OK FINE - Let's talk 26.2

Sometimes I swear running gets me drunk bc I remember my runs the same way I remember blackout wasted nights. So here is my shady, disjointed memories of the 26.2 miles in Newport...


I remember been cold, being tired, thinking "just get me to 15, just get me to 21, just get me to 23, just get me to my warm car." I remember when Sarah's ipod died and I thought, that really sucks I should sing to her and then 3 miles later mine also stopped working. I remember running by the photographer at 13.1 (this is about the point that the wind and rain and ice were beginning to hurt) and saying "I'm so cold" and then running by my friend Jeff and screaming "I love you." I remember my two best friends from high school grabbing me at the finish throwing me in a tent and wrapping me up in the tinfoil blanket I got at the finish. I remember just saying that I need to find Sarah and that I need to hold her hand across the finish. All I wanted was to hold her hand across the finish. I remember dancing in the rain while we lined up, joking, laughing and having people around us laughing with us bc we were seriously that crazy. I remember the first few miles just loving it. Soaking (literally) it all in. I remember the people on the sidelines cheering and I remember the other runners giving reassuring smiles. In fact there was one woman who was so great Sarah turned to me and said "I want her to follow us" I immediately though follow our blog so I yelled "runtilimfun.blogspot.com" Later I realized that Sarah meant that she literally wanted this adorable little woman to follow us around saying "you're doing so good, keep going." as we ran.

But despite the fragmented memories there is one thing that really stuck out during the race. I had fun. All I wanted was to have fun. My first race I was such a nervous wreck I actually got sick, like miss 3 days of work and see the doctor sick. The photog saw my bat shit crazy side for the first time in our relationship and I just hated every minute of the day. All I kept saying after the races is how I prefer to run by myself and on my own terms - I hated racing. But the marathon was different and I think a lot of that had to do with Sarah. We were in it together, and we seriously just wanted to have fun. I woke up giggling and smiling (at 5:30am mind you) and danced before the race, the photog even "How I metted" Sarah to some attractive male half-marathoner (this is a How I Met Your Mother inspired phrase where you go up to someone say "havveeeee you met (insert friends name) and then walk away to let them flirt and hit on each other). Any time I started to get nervous I looked at Sarah and she made me giggle or smile. There was no nervous feeling, no pre-race get-me-the-f-out-of-here jitters. I kept thinking "this is it, this is what it's all about." And we actually joked - in a freaking nor'easter we joked about semen churches and hot dog stands at fancy mansions (long story short when we were driving the course I thought one of the ticket booths at the mansion was a hot dog stand and Sarah and the Photog made fun of me endlessly). So despite the fact that I was so cold, I was also happy to be out there doing what I love with someone I love (wow Sarah, I hope this doesn't creep you out). But seriously, I think one of the reasons running is so great for me is because I have someone so great to share it with. Yes, running is essentially my love-child with Sarah.

OK I'm a creep so I'm just gonna throw out some photos and let you all contemplate why you waste your time reading my posts that are just creepy in an uncomfortable kind of way. But for the record I just want to thank everyone for their support - it meant so much to me that I have so many amazing people in my life :)

Pre run dry and warm Dancing in the rain

EDIT from Sarsh:  I would like to clarify the "semen church" that Ange references in this post is actually this.  Still funny, but didn't want anyone to think we're worshipping at some sort of sperm bank moument.