Lincoln Presidential Half

Last week could not have been any more busier. I didn't know if I was coming or going.

Do you ever have those weeks?

Let's not even mention that I completely stopped training for the Lincoln half at week 8. That's right folks. I did not run one single mile 3 weeks prior to the race. Yes, I am crazy. I don't have any excuse. all I can say is I just did not make time to run. I did however find time to eat my weight in Easter Candy, watch all my shows on the DVR, and down 3-4 beers a night.

Seriously, I don't know what was wrong with me, I turned into a lazy arse BIG TIME.

I have to be totally honest. I hadn't been back to STL since December. I was more excited to hang out with friends than run.

First stop, Stacey. I love this girl we met years ago "working" at a golf course. We clicked immediately and I swear it's like we've been friends forever. Plus we were Prego at the same time so we were able to share horror stories about eating grilled cheese, breast feeding, and the joy of C-sections. It was nice being able to talk while the girls played.

Then I stopped by and picked up my crazy friend Maryann. She is probably my most crazy, mouthy fly by the seat of her pants friend. She be crazy but you call that girl and she is there for you in a New York minute. I love me some her. She was also running the Lincoln half. This was her first half. She also did no training and last minute decided to walk it. Told you, fly by the seat of your pants.

There was no way I could drive through STL without stopping at my parents. So we headed there  raided the fridge sipped on Lime A Rita's lime a Rita's count as carb loading right? and then decided to head to Springfield.

Springfield is only 1.5 hours outside of STL, somehow we managed to stop at Jack in the box for a glorious taco. YUM. I miss jack in the box. again carb loading for the big race

L was our host for the weekend. I just love this girl. So does H.

 

All I wanted to do was drink wine and talk all night with my friends. Which is what we did-minus the wine park. They drank wine and I drank water.
Running the Lincoln Half taught me a lot of things.

• The only thing I can wing, is wearing a pair of jeans two days in a row
• I am 31 not 21, Let's just be honest. The old grey goose just aint what it used to be
• Training is very important. Very. I must train

The course was beautiful. We ran through the historic part of Springfield which included Abe Lincoln's home and tomb. The course was very entertaining. Trust me, I stopped and did a little sight seeing. I also stopped and got the bug out of my eye, stopped to get the rock out of my shoe, stopped to help some random child, Stopping seemed to be the only consistent thing that I did during the race.
At mile 9 I was so mad at myself. The tears started falling down my face. Mostly because I was so disappointed in myself but the wind didn't help. Did I mention, it was windy because it was.
I tried really hard to push to the end, my legs seemed so heavy but I kept going. FINALLY I reached the finish line, only to see my parents. Which made me Oprah Cry. I was so surprised to see them.

 

I finished at 2:22. Which is 22 minutes over my goal time and 12 minutes slower than my last race. BUT I deserved to finish 2:22. Lesson learned. From this point I am moving forward. I will train for the Hospital Hill Run. No more excuses.