Heartland 39.3 x 3

In 2012, a new race series started in Kansas City. It was called the Heartland 39.3 and consisted of three half marathons within six weeks. With that under your belt, you are automatically qualified for entry into Half Fanatics, a group for runners who love running half marathons.

Of course, I signed up. I ran all the races in 2012 (Rock the Parkway, Kansas Half, and Running with the Cows). I ran all the races in 2013 (RTP, Kansas, and RWTC). And, I signed up again for this year. This year, they switched the Kansas Half that used to run in Lawrence to the Garmin Half Marathon. I was actually excited for this because the Garmin runs in Olathe (aka, my town).

The first in the series was Rock the Parkway on April 15th. It was a humid and warm morning. And, we had not had any warm or humid mornings. In fact, race morning was the first day I'd worn my running skirt for this year. That's not really a good sign. I also had a cold. (This is a consistent ailment throughout this series, unfortunately.)

Catching up with Ashlee and Anne before the race. Sorry, Ashlee, Cory apparently didn't notice your eyes shut when he took the picture!

In the starting corral. I entertained myself and the girls by making funny faces and sticking out my tongue.

I decided to start out with the 1:50 pace group. My PR for a half marathon is 1:47:30. I, of course, never say that it's my goal to beat my PR, but of course, it's always an underlying goal. Luckily for me, I ended up with the same pacer who paced me in Running with the Cows last year (the race in which I ran my PR). I loved him as a pacer, so I was super excited to get him again. I told him that I wanted to get under 1:50, so he kept running with me through about mile 7, then told me to take off.

The girls found me on the course (purple tank, hat, black shorts)! I was running with the awesome pacer.

They gave me quite a boost.

I took off around mile 7 and ended up having a great negative split. But, the humidity and heat were too much for me. I was really struggling for the last mile (though I did manage to pull out a 7:50 for mile 13) and ended up with a time of 1:48:25. Even though I didn't beat my unspoken goal of my PR, I was happy with how I raced. I'd definitely pushed myself and hadn't left anything on the course. In those conditions, I was happy with my time. When I saw my pacer guy after the race, he asked how I felt at the end. I told him, "bad, really bad." And he replied, "Good. If you had said you felt good, you know you could've done more." True.

I actually like this race finishing photo! Doesn't happen often :)

And, crossing the finish line.

I found Anne after the race!

My cute little cheerleaders.

Top 10 reasons we love our Easter tradition

It's Monday night, and we're all still recovering from our annual Easter weekend extravaganza with the cousins Strand. It is always a blast, and this year was no different. Laura had a meeting on Friday morning, so they couldn't arrive on Thursday night like they usually do. But, we were all super excited for Laura, Chris and Penny to get here when they could. As an added bonus, Aunt Amber and Tom decided to come up from Texas for Easter, too. So, we had family all around. It was great. Molly told me before everyone arrived that she was sure Saturday was going to be the best day of her life because she got to see Penny, Aunt Amber and everyone!

Amber and Tom got to town first, so all the Laffertys came to our house for dinner on Friday night. We hung out and waited for the Strands to arrive. They got here around 7, then the girls kind of stared at each other for a while until they got used to each other again. It didn't take too long, then they were running around, playing and laughing.

Being in a new house, we actually had a guest room for Laura and Chris to stay in. Previous years, we've stuck them in the basement. (Sorry guys!) But, when we were making up the guest room, which had a twin bed and trundle, we realized the only sheets we had for the bed were Dora the Explorer sheets from Charlotte. Whoops. (Sorry again, guys!)

Saturday morning, we got up early and headed to the Easter Egg 5K. This year was gorgeous weather, and the girls were all excited to run the Lil Bunny Fun Run. Unfortunately, it was 1 hour after the start of the 5K, and Penny was terrified they were going to miss it, so she worried and bugged Laura about it the entire time Cory and I were running. Amber came and ran, too. She's becoming quite the runner down in Texas.

Amber, Cory and Me. You might notice a 1st place medal around my neck ...

Hanging with the Easter Bunny while we were running.

Look at my speedy girl!

Just about one of the best pictures ever.

Dashing like a Diva

I've been behind on blogging. Clearly. I'm trying to catch up.

For the past couple years, I've run in the Diva Dash 5K. It's a really fun, all-girls race close to our house. Think pink, pink and tutus, and you have a picture of what the race is all about. So, when my friend Jackie sent out a message seeing if anyone wanted to join a team, I immediately signed up.

