#i know ive definitely posted her a bunch before but that was a hot minute ago

[bmpmp3]

another old oc, she's a tooth fairy!!

[hatercube]

oh, we're talking about sunny's mom???? GOOD CUZ IVE BEEN WAITING FOR A HOT MINUTE.

i made a post a while ago about her, but to put it bluntly: i don't hate sunny's mom. i think i might? love her? maybe because she reminds me of my own mom, which is definitely a projection giving that she just isn't in the game like. at all. BUT LET ME EXPLAIN.

i've seen some people interpret her character as someone who doesn't care about sunny, and i just don't see how this is plausible at all when looking at the text.

i, once again, want to focus on the theme of forgiveness and what sunny's mother represents within the narrative. i've talked about this before, but i'm gonna recap. essentially, sunny's mother and father represent opposing scales of forgiveness. his father is ultimate rejection while his mother is ultimate acceptance. bringing it to another level, his father is completely absent from his life while his mother is overactive and smothering.

they even have scenes that are meant to parallel each other. when his father is chopping down the tree with the line, "Stay away... You are not my son." compared to the scene with sunny's mother in the living room while we are in pursuit of the truth where she has the line, "My only daughter... is gone. And you... You are my only son. I can't... lose you as well."

(very clear, intentional contrast between the two.)

though sunny's mother isn't physically present at almost all points of the game, her presence is definitely felt with her daily voicemails and encouraging/reminding sticky notes that can be found scattered around the house.

these aren't the words or actions of a parent who doesn't care about their child. i don't think she's perfect by any stretch, overactive parenting can be very bad, and in sunny's case, it's allowed him to continue his passive hikikomori lifestyle and isolate himself which is OBJECTIVELY BAD.

but she represents unconditional forgiveness and love. to lose a child is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. true parental love goes unmatched. one k*lled the other and she still has her arms open in forgiveness. that's how much she loves sunny, and that's how much she loves mari.

when i think of sunny's mother, i don't see a neglectful parent, but one who is desperately clinging onto the last bit of her family after it was torn from her. i see her wandering alone around her house, picking up the pieces of herself and her son. i see her packing up her dead daughter's clothes and pictures and toys, alone. i don't think she knows what to do with herself OR sunny. (that's why her taking the initiative and moving the both of them away after four years of stagnation is a big character moment for her.)

i think i just really, really, really, really, really pity her. our entire cast is a bunch of people coping with the loss of mari, and sunny's mother is definitely no exception. she and sunny's father are the people who lost the most. that's why, internally, i get a bit defensive when i see people ragging on sunny's mother, because i feel like a lot of y'all forget that she's a victim, too. hero, kel, basil, and aubrey's loss will NEVER amount to hers. not even close.

so yeah, i love her! would die for her, will protect her at all costs, i think she's highly flawed, but also? aren't most of these characters? i don't want anyone to think this is me justifying some of what she's done or dismantling criticism, but i do think that the way some people talk about her is lacking in perspective and also completely ignores her place in the narrative.

[pinksweatergettingbetter]

what the... fuck?

yet again we start off with a cutscene that looks like its from a completely different game... or low quality anime

-

...why are we starting off in court

-

“who brings a defendant to his own trial late”

why... is this sentence not processing 

for the life of me i have no idea what that means;

-

simon: you can just SCARE the judge into not giving a fuck about shit like being late, or threatening people under the guise of clever psychological manipulation!

also hi again simon

are you ready to be fun and likeable and not awful ?? I'm excited!

-

“i wish he'd stop treating me like a child all the time”

hey, old habits die hard.

-

simons already doing well by being an overprotective dork... so far so good. dont disappoint me, samurai.

-

our defendant is drunk

we’re off to an excellent start!

-

what... accent is this...

oh its drunkinese ok 

-

“three sheets to the wind”

ive never heard that one

maybe they can get away with having a drunk guy but they cant actually say drunk?

-

somebody get this guy some raw eggs and hotsauce??

wow hes drunk enough to be close to vomiting? he’s not acting hungover so I'm assuming that he’s been drinking up till now. and simon was last with him, so...

yeah I'm blaming simon for this

-

“ive known athena longer than ive known bucky”

“ive frequented his soba restaurant”

contradiction! simon was in jail up until very recently, and knew Athena for a very short period of time during her childhood. unless he met Bucky right after taking care of athena, it’s not possible that he’s known her longer. that or i guess he could just walk right out of jail to get noodles.

