TWENTY SIX POINT FREAKING TWO

It's hard for me to completely comprehend the fact that it's true, but it is. I completed my first marathon. Here's how it went down:

The night before I laid out all my gear in sheer disbelief that the day had finally arrived.

I was really excited the morning of, but I still couldn't believe that I was actually about do to my first marathon. For some reason, even though I had been signed up for 10 months, and had been counting down the days since, I just couldn't believe that it was actually happening.

Pre-Race meet up with the ultimate marathon man- Seth

Mile 1: Everyone says that your first marathon is emotionally overwhelming, and I was waiting to be overwhelmed and start crying or something, but it still hadn't clicked that I was actually doing it.

The fact that it hadn't hit me that I was actually about to run 26.2 miles, my longest run by 4.2 miles, didn't initially bode well for me. I was feeling rather cocky, and was suddenly concerned about my time, which, I had decided before, would be a non-factor. In my cockiness, I decided that I wanted to finish in under 5 hours, preferably around 4:30 (which shows I suck at math, because my average half is 2:20+). So I started with the 4:30 pace group.

Where's Waldo? I don't know, but Simone is the
one with the sexy knee braces.

6 miles in I was tired, and it finally dawned on me that I'm doing a marathon not a 5k, and that the 4:30 pace group was not for me. I decided to stop struggling to keep up, and go at my comfortable pace because, ultimately, finishing was my goal.

Half way through it once again hit me that I'm doing a full marathon, and I instantly regretted my poor life choices. What the hell was I thinking?!? I could be finishing right now! But, the course for the Space Coast Marathon was my saving grace. The course is essentially a figure 8, so the half way point is a place for friends and family to give you a mid race boost.  

Thumbs up!

Mile 15: My first full blown wave of fatigue hit me, and I walked for the first time. I knew I would have to walk at some point, even though I really didn't want to. I was disappointed, but I was happy that I didn't have to walk until after the half-way point. I didn't walk much though because walking doesn't get you to the finish any quicker.

Mile 16: I poured water over my head in a futile attempt to cool off, and my right headphone, which clearly didn't agree with my cool down technique, stopped working. At least I had good 'ol lefty because without music, I cannot run! Having one headphone allowed me to hear the tell tale squishing in my shoes meaning that I was blister bound.

Mile 17: I started to get a little dizzy, and my stomach was a little sour. I attempted to remedy my fatigue with shot blocks and powerade, and I think that did my stomach in. But, I had to suck it up because I still had 9.2 miles to go.

Mile 18: In the blink of an eye, I went from being so hot that I was stopping at every water stop and pouring water over my head to uncomfortably cold. I had made my final turn and was heading to the finish. In honor of the runner's version of Murphy's Law, the turn lead to a head wind, which had picked up it's speed.

Mile 20: "Shit! I'm signed up to do this awfulness again in January!"

Mile 23: "Holy crap! Only 3 miles left! You've totally got this! There's only a 5k left, no more walking, finish strong, you can do it..."

Mile 23.1: "I can see the light. This is what death feels like. The Grim Reaper is next to me ready to take me with him. Screw this, I'm walking"

Mile 24: "This is great! Only 2 miles to go! No more walking! You can do this!"

Mile 24.1: "Ok, maybe I'll just walk once per mile for a little bit. That's not too bad. Plus the 4:45 pace group hasn't passed me yet. ...crap. There they go."

Mile 24.8: "Once per mile, twice per mile, I'm not doing this for time right?!?"

Mile 26: "I can see them, but they can't see me yet, so I'm walking until they can."

Mile 26.05: I started running again. I saw Derek. I was so close. I was so excited. And my Garmin died. Lame.

Mile 26.1: The last 0.1 of the Space Cost Marathon is on pavers and goes around the park where the race festivities take place. This is where it hit me. HOLY SHIT, I'm actually going to finish this. I'm really going to be able to say that I did a marathon. I mean, it's not like I didn't think I was going to finish before, because lord knows I would have crawled to the finish if I had to. But for whatever reason, it didn't hit me that I was actually going to finish until I hit those pavers. It was extremely overwhelming and I felt myself welling up.

