Where do I begin?

The Crim was the most physically challenging thing that I have ever done in my life. Giving birth to my two sons with absolutely no drugs comes in a close second and third, but this my friends was HARD!

What a great weekend! Dan and I had so much fun with our friends, Jeremy and Hollie. On the way to my parents, we stopped in downtown Flint to pick up our packets. I was so excited just to look around and see everything set up...just to think that this is what I have been waiting for.

We spent the evening at my parents bowling and boxing on their Wii. That was a riot! Confession: I am not really sore from running The Crim, but my arms and back hurt from boxing my Larry (Dad). Go figure.

This is Dan and his Wii character...scarry how much they look alike!

The morning of The Crim, we got up at 4:45 AM to leave the house by 5:15! We were all tired. We got to downtown Flint and found a parking space and just waiting for the race to begin. The amount of people was just incredible.

We lined up with about five minutes left on the clock. I felt sick with butterflies but no turning back. The gun went off and we had to walk to the finish until the swarm of people headed out on the road.

I started way too fast. Dan was like a the flash bolting ahead of us. I felt really good until about mile 4 or 5. Then, that is where I died. Bradley Hills Road was a killer! I was kicking myself the whole way, "I should have done more hill training!" That's where I started to beat myself up mentally. I knew Dan was way up in front and I didn't know where Hollie and Jeremy were. I was alone. I didn't know how much I really needed someone there beside me until then. I don't think I was made to run alone. I kept moving but I was hating every minute of it.

I think it was around mile seven that I heard, "Beth, Beth!" I turned around and there was Hollie and Jeremy. I was so glad that they had caught up with me! It felt much better to have them beside me. They kept me going. It was just what I needed.

The last three miles were so hard. All of me was exhausted from running a terrain that I was definitely not used to. I will never forget the feeling though of rounding the corner and seeing the finish line up ahead. It was like I tuned out what my body was telling me and zoned in on Hollie next to me and the finish line up in front.

So, we finished side by side and that's exactly what we are going to do next year. Right, Hollie?!

I am so proud of my husband! He barely trained, but ran his heart out and finished in 1 hr 26 minutes. His average time per mile was 8:34. Guess he was born to run...me on the other hand, I have to work a lot harder at it. I finished at almost the smack dab middle of my age group. My goal was to keep it under two hours and that we did. We crossed at 1hr 56 minutes and had an average of 11:34 a mile. Better than I thought after mile 5.

The Crim kicked my butt. My goal for next year is a better time and to not feel like I got my butt kicked. :-) So, next year, third Saturday in August, that's where I will be.