Because it's a women's only race, and they have prize money, there are some fast runners. I had no hope of winning anything, but was just going to go out and see how fast I could go. I've been working on my speed a lot over the winter, so I was just curious.

They have a Lil' Princess Fun Run for the girls, too. My girls love receiving a tiara and medal as they cross the finish line, so they were all on board with running this race again this year. And, yes, Charlotte picked out my running outfit. When I laid the girls' clothes out the night before, she decided I also needed to wear my pink race shirt, black under shirt, black pants and tutu skirt. So, I made her happy.

Cory and the girls and I get to the race, and I'm about to get out of the car when I realize that I've forgotten my bib and timing chip at home. *facepalm*  Now, unfortunately, this is not the first time I have done this. I really think I need to start exercising my brain and memory muscles in addition to my quads and hamstrings. But, good husband that he was, Cory left me there to do a warm-up mile with Anne and Kelli and headed back to pick up my stuff. I felt like an idiot and was also very glad that I have a very nice husband.

Me, Anne, Kelli and Jackie before the race started. And, after Cory delivered my bib and timing chip.

We lined up in the starting corral and before I knew it, the race gun went off. Unfortunately, I did not have my music going. I quickly flipped my iPod onto the first thing I could get. That was a Freakanomics podcast. Hmmm, I love listening to those while I'm driving around town to preschool or gymnastics, and even when I'm doing a long run. But sprinting in a race? Nope. So, after about a half mile, I couldn't handle it anymore. I had to fumble with my iPod to find music. Thankfully, I found my running fast playlist. Ahhh, much better.

Because this race is fairly close to my house and is on roads that I've run on all the time, I knew the course. This is great. And, not so great. I knew where I was headed, but I also knew the giant hill that was waiting for me in mile 3. I hate that hill up 119th. I always have. Blech. But, after 2 miles of sprinting, I just had to power through. Head down, arms pumping, I made it up.

I had no idea where I was in terms of the overall race, but I thought I was doing ok. I was hoping to PR. So, when I saw a 22:something on the finish line clock, I was bummed. My PR was 21:57. Oh well, I'd run hard. It had had hills. I got a cool medal.

About to cross the finish line. Not my most attractive picture, but I like that both my feet are in the air.

With the girls after I finished.

I stuck around close to the finish line to find Cory and the girls, then what do you know, I see Anne crossing the finish line in record time. A new PR for her! WooHoo for her!

After we finished, we took a cute picture with the backdrop.

Racing through the cold

As you can tell, I've been behind on blogging.  I'm trying to play catch up. 


Racing season is typically in the spring and fall. These are generally the best temperatures and conditions for running, so that's when the majority of races take place. But, there are crazy people (ahem, like me) who like to run races in the winter. I tend to get a little bored without races, so I am willing to sign up for ones even in the middle of winter. My problem is that I am entirely too optimistic. I think, surely it won't be too cold, or too snowy, or too icy. Surely not.

Now, sometimes this optimism pans out. Sometimes not.


This winter, I ran five races. The first was the Route 66 Half Marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma in November. I've done this race multiple times, including the full back in 2010. But, now they sucker me in with an awesome Half Fanatic special medal. Me, Anne, Kelli and her husband, John, road-tripped together. It was also John and Kelli's wedding anniversary, so Anne and I were the third and fourth wheels.

Kelli and John toasting to their anniversary at lunch the day before the race.

Anne and I at the same lunch.

Luckily, the hotel we stayed in was super close to the starting line. So, we pretty much had to get out of bed and roll down to the start. This is the same hotel we stayed in last year when we had someone walk in our room at 2am. This time, I put on the bolt.

Posing inside the hotel.

Right after the above picture was taken, two guys wearing Marathon Maniacs shirts came up to us and asked us what our Half Fanatic numbers were. Anne and I were clueless and made some joke about how we should probably know that. Hahahaha. Well, then they said numbers were 1 and 2. They were the founders of the organization. We felt like complete idiots. But, oh my gosh, we laughed at ourselves.

Now, the problem for this race was that it was FREEZING. Like, absolutely, beyond a doubt cold. And, we had to get out early enough to take this picture with all the other Half Fanatics.

There are a ton of us.

