What Happens When You Work Hard

I generally really hate those stupid photos they always take of you when you are running. I mean, WHO looks good when they are running? NOT ME!!! And I kind of purposefully don't ham it up when I see the photographers, like I know a lot of people do because usually I am too focused on my run and think it is silly to have photos taken of me at that time.

In the hundreds of "official" photos I've had taken of me during races, I've only ever liked one. (My one runner friend says if this ever happens to anyone, they should BUY that photo because good looking running photos are such a rare occurance.)

These are the things I hate about running photos:

• I usually look like I am about to get sick, or someone punched me in the gut
• I ALWAYS look like I am walking, not running (Bill said that this is because I do look like I'm walking when I'm running. Then I got all mad. But then I realized that this is probably because if you run 26.2 miles you have to do them efficiently. That doesn't really = big strides.)
• I usually look like I have some sort of double chin
• These photos usually make me reevaluate my hair style of the time
• I get to see how truly devoid of color my skin really is :)
• I think it's stupid that they always show the clock time in marathons because unless you are Kara Goucher or Paula Radcliffe, it is always always always about 5-10 minutes off.

But, I looked at the photos from this past weekend's half marathon and noticed some cool things (even though I still do not like the pictures).

1. I am getting some serious muscle tone in my arms! (Check out my forearm!)

2. I am getting KILLER muscles in my legs!

...even compared to my first marathon!

And guess what else?
3. Since I'm running faster, sometimes I even look like I'm RUNNING (not walking).

So yay for me!
(I have also learned that there is no way ever that bangs can look good while you are running.)

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, this:

is the photo I was happy with. (And no, I didn't buy it, although I keep thinking maybe I should.)