-

“meat slapped between slabs of bread...”

oh no ya dont, translation team. you made your burger bed, now you have to lie in it. no mocking the joke now.

-

quit being so tsundere simon. and yes I'm giving you the luxury of being tsundere and not just an asshole who’d prefer the company of men he once tried to cut to ribbons just because Athena’s a girl. because I'm in a good mood today!

-

a) scariest ringtone to date

b) he runs that place alone?? sucks to be buck

-

please stop doing the vomit animation its making me uncomfortable 

-

“this is no time for idle chatter”

oh simon, you obviously dont know what a chekov’s... um, conversation is.

-

wow so not only are we starting in the court room, but Sadmad said his prayers already. This is shaping up to be a rushed case.

...because obviously this is just filler before we get back to the Oh-So Delightful Adventures in Lawyer Land

-

edgeworth called him back for this case?? ...why???

-

Sadmad: I could be less horrible now that I owe the WAA a favourOR I could threaten to send a young lady to hell for just doing her job!!!! GO SADMAD, GO SADMAD

-

...dont call her a spring chick.

-

wait wait MAY 12TH?!

They just finished Maya’s trial and Edgeworth hauls Sadmad back to America over night?? How the fuck does Sadmad think he’s more prepared than us?? He had about the same amount of time to prepare!

-

I’ve got a good feeling about this case

-

Sadmad just let that poor butterfly rest jfc the aesthetic isn't that important 

-

“this guy stole the deed to this other guys shop, so other guy KILLED HIM to get it back”

yes, brilliant deduction, not an overreaction at all

-

Sadmad, you literally got back here at like 1 am last night. Go fuck yourself and leave Athena alone.

-

So Apollo’s a  red pepper, Athena’s an egg yolk... But there aren’t any blue foods, so Phoenix is just stuck being called ‘putrid’ in general.

Anyway cut Athena some slack. She’s already progressed far beyond having a breakdown in court because someone talked over her. 

-

SEXY PAN UP SHOT FOR SIMON BLACKQUILL,

-

“Simon!! You didnt tell me you were taking the stand!!!”

“There wasn’t time...”

no time at all during that 5 minutes you spent in the lobby. But I'm laughin’ so I’m not judging. Also I missed that theme...

-

AW  YIS

THROW DOWN SIMON

he’s the lesser of two evils this time; I'm ready to back him up! Simon in the blue corner, ding ding!!!!

-

half-awake sadmad looks up “rakugo” on wikipedia at 3 am

“yeah that should do it”

...and memorizes the whole article apparently

(coughmartystucough)

-

Sadmad: No wasting time!! This soul must get to the afterlife post-haste! You’re all putrid lumps of fecal matter for putting off the last ri–– wait, an opportunity to gloat?! Hold onto your hats, baby! The next twenty minutes are mine!!!

-

(weeps) thank you Athena

-

simon will remember this (you blackguard)

-

sexy pan up shot for–– oh, it really is a “sexy” pan up shot this time

except for those... soulless eyes...

-

aw nuts she has that drone-y X people theme. 

-

OH GOD 

OH GOD YOUR BOOBS

THAT WOULD HURT SO FUCKING MUCH

IM CLUTCHING MY CHEST JUST THINKING ABOUT IT

but I'm also chortling at the booby jokes teehee

-

“Never show sadness! Smile, smile, smile! With a twisty-twist-twist!”

Hey, it’s the new motto of ace attorney! Your self worth is based solely on how well you can cover up your less palatable feelings! Yaaaay!!

...also I’m calling it now, she did it.

-

i think her balloons are pretty impressive, athena

-

420 WE GOT ONE FOLKS

-

“Sad Monk Sadmahdi”

simon, youre gaining brownie points fast

-

Lang Zi says... Oh, uh I mean, the Kooraheenist Bible says......

-

“I’m checking in with the big tough old man prosecutor because i underestimate this small, young, female defence attorney”

I'm getting flashbacks to Turnabout Beginnings. and not good ones. 

You kick it, girl. tell them off.

-

nice! the judge is on our side!

-

why did she mention the dog barking a lot if it was only because he was hungry?

-

that is one hongry dog

something about the dog just burying the rest of the food is making me laugh

-

oh so that was important eh

hmm

-

has athena always done this double-slam thing, or is this new?

