SBL2.0: The Running of the Balls

Or, that time I took a picture with a giant testicle.

 Dear readers, if you ever want to feel terrible about yourself, I recommend reading running blogs. These are not things that I usually read, but in the course of my googling to learn more about the course of the Staten Island Half, I found some blogs that wrote about the course. And while I got a little more info about how many hills to expect, the main thing I found myself feeling was bad about myself. Because there's nothing like someone writing about how they didn't get to train because their Crohn's Disease was acting up, so they only had a seven minute mile pace instead of a six minute mile case. Seriously, just kill me now.

ALL OF THE SWEAT

 Well, dear readers, this will never that type of blog! Because here at Curly Hair With Glasses, we want everyone to feel good about themselves, no matter how slowly they run, or if they choose not to run at all!

These pictures are from a 10K I ran on Fathers Day, known (because it raises money for testicular cancer research) as the Running of the Balls. And yes, there was a mascot dressed as a testical. And yes, I took a picture with him. (Obviously.) And yes, it turns out that one of my former students knows him. It's a small world, folks.

The day was sunny but very hot, and we were at Roosevelt Island, which is flat but shadeless. As you can see in the picture above, I was extremely sweaty. I also ran my first 5k too fast (in a little under 29 minutes) and then tired out and took longer on the second 5k. But I finished in 59:57, which I felt really great about. Runners blogs be damned. We are all winners here!

My training is progressing slowly. I'm supposed to do one long run a week, so yesterday I did seven miles. It was one of those days where I felt like I was going to die with every step. But I didn't! Let's hear it for not passing out in Riverside Park! The idea of running almost double that is feeling pretty intimidating right now, but I still have time. And please leave encouragement! I can use all of the cheering I can get.

Me! I finished! Yay!

 One note about my t-shirt. You might notice that it says "Property of Ravenclaw Quidditch", and you might be thinking, What Rachel??? Not Gryffindor? To which I saw, I would clearly be in Ravenclaw, so I'm just being true to who I am, and also does anyone else feel like the Gryffindor people maybe got themselves into a little more trouble than was strictly necessary? RAVENCLAW FOREVER!!!

Time until the half marathon: two months and four days

What I'm wearing: Look Human Ravenclaw t-shirt, Kirkland yoga pants, Adidas sneakers (similar here)