The finish, 26.2 miles, 5 hours, 3 minutes, 17 seconds: Right before the finish I saw that Rose had come all the way to surprise me with a fancy, sparkly, wine decorated poster, and that, on top of the fact that I was actually finishing, did it for me. I cried tears of joy. I did it. I completed my first marathon.

Am I the only one who hates when the clock is in
my pic because it isn't my net time and makes me
look slower than I already am?

 

I was officially delirious. I had eaten 330 calories, plus 5 shot blocks, and a bunch of watered down powerade, but I had burned nearly 3,000 calories. On top of that I was freezing. I literally walked right into the lady giving out the medals, didn't even notice that she gave me my medal, and asked her about 4 times if she was the person who gave out towels because I was cold. I'm pretty sure she responded each time, but I was so delirious that I didn't hear or understand her, so she found the guy giving out the towels and wrapped one around me.

The ORC's post race after party is always my favorite part of the Space Coast Half, but I was so tired and hungry and delirious, I couldn't have cared less about the mimosas (yes, you read that right). I woofed down my french toast, had one mimosa, yes ONE mimosa, and then fought to keep my eyes open for some post race conversation.

Completing the Space Coast Marathon has been my greatest accomplishment. In the last 5 years I've gone from not even owning a pair of sneakers and never having seen the inside of a gym, to being 30 lbs lighter and having completed what I once thought was the impossible.

I signed up for this race as a "birthday present," to myself (Cruel really). Since my birthday, I'm on my 3rd pair of shoes, I've had several injuries and set backs, I've doubted myself millions of times, and I have run exactly 510 miles.

Move Over Tom Turkey

it should be noted that because I am not a
movie person, I have no idea who this dude is

I don't really see the thrill of Thanksgiving. It's a day of gluttony, football, and excitement for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... mostly the latter. Christmas, however, is magical. There is snow (even if it's fake snow because we're in Florida), Santa, glitter, presents, lights, glitter, singing, decorations, reindeer... did I mention glitter? I love glitter. I've always been one to say that the Christmas season doesn't start until Santa crosses in front of Macys in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but I've changed my tune (to Christmas tunes, specifically). I love Christmas. LOVE it. So why wait, especially when I couldn't care less about Thanksgiving?!? (Here is where I note that I fully appreciate our Thanksgiving hosts, Brodie and Sara, who rock it)

Treating Santa like that will get you on the naughty list Tom Turkey

The issue with this change of heart is that I do not live alone, so vomiting Christmas all over my house isn't completely up to me (although, let's be honest, it is). Derek was pretty insistant that we wait until Black Friday to decorate like we always do, but I've been crafting since July for goodness sakes! I'm excited NOW, and I have a lot to put up before our party, which is the weekend after Black Friday, not to mention that the Black Friday is the UCF v. USF game AND the weekend of my marathon.

AHHHHH SINGLE DIGITS!!!!!!!!

Waiting was just not going to work for me. And fortunately for me, Derek decided to go visit his grandma for the weekend, leaving me home alone. (evil laugh) When he came home, he had Christmas cheer thrust in his face...

the prized Christmas countdown mittens I've talked about so much

Yes, I even decorate my microwave and oven, because I'm awesome

 

I even cook with Christmas cheer!

Most husbands would be upset that their wives did exactly what they asked them not to do because they were out of town and not available to say no, but Derek fully expected it (perhaps having him get some of the Christmas decorations out of the attic while he was up there to "save him an extra trip in a few weeks," wasn't subtle, lol). I'm not done yet though, there are still more Christmas crafts to make and more decorations to hang! I've started the guest bathroom...

And it's going to be one of the most festive places in the house when I'm done with it, but....

That grey stuff that was holding up the medicine cabinet?
Yeah, that's the stuff for adhering tile to the floor.
Dip Shits.

Derek has a bot of work to do first. But damn it, it's going to get done, and we're going to have the BEST Christmas Brunch EVER!!!

Race to the Finish

Remember when I said I was going to stop slacking and blog regularly again? Yeah... I lied. Please don't tell Santa. Anywho, we've been super busy doing everything EXCEPT working on the house. We visited our fabulous niece...

Went to the Michael Buble concert (swoon!)...

Had a Happy Halloween...

And enjoyed some football...

 
I've been up to my usual. Running...

Crafting...

Mentoring...

Oh yes, and working. I've been at my new job for a little over 2 months now, and I still love it. I mean, at how many places do you see this...