We tried huddling in a tent with about 100 other people to keep warm from body heat. That didn't really do too much, though. My feet and hands were numb.

Everyone's hands were shaking so much that we couldn't get a clear picture.

The first 3 miles of the race, I couldn't feel my feet. Really. They felt like lead blocks. And, this was with wool socks on. I don't really remember too much of the race. We did run for a while by an Australian guy in a Superman costume. That was fun because we got some great cheers. We kept up a fairly good pace, I think because we were so cold that we just wanted to finish.

Kelli ran the full distance, but we couldn't wait around for her to finish. Pretty much as soon as we were done, we went back to the hotel. We tried to go to the Half Fanatic tent, but I couldn't move my fingers and the food wasn't as awesome as last year. When we got back to the hotel, I ran my fingers under scalding hot water for probably 5 minutes until I could feel them again.

Finally warm. And, yes, we look like we're in a ski lodge, not Oklahoma.

But, we got cool medals!

Fitting it all in on the 4th

I love the 4th of July. Like, really love it. I'm not sure why. It might be because it's warm, unlike the other big holidays (aka Thanksgiving and Christmas). Or, it might be because it's been the one holiday where Cory and I have had the same tradition for practically our entire dating and married life. Or, it's just that it is fun. It is a fun, fun holiday.

This year, we had plans to do the same traditions that we do every year (Freedom Run and parade), then we found out the exciting news that Aunt Amber and her boyfriend Tom were going to be in town. Wanting to spend as much time as possible with them over the holiday weekend, we decided to tack on a 4th of July BBQ party at our house that same evening.

On July 3rd, we were talking with Papa, who had signed up for the Freedom Run, but then was told by his doctor that he shouldn't run anymore. So, we were trying to convince Molly that she should "run" the race with Papa. She wasn't having it. In fact, when asked why she didn't want to run it, she simply stated that she had already run a 5K. Apparently, she's a one-and-done girl. With 5Ks. Hmmmm ... we may have to work on that one later.

Anyway, out of the blue, Charlotte says, "I want to run, Papa!" Now, Charlotte's 3. And, I didn't believe for a second that she would really actually do it. I mean, she's 3.

The morning of the 4th, we all wake up bright and early, and Charlotte puts on her running clothes. I'm still not convinced. With as many races as Cory and I do, this one is special because it's the first one that either of us ever ran. I usually run the 10K while Cory runs the 5K. I always try to race it pretty hard. Well, not the year I was pregnant. That one I took kinda easy. This year, I really wanted to do well. I've been training even harder and gotten even faster. I was almost a little nervous.

We get down to the race and pick up our packets. Charlotte is still convinced that she is going to run, so we go ahead and sign her up. I'm a little mad at myself because I didn't take pictures of the packet sign up or anything like I did with Molly. Again, I didn't actually think this was happening. We pinned her number on and then met up with Amber who was going to run the 5K.

Now, the parade is also in the morning of the 4th. It's usually quite hectic for us to finish the race, get home, shower and get back before the parade starts. And, we have a corner that is ours. I mean, really, they should just put a sign on it saying "Laffety and Friends Parade Viewing." I'm not sure why they don't. But, since they don't, we have to place our chairs there early enough to save our spots. So, in the midst of picking up our packets, getting a number for Charlotte and meeting up with Amber, we also had to carry a bunch of chairs from the back of the car and put them out on our corner. And, I had to pee.

It was a crazy hectic morning, especially when we saw chairs had already been put in our spot. How dare they! Turns out, it was our friend Chris, who had gotten there at 5:30am to put out chairs. I honestly didn't think he would've gotten up that early, so I was very upset at the imaginary person who had the audacity to put their chairs in our spot!

Needless, to say, it was crazy and by the time I made it through the porta-potty line and to the starting line, I didn't even have a chance to turn my Garmin on before the race started. Plus, my iPod has been acting funky lately. If anyone has any tips on how to get it to keep playing music after I clip it to my shirt or after it goes to black screen, please let me know! I ran the first 3 miles with my iPod in my hand.

The one picture I got before the race started.

Despite all that chaos, I actually ran a really good race. I was keeping a steady pace of 7:09 and feeling pretty darn good. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that the weather was amazing. Low 60s for a 4th of July race?!?! Unheard of! I started struggling a bit on the second loop (the 10K is essentially two loops of the 5K course), but my pace stayed below 7:15. On the second loop, I actually got to see Charlotte and my dad twice on the course. They were walking, but looked really good. When I came up behind Charlotte and said hi, she tried to run with me. I had to tell her to stay with Papa.

