13.1

I ran in my first half-marathon on Saturday in SLC. Overall, it was a great experience and extremely worth it. My cousin Lori decided she would spontaneously run it with me 3 days before the race, having not trained at all.

My favorite part about Saturday was how my brain was extremely active with all sorts of subconscious thoughts, inner monologue, random memories, and people. It was the best 2 hours and 15 minutes of unsolicited thoughts I've ever had. They just kept coming. I don't know how to explain it well in words, but if you are reading this post, you likely crossed my mind at some
point on my run.

I was also extremely moved by all the community members that came out to support all the runners. While many of the spectators didn't have any single person they were supporting, they just liked being a part of the hype. There were literally hundreds of people lining the streets and neighborhoods. They were ringing bells, blaring music from their homes on massive speakers, passing out all sorts of quick sugar fixes, water cups, giving out high fives, etc. It was awesome. My friend Becca was a little concerned that I took candy from a stranger in Sugar House =) I was too busy thinking about all the other random stuff to think twice about that.

Many things helped me get through training and the actual race. I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the following:

Lori Bonham: Thank you for spontaneously texting me last week and asking who was running with me. When I told you I was el solo, you eagerly/crazily said you would do it. Although you made me feel like a pansy for having trained for 12 weeks, I am SOOO thankful you did this with me!
Pre-Race 5 am: TRAX Station. Am I really this white and short? Ha!

• Colleague Music Mixes :
  I work with a great crew at Logoworks. I mentioned to a few colleagues that I was burnt out on my running mixes, and they totally helped me out. I came back from lunch on Friday and there were 5 new Cd's of music on my desk from various people with good luck post it notes on them. There is nothing like having great friends and good music to keep you going.
  
  
• Fergie Ferg :
  You know, I really do not want to like her music, but somehow she manages to make every song she "sings" so catchy and super conducive to keeping the adrenaline pumping and the heart rates up in women across America. While I had over 4 hours of songs on my iPod, Fergie stands out above all for keeping me the most motivated and for making me feel so G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S and flossy. Thanks Fergilicious.
  
  



• Awesome shoes: Buy Asics. Enough said.
  



• A healthy body with working parts:
  This one sounds a little corny, but honestly when I ran past people in wheelchairs cheering on the masses from the sidelines, I could not help but to think how I sometimes take for granted that I have two legs that work well, a nice set of lungs, etc. etc.


• My supportive husband:
  
  
  Niels has been super supportive of me training for this. Often times he would come home from school at night, and I would be out the door at the same time to get my miles in. Thank you for putting up with it and for waking up at 4:30 am to come watch me on Saturday.
  

• Porta Potties: I would usually rather hold it until I burst than use one of these. But I gained a new appreciation for these wonderful inventions.


• 80's speed-walker moms: I love you. Hot pink sweat bands and vibrant colored everything. I couldn't help but to smile as I passed you and admired your get-ups, your perfectly placed hair, and make up. I wish I could hear what you had loaded on your i-pods. Thank you.