cankle

not sure how i ran on this. i can't even walk now and i have a cankle. (don't look at my feet i know i need a pedicure.)

finish line

yesterday aaron and i finished our first marathon. here are my results:

finish time: 3:55:51

finished: 799 out of 2555

sex placement: 184 out of 982

i say our first marathon bc this one did not go as planned. i really wanted to qualify for the boston marathon, which is a finishing time of 3:40:59. aaron and i started out with a really good steady fast pace until around mile 9. at mile 9 the area around my ankle started throbbing with pain. this pain never eased up and began to spread throughout my foot. at mile 13 i saw my sister and her husband standing cheering for us. i had to go up to her almost in tears telling her about my pain. she told me that she would have some medicine for me at mile 19. when i heard that i had to wait until mile 19 the tears made their way back to my eyes. luckily a woman cheering beside her had some medicine in her purse. lauren then raced towards us to give me my medicine.

unfortunately, the medicine didn't ease any of the pain but i just gritted my teeth ( & screamed a couple of times) until the finish. i have not been able to walk normally since the race has ended, my ankle & foot are quite swollen, and i am awake at 6 am this morning bc it is throbbing with pain. minus the pain in my foot my body felt great during the marathon, my breath was steady and my mind set was good. when all this ankle stuff has passed i will do another marathon and i will complete my goal.

side note: 

lauren and paul you guys were awesome. i don't think i have could have finished without your encouragement. thank you again for everything you did this weekend to make our marathon special.

and aaron thank you so much for training with me. i know you hate running (but then again this was your idea.) and thank you for staying with me during the marathon and making sure i was ok.

trip tidbits

sorry i have been slacking on my blog. after traveling for a straight 24hrs, getting prepared for my marathon, going back to work & school its been hard for me to catch up. here are a few nicaragua tidbits:

* woke up at 4:30am on 3/7/09 to drive to myrtle to catch our flight. we were supposed to fly to ny then to florida then to nicaragua. we got to myrtles airport in time to catch a direct flight to florida, which meant a 12 hour layover. we caught a shuttle (who ripped us off) ate lunch, drank beers and people watched on the beach. then we caught a cab ride back (where we almost died bc i dont think he believed in traffic laws) sat around in the airport for another 4 hrs and then boarded our flight to nicaragua. i am not really sure what happened after this i was pretty delusional. the place we stayed was about a 2 hr car ride from the airport so i slept most of the way. 

* the next day was spent at the beach. windy season was supposed to end march 1st but went on a little longer then expected. the girls tried to lay out topless on the rocks to avoid being devastated by the wind but could not avoid being stalked out by one local male onlooker. while the rest of the group braved the cold water to surf

*unfortunately, nicoles grandmother passed away our 2nd in nicaragua so she had to buy another plane ticket and make the long journey home alone. we really did miss her company and stories.

* about an hour away there were shops where you could purchase handmand things. everything was so cheap, with our big group we cleared out most of the shops.

* drinks of choice were tona, flor de cana, macua...and well anything with rum

*marathon training was put on hold bc we stayed on top of a very steep mt. our view from our place was amazing. the drive up & down could be a bit terrifying in our 2 wheel drive space van. but alex enjoyed throwing us around in the back of the van. thanks again alex for being such a good taxi cab driver. 

*one day we almost rolled off the mt. like this guy

*stray dogs, cows and horses all roamed the street looking starved.

* we ate breakfast in the market every morning for under $3. the plates were huge and the fruit is the best i have ever tasted. the food never comes out together and you must begin eating before the rest of the group bc there aren't enough dishes.

* pelican eyes had a 2 for 1 drink special. we hit that place up a couple of times. all male waiters and TERRIBLE service but it was 2 for 1 so i guess you can't complain.

*experienced a new form of dairy in a bag.

*our host, cory and mandy were amazing and some of the coolest people i have meet

* emily was our translator/ party girl.

* we went on a boat ride one day to go to different surf spots. the water was freezing and the boys in the back of the boat got pounded by the cold water for the whole hour and a half boat ride. 

*took a trip up to the volcano, mombacho 

* the last night the whole group tried to stay out until 4am so we could eat breakfast at the bar ( i dont know who thought this would be a good idea.) we made it until 230am.

* the last day we spent at the shops the headed to managua to be near the airport. we had a nice dinner then went to the vip movie theatre. this theatre had lazyboy recliners and waiters to serve you beer or food.

* then our trip home began when we boarded our flight at 12:50am. we arrived safely in wilmington at 3:30pm.

it was an amazing trip with wonderful people. i can't wait to go back again.

NICARAGUA.

nicaragua: 0 days!!!!!!!!!!

snow.

ok so i took these pictures on my roommates camera from our apartment window awhile ago after one of my runs. jessica and i just figured out how to put them on my computer (ok well aaron did but he doesn't read my blog so we will take the credit.) it never snows here and on this day aaron wouldn't run so i got to take an 8 mile jog in this. pretty to look at not much fun to run in.(if you click on the pictures you can see the snow better.)

quiet.

the start of march has begun the preparation for tourist here at wrightsville beach. parking enforcement spent the last weekend of february setting up parking meters and are now patrolling the streets giving out their bright orange parking tickets. wrightsville beach during the winter is an amazing place to be. due to the cold weather i feel like i have taken advantage of it. 

during the winter season there is no traffic (both cars and people), the restaurant and bars are filled with locals (filled not packed out so you can make it out of the bar without getting puked on which has happened to me twice during the summer), dogs are allowed to play on the beach, the beach is quiet and empty & i'm allowed to drive to work without worrying that my car is going to be towed. the list could go on & on of reasons why i enjoy the slow season at wb.

when i get back from nicaragua (3 more days) this town will have a different air about it. although, i am excited monetary wise i am going to miss the peace, solitude and quietness of this town.

final long trail run

rain. thunder. lightning. cold. anger.

9 miles on the treadmill. boredom. tears. insanity. 

11 miles outside alone. tears. rain. tears. wind. tears. pain. exhaustion. misery. depression.

not really how i thought my final long run before my marathon would go. im over it.