I had a goal of 48:00 for my race. When I looked down at my Garmin with a mile left, I knew I had that in the bag with time to spare. When a girl passed me around mile 5, I didn't push too hard to try to pass her back. This would later come back to bite me in the butt. I almost puked coming up the last big hill, but turned the corner to the finish line and felt awesome. I knew I was going to be way under my goal. I kept going, but didn't push too hard. I waved at my family when I saw them cheering.

I crossed the finish line feeling pretty awesome with a time of 44:47. A PR by a minute and a half. (Previous PR was 7.5 years ago.) I was way under my goal, and I knew for sure I'd medal. They give medals for the top 5 places in each age division. I went to the timing table to get my official time before making my way to my family. There, I learned the cold, hard facts. I was in fact 6th place in my age group. 6th. And, they give medals for the top 5. Blech! And, the worst part? I was only 5 seconds away from the 5th place girl. 5 seconds?!?! Remember how I was going to kick myself for not trying to pass that girl? Or, taking time to wave? Plus, I found out that I was the 10th female finisher overall, but 6th in my age group. That meant that 6 of the top 10 finishers were in my age group. Talk about stiff competition. Geez. Not that I'm still obsessing on it or anything 4 days later ...

Molly had fun hanging out with Tom while we all ran.

While I was pouting over my 6th place finish. Yes, I admit I was pouting. We waited for Charlotte and Papa to finish. I had passed them for the second time right before I got to the 5 mile marker, so I knew they were on their way. When they finally turned the corner, you should've heard the cheers that erupted from our section. Eventually, even the people around us got in on the action. I'm getting a little teary-eyed just thinking about it. It almost made me forget about my 6th place finish.

My dad said Charlotte ran for almost 3/4 of the first mile, then ran the last .1 mile to the finish line. She walked the rest of the time, but never asked to be picked up or carried. She finished in 1:02:19. My 3-year-old. I was so proud.

All the runners. Amber did awesome and PR'd in her 5K. Cory had a goal of a 21:00 5K. He clocked in at 21:05 and placed 7th in his age group. We're both kicking ourselves for those darn 5 seconds. And, yes, Charlotte does have a mouth full of muffin. Running a 5K makes a girl hungry.

Taking time to take pictures

Two weeks ago, the big finale to the spring racing season finally dawned. It was Hospital Hill time.

Because I was an official Hospital Hill blogger, I got the opportunity to attend a reception down at Milano at Crown Center on the Thursday before the race. Now, even though I was a blogger, I didn't know many other people involved in Hospital Hill. I mean, I sit behind my computer and type, type, type away. I don't actually interact all that much with other people. So, I made Cory go with me so I wouldn't feel like an idiot standing by myself. Cory was excited because it promised free food and drinks.

Because we were driving all the way down there, it only made sense to pick up my packet while we were there. We walk over to the expo, and what should I see?

Yup, that's me underneath a picture of me. I'm a dork and took a picture with it.

I picked up my packet, then headed over to the reception. We sat at a table and chatted with another of the bloggers and enjoyed the wine and delicious Italian food. We even talked with one of the previous winners of Hospital Hill half marathon. He won in the early 80s with a winning time of 1:03-something. When I joked that I was way behind him in the crowd of people, he said, "Oh, I'm not anything like that now. I'm more like 1:25 or so." Oh, ok, that's much closer than me. (Please take note of the sarcasm.)

Posing outside Milano.

Race Day

The morning of race day, I rode down to the race with Sarah, her brother and her brother's friend. Now, usually, Sarah is perfectly content to show up to races 45 seconds before the race starts, but because she was riding with me, she kindly agreed to try to show up earlier. Cory usually comes to all my races, but couldn't come to this one because he was playing something for Corporate Challenge. (I think he's participated in approximately 4,768 events for Corporate Challenge. Not that I'm annoyed by it or anything.)

After all the races of this spring season, I had no desire to really race Hospital Hill. Sarah, however, did have a desire to beat her brother. Nothing like a little friendly sibling rivalry. We met up with Anne, Kelli and Marsha at the starting line. The race changed how the starting corrals were set up this year, so we couldn't figure out how to get into our designated corral. We all had to climb through a fence and still ended up in corral F instead of D or C. Oh well, I didn't want to race it, remember?

