i survived the half marathon - gerlinda
So, mainly... I DID IT!
i'm not sure yet how to put it into words, how to make you feel what it meant to me. so - i guess, just, pick something you'd never in a million years think you could do. maybe even something you don't really even WANT to do. and then try to imagine how it would feel to do that thing. and then try to imagine how it would feel to do that thing for someone else, someone who has known you your whole life and who would be so startlingly proud of you. Whatever words that would describe that, that's how it felt.
as for the race itself ... i went through various iterations of emotion. friday, before Rama, Lauren and I left, i was a HUGE bitch. and i realized, even at the time, it was because i was nervous. everything in me just wanted to back out of whatever it was that i was about to experience, because i was afraid.
but, i had to maintain and not freak out ... and luckily, the logistics of getting to the race kind of drove the fear underground. we flew into Richmond, VA to have a little mini-vacation before the race. saturday, KerriAnn and Eileen (Lauren's Mom & Sister) met us and we all drove to Va. Beach together. There was unexpectedly awful traffic, and we only made it to race registration with 45 minutes to spare. Then, it turned out that the hotel had lost power to half its rooms. They managed to move us into the presidential suite (which deserves a post in and of itself.) We hadn't planned ahead about food or anything, and all the pasta places (of which there were only 3 within walking distance) had long waits. We finally sat down to eat at around 8:30, and Lauren was so starving that she got a little, um, assertive, with the wait staff. I think they finally served us around 9:30, by which time Lauren's anxiousness had been surpassed by a sad desperation ... she sat and silently stared toward the kitchen while her body slowly ate itself from the inside out. But - our spaghetti finally arrived; we ate and went back to the hotel to sleep. Except, I was too excited and nervous to sleep. Maybe I dozed a little.
Race morning, everyone was kind of in her own head. Rama had laid out all the race fodder on a counter - GU gels, blister bandaids, enduroshots, amino vital, bananas, bodyglide (the awesome anti-chafe lube,) advil, excedrin, even aspircream. Rama was methodically going down the line, taking care of her pre-race medical and nutrional needs. KerriAnn was tying and untying her shoes. Lauren was doing the dynamic stretches we learned in boot camp. I was obsessing about the giant, painful blister on the back of my heel. I finally dealt with it by putting bodyglide under a bandaid and then more bodyglide over that. It still hurt like crazy when I put on my shoes, but - what was i going to do? Not run because of a stupid blister? i don't think so.
Lauren and KerriAnn were in corral 7, having both put down anticpated finish times around 2 hours. Rama was in corral 13, and I snuck in with her. It was cool and breezy - perfect weather. Rama and I stretched and bounced and chatted nervously and it felt like forever, but finally, they let the elite athletes go...and then one by one, they let each corral surge forward.
Rama and I stayed together for the first 3 miles, doing an almost dead-on 10-min. mile pace. At mile 3, Rama stopped off to eat a GU and that was the last I saw of her. By mile 4, I could feel that I needed to slow down if I wanted to have any hope of finishing strong ... but it was next to impossible. The runners surging around me, some darting past, some falling back; the crowd lining the sidewalks, cheering; the bands playing every mile or so; the water stations every couple miles; the flat course leant itself to staying on pace - almost so that it was wrenching to speed up or slow down ... all those things pushed me past my "Long, Slow, Distance" pace.
I had put vinyl letters on the back of my shirt that said "4 U DAD," and I really could feel him with me the whole way. Around mile 6 or so, we ran past a golf course, and I smiled to myself, thinking that if he were with me, he'd have booked a round and chosen that spot to come cheer me on, so that he could support me, and still get in a little golf. Just past that point, there was a band playing Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer," and half the runners around me started singing "oooooh, we're halfway there!" Runners are so stupid! (And I'm grinning as I type that.)
The neighborhoods we ran through were competing against each other for "best cheerleader" bragging rights. I think the pirates won hands down. This neighborhood built an entire pirate ship, dressed in kerchiefs and eyepatches, and sprayed us down with hoses yelling "Give me an Arrrrgh!." I even saw some of them handing out beer! Mile 7, Mile 8, past the pirates, through tree-shaded neighborhoods...
Around mile 9, once we were on Atlantic Avenue it started feeling a little harder. The sun had come up just as the race was starting, and by now, it was beating down on us without any relief. There was no shade and no breeze either, even though the beach was visible to the right, in between hotels. I was really looking forward to the GU station at mile 10. I knew 100 calories of carbs and vitamins would push me through to the end. But mile 10 came and went, and no GU!! Argh!! Mercifully, there were a few "misting stations" where you could cool off. Up till this point, my strategy had been to walk through the water stations that cropped up every couple of miles, and then run the rest of the way. By now, my pace had slacked off to 11+ min. miles. I was still feeling strong, but I was tired and it was definitely an effort, especially mentally, to keep going.
As we turned onto the boardwalk at mile 11, the sun was beating down harder than ever - but at last there was an ocean breeze. And there was a band playing something really LOUD and FAST, so that helped. At mile 12, I turned on the gas a little - and ended up having to stop and walk for a bit. I had some sort of weird pain in my left foot that I hope is not the beginnings of a stress fracture. At 12.5, there was an unexpected water station! Praise Jesus! I picked up the pace again, and when I saw Mile 13, I started sprinting. I ran that last 10th full out ... and suddenly - i had done it, it was over.
