Saturday, October 11, 2008

Running is a Mental Sport (and We're ALL Crazy)

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Hello, friends!

I just got back from Baltimore after running 13.1 miles! I ran in the Baltimore Half Marathon with some of my friends. It was a great experience, but I am exhausted. I ran it last year as well, but it was a lot more difficult this year. I trained really hard (lots of runs around the lake!) and I am glad to be done. I ran it in 1 hour and 57 minutes. I'm really proud of my time because my goal was to get under two hours.

The entire weekend was really fun. Yesterday, my friends and I went into Baltimore to pick up our race numbers and race t-shirts. There was a lot of free giveaways, and I love free, so that was awesome. We got food and drink samples, shirts, and other things. I also bought some new running shows. They are white, silver, and purple. Then last night, we went to Noodles and Company on Route 1 for dinner so we could have a lot of carbohydrates to fuel us up for race. Then, everybody came to my home in Burtonsville to relax, drink water, and watch a movie.

We woke up at 6:30 am, left my house at 7, and we were in Baltimore by 8. We had gorgeous weather. The course was really hilly which made it difficult. Two hours later, I met up with everybody, exchanged a lot of sweaty hugs and kisses, and walked around Baltimore.

It was a great day and I'm glad I participated in the half marathon. I'm hoping to one day complete a marathon, but that will take a lot of hard work and training so I'm not sure when I will do that.

Your friend,
Nikki

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

My Michael = )

Hello, all!

I had an amazing week. My boyfriend, Michael from Minnesota, came to visit. He flew in late Friday night. Then on Saturday we went into D.C. When I was on the Metro I thought of you all and missed you very much. It was a lot more quiet riding on the metro with just Michael instead of 20 AGuers! In D.C we went to the new 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon. It is a beautiful memorial, but it made me feel really sad. There was one women there who was mourning her family, her husband and their two kids were on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. It was a really weird feeling to be there because the monument is very peaceful, but it also made me feel very emotional.

After that, we met up with Michael's dad and went bowling and to the movies. On Sunday morning I went back to D.C to watch Michael and his dad run in a 10 mile race. They both ran it really fast. Michael's final time was around 1:18. He was really sore and tired afterwards, but he felt good about his time.

On Monday we celebrated Michael's birthday. His birthday is really next week but since I won't be with him we decided to pretend like it was on Monday. We slept in, had pancakes for breakfast, went bowling, went out to a brewery, watched television, and played games. Then we had to wake up REALLY early today so that he could catch his airplane back home to go to work.

Right now I am just relaxing and watching the debate. This is the second debate between the two U.S.A presidential canidates- Senator Barack O'Bama and Senator John McCain. Our election is in less than a month. Many people say that this is the most historic, and important, election in our lifetime. I am very excited to be a part of it.

As always, I miss you all very much. Come visit!!!!!!!

Your friend,
Nikki

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