Till my legs give out - I will not fall

'Cause sometimes you feel tired,
feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.
 
Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out - am I high? Perhaps
I'ma rip this shit till my bone collapse.

Until the roof
The roof comes off
Until my legs give out from underneath me
I will not fall,


I will stand tall,


Feels like no one could beat me.

-Eminem

The Sweetest Thing!

AH use to coach cross country for Mentor H.S., but because he made the choice to finally go back to school and finish his degree he stepped down from his position, but not before I got roped into the madness.

Although I have a name most of the kids new me as "Coach Hunter's Girlfriend."  I went to most of the meets throughout the season and followed the team to states twice.  When the season was over the team took a trip to the Midwest Footlocker Nationals in Wisconsin.  I made the drive in order to cheer for the team, but I also was going to drive a few more hours north to visit my grandparents. 

While we were at Footlocker Nationals we were able to attend a conference with guest speakers that just happened to be some of my favorite runners including Suzy Favor Hamilton, Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky.  It was a great seminar and they were so inspirational they almost convinced me to run in the open division, almost.  They too were from Wisconsin like myself, but unlike me they were fast!

Fastforward tow plus years and everybody, even Nike is on alert to see Galen Rupp go after the men's 10,000 meter American record at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational yesterday.  The race starts just as planned, but then some "cheesehead" decides it's his time to shine and the sweetest thing happens!! 

The American record falls...BIG TIME, but it's not by Galen Rupp. 

Things I Love About the TRI...

1. The black numbers on my skin letting me know today, I am a competitor

2. The Big A$$ gatorade bottle at the transition zone!!

3. Knowing I am most competitive with my old man in the water (GO TURTLES!! YAY)

4. The way the sun looks above the water in the early a.m. from the shore

5. The tightness in my stomach pre-race that lets me know I am gonna push hard today

6. The big huge transition, start and finish inflatables

7. The awesome volunteers

8. The calmness I feel when it's me and the water

9. The lactate building up in my legs on the bike, knowing I have to run yet

10. Washing my feet in the bucket to get all the sand off after I get done with the swim