2013 Girlfriends Half Marathon

Yesterday, October 13th, was the seventh annual Girlfriends Half Marathon. There were nearly 2000 participates who raised $20,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and $5,000 for the Children’s Center here in Vancouver. The “Pink Brigade” (six men decked out in PINK) raised $11,000 for the Kearney Breast Center at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, also here in Vancouver. This is a very fun, local event and a follow-up to my 3-Day for the Cure (60 miles) every year. The events are only three weeks apart so my pink belongings and pink mindset are still in full swing (as are my battered, tired feet!)! Like at the 3-Day, the fedora hats and boas get a lot of attention. This year Nanette and I tied pink bath scrubbies to our shoes as “pom-poms” which were also a big hit. It is a lot of fun to get in the spirit and dress up for the cause!

Nanette, Cindy, Me and Sue

There are plenty of ladies out there looking for a new PR but I participate in this event with no time to beat and no expectations of myself except to finish (that’s always an expectation). This event for me is for total FUN! Luckily Nanette and I had the same mindset this year and we were out there together praising ourselves for actually moving and putting one foot in front of the other! Both of us had injuries and a tough year and as a result, both became quite lazy while recovering. Getting moving again is always difficult.

I whined the entire way about my aches and pains, about the distance (only two miles down?!) and about my weight gain and being so out of shape again. It was terrible. Of course my little buddy Bullseye (aka Nanette) also had a whining party of her own going on so we really fed off of each other.   SOMEBODY forgot to bring the cheese to go along with this “whine” fest!

Through all of the aches, pains, complaints, thirst (we were carrying water but wanted margaritas!!) and yes - hunger! (Who mentioned chips and salsa first?!) - we managed to laugh, make fun of ourselves, and keep walking. 

I honestly felt WORSE during and after this half than I did during and after 60 miles in three days last month. I was in pretty bad shape yesterday. I went limping home and later went to bed with “magic shit” (a muscle rub from Mexico that works amazingly well) on the back of my knees, a prescription Motrin, and two blister Band-Aids on my right foot. Unbelievably, I woke up this morning feeling pretty good and without pain. Whew!

We truly had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again next year - with some new ideas for our “costumes”!

But first… we MUST get back into shape and start training again on a regular basis. That starts TODAY. 

Nanette found this picture of us in the local paper today ("We're famous!")… too bad I look like a stuffed sausage (I don't even eat meat!)!  It didn't help that I was wearing layers (no matter how thin they might be). How dare that camera man be taking pictures from that angle! Get up on a latter, dude! ;)

Seriously... OUCH. Pictures don't lie.
The renewed commitment and diet started TODAY.