-

Athena: Witness, I think you might’ve been lying a little bit 

Sadmad: Vile hitler-satan, I cast you down to hell for your debauchery, how dare you insinuate that this case has more to it than what is readily viewable on the surface? Tsk tsk, so inexperienced, so putrid, 

-

“What? The gallery doesn’t get a say in this!”

They’re not a jury, you know!!!

-

“Why is the whole gallery siding with prosecutor sadmadhi?”

it’s because he’s hot, athena. thats the only reason anybody likes him.

-

tbh I'm actually pretty proud of Athena

same time last year Sadmad would have put her in a panic-stupor. but not today. Kudos on working that out, kiddo. You’re moving up!

-

...wait a minute

“with a little push, you could succumb to despair”

>despair

does Sadmad know? Does he know about her PTSD? If so... He’s deliberately TRYING TO TRIGGER HER SO THAT HE CAN WIN THE CASE?!

WHAT THE FUCK

-

oh boy!! OH BOY!! a dying message!!! THOSE ARE FOOL PROOF, AS PROVED BY EVERY SINGLE CASE IN THIS SERIES TO CONTAIN ONE!!

-

“That makes perfect sense, doesn't it!”

Yes... the man who suffocated to death somehow had time to leave a clue to his killer...

...you do realize that to be suffocated, the killer has to be there the whole time, right? if there’s nothing in his lungs and no trace of poison in his stomach, then it has to have been manual suffocation, either by strangulation (though we have yet to hear about any marks on his neck) or by covering his mouth and nose. 

so youre implying that rather than fighting back, the old coot rearranged a bunch of playing cards... in plain view of his aggressor

yet again, Sadmad makes a brilliant fool proof deduction.

-

ohhh my god he’s still trying to do it. HE’S STILL TRYING TO TRIGGER HER. I SWEAR TO FUCK, he’s been tolerable–– very thinly tolerable up until now. But this is just disgusting. This is brazen, malicious cheating. I don’t care if he turns out to be jesus himself when the inevitable “urhurhur he was good all along!!” twist shows up; I’m not forgetting this.

-

Damnit , Athena, don’t fucking listen to him. Don’t listen to a word he fuckin says.

Man I’ve never been so happy to see Simon. Little bit of the pot-calling-the-kettle-black here since Simon’s MO is to threaten and manipulate–– err, ah, use psychology!! to influence people, but I hate Sadmad so much that I don’t care.

-

“To think, you were so easily manipulated by his parlour tricks...”

Watch it, Simon. You’re the lesser of two evils this time, but that doesn’t exempt you from criticism. As a psychologist, you should know WHY it worked so well on Athena and you should be SENSITIVE about it. 

You’re cleared of all charges, remember?? You don’t have to pretend to be a douchebag to keep up your ill-thought-out plan anymore.

-

“I’m not girding up anything in this skirt!”

well i just don't know what to say to that

-

Oh boy here comes Uendo.

Everyone seems to love him so I’m hoping he’ll be a reprieve from Sadmad’s......... everything 

-

Sexy pan up shot of... a guy on a bunch of flower bags. With his own theme song!

-

so far I'm loving his animations and I'm always a slut for shitty puns!!

let’s see... blush stickers for the goofy one, hair forwards and eyeshadow for the lady. Clever little things that make each one of his characters different. He's definitely a fun character so far!

-

ah I'm really enjoying his dialogue 

ill bet the translators had a ball with this

-

won't you PLEASE laugh at my PUN!!!

its ok uendy, i thought it was good.

-

“Silence is more precious than diamonds”, eh?

I can definitely see which Sadmad values more...

-

ooh a spit take! not since godot have we been blessed... also i notice they've dialled up the rock guitar in Athena’s theme. Personally don’t see it as an improvement but eh

-

“yes, making it look like the man drowned was obviously because the culprit hated him and wanted to desecrate his corpse instead of getting the fuck out of there quicker like any killer would”

not to make it look like 

he’d drowned in the bowl

to throw off the police.

of course not; that’d be too obvious.

another win for the great Sadlock Madholmes.

-

wait did Sadmad just say Objection?? I thought he didnt do that

also; duel of the growly voices

-

prosecutor sad monk. simon’s still a dick but at least his dickishness spreads to  people i dont like :3

-

ooh i love it when i can rearrange physical pictures

-

“you can put the cards back in their right place but if you cant explain them then youre fucked”

ever thought that maybe theyre irrelevant to the case and theyre just... cards?? sadmad??

i mean i know theyre not but they could easily have just been on the table when the murder happened. they could stand for absolutely nothing.

