eleven

So as most of you know, I've been training for a 1/2 marathon in May. The same race I did last year. Although I was satisfied with my time, I knew if I trained harder I could beat it. I set a high goal of wanting to beat my time by eleven minutes. (weird, that's not why I titled this post eleven, but we'll get to that shortly) So yeah, eleven minutes will put me at 2 hours. Some days I think we can totally do it, and some days I just get so discouraged. I say we, meaning Anna & I. I work with Anna at Starbucks and three months ago I suckered her into running the 1/2 with me. We both wanted to start working out again, and I just happened to have a 1/2 marathon in mind. She skeptically said she would join me. And I AM SO GLAD SHE DID! I tell her everyday that I wouldn't be training so well if it weren't for her.

Let me just brag about Anna's background for a bit. She comes from a huge track family. She ran track in high school, broke records, still holds records, and went on to become a collegiate sprinter at Seattle Pacific University. Her Grandpa is a track legend here in Spokane, (you can read about Grandpa Tracy Walters here if you'd like; second article from the bottom). He now helps coach track along side Anna's Dad, who is the head track coach at North Central H.S. Anna's husband also helps coach, and last year he placed 3rd in the Spokane 1/2 Marathon with a time of 1:18! He is the one who has been putting our running schedule together. What a blessing!

And what a blessing Anna is! I LOVE running with her. We run 6 days a week and probably 5 of those together. It is so therapeutic. We talk, we gossip, we laugh, I've even cried on a run! It has been so nice to share this journey of really getting into shape with someone else. We hold each other accountable and push each other when needed. We are so competitive, that when we don't run together, there have been times that we'll txt the other our time, and it will push the other to get their butt running and try and beat the others time :) When I'm having a down day, or I'm just tired, or the weather isn't that great, along comes Anna and makes me run. I'm always telling her I wouldn't be doing this it weren't for her!

I believe I told her that just today (monday).

Today we had our eleven miler. This will be our longest run before our race. Our plan was to do part of the Bloomsday course and then some. I must say when I woke up today it was so beautiful out. The sun was shining and it made me a little excited for our run. By the time Anna picked me up at noon, it was thundering. We contemplated wearing our capris or full length pants. By the time we made a decision it was lightly snowing. (We opted for the pants) As we drove to the start of our route, it began to snow very heavily. Borderline blizzard. We looked at each other and thought, "maybe we should do this tomorrow", but we just wanted to get it done. We parked and decided to wait it our for a bit, for there was a glimpse of blue sky peeping through the clouds. Could it be? Sunshine? We have been so blessed with great weather. Even the gloomy days we've had this spring, it always seems to clear up for Tabitha & Anna to run.

So as we started our long eleven, it was beautiful! The air was crisp and the sun was shining. At one point I had made the comment that I could have even worn shorts. That was until the temperature dropped about ten degrees in a matter of ten seconds, and started snowing blizzard-ing again. And I don't think it could have been any windier! It was snowing so hard that my face was dripping wet and at times I didn't know if I were wiping off snow or snot. And let me tell you, I've never had a snowflake fall into my eye and blind me for a split second.

Trying to see as the snow dumped on us was hard enough, but now it was starting to stick, which made reading street signs almost impossible. Did we miss our street? Where were we? UGH, as if the elements we were enduring weren't enough, now we were lost. We decided to just head down a street and hopefully figure it out. We were relieved that Summit turned into Broadway...the street we were looking for this whole time. Perfect! However, just about this time all I could think about was how miserable I was. Everything about me was wet at this point, including my feet. I just wanted to quit so bad, but I knew we were quite aways away from the car (and of course I couldn't quit with Anna by my side). So, this is when I went into survival mode. I just wanted to be done. Be warm. And the only way that was going to happen was if we didn't stop and just pushed it.

And pushed it we did. I'm so proud of us! And honestly, running eleven in a blizzard was a bigger accomplishment for me than running 13. I wish you could have heard me when we were done. My face was so numb that I couldn't even smile or talk without slurring my words. We felt like studs!