the little engine that could

Just a reminder since I'm talking about it again, here's the course map.




I didn't mention when I should have the amazing friends that Andy and I have...we noticed this especially when we were running the Butte to Butte. Not only did they stand on the side of the road for an hour after Runner Jeff had past for me to reach them, they cheered so loud for Andy that someone else in the run questioned "what was that uproar?"

When I finally reached them, at the corner of 13th and High, I had successfully passed the 5 mile point. But I wasn't sure if I could make it till the end. I was hot, tired and my kick ass playlist wasn't inspiring me to keep going any more. I'm not too proud to admit, when I saw them all there and heard their cheers, shouts of encouragement and clapping excitement as I ran past, I began to cry. I was overwhelmed and in that moment knew I could finish.

Andy met me at about half a mile to the finish line and ran till the end with me. I didn't think I could make it up the final hill, even though it was tiny compared to what I had done in the first mile, but that was over an hour earlier. When I saw the giant clock up the hill marking the finishing time, I was shocked. It went a little like this in my head.

"A three? I'm seeing a three after the one. How is this possible? That means I'm going to finish under two hours? Under an hour and 45 minutes? How is that possible? Ahhh, of course I'm going to run! I'm going to finish in an hour and a half. Oh geez, ya, I can so do this...."

So after 15 years, after being told by doctors, knee surgeons, "don't run" ,"you can't run", I was finishing my first 10K since the "Tustin Trek" when I was...um...10? I crossed the finish line in one hour and thirty-five minutes.
When I arrived home I found a card and *my favorite flowers* a potted gerber daisy plant, along with the best card ever...



....from Jessa and Toby. The front of the card read, "At this difficult time..." the inside of the card mentioned how they bought the Butte a card and flowers as a condolence, because it was most likely hurt and crying since we had kicked it's ass so hard.
We love it. It's on the fridge.

Life is good, we are blessed with good friends, thank you

...and it doesn't hurt that I've lost 9 pounds since running 5x a week and eating a sensible diet...it's true, this shit works.