-

ahh... the sweet refreshing scent of common sense. you redeem yourself step by step, simon. i mean, when youre not being a dick about it.

-

“don’t testify.”

franziska tried this once. it was for an evil scheme. i dont want to have to threaten another witness with revealing a dark secret; that was depressing.

but at least we know meanwhile that Sadmad isn’t above dirty shit like shutting up a witness. .......not that we didnt know that before.......

-

“Are you trying to taunt him into talking? Such a petty trick will never work”

POT.

CALLING.

THE KETTLE.

JET BLACK, SADFUCK.

-

simon’s lucky he’s surrounded by idiots and people with poor impulse control, otherwise his “mind tricks” wouldn’t do shit

“to be turned by such an obvious ploy... what a man of weak spirit.”

for once, Sadmad, I gotta agree.

-

its time for 

Artistic!

License!

Psychologyyyyyyyyy!!!!

-

sadmad doesn't get his way: my god will smite you later :(((((

-

now that we’ve worn this non-joke out...

-

“seeing my master asleep just made me so fuckin sad...”

-

i love that anger has such a distinctive ping sound

-

please do not call your toe that

-

“You gotta fuss over every tiny detail like this?” yes, Uendo. That’s why I’m writing these !!

-

that box of buns keeps drawing my attention. i love buns

-

Simon, you could try using some positive reinforcement. Mia wasn’t soft on Phoenix, but she encouraged him to think and puzzle things out for himself; she didn’t just call him an idiot. All the time.

-

“as sharp as a trout”

what the fuck

-

“so thats how it works ! fascinating!”

its not like i spent a lot of time working under the woman who invented said matrix!

-

its kinda sad that Athena’s never seen multiple emotions in high dudgeon 

she must hang out with a lot of mild mannered people 

-

athena: ive just proved these words mean something detrimental to the witness

sadmad: erm but they mean nothing to me therefor they warrant no further investigation.

???

i stg most of Nahyuta’s “”””counter argumnets”””” are legitimately just him trying to disparage the obvious contradiction away.

-

again athena seems unable to believe that people can only feel one intense emotion at a time

should i be worried

-

silly AA, that’s not how DID works!

oh well, at least Uendo is the fun kind of DID, unlike other... side-splittingly shameful characters I could mention...

-

Pohlfuckya indeed sadmad

-

ROLE CALL

-

“You seem proud of yourself, but all youve done is infringe on the privacy of the witness”

(sweats) i hate it when Sadmad makes good points

-

its not really dissociative if you dont... um... dissociate.

-

Sadmad: let it go and––

Athena: Shut up!!

Sadmad: Let it g––

Athena: Sssh!!!

Sadmad: le––

Athena: SJSJSJSJ

-

“if words will not sway you, perhaps pain will”

eject

him

-

i dont... like that... the beads are around her torso.......

-

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HE FUCKIN CUT THEM IN MID AIR

that deserves a fucking cutscene all on its own. its like the time Lang caught Franziska’s whip only cool and not bulshitty

...also you coulda maybe done that a lil earlier simon lol

-

“I dont give two flips”

all his flips have flown the coop

-

“but if Cykes dono were to submit to you here...”

DO NOT 

USE THE WORD SUBMIT

WHEN PRAYER BEAD BONDAGE IS INVOLVED

-

fuck you sadmad, not everyone has magic gary-stu powers that let them memorize everything about a single subject in one night.

-

once again sadmad wastes precious time and diamonds showing off

-

after this lengthy, lengthy, leeeeeengthy detour............ wouldyouliketoaddthisstatementtothetestimony?

-

“you look like a hen with a dozen eggs to say”

you can just say “constipated” and it'll be less creepy, simon

-

how could they... not tell... oh who cares

-

“we’ve got you by the stones now, Uendo!”

DAMN the TESTICLE references in this game!!!

-

“heres a big plot twist that i just convenientlyforgottomention urhurhurhr..”

spoken like a true prosecutor 

-

there was such a long pause there i thought he was building up to a pun

but of course he wasnt. sadmad isn't cool at all

-

heheh i just noticed that Bucky has hair noodles, just like Mr. Eldoon (tho Bucky’s dont appear to be a wig)

also its... very distressing to have a drunk client.

