Not Everyone Can Take on the SOB

The Siskiyou Outback Run is no joke and sure as hell isn't something you should take lightly. This was obvious when we arrived at the starting area and were surrounded by real runners. The kind who weight next to nothing, have 2% body fat, can sprint for hours on end, do crazy ass warm ups - basically not me and FGS. There were only a handful of "normal" people around, including us.

Of course I use the term "normal" in reference to our physique, not our mental state. Because obviously we are out of our damn minds and enjoy being tortured early Saturday morning.

You might think that the name of the run is just a funny play on words - "SOB", ha ha ha. Yeah. Not so funny when you are facing a vertical accent that makes you whimper for your mommy.

They weren't lying - it was a real S.O.B.!!!

This is where my point of view diverges from Fat Girl Slim's. Yeah, the race was really fucking hard. There were times on that trail where I seriously doubted my ability to take another step. It was physically impossible to walk, let alone run, a lot of it.

But was it a bad idea? Absolutely not.

I proved to myself that I can do it!!! I am more than my jiggly thighs. I am not defined by my poochy stomach. I am, in fact, a bad ass. I ran all the way up and back down a MOUNTAIN! How many people do you know that can say that?

A small part of said mountain

This is part of the reason I love Oregon. Gorgeous!

FGS has no intention of doing this race, ever again, ever! Me, on the other hand, I will be doing it next year - and I will do it in even less time than this year.

Why would I do this? Because, quite simply, I AM A BAD ASS!!!

Post 100!!!!! Can You Believe It?

Holy crap. Apparently we've had a lot to say. Never fear though, I've got plenty more to talk about, and there's lots going on in the coming weeks.

First, I need to make mention of my weigh in this morning. Guess who finally lost some freaking weight? ME! Finally, after a total stand still on the scale, I managed to lose 2.2 lbs. this week! Furthermore, I managed to track my calories EVERY. SINGLE. DAY., and I didn't go over. AT ALL. Now I just need to keep this momentum up. Therein lays the challenge.

Next I guess it's time to kill my buzz and discuss the 15k that MT and I ran this weekend. Her and I have vastly different takes on this race, and she made me promise I wouldn't talk massive shit about it. I really can't help it though, because I'm still mildly horrified about what I went through at this point. About 20 minutes into the damn race, and I thought for sure i was being Punk'd. I have no idea why I decided to make my first 15k one that went straight up a freaking mountain. Was I just not paying attention? Did I not realize what a massive elevation increase the race entailed? Who the fuck knows.

Basically, I spent 2 hours praying I wouldn't die. Saying it was a hard race would be a gross understatement. I distinctly remember telling MT that we were going to have to change our blog name. We'd now be called "Half Ass to Almost Half Marathon, but Then I Broke My Ankle and Died During a 15k". Seriously, they said this was a trail run, but the "trail" was straight up a mountain and full of giant rocks, fast-moving streams and pits of mud that went up to my knees. It was much more "extreme hiking" and much less "running".

This is the point where I need to thank you, our faithful blog readers. I wanted to quit so, so, SO badly, but I knew I couldn't come back and tell you guys I didn't finish. That just wasn't an option. There were parts of this race where I could've sworn I was having an out of body experience it hurt so bad. The hills were SO steep, and it was SO hot outside. I kept going though, somehow. I just couldn't come back here and say I quit.

You know, I'd love to say I felt some great sense of accomplishment when I [eventually] crossed that finish line, but really? I just felt dead and really, really dirty [Did I mention the mud holes?]. It's been over 48 hours, and I still think that race was a mistake. Maybe in a few days [weeks? months?] I'll look back on it all fondly, but at this point it's just not happening. I'm kind of angry with myself at this point. I feel like I've probably set myself back in my half training, because I'm SOOO sore, obviously my runs this week will be lacking. Live and learn though, right? I'll get over it.

Obligatory post-race picture.  MT is a fucking giant!

Tomorrow Muffin Top is going to post HER version of a race recap, along with our next training schedule [the one that will lead us to the half marathon!]. And I'll be back Wednesday, hopefully with a better attitude.