Crazylegs 8K

Today was our race! We went to bed early and got up early and headed to Madison. I made egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast which would prove to be successful in keeping the hungries away while we ran. We met up with everyone at a bar near the finish line, then we took a bus to the capitol where the starting line was. We were in wave U to start, and UW football players and the marching band were there to send us off and give us high fives. It was all very exciting. Then we were off! Derrick and I ran together for the first mile, and then we hit a hill and he disappeared. But I kept trucking. And the hill kept coming. But I didn't stop! I was feeling pretty good until around mile 3, where the first water station was. My left knee started KILLING me. Like, I thought I was going to have to stop. I was thinking it was all over. But I kept running through it, hoping that I wasn't doing more harm than good in the process. It stopped hurting after a few minutes, which I was extremely grateful for. I must have missed the Mile 3 marker b/c I was dying and thinking I had only gone 2 miles, but all of a sudden the Mile 4 marker popped up and I got a burst of energy. The last corner we turned is when the stadium came into view and you knew the end was close. I kept going, and passing some people, and that made me feel pretty good too! I "sprinted" towards the finish line with everything I had left and then waited and watch for Derrick. He was only 7 minutes behind me! You cross the finish line on the 50 yard line in the middle of Camp Randall, where the Badgers play, so that was pretty cool. There was fruit and water (althought we couldn't find any water) up in the stands for us. The marching band was there to play for us and it was a big party. Pretty fun stuff. We met up with the Donohues and Whitney back at the bar and got our camera and went back to get some pictures in the stadium. I'm so proud of myself, I didn't walk once! My goal was to finish in less than an hour, and I didn't think I'd make it...but look at our final results!



I averaged faster than a 10 minute mile!! Incredible! I'm super proud of Derrick, too! He did it in less than an hour too! Here's all of us before the race. Check out my sweet Gator shorts!



Stretchin out those hammies!



After! We are still alive!!



Inside Camp Randall after zee race.


So there you have it! Our very first race! It was fun, and I really liked it. But I'll tell you what, when I finished I couldn't imagine running another 8! But in 4 weeks I'll be doing just that! I hope.....