-

y’know i just realized

Sadmad is always talking about sending souls to the twilight realm in the proper way. but he's an international prosecutor. he’s probably prosecuted victims of all religious alignments.

isn't it kind of disrespectful to perform your religion’s funeral rites on someone who doesn’t practice it???

-

again, BK is only successful because Uendo is a moron

to be fair though, that was one of his better ones.

-

“You were leading the witness!”

I...

Just, fuckin’. Please stop making good points, sadmad. I don’t want to be enraged with you, I want to be enraged AT You!!

...well i mean I don’t want to but i hate it when you bring up excellent points.

-

anyway why doesn't sadmad want them to find Owen anyway. if it comes to nothing, who cares? can you just not stand having people who aren’t you waste time??

-

again... DID doesn’t work like that........

-

macbeth, starring athena cykes and simon blackquill

-

hey i jusT REALIZED WHERE’S TAKA

-

thats,,, reallllllyy not how DID works,,,,,,,,,,,,,

-

highfalutin’

-

“if you see one, there are likely thirty in your home’

thirty what

WTHIRTY WHAT

-

look if you knew how DID is supposed to work you'd probably have a good hypothesis by now. not an... ethical one to implement, but a working one.

-

i guess Uendo just never sleeps then, because apparently falling unconscious calls out another personality.

...brilliant.

-

Simon: STOP BEING SO NERVOUS. IS MY NAGGING AND DISAPPOINTMENT SOOTHING YOU???? IS IT?????!!!!

-

the time honoured tradition of turning a slip of paper over... truly, this is an Ace Attorney game 

-

dude.... if you conk out from the trace amounts of alcohol in a bun, you should maybe visit a doctor possibly 

-

“hmm, yes, i will allow you to render this man unconscious from alcohol.”

classic judge!!

-

au where blackqyil is a very angsty delivery boy

-

BABY

THERE HE IS

MY PRECIOUS BIRD

I WAS SO SCARED SOEMTHING HAD HAPPENED TO YOU

-

...that bird is going to fly into a shop, terrorize the workers, steal bean buns and (hopefully) drop a twenty on the counter as he flies the coop

awesome 

-

phew that was a long court... but wait if this is a half-episode (which it probably is) and it started on a court day...

no investigation?! RIP OFF

-

gonna cut this one off here. till next time...

[phatjosh180]

RACE RECAP: Revel Big Cottonwood Half Marathon

I love this race. Absolutely love it. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise. I kinda talk about it year round. Between this, Nebo and Run Elevated this pretty much is the heart of my race schedule each year. These are my three “A” races. It doesn’t hurt that I absolutely love each canyon as well.

Going into the Revel Big Cottonwood Half Marathon I was feeling pretty good. Over the previous month I hit my two fastest half marathons over the past 18 months. I felt confident that I could hit a year best time at Revel, especially a sub-2:40 time goal. Especially since I knew the course so well.

And, as much as I would love to say that I hit that benchmark — I didn’t. And, there were a number of factors for that. For one, going into the race I was simply sick. I had a chest cold that got the best of me that week. It was weird because it was only focused within my chest, otherwise I felt fine. So I still felt that I’d be okay.

HA.

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  A post shared by I’m Josher … (@josherwalla) on Sep 7, 2018 at 10:36pm PDT

I probably shouldn’t have gone into the race with such expectations, but I knew I had it within me. Plus, Jill was going to be running it with me and I always run better when I run with others. I wanted it, bad.

The day before the race I felt pretty good. My legs felt fresh and I wasn’t coughing as much as I was earlier in the week. The discomfort in my lungs were there, but I wasn’t too worried. I was too worried about my pace once I got to mile 10 and outside of the canyon. I knew miles 10-12 were going to be on me — there’s a deceiving gradual uphill that’ll kill ya.

The night before a bunch of us from the Trails & Pavement group met up for a pre-race dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. It’s always fun to socialize out of a running atmosphere. It’s also a great reminder that we all wear things other than running clothes. It was just a fun evening of a lot of laughs and fun times — it helped me get even more excited for the race the following day.

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  Pre-Revel Dinner! @trailsandpavement #thisiswhereweeat

A post shared by I’m Josher … (@josherwalla) on Sep 7, 2018 at 9:27pm PDT

Race morning was pretty typical. I got my drop bag of stuff ready — which was pretty much my race fuel, hoodie and breakfast. I didn’t eat anything out of the usual from the past few months. My typical race morning meal consists of one or two chicken bacon sausage links, some brie cheese and a handful of pecans — a great ration of fat, protein and carbs. It’s not too heavy on the stomach, but it’s sustainable enough to give me enough energy fro the run.

