863rd place, baby!!!

But, come on, there WERE 8000 runners!

Today was the big day and, although, I was a little bit nervous beforehand, I was surprisingly calm.
I started off the day with a little warm up jog:



The number on my shirt here was NOT my predicted place at the finish line:


I told Sebastian that he could find me in the crowd by looking for my pink bandana...Can you find me?


This is the starting line. I wasn't at the front. I think that was reserved for the Kenyans and the olympic hopefuls. I guess I didn't make the cut.



And they're off!


Can you find the pink bandana again?


This picture is taken around 3 or 4 kilometers into the run. At this point I was still feeling very positive.


This picture is taken around the 20th kilometer. Trying to remain positive, but slightly more tired than in the previous picture.


But I continued that last 1.5 kilometers and FINISHED!!! With VERY tired legs.


There were LOTS of crazy fans after I finished who wanted my autograph. This is one of them:


I finally escaped the fans and got my certificate! I finished in 2hrs and 38min and came in 170th in my division (Women 25-35) and 863rd of about 4000! AND I got a sweet metal.


In the end, they decided not to award prizes for the fastest, but instead to the best looking. I was awarded first AND second place! And instead of a cash prize, I was awarded a bratwurst! I was a HAPPY RUNNER!


Thank you all for all your support over the past couple of months. I am so happy I finally did it and I have decided that I will probably just run a 10k next time.

Thank you, Sebastian, my mad fan for taking all the great pictures!

I haven't quit!

Despite what you might think from the inconsistencies of our blog...we are still going! Holy cow. Only three more weeks for me. I am freaking out! I have been really bad about running this past week, because there were so many things going on...Grades at school, insane terrential rain, and most importantly: My birthday! So, I have been a bit distracted. But, now I am back on the path to success. That is, until I leave for London on Saturday and have to go to a workshop the whole week. That cramps my plans a bit.
Anna, what about youuuuuuuu? How is it going? I am gonna call you right now :)

anna's pictures!!

well, i finally figured out how to put pictures on our blog, but i can't seem to figure out how to write on the same post! regardless, here are some pics of my road to love (like) running!!

(they acutally start down at the bottom..)

my gym bag! recognize it kate and sebastian?! its PERFECT for my gym stuff and i love it!

my gym.. anytime fitness! normally i would try to get at least one picture of me, but im usually the ONLY person in the gym! i love it like that so people can't hear me wheezing on the treadmill though :)

my WONDERFUL new shoes!!! i still love them so much! they are awesome -- kate how are yours??

and my life saving contraption i made up -- literally strapping my dvd player to my treadmill so i can withstand running for over an hour! i dont know what i'd do without it.. haha.. im watching GLEE now and its SO cute!! do you watch it kate? you really should! its awesome..

so there you have it!!!

today is 97 degrees STILL. im wanting it to cool off sooooo bad!!! jay told me today i should try to start running outside so i am used to it, but i literally cannot in this heat.. im worried about what im gonna do, as i haven't passed about five and a half miles inside now.. its so hard on a treadmill to maintain a good pace, you know what i mean kate?

anyways, im OFF to my lovely gym. i love you all and i promise ill post again soon! now that i got my pictures up.. muah!

Kate: 6.5 miles and Sarah's baby shower!

Well, unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to add for today, but just a little news that I successfully finished 6.5 miles today AND I managed to organize Sarah's baby shower! About 30 or so women came over today and showered Sarah with gifts for her baby. There was lots of good food and cake, so I definitely compensated for all the burned calories from the morning!
How's it all going, Anna???

Kate: Day 27 and a successful relay race behind me!

I still need to go for my run today (because I am not creative enough to think about what to do for "cardio" which is what is called for today), but, because Sebastian got a part time job at Jaques Wine Depot (Our favorite wine store EVER!!!!) and is gone right now, I am taking advantage of the quiet time to write.
Last Thursday some colleagues and I signed up for the Dresden Relay Challenge where 4 members on a team must run 3 km each...totaling 12 km. I was on a team with girls and we all ran it in about 16 minutes and took 10th place. (Out of about 15 teams...) :)
Here are some pictures!
Before the race:



My team:



Starting the race:



While I was gone, Sebastian made a new friend:



At the end about to hand off the baton:



After the race:



So far, so good! The weather here has dropped significantly. It's so chilly that you have to wear long sleeves outside already! What about for you, Anna? Any such luck?

Today Sebastian and I have been invited out to Sarah's birthday celebration at a nearby castle in Meissen! How fancy! So I need to go now to go for my run and then pick out which fancy gloves I will wear for the occasion. Love you all!!!!

Anna : still sweating in KY!

OMG, so sorry for my absence from blogland -- especially to my fellow gym shorted chum! ive been working like crazy in order to take some days off this week -- MY BIRTH WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!! -- so now i finally have a break.

i love your post kate! cool pics.. i wish i had someone to take a pic of me but i'm afraid the treadmill doesn't make for such good scenery.

ok a couple things:
1. i LOVE my new shoes!!! i will try to figure out how to post a pic on this entry! they are super comfy and i didn't realize until i got them how bad my last pair were for actually running -- thanks for the wonderful birthday present dad and mom!!!

2. i had a mild breakdown, because sunday (5 MILES!!!!) i worked from 7am to 11pm. no typos. thats acutally right. YUCK! so my run was out of the question. which im really stressing about!! KATE, what would you have suggested? today (monday) i went about 3 and a half, then after i was home realized i maybe should have gone the 5? i think i was just scared to! its getting so hard on a freaking machine .. i might try to venture out tomorrow in the heat just to see if its really as bad as it seems.

3. my ipod had a major breakdown!!! :( you may be asking why i need one if i am watching tv -- well of course, i listen to music on the commercials.. could i get any more pathetic?!? hahah.. so i need to figure out how to fix it STAT, especially if im going to venture outside soon..

jay's mom keeps saying "you're losing!" which she always says when she thinks i've lost weight -- HAHA what a good cheerleader. but who knows. all i know is my birthday is wednesday and im going to eat as MUCH red velvet cake as possible!!!

i love you all and kate, please give me some words of encouragement telling me that 5 miles is easy outside?!?!