I lived to tell about it

If you live in Kansas City and you're a runner, it's inevitable that you do "Hospital Hill." Apparently, Adam and I weren't the only ones to believe this. 7400 others were there to complete either the half marathon, the 10k, or the 5K (much different that the 200 participants we're use to). We were there for the 10K and it was truly unlike anything I've ever done. It was, by far, the hardest, yet most rewarding run I've been a part of, and I'm incredibly proud that we did it.

Here are a few ways that Hospital Hill was different from any other race we've been a part of:
1) We were in a traffic jam at 6:30 am (on a Saturday) to make the exit for West Pennway.
2) Adam went to the bathroom before the race and had difficulty finding me because I was dressed the same as hundreds of other women.
3) We were behind the starting line to begin running at 7:15 (I prefer to be sleeping during that time on a Saturday).
4) Once they said "go" we still had a few minutes before we had to start running due to the large amount of people in front of us. Let's face it ... I'm not going to start running until I have to.
5) I saw a man running barefoot (I never want to see that again). In that moment, I lost my place in the ugliest feet contest.
6) The crowd was overwhelming. I could barely move without touching someone else. However, the people were incredibly nice and that made up for having to touch their bodily fluids.
7) The humidity was treacherous. Before we even made it to the first hill, I was drenched in sweat. By the end of the race, Adam looked like he had been under a waterfall. The car ride home did not smell good (I think the smell could have been me).
8) I got to hear a lot of personal conversations while we were running (oddly, a lot of them were about health care).
9) At the aid stations, I ran over hundreds of cups (although, Adam still ran over to the trash can so that he didn't litter - I just love my little environmentalist).
10) I really am confused on which hill was actually Hospital Hill because we ran so many hills (big ones, I would like to add). I can vividly remember running up 5 hills (most of which have names). It was a cool moment to be running while so many people were walking around us (there is absolutely nothing wrong with walking, but, for me, it was a personal accomplishment to be able to run the race in it's entirety, especially such a difficult one). It doesn't really matter that the same people we passed as we ran up the hills, passed us going down the hills.

11) Adam nearly had me in tears with his enormous level of support. He just seems to know when I'm struggling and I'll hear, "Marena, you're doing great." It helps in more ways than I can even begin to express.
12) A homeless man sat on a curb and as we passed him, he said, "Good job." The human spirit never ceases to amaze me.
13) As we were at mile 5, a few of the half-marathoners flew past us (literally "flew" past us). They had a fifteen minute head start, ran double the distance, and were still passing us ... beyond impressive and always good on the self-esteem.
14) Each person who completed the half marathon, 10K and 5K received a medal. I'm getting more medals in my adulthood than I did in my childhood.
15) The street was lined with people as you finished. It's always my favorite part of the race. People that don't even know you are there to encourage you. The amount of support is unbelievable.
16) Our bibs had our names on it. That was definitely cool.
17) We got free stuff galore. We got protein drinks, cereal, fruit, granola bars, Vitamin Water, a hat, flip flops, sunscreen, a bag, socks, etc. It was never ending and I loved it!
18) Runners got BBQ and Boulevard after the race. It almost makes you want to run it again just to get the benefits. Then, you realize, that you can walk into most establishments in Kansas City and get BBQ and beer and you don' t even have to run 5 hills to get it.


19) As we were leaving, I saw some people with their feet in the water. At that moment, it looked so absolutely refreshing. I let go of my worries about germs and bacteria and soaked my feet in the water. It was the best foot bath my feet ever experienced.


20) We finished in 73:39 minutes, which was 10 minutes longer than it took to complete our first 10K. There were people who ran it in 38 minutes. Why would you run hills that fast? More importantly, how did they do that?

We did it. We conquered Hospital Hill and will never do it again (why intentionally put ourselves through that pain).

Our next 10K is July 3 in Lenexa, Kansas and a month after that, we'll be doing our first half-marathon in Nebraska. Running is definitely addicting. Well, at least, the races are.

Tomorrow I will conquer the hill

Sounds so dramatic, doesn't it? Yet, that is exactly what I'm going to do. Tomorrow is the Hospital Hill 10K, which consists of one pure excruciating mile running up a hill, then a combination of inclines and downhills for the remainder of the 5.2 miles (really, only 2 miles total going downhill). My goal for this run isn't to complete it; it's to live and tell about it. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic.

In all honesty, I am beyond excited for this one. I get to run in Kansas City in a near sold out race (8000 runners) with Adam. Sure, it's going to be challenging, but I can't wait!

This may just be the best race yet ...

Some very ugly feet

I have some very ugly feet. Always have. Always will. If there were a contest for ugly feet, I would surely come in, at least, 2nd place (I like to think that there are uglier feet out there).

As a child, I have a very vivid memory of my toenails falling off on my pinkie toes (my memory is that they fell off on the same day, but that seems awfully impossible). Instead of a normal toenail growing back, I now have a little piece of nail (it's so small that I hardly ever have to cut it and, when I put on toenail polish, I have to paint the skin so that it looks like I have more of a toenail than I really do).

My feet are extremely wide, which makes buying shoes very difficult.

My second toe is bigger than any of the others (got that from my mom) and I have lots of veins that stick out (like I'm 96 years-old).

The worst part of all ... my pinkie toe is dead. Yep, non-functioning. Doesn't move. If I need it to move, I have to manually move it. It's stuck to the toe next to it and seems to like being there.

Just take a quick look (to save you from complete horror, I will only post a picture of one foot). Warning: If you scare easily, you may want to skip this part.

As a teenager and young adult, I hated wearing flip flops or any other type of shoe that allowed others to see what hideous creatures I was walking around on. Finally, around the age of 25, I decided to open my feet up to the world (this revelation came after looking at other people's feet. Wow, there are a lot of ugly feet out there - mostly on older men, but I regress). I embraced the ugly little suckers and decided to wear any kind of shoe I could fit them into (although I still prefer sandals that hide the pinkie toe - no need to traumatize little children).

Even when I met Adam, I asked him what he thought of my feet and he said, "You have ugly feet" (this was in the first weekend we met, so really he should have lied and said he loved them, but they were so ugly he couldn't even do that and because I had lived with the feet, I couldn't blame him for his honesty, which led me to learn the lesson - Don't ask someone a question unless you really want to know the answer).

Now, as I am running, my feet are getting even uglier. I have bumps and blisters. I have calluses and deep grooves. I am almost 100% certain that the feet are getting even wider. My long toe (the second one) has a purplish toenail and is very thick. Oh, yes, very disgusting.

Regardless, I really love it. It's proof of what I'm doing. I've put in quite a few miles and the feet show that. Because of what they have allowed me to do, I wouldn't trade these feet in for anything.