After commuting to bus pick up I walked over to the Maverik to grab a Smart Water as well while waiting to meet up with Jill and Mark to take the bus up the canyon with them. I started munching on my breakfast during the ride up and while waiting up in the canyon for the race to start. It was a good morning and I was really feeling good.

Which was a total flip from the year before when I (stupidly) ate a salad right before the race — which ended up all over a Honey Bucket when I try to slip into one after the gun went off. I have a very low tolerant gag reflex. Something that you’ll want to keep in mind for later in my race story.

>>>

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  Checklist for tomorrow’s pre-race food — ✅ Bacon Sausage ✅ Brie Cheese ✅ Pecans All ready to run @runrevel BC in the morning! #half152 #revelbigcottonwood @josherwalla.run

A post shared by ＪｏｓｈｅｒDoes Keto (@josherwalla.fit) on Sep 7, 2018 at 10:40pm PDT

The race started at 6:45am and Jill and my goal was to stick together as much as we could and go for that sub-2:40 — and for Jill this would be a PR attempt. We wanted to help pace each other along. We inched our way across the starter’s mat about 12 minutes after the gun sounded and soon the shuffle turned into a jog, run and then sprint.

But, that sprint didn’t last long as we tried to consciously calm our excitement and nerves. Plus, starting a goal race like this TOO fast is one of the biggest cardinal sins of running. So we slowed down and let the crowd pace us for a bit.

The first few miles were not only fast, but absolutely gorgeous. The sun was rising over the mountains and gave the canyon a feel that not only autumn was almost here, but like you were almost running in a Bob Ross painting. There were literally happy little trees everywhere.

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  A post shared by I’m Josher … (@josherwalla) on Sep 8, 2018 at 3:12pm PDT

Around mile 4-5 I started feeling fatigue inch into my legs and lungs. I wasn’t too surprised by that because I wasn’t running intervals — I was just keeping up with Jill. But, at the Mile 5 aid station we ran into Amanda, Mike and Brandy — who were running intervals. I told Jill to go ahead so I could stay back with them. I wanted Jill to get her PR.

Intervals were a welcome change of pace. They allowed my legs a small reprieve from the steep decent and having trained mostly in intervals (and fartleks) it was something my body was used to and happy about doing at that point of the race. And, quite honestly, I probably should have been doing since I crossed the starting mat.

But, that’s a story for another day.

I had a blast running with the Bjarnsons and Brandy. It’s always fun running with those three. We posed for a couple of pictures. Mainly at the S curve with my Hokas and then when we were running down ‘the fastest mile’ like Phoebe Bufay. Like I said, we had a blast!

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  A post shared by ＪｏｓｈｅｒDoes Keto (@josherwalla.fit) on Sep 8, 2018 at 3:36pm PDT

It was right after ‘the fastest mile’ when we ran past the electrical plant that my body just started wanting — well — more like needing to slow down. I let the Bjarnsons and Brandy go ahead. At this point I just kind of conceded my race because my chest cold cough decided to make an appearance.

By Mile 8 I started cough a bit uncontrollably and without much effort — I threw up. Usually after I throw up … I’m fine, if not better. But, I wasn’t. My stomach soon got the message that it needed to get rid of EVERYTHING in my stomach. That included my breakfast and dinner from the previous night.

Not fun.

I got to the Mile 10 aid station and knew I needed rid more of my stomach contents. Not wanting to barf in front of volunteers and runners I grabbed a trash can and went behind the row of Honey Buckets to spew. It was less graceful than my upheaval at Mile 8, but definitely not the worst at the end of the day.

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  A post shared by I’m Josher … (@josherwalla) on Sep 9, 2018 at 6:34pm PDT

I carried on and just focused on the last three miles in front of me. By this time I knew I was well past my sub-2:40 time and more than likely past a sub-2:50 time. I still wanted a sub-3 time, but at the same time — I just didn’t want to die. Not only wasn’t my stomach stable, but being out of the canyon exposed me to the sun. There were no happy little trees to give me shade.

The weather was doing me dirty. Those last three miles went from a hot clear sky to overcast in what seemed like every half mile. It was horrible. As soon as I got used to the shade of the clouds BAM there was the sun. This just seemed to make things worse for me.

