THE SHAMROCK'N HALF MARATHONG 2011

OMG PEOPLE... SO MANY THINGS TO TALK ABOUT I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER THEM ALL. So many things that I'm going to quickly make a list of topics so I don't forget...

1. My toes
2. The bums
3. The mayor
4. The gas
5. The ending

So quick overview: I completed the race in 1 hour, 55 minutes, and 24 seconds. 1:55:24!!
I placed 882nd overall (out of over 5500 runners!) and I placed 52nd in my age group (out of 497 females between the ages of 25-29!)

Although I'm super proud of myself for achieving my goal, I don't know if I ever want to put that sort of pressure on myself again... it was HARD! My pace averaged out to an 8:49, so I was definitely proud of myself. I only walked through the last 3 water stations for some Powerade, but other than that, I was truckin'.

Okay, onto the good stuff....

1. MY TOES: So for those of you who don't know, I've managed to lose a total of 4 toe nails since my marathong in February. Yep, they just fell off. Well, more like, they were loosened by all of the running I've done and I myself pulled them off so they wouldn't catch on anything. Do you even KNOW how long it takes toe nails to grow back? These ain't no starfish arms you can just chop off and grow right back... these toe nails are GONE. Anway, after the race was over, my toe tips were in excruciating pain to say the least. I was so scared to take off my shoe for fear of gallons of blister blood that might just pour out of my shoe. Luckily, they weren't all bloody, but they hurt like a mother effer.

2. THE BUMS: Along the race course, we ran through the woodsy area along the American River. Among the spectators and supporting families, I thought it was awesome to see all of Sacramento's bums on the side of the road cheering us on. Some people don't know this, but bums have great things to say sometimes. The only downside to the bums was that my boss reported that she saw one taking a fatty dump near the race course. I guess they've got no where else?

3. THE MAYOR: I was well into mile 13, just wishing everyone would get the hell out of my way so I could just finish the damn thing when I see a bunch of dudes wearing these matching shirts. I thought to myself, "aw that's cute. a little man running group..." THEN I hear one of the side volunteers say, "WAY TO GO MAYOR JOHNSON!" It took about 10 seconds for me to put all the pieces together (I was running my brains out, what do you expect?!). All the "dudes" wearing matching shirts... the bodyguards! And in the dead center of the pack... MAYOR FREAKIN' JOHNSON!  (And by the way... totally passed him up)

4. THE GAS: OH LORDY THE GAS!! We're going to get gross here. If you'd like to skip to number 5, go right ahead, this ain't pretty. Anyway, I always make it a point to "drop the kids off at the pool" before ANY running event. It saves on time, and you just feel better when you're "empty" and you have to run 13.1 miles. So there I am, happily running in the crowd of people. I'm doing my own thing, breathing in the nice crisp Sunday morning air through my nose and mouth... ALL OF A SUDDEN a gust of warm, stale, FART AIR gets blown into my face! WTF! OMG! OMG! Was that what I think... was that... O.M.G. I HAD FART IN MY MOUTH. The worst part of it all.... I couldn't run away from it! Fart after fart after fart just kept happening!! I was in a mine field and no matter where I went, I just didn't know if I would be met with another stink bomb... SO GROSS. Thankfully, I was able to run off to the side and limit the amount of fart air that I came into contact with.

5. THE ENDING: So my plan for the last ending picture was to jump up into the air like I had won a million dollars. I wish I had the energy to do that during my full marathong, but no way could I have summoned that sort of energy. So I decided I'd try to do it today. Okay, so I am SPRINTING toward the finish line... and let me paint a picture for you: The finish line was ON Raley Field, so people could watch from the bleachers. There are about a gazillion fans out there watching people run, and there were a bunch of kids that were down in the first row of seats with their cute little hands all sticking out for high fives. I LOVE pretending that I'm famous, so I'm like, "FANS! I should be a good famous person and give them ALL high fives!" So off I went... high five! high five! high five! high five! etc... And before I knew it.... BAM! The camera was already in my face! WTF! I had no time to prep for my jumping into the air picture!!! I was too busy tending to my fans!! OH NO!! THE POSE! THE GLORIOUS POSE!! G-D IT!! I missed my moment... So now all I'm hoping for is that my end picture isn't me with a face that says, "OH NO! AH!"

Anyway, folks, that's it for today!! Another success in the world of T.Lee's running. WHAT THE HECK SHOULD I DO NEXT?!

My group!