Subject: Top 10 gym pet peeves

1)Don't come to the gym to study. Stay home to study. Come to the gym to work out.
2)Don't bring magazines. Stay home to read magazines. Come to the gym to work out.
3)Hey girls, put on real shorts. No one wants to see your ass hanging out.
4)Get off the damn treadmill if you aren't going to run!
5)Hey boys, don't try to impress us by lifting more than twice your weight. We don't care.
6)Don't wear silly shoes to the gym (i.e. Keds, any shoe without support). Wear real shoes.
7)Hey SRF-- turn down the freakin heat! We want to sweat- not roast!
8)Please don't be completely naked in the locker room. No one needs to see that.
9)Don't use the gym to catch up loudly on your gossip. Once again, we don't care and now you're just bothering us.
10)If your t-shirt is permanently stained yellow/brown/any other unnatural color, splurge for another one please. That's gross.

Subject: Post-Half-Marathon.

Results: I placed 2783/4500 with a time of 2:22:37, averaging a 10:53 mile. (bib # 1455)

Other results: Soreness in muscles I didn't know existed, so much fun with my friends, a silver metallic thingy to keep warm with, 2 t-shirts and a medal.

It was exhausting but so worth it. I felt great for the first 5 miles, then I got a cramp in my stomach which went away quickly. Around mile 7 and 8 I started to get really tired and my ankles and knees began to ache. At mile 11, I ran into all of my friends which gave me enough energy to get to the finish. After a gross protein bar and a lot of gatorade endurance formula, I was good to go for the hour car-ride to Sturbridge, where everyone stopped for a late lunch. We met up with Mom & Bill and Munchie as well. I didn't get really sore until that night, and Monday was hell.

Today is considerably better: I'm gaining some muscle control back in my upper legs. Tricia massaged me tonight after the chair setup and I cried- It REALLY HURT! But it feels so much more relaxed now. My next task is to start getting up and down stairs and from standing to sitting and vice versa with more ease. Everything comes with time...

So it was amazing. I am so happy, I love running, and I can't wait to get back on the road. I think I am going to stick with half-marathons for a little bit, even though I would like to do a full marathon sometime. At the rate I am going right now, I will be back in the gym on Thursday and ready to run by early next week... maybe even this weekend!

Thank you to: All of my friends for their undying support, praise, encouragement, and excitement during my entire training and conditioning process... Tony, Matt, and Timmer for my spaghetti dinner/"Four Minute" party on Thursday (Tony for the poster, movie, and sweatshirt)... Kate and Tricia (my 2 Team PopTart chicas) for cards... My cousins Tom and Brian for putting us up in their AWESOME condo in Jamaica Plain for the whole weekend... Jeff for coming to Boston for the night to stay with me and rub my feet all day on Saturday while watching FRIENDS and Legally Blonde... Mimi for the awesome goody bag... and Phil, Paul, Matt, Joe, Emily, Sharon, Shannon, Matt, and Maggie for getting up at 5 am after 2 hours of sleep to drive all the way to Boston just to watch me run, and then come to Sturbridge for lunch.

With that said, I am off to enjoy my very last week of being 20!!