With Sarah, Kelli, Marsha and Anne squeezed into starting corral F.

Sprint to Six

For the last couple years, I've been sure that it has been the last year for us to have a big backyard bash for Molly's birthday. Each year, I'm sure that the next year will involve gender-specific theme and invite list or going to a place for the party.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, and I'm sure it will happen eventually. But I LOVE planning a big party at our house. And, each year that we can have a backyard party at our house, I'm one happy mama.

So, this year, with Molly being in kindergarten, I was sure we would be done with my kind of parties. When we started talking about her party, Molly was sure she wanted a sleepover party. Well, I nixed that idea. As much I love big outdoor parties, I also love sleep. And, I was not ready to give that up, yet.

Her next idea was a tea party with her friends and all their dolls. I was ok with this. I had been preparing myself for it. So, I told her that a tea party would be fine and fun, but that boys probably wouldn't want to come to her tea party. That made her pause. "Well, maybe they could play outside while we have the tea party?" she said. Um, yeah, no. I explained to her that that was not going to work.

Then, we started brainstorming on party ideas that were gender-neutral, because she still wanted to have her big backyard birthday party. Yay for me! 

Then, the theme came to me. A race party. Molly loves running in the kids races at all my races, plus she just completed her first 5K. Oh yeah, we could do a lot with this. So long as the weather held up ...

We started with the invited and the name of the race, which was "Sprint to Six" because, well, obviously, Molly's turning 6. Awfully convenient with that alliteration.

Next up, we had to have Packet Pick-Up. You can't have a race without race packets. In the packets, we had race t-shirts (oh yes, we did) and special race bibs that had "Sprint to Six" on the top and "Happy Birthday to Molly!" on the bottom. I could only order in quantities of 100, so if anyone else is having a Sprint to Six party for a girl named Molly, I've got about 75 bibs for you. The only way I could convince Cory that we should do shirts was by showing him my design for the sponsors on the back of the shirt:

Yes, those are all of Cory's companies, clubs and web sites. I threw my blog in there just for me. Now, a bunch of kids can run around advertising for Cory's companies. And, that is how there came to be t-shirts in the packets.

Anne kindly volunteered to be helper extraordinaire for the party. She worked packet pick-up like a pro.

Kiran picking up his packet.

The Taylor kids getting theirs. 

After packet pick-up, we had a sign making station (what's a race without awesome signs to cheer you on?) and a face-painting station and hair spraying area. The kids were big fans of all of these.

Aunt Sarah painting on Molly's hair as Charlotte watched.

Charlotte had her hair sprayed blue, and Jake made a rocket ship sign.

Spraying Alana's hair.

Riley and Molly super proud of their "I rock" signs.

Cow confidence

With Hospital Hill less than 2 weeks away, I've had an epiphany. Here goes: I can do it. I can do what I set my mind to. This might seem like a "duh" statement, especially considering I am 32 years old and should have learned that long ago. But, I've never been one to have a whole lot of confidence in myself. At least insofar as reaching out of my comfort zone. But, last week, well, I discovered that maybe I should have that confidence in myself.

Last week I ran in the Running with the Cows race. It was the last of the three half marathons in the Heartland 39.3 series. I ran it last year, and really loved it. It is a smaller race and run in the country. You literally run right along fields on an out-and-back course. And, yes, cows are hanging out right beside you chomping on their grass as you run by.

Now, even though I loved it, the thing that actually made me fill out the registration form and do it again this year was this:

How cute is that medal? Yes, as we all know, I'm a medal-aholic, and this one got me. Adorable.

With Kelli and Anne before the race. Ready to earn those cute medals.

Anyway, I hadn't truly been planning to "race" this race, but ... well, the PR that I set at Rock the Parkway was 1:50:13. I mean, 13 seconds. Really? So close to getting that under 1:50 time. So, it wasn't at the forefront of my mind, but there was maybe a hint of a thought that maybe I could maybe try to maybe beat that.

Did you catch how many maybes were in there? Yeah, that wasn't just bad writing. I was so unsure of my ability. I truly didn't know if I could do it. It's like I was scared to even put it out there as a goal because I didn't think there was any way I could hit it.

