This Weekend: Finished Law School, Finished a Marathon :)

Wow! This was an incredible weekend in the life of Cody.  I finished law school and PRed a marathon :).

I have spent the last few weeks preparing for my final finals...ever.  I have been a student for my entire life (as I know it)--and am happy to report that I am finally finished with my long career as a student :).  It is a much different feeling this go around, than the times past when I finished up with school.

I remember "graduating elementary school" and thinking that I was growing up--we even had to sing "the time of your life" to our parents, a little dramatic for elementary school but it worked!  And then graduating high school, I remember not wanting to go to college, I loved my friends, life and living at home.  I remember talking to my best friends saying how we wished that there was a 13th year.  And then college graduation came around--and boy was I NOT ready to leave college (so since I graduated early I stayed around for the semester that I should have still been in school and worked/played)!  I could have stayed in college for a few victory laps, and to this day when I go back to Clemson, there is still a part of me that longs for those college care free days!

Sorority Senior Walk 

*my other pictures won't upload :(

But this go around, aka my final go around, is completely different--I am ready to be done with school once and for all :).  It's not that I didn't enjoy law school and all the friends that I made along the way--it's just that I'm ready to enter into the "real" world and actually know how it is like to have a "big person job."  I have seen most of my friends finish with college, and even some with grad school, and enter into the work force--and I can't help but feel jealous of them for being independent and self-reliant. So, I am happy to report that at the end of my law school career/long educational career--I am looking ahead to the future and not wanting to look back (no Ph.D. or Master degree for this girl)!!

Also, I ran the Kiawah Marathon on Saturday (finished law school Friday afternoon--ran marathon Saturday morning: my life was a tad insane this weekend).  It was a great race and I felt great the entire time!  I started out the first half (13 miles) with my dad and Mimi.  I wanted to make sure that I had enough "gas" as my dad likes to call it for the end of the race--so I didn't bonk!  We started off at around a 10 minute pace (slow and steady wins the race).  When I cut off from them I was aiming at between a 9:00 and 9:30 pace.

Dad, me and Mimi before the race

Originally, I wanted to do the race in 4 hours--but since I have been studying and school took up my life, I stopped focusing on running and decided that I just wanted to finish the race with a smile on my face and didn't care about the time.  On Saturday morning, my dad said that they wanted to finish the race in 4:20--I then decided that since my last time was 4:17 I wanted to beat that time and we planned that I would stick with them for the first half and if I felt good that I would kick it up.  So, I kicked it up a notch--and when I was around mile 15 decided that I wanted to do it in under 4:15--which then at mile 19, that goal became 4:10. Basically, this was a plan as you go marathon--and I finished in my final goal of 4:10 with a smile on my face!

Drew's picture of me running--

no one said that running was attractive 

Looking back at the race, I wish that I had planned out what I wanted to do before the race started.  I was so consumed with school work that I lost sight of what I wanted to achieve in my running.  I am still proud of my time, especially with the amount that I was able to take off my time from my last marathon.  But part of me wishes that I would have had a goal and went for that goal.  I finished the marathon sprinting towards the finish (last mile was 8:10) and I wish that I had left all I had out on the course.  However, this isn't my last rodeo and I will always have another shot at my sub 4 hour original goal :).  Overall, it was an amazing race and gives me excitement for my next race--whenever that will be!

I don't mean for this to sound like I am boosting about myself--I am just really proud of myself for finishing two very challenging things.  I think that it is alright to be proud of yourself every once and awhile--and these two things are that for me :)  Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday--off to read some of my book before hitting the books for studying for the Bar :/

Reading the Happiness Project 

(since it has been popping up everywhere--decided to jump on the band wagon :)