Finished.

I ran my first half marathon last weekend and walked away from it very proud of myself. Well, I use "walked" loosely as I more hobbled away since my knee decided to rage against the rest of my body and just stop working. Awesome.

We started out above Sundance at a refreshing 31 degrees. My iPod decided to just delete all my running playlists, including the one I had created specifically for this race. And then it just decided to stop working altogether. And then I about had a panic attack because I'm not one of those people who can just be one with my thoughts and run. After several failed attempts at the starting line to reboot it, I accepted the fact that my first half marathon was going to suck really, really bad. (Can I just say that one of my biggest pet peeves is when stuff doesn't work. Like iPods. The iPod is supposed to work. You know what I'm saying? That's it's only purpose for existence. Why do things just stop working?!?!?!)

Anyway, about 2 miles in I realized that I had to pee very badly (all that hydrating backfired I guess). We were just passing Sundance so Michelle and I veered off course and sprinted inside as to not lose too much time. A resort employee asked us if we was lost.

Back on the course I felt great. The first 3-4 miles were pretty steep downhill, so that was a little killer on my knees, but other than that I felt really good.

And then we got to mile 9.

Mile 9 is when I realized my right knee was really hurting. I mean, REALLY hurting. I told myself to just push through it. Only 4 to go. But that only got my so far. At about mile 10 I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to finish. I was still running at this point, but only because if I stopped, I wasn't sure I would be able to start again. I said a little prayer and just looked straight ahead and tried to zone out. I stopped to walk at mile 11, but then I discovered it hurt more to walk than to run so I kept going.

And I finished. Officially, 2:21, but I'm shaving off 5 minutes from my bathroom break and another 2 minutes for the start since there were so many people (2,500) and it took a few minutes to actually get going. So really, I'm saying 2:15.

Michelle (who totally rocked it by the way with just 3 weeks of training only a max distance of 5 miles) and I walked around trying to find our friends who had come down to cheer us on. I eventually had to sit down because I just could not walk around anymore. Getting back up and to the car was a nightmare.

Needless to say, I screwed it up pretty bad and I was down for the count the rest of the weekend. Although, I did make it out to a Halloween party Saturday night, but only after Michelle picked out some crutches for me at the DI so I could dress up as an injured basketball player. It worked, but parties aren't fun when you are immobile.

I'm feeling a lot better now. I'm walking ok, albeit slowly and much like my joints are being held together with rusty nails. Hopefully things start to feel normal again soon.

Even with the injury, I really enjoyed the race. It was a beautiful course and I'm glad Michelle was there to stick through it with me! I really had no expectations going into this. I just wanted to finish. It was a little frustrating with my knee because I felt so good otherwise, so even though I wanted to push it a little faster, I couldn’t. But now that I know I can do it, I'd love to set some goals and finish faster next time.

But not for a while because I'm having problems walking up and down stairs right now.

FINALLY!!!

Last night the San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the first time in 56 years. This is a big deal. If you're an Olsen, it's HUGE.



As I sat there watching the guys bolt out of the dugout and celebrate on the mound like little leaguers, I thought about my Grandma, the BIGGEST Giants fan I've ever known. She loved them, even when she called them bums when they lost. Some of my fondest memories with my Grandparents were when my family and I would stop by her house after church on Sundays. If the Giants were on, everyone was in the living room watching on an ancient floor model television that probably weighs close to a 1,000 lbs. and still sits there today. Back then it was all about Will Clark, Matt Williams and Robbie Thompson then Barry Bonds, JT Snow and Kirk Rueter. We were fans. Going to the City to watch a game was always a treat for us. We'd get there like 2 hours early and sit in the bleachers and watch batting practice. We have a couple souvenir balls we caught somewhere. Hot dogs and garlic fries were always part of the experience as well. The best meal ever.


We never could quite make it all the way though. Even during the good years, it was never enough. I remember being a freshman in college when they went to the World Series with Anaheim. I'm pretty sure no one else cared about baseball at Utah State, but you better believed I sat there in my dorm watching each and every game. And when they choked and gave it away in game 6 and 7, that was brutal. That stupid Angels rally monkey still haunts my dreams.

But last night was different. Everything went right and they did it. As excited as I am, I'm even more excited that my Grandpa was able to see them win it all. And my Dad. I called him right after the win and he was excited, even a little shocked, I think.


The Giants have always been one of those family traditions for us and it's incredible to be cheering for the winners. Finally.

Photos from SI.com