From the official 1/2 Marathoner! [1:56]!

February 15th, 2009 I ran my first 1/2 Marathon!
The Mercedes Half in Birmingham, Alabama.
13.1 Baby! :D

Words can't even describe... It was absolutely AMAZING!!!

Here's my story:
The night before I didn't sleep at all.. I felt like a giddy kid on Christmas eve. I went to bed at 9 but was still tossing and turning at 12:30. Somehow I got up at 5, ate 2 pieces of toast and 2 cups of coffee and was picked up by my best friend who ran it with me. It was amazing.. I don't even know how to put it into words. There were sooo many people, it's just awesome to be around thousands of people who have the same passion for something as you do, you know? It was a pretty chilly 40 degrees, but when we lined up at the start line it felt like a perfect 72 degrees because of the body heat radiating from all the anxious runners. The course was really cool; we ran by the Alabama theatre, a bread factory that smelled like heaven, past the UAB dorms, through the famous '5 Points', by a golf course, and over a couple hills. I didn't stop or walk once! I also didn't take any water or gatorade because I was afraid of getting sick. I probably should have, and it probably would have helped, but I didn't want to risk everything I had been working for. The first 5 miles were the hardest, but after we passed #8 I was breathing fine with no cramps or anything, and it was at that point I knew I'd be able to finish it. The best part was the very end, after we passed mile 13 I looked at my friend Katie and said "c'mon girl!" and we sprinted the last .1 to the finish. It felt absolutely amazing to finish it strong. The crowd helped alot too, because we weren't allowed to have our ipods, which totally sucked because half the race was psychological. Our time was 1:56; 8:50 pace per mile!!!! :) I was pretty excited because my goal was to get it under 2 hours without walking. We got 2 shirts and a Mercedes medal for finishing. Then her parents took us out for breakfast to my most favorite restaurant in the universe (and pluto) : Cracker Barrel! We were about to eat a hole in the car on the way because we were ravonous and it took a good 15 minutes to get there! I talked the waiter into making chocolate chip pancakes even though they weren't on the menu, haha. We didn't even shower before, so we stank it up and ate like pigs. (Two biscuits, three chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate milk, and coffee) Best. breakfast. ever. Then I came back and took the longest shower of my life. The end. :)
I would definitely do it again! There's one in Nashville, TN in April that I reaaaallllly want to do, it's part of the Rock N Roll marathon tour thing. We'll see.
Have a fabulous rest of the weekend!
~CheetahGirl

Keeping the Beat

CheetahGirl's Playlist: ^^Totally looks like me, btw... ;)

Throttleneck - Brad Paisley
Real World - Matchbox 20
Live Your Life - T.I. feat. Rihanna
Feel That Fire - Dierks Bentley
Shake It - Metro Station
One Week - Barenaked Ladies
See You Again - Miley Cyrus
Green Light - John Legend
Burnin' Up - Jonas Brothers
Butterfly - Crazytown
Let It Rock - Kevin Rudolf and Lil Wayne
Vertigo - U2
Shut Up & Drive - Rihanna
So What - P!nk
Womanizer - Brittany Spears
Low - Flo-Rida
Lose Control - Missy Elliot
Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Whatever You Like - T.I.
You're So Damn Hot - Ok Go
Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
All Summer Long - Kid Rock
Get Down Tonight - KC and the Sunshine Band

Dear Running Cheetahs -
I'm in need of a couple more songs, as this is only about 1.45 hours worth of music, during my long runs it has to replay itself, and I end up skipping around and becoming distracted. No fun. I like my warm up songs at the beginning and the last couple as ending songs, but I need some in the middle. Kind of 'pump me up' songs. As you can see, my range of music jumps pretty much everywhere; the very first song is strictly instrumental, but very peppy. Suggestions??? :)

My Worst Run

Hello running cheetahs! :)

I give up on the daily updates. It's definitely going to be a 2-3 times a week thing. I'm so busy! But not busy enough to get running off my mind!

Saturday was the worst run of my life. I was finally going to run with my best friend who is also running the 1/2 with me, and have been bragging that I ran 12 miles about a week ago, so we were going to try to go for 10. By 4.5 I was dying. Literally. My insides felt like they were exploding. Stupidly, I stopped and sat down, but that made my vision super blurry and I actually saw stars. I felt like I wasn't getting enough air and started hyperventilating. It was awful! Finally my friend brought me a gatorade and I sat up against a nice cold wall and felt better. :( Bad cheetah day.
I was so mad that I made myself go to the gym the next day, probably not the smartest idea, but I was so pissed! I ended up running 12 miles. :) And it felt...awesome.
Lesson learned though, and I'm now trying to drink some good ole H2O whenever I can... that was pretty scary and I am determined not to let it happen again. I'm glad it happened before my race though. Whew.
So, now I have run 12 miles on two separate occasions! I think I'm ready! I'm not running to race or place or anything, I just want to finish strong.
Happy Hump day, all!