lower than usual physical activity, which we found out later how wrong that was, but I will get to that later.

First, let's start with the bad. The event started an hour late (at least). I believe the VIP people should have been in their own area waiting inside the gate, but we were told to wait with everyone else. And I certainly think that they should have checked the tickets to make sure people were in the right groups when they let them inside the gates. I think they just started letting 150 people go at a time to ease the wait, which is why I think this worked against us in the end as walkers. Since my SIL was in the very LONG walker line (as in, when we got done with our survivor challenge, she was still in line waiting 2-3 hours later), we knew why the event started so late. When we got into the first gate, the guy explained the instructions to the group, which we couldn't hear due to talking people around us and the guy not really turning the megaphone our way. And that's about it for the upfront gripes. I will get to my last gripe later in the post.

 

Sara and I sitting down to wait in the line. Thankfully, I had a place to sit, because I was still weak from sickness.

Now on to everything else. 

 

On a side note, I will note that I didn't have many pictures, because I read on the website that we couldn't take photos. After seeing a bunch of people take photos, I joined in on the fun at the end of the survivor time.

 

We got herded into a tent with three zombies chained up, while this soldier lady gave us instructions about our evacuation process. Then, the zombies broke their chains and we were off starting the event. We raced up the ramps of Reliant and around zombies trying not to get touched. My sickness took it's toll and I was glad that they had some space between the groups of zombies so that I could walk. The first stop was a medical tent overrun by zombies. They were everywhere and I got touched. I think I got touched three times total.  

 

Spectators were lined up watching the mayhem and I felt like we were in the movie The Running Man. It was totally cool. I played up the whole we are actually survivors vs. zombies.

 

 

We went down the ramps and to the floor of Reliant where we climbed on the seats of a school bus and jumped on cars to get away from the zombies. This was my favorite part. We periodically would distract a zombie with noise so others could get by, but my brother failed to mention that to Sara and I the first time he did it. So, we followed him. He yelled. It was funny. We ran under cages where I got up too fast and hit my back on the top of the cage...OUCH! We ran up and back down ramps and under more cages. It was total chaos and I loved every minute of it. I just wished I was in better shape.

 

Sorry for the photos being so blurry, but I was running and snapping away. This was on the last ramp down to finale.

 

See, you had to juke your away around them.  I was so grateful for being a football fan and knowing how to juke.

After the girl got by him, he turned his attention to me.

She was the coolest one we saw besides the walker with a baby and fetus and hanging out.

She did contortions to get to us survivors.

They had these missing pictures all over and people kept taking them down for keepsake. I didn't understand it either.

We stopped to take a picture of with a charred zombie.

The last set of cages and by far the hardest to get through.

We got to the final survival tent where we were told to sit down and let them check us for zombie bites. Then, the lady shot my brother and we took off running. I seriously had so much fun as a survivor.

That's my brother after being shot. Loser!

We survived! As VIP holders and survivors, we got a copy of The Rise of the Governor, first edition of the Graphic Novel, and a t-shirt.

Sara and I with some caged walkers at the party.

But the awesome thing about the event was creating a character zombie. Sara and I chose to go with marathon runner zombies. We just finished our marathon when we got bit by the person giving us our medals. My brother was an office zombie and of course, SIL was a bride. As VIP people, we went to the head of the line. Poor SIL was still sitting in line when we easily passed her up. There may have been taunting of our VIP passes in front of her, but who really knows.

The best picture of the night!

My SIL as the bad ass bride zombie; she got a lot of people wanting to take her picture.

The happy couple...or the dead couple...whatever.

My full get up.

The best photobomb ever!

 LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

After we got all done up, we got our instructions as walkers and went to our stages to get the survivors. I believe that because they just did 150 people at the beginning instead of the time slots, there were more walkers and survivors on the course when we went through as survivors. It was pretty much dead when we went out there. There were hardly any survivors and long gaps between the groups. There were no spectators. So, for my SIL, this was a let down. I told her that it was so not like this when we went through. There was more energy and more people and more everything. After our 90 minutes, we left. Other people started to leave, too.

All in all, I had a blast doing the Walking Dead Escape and seeing all the different characters that came out to play. I felt it was a little pricey, especially for my SIL who paid $95 to spend a lot of time in a line and not get all of the fun like we did. I would probably not do it again, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

And I found this gem and I laughed my freaking head off, especially the part about Shane rubbing his head. LMAO!