Stupidity At Its Finest

It's 10:29 pm. I have a test tomorrow morning. It's in my hardest subject, and I performed less than admirably in the last two exams, so I really have to do well for my self esteem and for my work to pay for my school and for my school to not put me on probation. I studied, and I should study some more, but I really don't want to study anymore. I hate it. But I do need to study some more before I can call it a night.

In the mean while...

*These are both pictures walking to our car after the race, which took FOR-EV-ER*


So I ran this half-marathon this past weekend in Moab. I've known about it for months--because I was talked into doing it a while ago--and because it cost 60 bucks I had to go through with it. It was doubtful that I'd ever get as ready as I should for such a thing, but I think even I managed to more than magnificantly eclipse those expectations with my entire lack of readiness and ability. Basically I went into it without having exercised in any way for about 3 months or more. Not only did I not find the time to run, but I've been so busy with school that I haven't made it out to Ultimate Frisbee in forever either. Then let's not forget my stellar eating habits...Whoa buddy. Basically my good friend Worm and I have a theory. To do our best when it comes to studying, we need brain food (aka. barely edible junk). So we head to our friendly neighborhood grocier and buy mass amounts of soda, candy, and all other types of "food" we can find that fit into the category of having no nutritive value whatsoever. After a hard night of cramming we take our test(s), then reward ourselves for getting through such a trial with exactly the kinds of things we deserve; for myself personally it's gummy coke bottles, peanut butter m&m's, really anything chocolate, orange soda... I can see the pictures forming in everyone's heads of how this all goes down.

Actually it wasn't that bad. In a perfect world I would have gotten what I deserved, and for the record I did have really painfully sore legs the next day and for the next 2 days following, but my experience overall was very positive. (Also, I did go running once before the race, the week prior, and I ran for 6 miles and felt pretty good the whole time.) So for the record, I'm glad I did the race because I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to the day where I can actually run one after training. For starters, the scenery in Southern Utah is beautiful. It was a little cold, as it's now October, and the day before the race had me worried with all the wind and rain, but come the next morning it was perfect. A little nippy to begin with, but that's what happens at 730 in the morning. But, once I started running things were good. It was nice and overcast the whole time, which happens to be perfect running conditions, and only in the last mile did the sun come out thereby making me consider the possibility of taking off my long sleeved shirt. I didn't, because at that point I was pondering on the unthought of situation I then found myself in, that is, one where all of the muscles in both of my calves decided to seize up. That's never happened to me running ever. Of course, even in distance in high school I've never run that far all at one time, but it took me by surprise. I made it through 8 miles and I felt great and like I could run 8 more, then it started getting all hill-y for the next 2-3 miles and my legs didn't like that at all. At mile 10 I managed to tweak my left knee pretty good as my body put weight on it coming down a hill in an unexpected way. It kind of twisted out somewhat more than it was meant to laterally rotate in the joint, and away from the place where my medial collateral ligament really should have held it in. At that point I had to stop and walk a little bit. I was more than surprised that I hadn't walked up to that point. True, my slow but uniform pace to that point could hardly be described as true "running" as it was more akin to "creaping along," but it was at least faster than my walk. The last 2 miles were downhill. They had these ladies playing those big 'ol tribal drums at the top of the mountain there as we passed. It was pretty cool.