"Bosses" Day

Bosses Day

Plus, I won $300 last week!! CHA-CHING!!!!!

As far as the house goes, well, not much has really been "going." Derek has had a crazy year at work. They've gotten some big jobs, and he's worked 60 hours a week for 9 of the last 12 months. Unfortunately those kinds of hours don't leave much time or energy for home improvement, but with our party coming up, Derek is racing to get things done around the house so it looks like we've actually done something since last year's party. Today he was a busy bee. He did some more work in the guest bathroom, which really looks like we took a step backwards because we now have no light, AND no mirror...

 And the medicine cabinet has a new home in the hallway...

I had to tell Derek that we're married, and if he wanted an up skirt view, he didn't have to demolish the bathroom to do so, but he insisted.

He's also working on patching up the holes from the plumbing he did a year and a half ago. As you may recall, Brayden tried to repair the holes with Legos (wish I could find that pic!), but unfortunately his fix didn't last. Hopefully Derek's does...

the mandatory Derek butt shot

One project did get finished though, and it will be one that everyone will see, but may not notice...

This note will be gone because...

We've got a working doorbell! Lucy is very excited. And by excited, I mean she barked like crazy while it was being installed and tested out, and will surely bark like crazy every time it is used.

So the race is on! 20 days until my marathon, and 27 until this house has to look like we've given it some attention in the last 365 days.

Step 1: Admitting you have a problem

Progress around the house is in another lull what with Derek being back at overtime. But he has managed to get a few things done. The best of which is installing a peep hole. You see, I hang around my house in things that are inappropriate to greet guests in. So when someone knocks on the door, I scramble to put on some clothes. Because I am keeping them waiting while I get dressed, I don't bother to look through the kitchen window (which isn't always effective anyway, depending on where they're standing). This has caused problems.

Twice now I've gotten stuck talking to some sales schmuck for an hour or more. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm normally such an awful person. I have no problem telling people off, or hanging up on telemarketers, but I can't manage to slam the door in these people's faces even though every fiber of my being is telling me to do so.

Before I had this issue, Derek insisted that a peephole was unnecessary. But when, for the second time, he came out of the shower to discover that I had spent the last hour talking to some jerk about my cable or repenting or new windows, he decided that I need a peephole. He even gave me a "Don't Answer The Door For Strangers," talk that included not trusting that someone actually works for UPS even if they say they do without seeing proper ID via the window. 10 minutes into his talk, I had to inform him that I teach this stuff to kids, and have a book he can read me called Don't Talk To Strangers, if he's still concerned about my understanding of the importance of this issue.

So now, when you come to my house, you'll still have to wait at my door while I throw on some clothes, but I will know who you are before I open my door, and if you're selling cable or Jesus, I'm not answering.

In other news, our pantry now has a door. I know, we're fancy. 

But the progress hasn't stopped there. You might remember from last year my insanity over Christmas, and the AUH-MAZE-BALLS Christmas brunch I threw. Well I'm already deep into preparation for this year's bash, and that includes plenty of nagging regarding the things I want done around here before the party so we look like we're actually doing things around here. The guest bathroom is my top priority. I want it done before the party. There is tons of work to do though, including replacing the delightful light fixture...

It's not done yet, but the old one is off and has been returned to the 80's where it belongs, so I consider that progress.

In new job news, I still love it. You may want to ask me again in a week once training is over and my workload increases 10 fold, but as of today, I love it. After all, how could I not love a place where I get to pull pranks...

play with cars...

and be a pirate?!?

I'm also rocking the running thang. In fact, I recently completed my greatest accomplishment- my first 20 miler. Made me feel pretty badass...

But through all this I am suffering from addiction...

7 of the 12 months for my wreath a month project complete! BOOM!

...to crafting. It's seriously getting bad. I have about 6 new projects in the works. Plus, today I found out that the new Hobby Lobby finally opened up (of course I found this out AFTER I spent an hour and $27 in Michael's). The excitement literally made my heart race. I seriously considered skipping dinner so I could go and stare wide eyed in the the glittery world of crafty awesomeness.

I've decided to look into CA- Crafter's Anonymous. I'm hoping that the meetings are held in the party room of the new Hobby Lobby, and that Martha Stewart would be willing to be my sponsor.