At Mile 12, I was done. I knew I had nothing left in me and I tried to walk. But, I couldn’t. The simple act of walking made me cramp — yet — running didn’t?! It was a cruel punishment, because I really didn’t want to run. And, while I was in that moment lamentation — I threw up again.

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At this point that last mile seemed like an eternity. My focus now was to simply not pass out. I was worried about that, because I could feel that my body was dehydrated. I couldn’t stomach hardly any water as evidenced by my last aid station stop. I just wanted to stay up on my feet, finish the race and then die.

I kept shuffling along and by complete surprise from me — I was passing people. It really didn’t have much to do with my athletic ability or speed. It was probably a combination of other runner’s struggles and the fact that if I stopped to walk I would have cramped.

I got to the finish line and as my friend Nick gave me my finisher’s medal I immediately felt a familiar feeling — the brewing of another stomach eruption. I desperately looked for a trash can. Nick pointed me toward the medical tent. But, within two steps toward the tent everything came out all over.

All over.

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I made this desperate attempt to catch the vomit with two of my cupped hands. That was a joke. After I deposited my load a medical volunteer handed me a vomit bag and pointed me toward the tent and a cot.

To my surprise Jill was laying next to me with taped up calves sipping on water. After throwing up again — this time in my vomit bag — I asked Jill how her race went. Obviously, she got in before me, but I wanted to know if she got a new PR. Which she did! She came in at 2:34 — an eight minute PR!

While reveling in that accomplishment for her the nurses were assessing my situation. They gave me an anti-nausea pill — which helped. But, I still couldn’t really stomach water — which I needed. Knowing this I asked for an IV.

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An IV is usually a last resort, but I could feel my body’s need for hydration — fast. And, I’ve had IVs after a couple other races in the past. They can really turn the tide after a hot depleted race. And, this IV did the trick.

After hanging out in the med tent with the IV and sipping water afterwards for about an hour I hobbled over to the Run4fun tent to continue my post-race rehab. Once I got my legs back underneath me I made the long — yet short — walk back to my car for the ride home.

I was exhausted, but much better than when I crossed that finish line. I just needed a nap. And, a few more hours before thinking about food. But, more than that a nap. So, when I got home and collapsed for a couple hours. It was perfection.

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In retrospect, I know what went wrong. I know what I need to do to avoid this kind of outcome again. I need to stick with intervals — or at the very least race the way I train. I got overeager with my goals and wanting to stick with Jill. I needed to run my race and let Jill run her race.

I also should have put into account that I was sick that previous week when making race plans. That really was just dumb. I tried to mentally avoid that key fact of reality. Should I have not raced at all — no, of course not. I am not going to miss this race. I am a Legacy Runner and I take pride in that. But, I should have slowed down and been more conservative.

But, the good that came out of all of this I guess is that I finished under three hours (2:56:46) — and it really could have been much, much worse. There were a number of runners that didn’t make it to the finish line and that just wasn’t going to happen to me.

And, it didn’t.

Revel Big Cottonwood Half Marathon Times

2013 – 2:12:37 (42) 2017 – 3:10:21 (128) 2018 – 2:56:46 (152)

Revel Big Cottonwood Marathon Times

2012 – 5:39:09 (2) (PR) 2014 – 6:42:21 (6) 2015 – Swept (8) 2016 – Swept (9)

Join the Trails & Pavement Revel Big Cottonwood 2019 Team

Registration is now open for the 2019 Revel Big Cottonwood Full & Half Marathon — happening next year on September 14th! For many runners here along the Wasatch Back this is THE race of the year. It’s not only fast, beautiful and well organized — it’s a full out party!

The Trails & Pavement Facebook Group will have a team at next year’s race! Being a part of the team comes with some perks — you get a $5 off discount for joining, we have special bibs with our team name on it and we’ll have a canopy tent at the finish line of the race.

With registration open for 2019 if you join our team AND use the code GOBIG at checkout, you’ll get $15 off your registration. That’s the lowest price you’re going to get for next year’s race! Just sign up using this link >>> https://bit.ly/2wYxsNS or search for trailsandpavement when registering at www.runrevel.com/bcm.

My Next Five Races

Moonlight Half Marathon; September 21 Ragnar Sunset Relay; October 6 The Haunted Half: Salt Lake City; October 20 The Haunted Half: Provo; October 27 Holiday Hero 5K; November 3

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RACE RECAP: Revel Big Cottonwood Half Marathon was originally published on PhatJosh | My Life Running.