I had been so excited up to that point at the prospect of running downhill (that was always what I was good at in cross country), and I actually hadn't counted the last 2 miles as actual miles while I was willing myself forward, because I thought there'd be nothing to them. Come to find out they were the hardest 2 miles of the whole thing. My calves teamed with my knee made downhill an agonizing and traumatic occurance. I could not for the life of me kick it in for the last mile. It was all I could do to keep going and not slow down. Think of running with 2 charlie horses at once--that was it in a nutshell. I conceed that I deserved it, but it was unpleasant all the same. When I finally stopped, there was Villnave with bananas and bread for me (that was agreed upon beforehand as we knew she'd be much faster than the rest of us), and one Joel minus the poster he should have made. Tarris and Rachel were wandering about still having finished 14 minutes prior to myself (I came in with a leisurely 2 hrs and 24 min), so I walked with Joel to look for them, and for an excuse to not stop moving knowing that when I stopped it would be permanent. The bread was really good, and reminded me of somewhere in between a roll, a cinnamon role, and a scone. There was cinnamon in there, and that's all I really noticed. It was actually more of a joke than anything that Villnave should stand at the finish line holding food for all of us slow folks--mainly myself as Tarris and Rachel were actually in shape--but she was nice enough to actually do so. I finished, she exclaimed "I brought you bread!" and I replied "I hurt." That's how it all went down. Then we gathered up all the free food stuffs we could that were assembled there for us, and trekked our merry ways the 2 miles it would then take us to get to our cars. We went to a coffee shop for breakfast and I bought hot chocolate, then we spent the next 4 hours in a car driving back to Salt Lake so I could work that night. I managed to spill the hot chocolate everywhere in the car, but other than that we made it back safely and quickly without a hitch.

(Just a note: I have no time to use the little brainpower left to me after a draining semester of school to come up with aliases for people anymore, so I'm heretofore just saying it like it is, and if anyone gets kidnapped by strangers on the internet...It's not my fault. I will of course retain those I already have, for what it's worth and for laziness's sake. Not that laziness needs my help, but we're good friends laziness and I.)

I guess I should mention that the race was on a sunday, and we went down Saturday morning so that we could boulder and hang out at arches before I potentially killed myself the next day. It was super windy, and I got a lot of red dirt in my eyes, ears, mouth... I wasn't much good as I was the only inexperienced climber in our group. My friend Tarris from work organized this whole trip, and her almost-sister-in-law Rachel (a personal trainer), and her Swiss friend Joel who she knew from when they both started climbing some 10 years ago, came as well. They were really amazing to watch maneuver about these huge boulders from crevice to crevice. Rachel mostly slept on the boulderin pad, but Tarris and Joel were freaking amazing and made me want to get back into shape, because it looked like that much fun. I wish my legs were strong enough to support all of my weight poised on a small crack in a rock, but I rely too much on my arms for stability. And my arms are pretty devoid of muscle at this point.

After that we decided to go to the national park that is our backyard. We wanted to hike to the Delicate Arch, but by that time it was just as windy and pouring rain as well. At one point the rain hit a lull and we hoofed it to the View point. It was still pretty amazing to look at, and the sky was still beautiful with night coming on and it being moderately overcast. We then left to get some food. After walking about trying to find the place with the least amount of wait we ended up at Jay's Pasta (?) and whatever I got was the best. It was tortellini and chicken in a creamy pesto alfredo sauce. It came out green and literally boiling around my pasta. It took a while before I could get it cool enough to eat, but it was amazingly good. Whilst we ate we fastidiously called around town looking for a hotel room. The plan was to camp, but once there we decided that sleeping outside in the cold on the hard floor was not the way to spend the night before a half-marathon. Everyone was booked, and finally we called the hotel where we registered--which also happened to be the place where the busses would pick us up and carry us to the start of the race up the mountain--thinking they had to be the first place that filled up. We ended up getting their very last room, and felt pretty fortunate about it. I have to say, the pillow was really comfortable, and I got a shoulder massage with some SoreNoMore gel before I went to bed, so I felt pretty good and had about as nice a sleep as I possibly could. Tarris was forsightful and generous enough to insist upon bringing me some running clothes that were all about not chafing, so that was nice. I think my shoes I ran in had only been run in that 6 miles prior to this race, so that too was not in my favor, but I obviously got through all of this fine and feeling famously, until the next morning that is. Work was okay, but boring, and I was tired so I left early.

You'll be glad to know that I'm finally to the point where I can walk down stairs again without looking like an invalid, and hopefully by Saturday I'll be able to make it out to the frisbee field having promised to be there this week.

*This is Tarris, Rachel, Joel and I at Arches on a rather blustery day. I might be the one 2nd closest to the camera*