Great news patient readers! We are officially saved from my recent blog apathy by a Guest Blog, yay! Here is my friend Corrie with her Half Marathon Race Report:

Hello everyone! My name is Corrie and I blog over at www.blurbcolumn.blogspot.com. I have known Emily virtually for about 6 years now and have always found her to be an inspirational, giving and loving person. Last year when Emily organized Team Triumph I agreed to participate and immediately signed up for the Helvetia Half Marathon on June 9, 2012. I had participated in the Helvetia 10k in June of 2006 (running) and in June of 2009 (walking with friends) but had never done the half. I ran a half marathon in July of 2006 in Seattle, but it has been about that long since I have done any serious running.

I originally planned to run the Helvetia Half as I had over half a year to prepare.

And then life happened.

I started with good intentions in January by getting outside in the good weather and spending time on my feet. Then Winter Term at school started in full swing (I am a full-time student at the moment). I was taking 5 classes. The weather was still frequently dark, cold and miserable. I was studying all the time. I still tried to get outside to spend some time training, even working up to 1 minute walk/jog intervals at one point. But as the term wore on I realized that I was not going to be able to put forth the time necessary to train to run 13.1 miles the way I thought I should.

I seriously considered just quitting and not doing the event, even though I had already signed up and paid my entry fee.

And then I remembered Team Triumph. I had made a commitment to do an event. I had told all of my blog readers about it, told Facebook about it, put it on Twitter and had invited a bunch of friends to do it with me! I couldn’t quit! But, it was apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to run it.

I could walk it though. I could easily already walk 6-7 miles without too much difficulty, so there was already a base level of distance there. All I needed to do was increase my distance. I wasn’t doing it for speed. All I wanted was to finish in less than four hours.

Spring Term started and I was only taking four classes. They were still fairly work heavy, but I made a commitment and I found time during my week to get in at least one long walk. Some weeks I did two or three, but I felt that if I got at least one long walk in per week I would be ready. As the race crept closer I increased my distance in earnest. 7+, 8+ and 10+ miles…then a taper week with a short hour long walk then…RACE DAY!

I walked 13.1 miles in just shy of 4 hours (3:52 something) with my friends Kelsey, Ann and Shorey (Corrie is #98 in the middle). We had a great time together, laughing and motivating people around us. Anytime we saw someone walking alone we cheered them on, especially older people. We had one group of girls tell us they hoped we would be back next year because we were cracking them up! The scenery was gorgeous and the weather was perfect! Slightly overcast with sun breaks and only two drops of rain at mile 12.

The race itself went very smoothly. We kept to a decent pace, and kept each other motivated. My stomach was a little wonky first thing in the morning so I didn’t eat much more than some peanut butter. I took some advil just before the start. Then we were off! The first few miles were easy and nice. Around mile 4 we started up the hills, which honestly were nothing compared to what I had trained on, so I was good there. I ate some cheese and drank some water around that point. Sometime after mile 7 we all started to feel a bit weak and tired and realized we hadn’t had any food in a while. We downed some clif shot gel (surprisingly tasty!) and within moments were perky and energetic again. Amazing what a little fuel can do! I also took a couple more advil at this point to keep the swelling in my knees down. We noted different parts of our bodies “talking to us” at various points, one time it would be a hip or a foot then later some other body part, but luckily nothing to slow us down or keep us from finishing. Around mile 10 we came across a girl who was really hurting. She said she hadn’t laced her shoes up tight enough early on and her socks had rubbed the balls of her feet raw. She looked miserable. I offered her some of my advil and she looked at me like I was an angel! Hey… sometimes we are in the right place at the right time. She was super thankful and I was happy to be able to help. We saw her at the finish and she thanked me again. I was just glad she made it! We kept trucking along and before you know it we were at mile 12 and then 13 and then we entered the stadium where the finish was at! I told Shorey and Ann that we had to jog to the finish! We could do it!

We ran through the stadium and crossed the finish line together! Woohooo!! My friend Kelsey had already finished and was waiting for us. We got our finisher medals, took some pictures and then went to get some much needed food!!

We did it! YAY!

Ann was staying in a great hotel with a lovely jacuzzi, so after the race we went there and toasted each other and our own success with a glass of champagne and a soak in the jacuzzi. It was a great way to end the event and certainly helped with the sore muscles!

I feel grateful to Emily for encouraging me to do another half marathon. I am so proud of myself and my friends. My body was sore Sunday, but I wasn’t in pain. I had a lovely massage and chiropractic adjustment Monday and was back to feeling great!

Thank you Emily for organizing Team Triumph. I can now say:

I am Triumphant!

(You sure are Corrie! I am SO proud of you for honoring this commitment even though life got in the way. In my book, that makes the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. I’ve got more to say on that soon, I promise…)