While all of you are enjoying your Memorial Day…grilling meat or having picnics or whatnot…Tim and I are here, taking part in the race that was meant for us: The Bolder Boulder.

Get it? BOLDER?

(Our last name is Bold…for those of you who A: forgot; B: Didn’t know; or C: missed the punchline)

We are super pumped to be running this 10k! And because we trained our asses off last year for the Peachtree 10k – which, by the way was miserable. Have you ever done a 5 mile tempo run…or a 5 mile run with 3 miles “at pace” at 4:00 in the morning? It’s…painful. I complained and cried and yelled every single time we had to do it – anyhow, back to my point: we managed to run a great race at the Peachtree last year, which gave us a good finishing time, which allowed us to get into a decent time group at the Bolder Boulder, so we’ll finish start and early in the morning. Go us!

Then, we might stop over at the Boulder Creek Festival Expand Duck Race. We sponsored two rubber ducks. Maybe we should name them…what’s a good name for a yellow rubber duck? Horace & Henrietta?

Go Horace and Henrietta! Paddle your little rubber asses down the river! Win mommy that prize!

Anyhow, today also marks a super important date for Tim and I: The first week of our 17 week training schedule that will have us waking up at 3:30am or so two times during the week to get out the door and knock out a few miles before Tim has to go to work.

Thaaaat’s riiight!

It happened!!!

Tim bit the bullet!!!!

I think this bullet biting happened – probably – because who can pass up an opportunity to visit somewhere like this a second time?

Exactly. No one can.

The best part? It’s only seventeen weeks away! Oh, and instead of a few hour plane ride, Jackson, Wyoming is now only nine hours away from us! It’s like our second home it’s so close! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I want to jump up and down and run around in circles and yell and pump my fists in the air all, “WE ONLY LIVE NINE HOURS FROM MY MOST FAVORITE PLACE EVER!”

Did I mention that it is only SEVENTEEN WEEKS AWAY?!

My running bullet, you ask? Whell, my bullet had already been bitten, chewed, swallowed and digested. I don’t need much any convincing to run a half marathon. I’m all over that like white on rice. Like a kid with a candy bar. Like a dog to a fire hydrant. You get my point.

I love them.

Actually, in my opinion, half marathons are too easy. They don’t pose a huge challenge for me. Tim and I have run two official half marathons and we’ve also completed 13 or more miles in so many different long runs during marathon training that 13.1 miles is kind of like a 10k for me. Do I need to train for it? Yes. Will I be in some pain during the race? Yes. Does that pain compare to what it feels like at mile 23 in a marathon?

Hell no. Not even close.

A full marathon takes more mental preparation. It requires a shit ton more mental and physical toughness and it involves a ton more training than a half – for me.

I don’t want you to think I’m trying to sound all elitist…because I kind of think I am…honestly, if anyone completes a race of any distance, that is an incredible accomplishment. If you can be disciplined enough to train for and complete a half marathon? 13.1 miles (Otherwise known as a long ass way to travel on foot in the span of a few hours)?

That is an impressive feat to overcome and something to be really, really proud of. I happen to be one of “those crazy people” who loves to endure as much physical pain as possible. More/farther/harder is always better is my motto, even if more really ISN’T better.

So, as thrilled as I am that Tim agreed to train for a half marathon (and I am, truly, ecstatic), I’m trying NOT to get too upset and disappointed that we are not running the full 26.2 miles. The full marathon. The beast of a race.

Don’t get me wrong – 13.1 miles is nothing to be ashamed about – I know that. I’m just one of those hardcore people who feel defeated just because I didn’t “tough it out” and run the additional 13.1 miles. I struggle with that. I want to be “one of those people” all the half marathoners look at in awe. I like being that person. I don’t like being that other person the race with the marathoners looking at me – a half marathoner – all, “Heh. They’re only running HALF of what we’re doing. Pansies, they are.”

I want to go up to them and be all, “BUT I’VE ALREADY RUN THREE! I CAN DO IT! I REALLY CAN!”

The marathoners probably don’t think that about the half marathoners at all.

It’s probably just me. Maybe *I* am THAT PERSON – the only person – who thinks that when I am part of the group running the full marathon.

What I’m saying is that I’m trying to get excited about running HALF of a WHOLE marathon.

And pictures like these really help me see the bigger picture…they make me totally giddy…how can I NOT be excited to be running in this kind of natural beauty – regardless of the distance?