Saturday, April 18, 2009

1/2 Marathon & Our Hike Presentation

It was a busy day! Woke up this morning and ran the Oshkosh 1/2 Marathon, then got home, showered up and did a presentation at our church, Trinity Lutheran in Oshkosh.
1/2 Marathon
I was pretty excited to run the Oshkosh 1/2 today. My mom and dad were in town because mom and I were doing an "Our Hike" presentation at our church after the 1/2 marathon... Adam had class this morning, so mom and dad brought me to the start line and drove around and cheered me on in a few spots as I ran. It was really nice to have them here... I wish Adam could've joined us, too. Mom and dad did a great job finding me, and each time I saw them I got a little burst of energy and ran a little faster for a bit.

There were a TON of people at the start line, and that was awesome. I love the adrenaline rush when I get into that group of people all there for the same purpose. It's an amazing time. If you've ever even thought of doing it, you should! It's SO much fun!!

The run went well. I ran strong pretty much the entire race, except for... get this... the last mile! I think my mind recognized that I was almost done and started to shut down my body a little early. I felt like walking... but I resisted and kept chugging along to the finish. So my last mile was the hardest, but I still reached all the goals I set. I even smiled across that finish line!

It turned out to be a gorgeous day for the run. Last year is was cold, rainy and windy. This year it was 50 degrees at 6am! It was a gorgeous day, in fact, it was a little too warm for my taste while running... I sweat a lot, as I usually do, and afterwards felt like I was covered in a thin layer of dust... it was salt! Around my ears and neck was actually white with salt lines from all the sweat. But really, I'm not complaining. It was a good run.

I'm really proud of myself... I'm very happy with my time and how I felt during the run... and after. I recovered pretty quickly -- way better than last year! So what's next... well, I plan to transition into training for the full marathon, now. We'll see how that goes. After I got done today, I had a really hard time imagining doing that twice in a row in one day. But I suppose with proper training, it's possible. So I'll give it my best shot.

"Our Hike" Presentation at Trinity Lutheran Church

Mom and I were asked by the Time Out Group to present our story about our hike across America. so after the 1/2 marathon, we came home, showered up and head to the church. It was a busy day, but it all went really well. The presentation went smoothly, and it was great for mom and I to get together once again to share our story with a crowd of people. There were even a couple of Aplastic Anemia patients there! It was really nice to meet them and talk with them, comparing treatments and our experiences.

Adam and my dad were there, too, so it was all 4 of us, and that was really nice. They were a huge part of that hike, so it's always nice to have them both there to point that out. Mom and I were obviously the center of attention through that hike because we were hiking it, but it wouldn't have been possible without the guys. They rock -- really they do.

We set up our booth with pictures and stuff, spread out brochures about Aplastic Anemia along with our business cards, and then we went through our story with our powerpoint presentation. Mom and I could've reminisced forever. So many stories come back to us when we get together and start thinking about all we'd been through on the hike.

So that's the rundown of my day so far! I feel great! I was pretty stressed about it because it was so packed in, but it went really smooth, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Now we're expecting company for a UFC Pay per view. I'm getting tired, though... starting to wear down a little bit, so we'll see how long I last. Adam's makin' coffee and ordering pizza later, so I'll have to stay up for the food at least! :)

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