the Unexpected: Another One Bites the Dust: 13x13x13

Surprise!
I ran another half marathon!

It was really hot outside, so I started in the wee hours of the morning and got as far as I could before the sun came up because it just makes no sense to run in the sun during the Texas summer.

Do I sound like a broken record to everyone else?! Because I feel like I've written this blog before...

I have been starting my half marathons so early, in fact, that the app I use logs them as nighttime runs. This time around, RunKeeper lost its marbles and despite keeping track of where I was in the moment, showed nothing on the display and then told me I had not burned but gained (?!) a hundred and some-odd calories. Then, it must have decided the details weren't any good and recorded my breakneck pace of 0.0 miles in 00:00:00. For this reason, I have only an approximation of my final time.

Some highlights of HM#8:

It's done!
There were lots of people out and about at the park where I ran, making running by myself much more tolerable.
Favorite t-shirt spotted said "Get it girl!"
Swimming with an ICEE afterward.
Post-run meal complete with pão de queijo (look it up, it's spectacular!)

Not my favorite parts:

It took approximately 2 hours and 54 minutes.
After feeling like I had forgotten something at home, I realized I actually had: my water bottle.
It's August in Texas.
My phone interprets "shuffle" as "please shuffle the same dozen songs for 3 hours."

I think the water bottle takes the prize of Least Favorite for a variety of reasons. First, it's annoying not to have water available to drink whenever you'd like some. Don't worry - there were water fountains everywhere! Unfortunately, using them requires stopping. This means I not only lose time, but also break my stride (or groove, if you will), and I don't necessarily get to pick when I drink it. In my case, it also undid the careful water bottle/cell phone balance I have going on with my running belt (which slowly danced in circles around me as I ran).

Proof I remained hydrated. There was even 1 more I didn't get a photo of.

At the end of the day, I can't believe Sadie and I have run EIGHT half marathons since the first of the year! I know we committed to doing this, but it's another thing entirely for it to actually be happening. WOW!