This is the story of how a billion things went wrong the morning of my half-marathon due to my usual scatter-brain and refusal to spend time planning for things... and how everything still managed to turn out great! :D

(Don't worry, i took these pictures AFTER the marathon so it didn't screw up my time :D
Firstly, guess who decided to come visit right before my marathon started?! Yup, sista flow! I had cramps randomly hit me throughout my run, but for some reason I felt like they would hurt more if I stopped and walked, so I powered through and tried not to think about them.
Secondly, I estimated about 30-35 minutes to get to Palos Verdes from West LA with nilch saturday morning traffic, so I planned to leave around 6:45AM for my 7:30AM marathon... but it actually takes about 40-45 minutes MINIMUM to get there WITHOUT traffic, which I didn't realize until 10 minutes before leaving!
Thirdly, my body refused to fall asleep before the clock strikes midnight even though I knew I was waking up at 5AM, so I tried to force it to sleep but it resulted in weird dreams throughout the night about not waking up on time... I woke up after falling asleep for what I thought was hours, and yelled, "Mike! Is it 5AM already?!?" and threw off all the blankets. and then saw that it was only 11:50PM and I had only been asleep for 10 minutes... it happened at least 6 times throughout the night, which kinda sucks for Mike because he also had to wake up at 6:30 to be my marathon chauffer!
Fourthly, it was sprinkling/drizzling in Palos Verdes, even though weather channel said Saturday was supposed to be beautiful and sunny, and SUNDAY was supposed to be crappy weather day! Those liars!!!!
It was super stressful knowing I was late to the marathon and that my body wasn't fully rested (I couldn't sleep the night before, either), and that I was definitely not mentally prepared to run 13 miles in any way... But even with all these setbacks, it was actually a really good first half-marathon!
Yes, I was 20 minutes late to the starting line and all the half/full marathon runners were long gone by then. BUT the 5K race started at 8AM, so when I began my lonesome start, the people in charge made all the 5K, 10K runners, and bystanders cheer and scream for me as I ran through the crowd! It actually was a pretty great energy booster to have my own personal kick-off :D
For the first 5 minutes of the race, I didn't see a single person in sight and was kind of worried... but then I started seeing more and more stragglers and started passing a bunch of them, then more of them, and then I started passing slow runners, and eventually began passing a bunch of medium and normal paced runners! By mile 4/5, I'm pretty sure I was in the top 50% of all the marathon runners!
The path was absolutely gorgeous, and was right next to the beach. You could see waves crashing against cliffs, and giant beach-front mansions all along the run! And to be honest, the slight drizzle and cool weather made the run really refreshing! I would rather have had the small sprinkles than burning, scorching sun, for sure!

During the race, I planned to take a walking break at mile 6... but when mile 6 came I didn't need it so I didn't stop. Then mile 7 came and I still felt strong, so I kept going... at mile 8 I hit a runners high that carried me all the way to mile 11. It got a little harder at 11 miles since it was on an incline (even though the entire marathon path was hills) but I was so close to finishing so I wouldn't let my legs stop, no matter how slow I was going... mile 12 felt like it would NEVER come. I grabbed a small cup of gatorade at mile 12 even though I usually hate any kind of sports drinks, and before I knew it, mile 13 was here! It came up so fast that I didn't even have time to prepare... to be honest, the only thought in my head was, "I wonder what song is gonna be playing on my ipod shuffle when I cross the finish line!" (It was "Another Day" from the RENT soundtrack :)
Then I saw Mike waiting for me by the finish line, and some adrenaline shot in me and I sprinted all the way across! It felt pretty amazing to cross the finish line feeling strong, and I felt like I could've gone for another 1 or 2 miles (but definitely not 13... SF Marathon is gonna SLAUGHTER me). ! I orignally told Mike he didn't have to watch me because lets face it... watching a marathon is kinda like watching goldfish in a tank. But I was SUPER glad at the end of the half that he was persistent and didn't listen to me, and was there and I had someone to give big squishy hugs to after they handed me my medal :D
Woo I made it! And OF COURSE afterwards I celebrated with awesomesauce friends and Midori Sushi! Most perfect combo EVERRR!!! Oh, and hot chocolate in my favorite snowman cup EVER, personally crafted by Mike, who made sure to arrange the marshmallows in happy snowmen-fashion!
Today was the yearly tradition of the UCLA Run/Walk 5K! Since I have done this race ALMOST every year since starting at UCLA, I HAD to run this race even though I wasn't sure how I would be feeling when I originally signed up for it. But I actually felt fine, if not a little tired (from the sister), and took it easy. Plus, it was fun running with friends and my favorite school and campus in the whole world! There was SO MUCH SWAG at this Run/Walk, it was awesome! I'm pretty sure I grabbed like $50 of free stuff :D BEST THING EVER. Way better than the free stuff at the Palos Verdes Marathon, which was pathetic in comparison. Look, it's Josie Bruin!!!

I LOVE RUNNING, ESPEICALLY WITH FRIENDS AND PEOPLE I LOVE, AND WILL BE DOING THIS FOR AS LONG AS I CAN!
The PV marathon gave me a pretty good gadge of where I am in terms of being ready for SF marathon on July 31st... and I'M SCREWED. Better kick up the training 10 notches!!! I mean, the 13.1 miles didn't kick my ass or anything and I felt like I could have gone a bit further... but imagining having to DOUBLE that mileage... YIIIIIKES!!!!
And to be honest, for me, it really sometimes is a gamble and depends on how my body is feeling that day. Of course there are things I can do to prepare and increase my chances of a good performance aka. do all the things I DIDN'T DO, but regardless, there are days when I just don't feel like running and even 2 miles are the most exhausting things ever. And when it's not race days, I listen to my body and do something else. But as inconvenient as all of Saturday was through the worries, lack of sleep, cramp/bloat-age, my body was luckily ready for running, so I still did OK. I hope on SF Marathon day, my body feels the same... OR BETTER :]
SF MARATHON, HERE I COME!