2010 was spent in a constant state of “woe is me” even though I had few real woes. It’s like the lil kid that feels like the world is going to end because they have to go to bed early. Sure I was in a new city and didn’t know many folks but that wasn’t the end of the world.  What was terrible was the 20lbs I’d gained.  A friend of mine stopped through that summer on her way back to MD.  She’d recently lost her husband and was in the midst of trying to find herself.  Her remedy was to turn over several new leaves at once.  She stopped smoking and started working out like a mad woman.  I mean she worked O U T.  She was doing stuff in the gym that made me tired when she talked about it.  She was challenging herself.  Pushing her limits.  Trying new things.  Meanwhile, I was sitting on the sofa letting the inner button on my slacks leave bruises on my stomach.  She mentioned she was going to start Insanity.  I’d seen the infomercial (who hasn’t) and I pondered trying it myself.  She said she’d send me the discs (she forgot and my lazy ass didn’t remind her because it gave me an excuse) and we could do it together long distance.  But one day, I read her progress journal and I was like DAYUM she’s doing it…and I’m not.  That day I bought Insanity on ebay.  That was the beginning of the fitness journey that has me doing a half marathon in 2 days.  Thanks Tracey, I needed that.

It’s Friday and the race is Sunday morning and I swear 1500 people have asked if I’m ready.  How the hell do I know if I’m ready?  I don’t even know how to answer it.  I’m sure it’s people trying to show support and concern but all it does is make me wonder if there’s some special tingle I should be getting right about now.  All I know is I’ve run 11 miles and I have a really cute new outfit.  Beyond that, I have nothing.

My half marathon is Sunday morning (at 6:15AM no less who the hell wants to run at 6:15 AM) and I’m putting the finishing touches on things in preparation.  As I was reviewing my 13.1 playlist on my iPod I realized that many of the songs remind me of people and moments and I use that as a distraction from the run.  During my last long run, I decided to pretend all these people were running with me.  So I’m either crazy or I have a helluva support team, I’m going with the latter.  The best part is the randomness of it all.  The people that pop into my head aren’t always the people I see the most or talk to the most often.  More often than not, it’s the memories associated with that person and that song/artist.  I figured it’d be cool to see who’s “running” in Miami with me (no judging my playlist dangit).

Let The Music Play - Shannon: My mom.  This was her JAM (little known fact, Ms Lauren used to LOVE to get her dance on).  We even had the tape.  Someone stole it out of the car the day she reminded me to close the sunroof and I forgot.  They stole the sunroof too.

Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5: My girls from MCS (Kishau, Lori, Stacy, and the ever regal Miss Jacqueline) I always picture three of us dancing around like maniacs while looks at us with an extreme side eye and drinks from her teacup. 

Toss it Up - Tupac:  Always reminds me of Wendy.  We’ve grown up a lot since this was in our heavy rotation.  Wendy always had parts of songs that would stick with her and she’d always sing those parts.  I this song it’s, “ooh it’s K-Ci baby…” which is SUPER hilarious considering K-Ci now. 

Country Grammar - Nelly: Every time I hear this song I remember riding down Benning Road in DC with Kish.  Her sons LOVED this song.  At the time they were young (apparently without anyone’s permission they’ve decided to be little men now) and they only knew the “I’m Going Down Down Baby…” part.

Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO: As much as I hate myself for it, this song is catchy.  When I hear it it reminds me of early mornings with my trainer, Andre.  It never fails for this to come on while I’m complaining about some crazy exercise or trying to get out of heavier weight or V-ups.  I blame Rashida for this song though, I think she sneaked it on my ipod when I wasn’t looking.

Giving up the Nappy Dugout - Ice  Cube: Sometimes a song has several things associated with it.  First, I always remember this day during Christmas break when I was hanging out with Dani and her friends.  But any mention nowadays of Death Certificate reminds me of my daily hangout in chatsinsession with Robin, Tajh, and Shawn (with special appearances by Nneka and Dany).

Get Me Bodied - Beyonce: I think we discovered pretty early on in BGR that Beyonce makes GREAT running music and this one in particular seems to be on a lot of playlists.  So this song makes me think of BGR.  In particular, it makes me thankful for my running buddies Michele and Alicia who don’t know that if it weren’t for them I would have quit on this whole half marathon thing.  I also think of Naomi who is so awesome at motivating and supporting me without being overbearing and pushy.  Thanks ladies, all this wouldn’t happen without you.

Somebody Told Me - The Killers:  V Bell got a thing for The Killers when this song dropped.  I think I had like 2500 free cd’s from Columbia House and I ordered it for her.  She got Josh Groban too.  She has weird taste.  LOL

How I Got Over - The Roots: K Diddy…why didn’t you tell me my running shoes had to be larger than my regular shoes?

