Thanks, Matt Part II

Just over two years ago, I wrote a blog post called, "Thanks, Matt."  To this day, it has been one of my favorite blog posts I've ever written.  I wrote about how being around Matt made me like pizza, Pepsi, Reeses and running more.  (I know, that's such a strange combination....haha)

Since then, some new things have happened & Matt deserves a "thanks" for them as well:

• Matt was at Ferrum when I wrote that post.  Now, he's at Longwood.  While I do enjoy the fact that he is at Longwood too, I never made him come, like some people like to argue with us about..  Matt wanted to be a PE teacher (and I did too, at the time), so why wouldn't he want to go to the school with the best Physical & Health Education Teacher Education program? Yeah, I don't get that either [note my sarcasm].
  Thanks, Matt.
• Oh, you know, just that amazing ring I've been wearing on my left hand for over 7 months now :)
  Thanks, Matt.
• Since Matt lives in a Longwood apartment, he can cook. And let me tell you, he can cook. Thank the Lord for that because we all know I can't! (this is coming from the girl who misread the directions on the macaroni box....twice) Anyway, we've --and I say "we" because I've been known to pour a box or two of pasta into boiling water-- made dinner many times at his apartment this year, and I've really enjoyed it.
  Thanks, Matt.
• And finally, most recently, Matt has supported me with, let's just say, my work-out endeavors. haha.  If you know me, you know I HATE to run.  I hate it. No offense to track athletes (Matt), but it's boring. However, I enjoy running in races, such as the 10K. Yeah, don't worry, I don't get it either...
  Thanks, Matt.
  
  This past Saturday was the Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond. Of course, I had been signed up.  As a last minute decision around 6pm Friday night, Matt would be running with me. And thank goodness he did, or I might not have made it.

About half a mile in, I started getting a shooting pain on the inside of my right leg every time I took a step. I thought, "great. There's no possible way I will even make it to the end now." I complained...and complained...and complained some more. I know I must've annoyed Matt, but he kept me going.  We made it to Mile 1, and we slapped each others hands--probably because if we fist bumped I would've ended up punching his arm.  Kept on running to Mile 2--slapped hands again. 

In between Miles 2 and 3, I just knew I was going to have to stop.  Matt said, "no, you'll be fine. Just get to Mile 3 so you'll have run half of it."  My thoughts? "Oh heck no, I might die before we get there!"  Well, I don't know what happened, because we got to Mile 3 and we didn't stop.  Uhh...okay? The pain in my leg got a little bit better so I thought, "ok, why not keep going?"  We didn't go much further until we got to a water stop, so we grabbed a couple cups and walked [quickly] while we drank.

 

We stopped at I think 2 more water stops (at Miles 4 & 5) but in between 5 & 6 I HAD to stop. I jokingly said to Matt, "I think you'll have to carry me across the finish line!" I just knew my leg was going to fall off before we got to the end.

I will NEVER forget when we made it to Mile 6. Oh, my goodness. Matt started speeding up and I kept saying, "NO! I can-NOT go any faster than this!" and I threw out a couple "I am so going to hurt you after this!!"  I'm convinced that for the last .2 miles, my legs were straight jello. I felt like I would fall over any minute now.

Crossing that finish line was basically the happiest moment ever. My leg was still hurting so bad and I was just glad we finally got there.  I didn't do as good as I wanted to with my time, but I suppose I'll be satisfied with the time we did get. 

We crossed the finish line holding hands and our hands thrown up in the air.

While I look really happy in this picture....

....I certainly did not feel as enthusiastic.

So, with our 9:02am start time, we began the first race we've ever run together.

Only the first of all the rest we'll go through together.

And Matt's already said he'll run with me again next year:

Thanks, Matt.