Queen City Marathon by Number 1095

Me and Kad arrived in Regina and went to register for my race then we checked into the hotel. Then we did a drive around the course so I would have some idea of where the heck I was going. We were driving along and I kept thinking, holy smokes this is how far I have to go? Seriously?



I woke up at 5am to eat and make sure I wouldn't have any kind of urge to use the bathroom during the race. It was freezing cold out. Wind was blowing like mad and it was raining. The weather network said it was going to be nice so all I brought was my running shorts. I also forgot my sports bra so I had to wear my underwire la senza padded push up bra. Not cool at all. Got ready and went to the start line and sat in my car freezing cold waiting and praying for it to get nicer. Then at 10min to start I went and joined the ranks.



Then I stood there waiting to get going. In Switzerland, we started an hour early so I never really got to experience starting with a big crowd of people. It was pretty cool. Everyone was screaming and there was so much energy.



Then we were off. And in all the excitement of all the people I didn't stop running till between the 4k and the 5k mark. I kept telling myself to stop and take a break but I couldn't do it. I also was so caught up in the hoopla that when I took my jacket off part way through at the beginning I forgot I had stuck a extra strong cinnamon gum in my bra quickly to take my coat off. I remembered when my n*^$#e started burning like mad and looked to see what the heck was going on in there and saw the gum melting. I really wanted that gum so I ate it anyway. What? No! Yeah! I did. It was good and I would do it again.



I think in the end it screwed me a bit for my energy levels. Cause at round the 13k mark I started to get a little grumpy. I'm in here somewhere. The weather actually became perfect. Overcast. No wind. Nice and cool.



Then at 16k I got pretty happy because I passed a few people doing the full and I thought "Boy I'm sure glad I'm not those poor suckers that have like over half to go and I only have 5k left". I met a girl that was running around me and we kept switching positions and so I finally asked her how it was going. She said "Pretty good, all I care about is beating my sister inlaw" "Oh, where is she?" "I'm guessing about 10 min behind me but my music sucks and I can't run anymore" "What do you have on your mp3? Wanna trade?" So we traded. She had crap. Nothing that was good for running. 80's music mostly. I told her to listen to number 1 on mine. YEAH! Eye of the Tiger Remix. Then I wanted mine back cause her's sucked. Then at 18k I got grumpy because my legs weren't doing what I wanted them to do. A happy moment here:



My photographer was Kad Milwork. I told him to take lots of pictures. I actually didn't expect him to show up all over the course. He drove by us once and took pictures from the car even. People were laughing and calling him my stalker. They would wave at him as they ran by all the time. A few times during the race I imagined Becky and Glen and kids showing up for a surprise and seeing them around a corner somewhere. When I came home I found out that she was thinking about doing it. I would have cried for sure. My stalker seen here:



At 20k they have a hill at the very end called Heartbreak Hill. It really sucks but I ran up it anyways then rounded the corner for the finish line. There's a lot of mental satisfaction that comes from running up something called Heartbreak Hill after you've ran 20k.



Here I am at the end after I found Kad and then headed to the food tent for some muffin and chicken broth. Best broth I've ever had. Or maybe just that that moment. My post race photo shoot.





I only ended up with blisters on my left foot. One on the end of every toe. Not sure how that works. I also had some chaffing issues between my thighs from my shorts rubbing. I put body glide on. Either it didn't work at all or it prevented something from being much worse. I guess I will never know. I do know that it burns like peroxide on a cut when I have baths. I also have a bruises where the underwire of my bra dug into my skin. Chaffing seen here:

Just kidding. Its not pretty.