Thanks NPR!

This week has been incredibly long because I was dreading today. But I woke up this morning and Philippians 4:13 popped into my head. After that, I was good. Even looking forward to running. Funny how that works sometimes.

Last week, towards the end of the 10k, all I could hear was my own shallow breathing and that only made me pay attention to everything that hurt. My head was in a negative place and I hated myself for putting myself in that situation.

So this week I brought my iPod to keep my thoughts away from myself and it worked incredibly well! Last night I made a special music playlist for today, but I once again proved to myself that music just isn't a good running buddy. It's good to start off with something upbeat and happy, but 5 minutes into it I had to switch. So I flipped over to my podcasts and listened to NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, then Car Talk. Both programs drip with positive energy and that's exactly what I needed. That and the ibuprofen I took when I passed mile 7. Oh yes, I carried it with me in my running belt.

I'm a little disappointed that the only people who finished behind me were 2 ladies walked most of the first half. They walked till I caught up with them, then started trotting so I couldn't pass them. I didn't get ahead of them until around mile 5. I'm proud of myself for running the whole race, even though my pace is terrible.

The awesome thing about the half marathon will be that even though I'll be one of the last to finish, I'll be finishing along with the people who ran the full marathon. So they won't be taking the equipment down when I finally finish. That will be nice.