Random tidbits

Because I'm too lazy to write a long drawn out post about these things...

I. I won my first road race! Granted, it was a VERY small race - like, maybe 40 people - but you know what, a win's a win! I think I was maybe 7th overall in 21:48 and I won a free pair of shoes! Since Etonic was apparently sponsoring the race, they are Etonic Kendari's ($110...I got them freee!) I took them out for a spin today and while the run in general was a total suckfest (apparently if I take 2 days off of running, I completely forget how? Or I didn't eat enough? Either way, I felt like shit and had to keep stopping. Gross) the shoes themselves felt great - and it will be fantastic to have a pair of trainers going into what's apparently going to be the summer of marathon training!

II. I never really wrote much of a report about the steeplechase last weekend, but let's just say it wasn't fun. I thought that since I was in much better shape that it would be easier this year, but noooo. Not in the least bit. I don't think it's possible for that race to be fun, although feeling like I was going to puke from the emptiness sloshing around in my stomach for the entire time didn't help. I can't believe that I still managed to PR, and I think I owe that all to my water pit (except my 'giving up on life' jump...that was quite a fail). I think overall I got through it a lot better than last year...it was just the running part that sucked! I really didn't get as emotional about the season ending as I thought I would - maybe because that race was just so horrible and I was so happy to be done! Mentally, I think I was done after Loras for sure, so this was just kind of something to cap it off. That's kind of how I felt about the road race too - a nice victory lap to cap off quite possibly my best season of running ever. Now if only I can make it through this half marathon. The past week has been a total failure of running - between finals and graduation, I've only managed to get out 3 times...at least one of them was a race, right?

III. Did I mention...I GRADUATED? I'm now an alumnus of UW- Madison...and I have to say, out of all the things I thought I would tear up about, the only one that I KNEW would happen is the one that actually did. Singing Varsity one last time at graduation...I definitely thought I was going to start crying. But then Dallas knocked my hat off...so I laughed instead. And in a way, I think that sums up a lot of things about college - just when things get rough and you think you're going to burst into tears, something ridiculous happens and you laugh, and you realize that everything is going to be OK.

Varsity, varsity
U rah rah Wisconsin
Praise to thee we sing (we sing!)
Praise to thee our alma mater
U - rah - rah - Wis - co - n - sin!