So this morning I signed up for a half marathon and ran it. I got up at 5am and drove almost an hour and a half around to the other side of the island. This wouldn’t have been so painful if I could just sleep the night before like normal people. Of course I was out until at least 10:30 and then proceeded to watch part of a movie when I got home, you know, to wind down.
So that left me tired and a little crazy when I got up this morning. The race was at Gunstock Ranch which I didn’t even know existed. Apparently there is one working cattle farm on the island and I was running on it. What was really funny was seeing a pony just standing around on the road in as if directing traffic to the parking area.
When I arrived I wasn’t sure if the weather was going to hold upbut I did not want to run with my
rain jacket so I decided to take a gamble and it paid off. The sun came out and it was crazy hot within an hour or so. The course was a little 
crazy at the begining because there was a turn off point that was ambiguiously marked. I’m pretty sure we figured it out thanks to some very helpful girl who listened to the directions…me.
As far as the rest of the course goes, I will say this…had it rained, this would have been the hardest race of my life. That is big time considering the last Seattle marathon I ran, it snowed and I was so cold and miserable that I cried for about half an hour. There were so many steep hills on this ranch I have no idea how big fat cows make it up those trails but they did because I dodged my fair share of cow pies. There was also lots of mud because it has been rainy this week and a rushing couple foot deep creek we needed to cross. Some of the participants chose to jump across some slippery looking rocks to get across.
I personally when given the choice between wet feet and a broken ankle will choose wet feet every time.
The hills were steep and the course was tough but in the end I powered through. I finished in 2 hours and 33 minutes which I thought was awesome considering that I am used to running on completely flat 
surfaces. The highlight was definitely leaving the ranch and having that little pony trying to take over my car. He was out of control! I finally had to give him part of the banana I snagged so he would leave me alone. Now that I’m home, it will be interesting to see how I am going to get motivated to do the extra 5 miles I’m supposed to for my training program…hmmm, maybe a milkshake is a better choice…
hi Run To Eat 