Mmmmm…. Doritos

[This is me around mile 9. I was feeling pretty good and looking forward to the hills.]

I did it! I finished the Austin Half Marathon with a smile on my face AND I ate nacho cheese Doritos. Woot!

I’ll share the whole story and photos of our “real” half marathon tomorrow. A hug of thanks to my CrossFit pal Julie for sending me this photo — and for being the leader of a great cheering squad. I saw Julie and her daughters around mile 9 of the half marathon, and their support put some much-needed fuel in the tank. (Congrats to Julie’s husband Don who completed marathon #3 yesterday.)

My time: 2:11:41
(this time does not include the 7 minutes spent in the port-a-pottie line at mile 6)

So many of my cool homies showed their support this weekend, my ‘thank you’ list is extensive. Big hugs of thanks (in sort of chronological order)…

To Mom, Dad, Carla, Jennifer, Carol, Patrick, Maranda, Kristen, Janis, Crissy, Tammy, Kevin, Bonita, Erika, Andrea, and Peter for sending 21st century encouragement with texts, email, and voicemail. I can longer hate Facebook ’cause it brings me my pals.

To Richard, for being an awesome virtual running partner.

To Tiffany, who was running the half marathon and managed to say hi, hug me, and keep her feet moving — without tripping either of us — on the course just before mile 4.

To Cathlin, who magically appeared just before mile 6 in a bright red top and brighter smile with a big hug and her dog Moose.

To Bernie & her mom Diana, who surprised me in the finish line chute. How totally kickass it was to hear my name and see their smiling, happy faces!

To Stacey, who hugged and kissed me over the fence at the finish line, and indulged me when I insisted on showing her my time on my watch. (And congrats to her hubby Joe for a stellar performance in the half yesterday.)

To Erin (with an extra dose of gratitude like a cherry on top of a sundae), who — in addition to being our finish line handler (more on that tomorrow) — also yelled something like, “Run it out, Mel!” when I was in sight of the finish line and pushed me to sprint the last 100m so I felt like a rockstar.

And finally, to Dave, who was a steadfast training partner all year long and left the Hyatt yesterday afternoon in the middle of our post-race, “lying in a heap” time to get me a burrito and Ibuprofen. That man is made of tough stuff!

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Comments

  • becomingtheafter says:

    Can’t wait to read the rest. I’m telling you – your posts motivate folks to want to move mountains! (And I, for one, can’t wait to taste my first “earned” Dorito!) Congrats a thousand times over!

  • tammy says:

    Nicely done Mel! You are so awesome!!! When I did my first half, I don’t know what the deal was, but I had to stop and pee like 4 times! It totally cut into my running time….. Even with your potty break, you had such an awesome time!!! Good job!

  • Team CS says:

    Whooohooo!!!! My dearest, Mel – my heart goes out to that killer body of yours that can withstand all the training and hard work that you’ve put forth for months and months. My heart additionally goes out to the mental toughness you have. Have you noticed that you speak less and less of battling with inner monsters and more and more of, “hey people, I rock?” Well – I have.

    See you this weekend!

  • TheWhit says:

    Congrats Mel!! Awesome time and awesome outlook! You are motivating me to train for the 1/2 marathon I want to run this year!

  • Janis says:

    Yay! What a great time! 🙂
    I hope you enjoyed every bite of cheesey, crunchy goodness!

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