{"id":3629,"date":"2016-01-10T13:49:13","date_gmt":"2016-01-10T19:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=3629"},"modified":"2016-01-10T13:49:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-10T19:49:13","slug":"did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=3629","title":{"rendered":"*Did I Ever Tell You About The Time…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I knew, I mean I KNEW this weekend would be epic. \u00a0I didn’t realize at the time just how EPIC it would be!<\/p>\n

This weekend was the Mississippi Blues Marathon. \u00a0Earlier this year, I was selected to be a Race Ambassador for “The Blues.” \u00a0This was a big honor! \u00a0They selected 20 people from across the country to be Ambassadors and I was one of those 20! \u00a0Amazing stuff!<\/p>\n

You all know that I am currently training for a 50 Mile race. \u00a0That race will be on March 5th. \u00a0The Blues was supposed to be one of my training runs for that 50 Miler. \u00a0I went into the race without a worry. \u00a0I’ve already run further than 26.2 \u00a0miles in my training for the 50M so I knew I could cover the distance. \u00a0All I had to do was get the miles. \u00a0No worries about the clock. \u00a0Just run. \u00a0I can do that.<\/p>\n

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Late last year, I started my own FB running group. \u00a0I had been running another running group but long story and I’m phasing out that other page and beginning this one. The people are awesome and we are having fun with it!<\/p>\n

Seeing as The Blues is a major Mississippi race, I knew that a lot of people off the new page would be there. \u00a0A few days before the race I suggested we get together at the Expo for a group pic. \u00a0A LOT of people showed up! \u00a0How awesome is that!?!<\/p>\n

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It was exciting for all of us to put faces to the names seeing as we chat almost every day online. \u00a0There’s nothing like meeting a fellow runner IRL!<\/p>\n

The Expo was totally awesome! \u00a0I ran into so many people that I have met at other races and finally got to meet IRL for the first time.<\/p>\n

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I even got to meet one of my original MFP (My Fitness Pal) friends! \u00a0We have been trying to meet at a race for quite a few years. \u00a0What a treat!!!<\/p>\n

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There was a group of running buddies who drove down from St. Louis. \u00a0They signed up to run the Blues so we could all meet. \u00a0How much fun is that? \u00a0We had dinner the night before the race. \u00a0Pizza and beer. \u00a0Perfect carb loading!<\/p>\n

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In all of this meeting and greeting and hugs and selfies, Paxton was not forgotten. \u00a0Paxton seems to have some online friends as well! \u00a0I came home bringing 4 boxes of Nutty Bars for my pudgy pooch! \u00a0One person traveled from Wisconsin with a box of Nutty Bars for my dog. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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I have some pretty awesome friends!<\/p>\n

Race day arrived. \u00a0My sister was there with me. \u00a0She was doing the Quarter Marathon. \u00a0She got a 10 minute PR! \u00a0BOOM! \u00a0That’s a serious PR! \u00a0Another lady in our room ran the Half Marathon and came in 4th AG. \u00a0The other woman in our room ran the full (like me) and came in a half hour ahead of me. \u00a0She is an amazing runner! \u00a0This is us getting ready to head to the start.<\/p>\n

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Race day, yesterday, it was raining. \u00a0There were thunderstorms forecast for around noon. \u00a0They told us in the pre-race announcements that they might pull people off the course and not let them finish if the weather got too bad.<\/p>\n

The gun went off and so did we.<\/p>\n

The run was going well. \u00a0The Mississippi Blues Marathon is a very challenging course. \u00a0Very, very hilly. The “Leg Squisher” workouts I have been doing paid off in dividends yesterday!<\/p>\n

At mile 16, a family had set up a table in their front yard and were handing out beer. \u00a0I stopped for beer. \u00a0It is seriously good fuel while running! \u00a0Carbs and sugar. \u00a0Great combo! \u00a0The man there, grabbed a brand new can, popped the top and handed the entire can to me! \u00a0Usually, people only give you a small cup. \u00a0I was surprised!<\/p>\n

I told the man there was no way I could drink 12oz of beer and keep running. \u00a0All of a sudden another runner stops next to me and pulls out shots of Tequila! \u00a0I asked him if he wanted to finish my beer. \u00a0“Sure!” he says and takes my can and hands me the Tequila. \u00a0We clink the bottle\/can together. \u00a0I take a swig of the Tequila (I’m not a big Tequila fan) and he pounds down most of the can of beer. \u00a0In the meantime, the wife of this house is snapping pics of us! \u00a0Hahaha!!! \u00a0I thanked them for the beer and took off. \u00a0The Tequila man finished the Tequila, the can of beer AND another full bottle of Fat Tire. \u00a0Holy Cow!<\/p>\n

Soon after my “binge drinking” (hahaha!!!), it began to sprinkle. \u00a0I picked up the pace. \u00a0Close to mile 20, Tequila man catches up to me. \u00a0This time he’s drinking Kuala. \u00a0He very generously offers me some but I politely decline. \u00a0He was feeling no pain. \u00a0HA!<\/p>\n

At mile 20 the thunderstorm hit. \u00a0It was a doozie! \u00a0Thunder. \u00a0Lightening! Pouring rain. \u00a0I was drenched. \u00a0I was also running like crazy. \u00a0I didn’t want to get pulled from the course!<\/p>\n

HUGE puddles! \u00a0Splash. \u00a0Splash. \u00a0Splash. \u00a0Cars would drive by. \u00a0SPLOOSH! \u00a0The miles ticked off…<\/p>\n

Finally, mile 25! \u00a0The sky clears up and it stops raining. \u00a0I see the finish line and run for all I’m worth. \u00a05:13:57 chip time. \u00a0My second fastest marathon ever! \u00a0Gospel according to Garmin: \u00a0 27.01 miles.<\/p>\n

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After the finish, I got to meet another running friend of mine! \u00a0We actually met during the thunderstorm but I pulled on ahead of her. \u00a0This was her first marathon and she will be running the 50K at the 50M in March. \u00a0It was great to meet her. \u00a0Super nice lady!<\/p>\n

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Socialized a bit at the post race party and then headed back to the hotel with my sister. \u00a0We had to stop at a corner to wait for the light. \u00a0We were the only ones there except for this man waiting, too. \u00a0I looked over and, Holy Cow! \u00a0It was a running friend I had been wanting to meet for a couple of years! \u00a0I tapped him on the arm and he gave me a huge hug. \u00a0That was so cool!<\/p>\n

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Brought home some very nice bling from this race. \u00a0They gave me an extra medal for my #IRun4 buddy, Aiden. \u00a0I’ll be popping this in the mail to him tomorrow. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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THAT is my race recap of the Mississippi Blues Marathon. \u00a0Best Weekend EVER!!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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I knew, I mean I KNEW this weekend would be epic. \u00a0I didn’t realize at the time just how EPIC it would be! This weekend was the Mississippi Blues Marathon. \u00a0Earlier this year, I was selected to be a Race Ambassador for “The Blues.” \u00a0This was a big honor! \u00a0They selected 20 people from across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,6,8,5,3,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3644,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629\/revisions\/3644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}