Going out with a Bang!

Well everyone! I officially did it! I have graduated from law school (x2) - that is, I have completed both my Canadian and American law degrees! It was definitely a killer last few weeks, with exams, training, and packing/moving. Needless to say, I had to miss quite a few days of running - some due to pure exhaustion, and others because I'd get out the door and my right hip or right shin were just not having it. The best I have been able to do is pretty much run every other day, sometimes I'd get two days in a row - I have been trying to throw in some tempo work mid-run, but have not done a true workout in weeks. I really have no idea what to expect in Ottawa at the end of the month ... eek

Anyways, back to that whole finishing law school thing - I finished my last law school assignment on Wednesday, a negotiation in the morning, and then later that evening joined the rest of my law school friends downtown for celebration activities... and celebrate (and dance like a fool) I did! Ha! Perhaps a little more celebrating than I had planned ... hmm... yeah, best to leave er at that. I did manage to get out for a run the next day - later in the afternoon of course, and finished up packing up my apartment as best I could before my family and guests arrived to spend the night for grad the next day.
The graduation ceremony itself was pretty good, aside from the fact that the majority of the people I know at MSU are 2Ls and therefore, don't graduate until next year (oh sad face). I did have my Ottawa friend Michael to keep me company as we both sat there sweating like crazy under our gowns (the lack of AC in the building definitely did not help matters).
After the ceremony I finished packing up my apartment and hit the road for my road trip down to the Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon in Fredricksburg, VA with my former teammates Shannon and Alaina. I stopped in Pittsburg for the night on Friday, and had another mini graduation celebration (no where near the extent of Wednesday though). Then Saturday I got up and finished the drive to VA, with a quick stop in Washington, DC to drive around and see the sights and grab a burger.
The half marathon was this morning, and of course, after my stressful weeks of studying, moving, kinda training, and well, my last few days of celebrating and driving in a car for hours on end, I woke up with the worst sore throat and thick chest (aka, lung butter) ever. But the race was supposed to be fun, and I tried to shake it off. The course was beautiful, but hilly .... OMG was it ever hilly... there was one cruel cruel hill, that you hit somewhere after the 10 mile mark I think, which took a good 3 minutes to run up. Umm... just to clarify, there aren't really any hills in East Lansing or Okemos! After the first few miles of the race, and after going up and down a million times already, I decided to relax my effort and just focus on being the first female. I was fortunate to have an experienced historic half runner, Jeff, keep me company for the majority of the race. Thank God! I do not think I have ever felt worse in a race. He gave me warning when the hills were coming up, and zig-zagged around to give me the inside on the turns. Ok, so lesson learned, celebrations to the extent of Wednesday night probably should not happen the days leading up to a race, at least not leading up to a hilly and humid half marathon.
But  yeah, I met the goal of being the first female, ran a horrible time, but got a cool trophy and a $100 gift card. My girlfriends ran amazingly, both of them have never raced that far before - and I'm pretty sure that their training runs didn't go beyond 11 or 12 miles either.
After the race, I grabbed a quick shower and hit the road again soon after. Another 9ish hours later, I arrived here in Chattanooga, TN, my trip finally complete. I am not really that sore from the race (I didn't run nearly hard enough to be sore), but my chest and throat hate me, payback from exams I suppose... damn cooties.
So, yeah, LAW SCHOOL IS DONE! I celebrated, had a killer road trip, and now get to start my Bar Prep course tomorrow... I am pretty sure I ended my law school career in an entertaining and interesting fashion. True Lanni form no doubt.
Oh well, time for some rest and hopefully a quick bounce back!