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Peggy here, your guest author at KnPnCnC. Some of you may recall that I did a half-marathon in Fort Collins, CO shortly after moving to Colorado. Since then, I've kept up with the running, more or less. After all, it's impossible to lay on the couch, eating chips and drinking beer when you live in BoCo. You either swim (which is a great weakness for me), bike (too scary...I sold mine) or run (BINGO!). Right around Christmas, I was itching to do another half when my sister Jess mentioned that Lansing, MI, her current hometown, was putting on the inaugural Lansing Half Marathon in April. And after much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth, I was able to persuade both Jess and my other sister, Cathy, to sign up as well.
Training began in January and I have to admit, I gave it my all. I didn't care what my time was but I was NOT going to be beaten by two YOUNGER sisters. Race weekend came fast and Chloe and I flew to Detroit and then drove to Lansing the Friday before the race to spend time with my sister Jess and her family. As is typical, I slept very little the night before the race and felt nauseous with anxiety when I woke up. Cathy, Jess and I lined up and off we went on this mostly flat course. It was crazy cold and windy but I warmed up fast and at mile 5, I KNEW this was going to be one of my best runs ever. I felt so strong and when the first of the two big hills came, I powered up it, barely breathing hard. Mile 10 was a little tough as I was starting to tire but I cranked up the Eminem on my MP3 player, thought of Kurt and how hard he pushes himself when he trains and fired it up. Mile 11 and 12 flew by as I sang and smiled...I HAD THIS.
I always make it a point to turn off the music the last mile as the crowd energy and support is overwhelming; you have to hear this. I ran across the line SMILING...what a truly awesome time.
Training began in January and I have to admit, I gave it my all. I didn't care what my time was but I was NOT going to be beaten by two YOUNGER sisters. Race weekend came fast and Chloe and I flew to Detroit and then drove to Lansing the Friday before the race to spend time with my sister Jess and her family. As is typical, I slept very little the night before the race and felt nauseous with anxiety when I woke up. Cathy, Jess and I lined up and off we went on this mostly flat course. It was crazy cold and windy but I warmed up fast and at mile 5, I KNEW this was going to be one of my best runs ever. I felt so strong and when the first of the two big hills came, I powered up it, barely breathing hard. Mile 10 was a little tough as I was starting to tire but I cranked up the Eminem on my MP3 player, thought of Kurt and how hard he pushes himself when he trains and fired it up. Mile 11 and 12 flew by as I sang and smiled...I HAD THIS.
I always make it a point to turn off the music the last mile as the crowd energy and support is overwhelming; you have to hear this. I ran across the line SMILING...what a truly awesome time.
Cathy came by next and then Jess. We all rocked it and I was so proud of all of us.
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| The three Walls sisters with their shiny medals. YEAH US! |
While both of my sisters had a few choice words for me as they came across the finish, along the lines of "Who's ideas was this?!?!? Never again!", I am already hearing rumblings of doing another one from Jess and I am confident that Cathy could be talked into it again as well.
