Work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger

Let me tell you something, all of my life people have said to me, "You're too small, Pre. You're not fast enough, Pre. Give up your foolish dreams, Steve!" But you know what, they forgot something: I have to win. There's no fallback here, no great stride, no long legs--nothing!

Sunday my alarm went off at 4:30am. When I heard my alarm go off I thought to myself…this really is stupid. Who in their right mind gets up at 4:30am to put their body through hell? Me.

Yesterday, I felt like Prefontaine. No, I did not win the race or place in the race. Shoot, I didn’t even beat my 55 year old dad. Yea, yea my dad beat me…go ahead laugh it up. Let’s see you guys get out there and run 13 miles with him. He’s a fast little man, I’m sure he’ll beat you too! Anyway, I felt like Prefontaine because Pre was a cool man and Sunday around 9:00am I felt cool. I felt pretty stinkin’ cool, actually.
Right now, I’d like to point out some cool moments about the race and then some of my random moments.

Cool Moment #1
When everyone lined up at the starting line it was raining. Most people would say this wasn’t a cool thing, but I beg to differ. I ran my first mile and half wearing a trash bag. I, along with 16,000 other people looked like a California Raisin trotting through downtown OKC. The cool factor came into play when I tore off the trash bag and threw it on the ground. I felt like Superman.

Random Moment #1
After the Superman reenactment the race was pretty basic. I ran and rocked out with Little Shuffle. I must say, Little Shuffle did fantastic job on his first ½ marathon. I think I’m going to keep him. He proved that he can pump out great music when I need him. For instance, at mile 11 I was tired and he brought to the table- Rihanna, Kanye West, KT Tunstall and a little MC Hammer!

Cool Moment #2
Around mile 4 I randomly saw Guy #3 run past me. At races I usually don’t notice other runners around me, because I’m in the zone. However, it’s hard not to notice a guy when he totally cuts you off. After I comprehended that the idiot that cut me off and Guy #3 were one in the same, I was suddenly energized to continue running.
Also, a few miles later Guy #3 ran up behind me…which means for a small amount of time I was beating Guy #3! I know, I was excited too! However, this small amount of time was quickly gone when he zoomed past me.

Random Moment #2
At mile 8 I realized I’d wasted over an hour looking down at the ground instead of looking at all the good looking guys running past me. Girls, races are a great place to pick up guys. I mean, I didn’t because I looked like death, but if you are a girl that’s pretty when she runs…you should consider running races.

Cool Moment #3
This moment actually takes the cake of all the cool moments. Well I don’t know if it beats finishing, but it’s pretty dang close. At mile 10 I had two cheerleaders waiting for me! Sister #1 and Sista’ #1 (Tonya) screamed and clapped as I ran past them! Saturday night Sister #1 told me where they would be standing. The whole race I kept looking at street signs to see if I was getting close to them. So when I realized I was there I was so excited I almost wet myself. Of course, I didn’t because Sister #1 said I was not allowed to pee on myself. The hardcore runners pee on themselves instead of stopping to go. No, I’m serious. Anyway, two of my favorite people stood in the freezing cold to cheer me on as I finished the remanding three miles. A-mazing!!!

Random Moment #3
Realizing that if I ever make a will Sister #1 and Sista’#1 are going to be left something! It might just be my running shoes, but hey, they can dip them in gold and put it on their mantle. Yea, I realize it’s weird to think about death and wills while running but it really did go through my head.

Cool Moment #4
There was a lady standing on the side walk with a sign that said “2.25 left” and at that exact moment Little Shuffle threw Kayne West “Stronger” at me. I picked up my pace and started passing people. I knew I was almost done.

Cool Moment #5
When I turned the corner and saw all the people waiting for me to finish. Ok, fine they weren’t all there for me, but you wouldn’t know that by all the cheers I heard.

Cool Moment #6
I turned off Little Shuffle so I could hear all the cheers from the crowd. I knew the finish line was less than 100 hundred yards away and I was going to finish the race.

Cool Moment #7
Running through the finish line!

I’m ran the race in 2:19. My goal was 2:15. But after the Week from Hell and breaking in brand new shoes during a ½ marathon…I think I did a pretty fine job.