In Rock the Parkway, I started with the 1:55 pacers, then moved ahead after a couple miles. At Running with the Cows, I truly hadn't thought about it. Then, Kelli said she was thinking of starting with the 1:50 pacers. I was pretty nervous, but I decided, "What the heck? Let's do it."

Lining up with Kelli and Bill behind the 1:50 pacers.

I figured, if I was struggling, I could always slow up. But, I was left with some in the tank at Rock the Parkway, and it was pretty beautiful weather, so maybe there was a chance. And, there's that maybe again.

I started off pretty strong and felt pretty good. It was a true out-and-back course, so 6.55 miles out, then turn around, and 6.55 miles back. It really was scenic (as long as we're counting rolling green hills and pastures as scenic) along the course, and I chatted with Kelli for a while. I tend to people-watch as I'm racing. I check out outfits and watch other people's running strides. Yeah, that's my head while I'm running. Just so you know. Super exciting stuff going on in there.

After a while, one of the 1:50 pacers moved a little ahead, so I ran up to join him. I'm going to call him George, because I cannot remember his name, and I feel really bad about that. So, we're going to go with George, ok? Cause he was awesome, and he deserves a name, even if it's not his real one. I started talking to George and told him my goal of breaking 1:50. We were about at mile 5, and George said that I seemed to be doing absolutely fine, and he was confident I could do it. I began to think that maybe I could.

We hit the turnaround point, and the wind that had recently started picking up, was suddenly at our back. While it was great at helping push us along, it also made it very hot. For some reason, running in the sun with the wind doesn't cool you down. I'm sure there's something very scientific behind that, but I just call it weird running phenomenon. Another weird running phenomenon? Not noticing downhills until you have turned around and are heading back up them.

Anyway, I kept chatting with George, and I got to say hi to all of my friends as we crossed paths. That is one thing I love about out-and-backs. George and I started talking to another guy runner. His goal was under 1:48. He was asking George when he should start picking up the pace in order to hit it. So, George and this other guy started figuring at which mile he would have to start shaving seconds off. All I heard was 20, 7, 9, 15, long division, 10, 11, 5, algebra ...

Seriously, I have no idea how people do math while they run. My mind could not even start to fathom trying to calculate the amount of seconds needed to shave off each mile starting at what mile. I think I went cross-eyed even thinking about it. And, I told them this. But, they figured it out, and this guy took off.

Around mile 7, George told me that he was running a little fast for his pace group, so he was going to slow down. "Ok," I said, slowing my pace as well. At this point, George said, "You need to go ahead. You're talking and doing fine at mile 7. You need to go. Really. Go."

While I was enjoying having someone to talk to, I did listen to his urging. And, I listened to my body. I was fine. I felt good. Maybe I just needed someone else to tell me that I could do it. So, I turned it on. And, I spent the next 6 miles cruisin. I passed the 1:48-guy who had left George and me earlier. In fact, I just kept passing people. There was a chance this could happen.

Headed to the last .1 miles.

Waving to Cory and the girls.

Here we go, literally running right next to a cow.

And, there it is. I didn't just squeak by under 1:50, I beat it by 2 minutes , 30 seconds.

I started the day not even thinking I could do it, but I did. I did it. I felt great doing it. That smile was true and honest. I was so happy. Apparently, what I was lacking all along was simply the confidence to go for it. It took George almost quite literally kicking me down the road before I pushed away those maybes and actually believed that I could meet my secret goal.

Oh, yeah, and the wind at my back.

After Anne and I finished. She PR'd, too!

With our medals and our belt buckles from the Heartland 39.3 series.

Molly with a cow.

After we all finished, we headed inside for the amazing spread of food. I ate. The girls ate. Then, we headed back to our car. But, before we could really leave, we had to stop to see the real cow:

Charlotte and I making the cow sign we learned at music class.

I did it. Posing with my medal and belt buckle and acres and acres of green grass. Another weird running phenomenon? The overwhelming compulsion to pose with every medal I've ever earned. Or ... maybe that's just a weird Amy phenomenon.

So, maybe this lesson will sink in. Maybe I'll have the confidence to believe in myself and push myself farther than I thought I could go. Maybe, this will change my whole attitude about myself as a runner. Maybe, maybe, maybe ... Whoops. There I go again. Maybe I'll just be proud of this race, go into Hospital Hill strong and excited, and just keep smiling. That, I know I can do.