Give me a break people......

Seriously. I get married in about a month and a half. I am not married yet.
I am already annoyed by the number of kids who have said anything along this line:

• Will you have a kid by next year at this time?


• Are you ready to give up alcohol for 9 months?


• How will being pregnant effect your race calendar?


• Are you going to even bother with birth control or just get pregnant right away?


• blah blah blah - have a baby - blah blah blah

I know people are very excited for us to be getting married and I know people love babies and I know people are trying to be helpful and want to be a part of this next phase in my life but seriously - stop pushing people.

Currently I have the world's cutest puppy (at least in my eyes) and for the moment she is more than plenty to handle. There is absolutely no, zero, zilch reason to have my own kid. Currently I am savoring: sleep, being able to pick up and go whenever and wherever I want, sleep, freedom, and being engaged and transitioning to being married. [yes I am aware that lots of these things are selfish however, reasons are what they are and I am jazzed to use them for a while yet].

Fargo Half Marathon Review

2012 Fargo Half Marathon Finishers Medal

IT IS FINISHED, more importantly I FINISHED!

This past weekend (Saturday) I ran the Fargo half marathon and I finished with my fasted time for a half marathon. It wasn't quite the time that I was hoping for but it was faster than I have ever run a half, with plenty of room to improve. I hate to admit it but I have sort of fallen in love with race day and the feeling I have afterwards even if my legs are exhausted. [2 days later my quads are still sore] There is a crew from Wartburg Theological Seminary who have claimed the name "Running Reformers" and have sort of made it a tradition to meet in Fargo every May and October to participate in the race weekends. I love this group of running folk and am proud to be a part of the Running Reformers, we were down a few members this time due to injury, hopefully in October we'll have our full group back together.

This is my second Fargo Half Marathon and it seems to me that they are very well organized for the 10k, half marathon, and full marathon. I didn't run the 5k Friday night but watched a few friends run it, and after seeing the chaos of it all I am kind of glad I didn't, there was a TON of people and it was ridiculously hot.

The course for the half marathon is great, there are plenty of water and gatorade stations throughout the course (I would guess about every mile), and there were bands scattered all throughout with nearly every type of music (Elvis impersonators, bagpipes, country, rock, high school pep bands, garage bands, etc), and there were people all along the trail cheering. The course was very well labeled and staffed and there really are not that many hills (REJOICE).

I did run with my ipod because I wanted to have my music the whole time. The funny moment was as I was coming toward the dome on my ipod shuffle came the song "People are crazy" by Billy Currington. While it really isn't a quick beat or an amazing running song it was funny to be ending a half marathon with the lyrics "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy." Seemed all too appropriate.

Notes to self:

• keep running you love it and it is good for you
• as soon as the pain in your quads goes away get back at it - the October half will come much faster than you anticipate
• find some 5ks and 10ks between now and October. Register for them.
• update your ipod shuffle your music on there got boring and some is way too slow
• you will never come in first and never last you race only yourself - be proud you finished with a personal best
• keep eating healthy and taking care of yourself - your body is a gift and it is your job to take care of it