Juvenile On Fire - Juvenile:  It’s crass and vulgar, the exact opposite of what you’d want in a man.  So of course it makes me think of the Juvenile Nupe (who by the way, is EVERYTHING). 

This was supposed to be my final run before the big one in Miami next Sunday (NEXT SUNDAY) but mother nature didn’t see fit for it to happen.  Saturday morning the sky opened up which is bad enough but the lightning and thunder that accompanied it meant no run for me.  I was supposed to do 12 miles still 1.1 short of the race distance.  I needed that run mentally more than physically (my legs are probably grateful I didn’t subject them to the pain).  If you run 12 miles you can convince yourself you can do 13.  The farthest I’ve gone thus far is 11.  But 11 is close to 13, right?  RIGHT?  Let’s all hope so. 

I ran 11 miles on Saturday.  11 miles.  It took a shade over 2 hours (probably less if not for the traffic lights).  I actually felt ok during the run (minus the throbbing pain in my foot that I hope is cured by these new expensive ass shoes I just bought) but afterward I felt like I’d done my body wrong and it was doing everything it could to pay me back.  Have you ever had your hips hurt?  Yeah me either until Saturday.  Do you know how often you use your friggin hips?  ALL DAY EVERY DAY.  My lower half basically staged a revolt.  By Sunday evening I couldn’t take it anymore so I asked Dre to play Hoke and drive Miss Daisy to Walmart to get a foam roller.  O M G….LIFE CHANGING.  Let me start by saying the foam roller hurts like all kinds of hell but it works.  You roll your hurt bits and it’s like a deep tissue massage and helps to get the knots out.  I felt like a new girl afterward.  Foam roller and I will be developing a deep relationship in the next two weeks (hmm will it fit in a carryon bag).  We’re under 2 weeks til the race and I have 12 miles on deck for Saturday.  Please let me be mobile afterward, I have a formal event Saturday evening and I don’t think a walker will go with my shoes.

I’m supposed to run today.  It’s “just” 5 miles but I am not in the mood.  I’m still waiting for this spiritual running experience everyone always raves about.  When is God going to speak to me on my runs?  When am I going to get to nirvana (other than when “Lithium” plays on my playlist)?  Am I doing it wrong?  Less than 3 weeks away from this race and I’m still trying to figure out why I’m doing this. 

My knee hurts.  Not in a I can’t walk and I might don’t make it way.  But in a damn why did I think it was a good idea to run a half marathon way.  I have 9 miles on tap tomorrow.  What was I thinking??

I went for my first 10 mile run this past weekend.  I was fairly optimistic about it and thought it’d go well.  WRONG.  As I left my house to meet my running buddies I briefly thought I should go back and make sure I don’t have to go to the bathroom.  That would come back to haunt me.  BADLY.

The plan was to tackle a route which was 5 miles out and 5 miles back.  The reward for finishing was breakfast at a place that serves awesome sweet potato pancakes. We were going out the Freedom Parkway trail in Atlanta which is perfect for this kind of run.  We met some runners on the way who took us through a cool trail off the path and through the woods (which felt great on my knees by the way) for about a half mile or so.   Things were still going well until about mile 6 when I felt a cramp in my side that felt like someone kicked me.  WTF!  I kept moving and was convinced my breathing was off and I just needed to get back into my stride.  I let my buddies go ahead and slowed down a little so I could concentrate.  They waited for me at the trail through the woods and I was able to keep up and all was well.  Until the contents of my stomach (at this point just a shot blok and a bottle of water) felt like they wanted to make a quick exit and didn’t particularly care which way they came out.  WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO NOW?  I was at least 2.5 - 3 miles away from my car (and those sweet potato pancakes which the thought of now made me want to swear off food forever).  I was standing next to Candler Park and all I could see around me was open air and grass.  So I started to walk.  I figured if I could just get myself under control I could run back to the restaurant (and their bathroom).  After about 5 minutes, I felt much better and figured if I hustled I could get back in 20 minutes or so.  I started to jog, no more than 10 steps later I knew that was NOT going to work.  My stomach just jiggled around and the feeling came flashing back.  So I had to walk back.  Those last two miles were at the lightning pace of 15 and 18 minutes, respectively.  Basically, a child could have crawled faster.  I got back so late that my buddies were already seated and drinking coffee by the time I made it to the restaurant to tell them I was going home…NOW.

Technically, I got 10 miles in the books.  But I know one thing, 13.1 has NOTHING on the experience I had on Saturday.  If I can get through that, I can get through anything.