To my left, a guy was puking over the rail. To my right, another guy was holding up his girlfriend, who had literally fallen out and could barely stand up. Me? My muscles were seizing up and I felt kind of foggy and light headed and I had my hands on top of my head, trying to slow down my breathing. the crowd pressed all around me; we were all herding slowly, slowly toward I don't know where. Someone handed me a bottle of water. A few minutes after that, I got a little towel soaked in ice, which I draped over my head. Then somone handed me a bottle of Amino Vital, which was good because without remembering doing it, I had finished off my water. Then, a man smiled at me and put a medal around my neck and I would have cried, except I was too dehydrated to have any tears. Then I saw Lauren, and she gave me a banana. And soon after that, the colors got sharper and the world started making sense again. We found Rama and KerriAnn, and Eileen and we all kind of slapped each other on the back and hugged and talked gibberish about what we remembered from the course.
My time was 2:22:12, a 10:54/mile pace, if that matters.
Things I learned:
1) make a reservation for your pre-race pasta dinner!
2) carry your own GU!
3) it's difficult to conceive how i will ever run 26.2 miles, when 13.1 was such a challenge. i am backing off my goal of finishing in under 5 hours. if i can finish at all, it will be *something.* And that's all I want to do.
4) blister, schmister. the bodyglide and the bandaid worked.
i'm not sure yet how to put it into words, how to make you feel what it meant to me. so - i guess, just, pick something you'd never in a million years think you could do. maybe even something you don't really even WANT to do. and then try to imagine how it would feel to do that thing. and then try to imagine how it would feel to do that thing for someone else, someone who has known you your whole life and who would be so startlingly proud of you. Whatever words that would describe that, that's how it felt.
as for the race itself ... i went through various iterations of emotion. friday, before Rama, Lauren and I left, i was a HUGE bitch. and i realized, even at the time, it was because i was nervous. everything in me just wanted to back out of whatever it was that i was about to experience, because i was afraid.
but, i had to maintain and not freak out ... and luckily, the logistics of getting to the race kind of drove the fear underground. we flew into Richmond, VA to have a little mini-vacation before the race. saturday, KerriAnn and Eileen (Lauren's Mom & Sister) met us and we all drove to Va. Beach together. There was unexpectedly awful traffic, and we only made it to race registration with 45 minutes to spare. Then, it turned out that the hotel had lost power to half its rooms. They managed to move us into the presidential suite (which deserves a post in and of itself.) We hadn't planned ahead about food or anything, and all the pasta places (of which there were only 3 within walking distance) had long waits. We finally sat down to eat at around 8:30, and Lauren was so starving that she got a little, um, assertive, with the wait staff. I think they finally served us around 9:30, by which time Lauren's anxiousness had been surpassed by a sad desperation ... she sat and silently stared toward the kitchen while her body slowly ate itself from the inside out. But - our spaghetti finally arrived; we ate and went back to the hotel to sleep. Except, I was too excited and nervous to sleep. Maybe I dozed a little.
Race morning, everyone was kind of in her own head. Rama had laid out all the race fodder on a counter - GU gels, blister bandaids, enduroshots, amino vital, bananas, bodyglide (the awesome anti-chafe lube,) advil, excedrin, even aspircream. Rama was methodically going down the line, taking care of her pre-race medical and nutrional needs. KerriAnn was tying and untying her shoes. Lauren was doing the dynamic stretches we learned in boot camp. I was obsessing about the giant, painful blister on the back of my heel. I finally dealt with it by putting bodyglide under a bandaid and then more bodyglide over that. It still hurt like crazy when I put on my shoes, but - what was i going to do? Not run because of a stupid blister? i don't think so.
Lauren and KerriAnn were in corral 7, having both put down anticpated finish times around 2 hours. Rama was in corral 13, and I snuck in with her. It was cool and breezy - perfect weather. Rama and I stretched and bounced and chatted nervously and it felt like forever, but finally, they let the elite athletes go...and then one by one, they let each corral surge forward.
Rama and I stayed together for the first 3 miles, doing an almost dead-on 10-min. mile pace. At mile 3, Rama stopped off to eat a GU and that was the last I saw of her. By mile 4, I could feel that I needed to slow down if I wanted to have any hope of finishing strong ... but it was next to impossible. The runners surging around me, some darting past, some falling back; the crowd lining the sidewalks, cheering; the bands playing every mile or so; the water stations every couple miles; the flat course leant itself to staying on pace - almost so that it was wrenching to speed up or slow down ... all those things pushed me past my "Long, Slow, Distance" pace.
I had put vinyl letters on the back of my shirt that said "4 U DAD," and I really could feel him with me the whole way. Around mile 6 or so, we ran past a golf course, and I smiled to myself, thinking that if he were with me, he'd have booked a round and chosen that spot to come cheer me on, so that he could support me, and still get in a little golf. Just past that point, there was a band playing Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer," and half the runners around me started singing "oooooh, we're halfway there!" Runners are so stupid! (And I'm grinning as I type that.)
The neighborhoods we ran through were competing against each other for "best cheerleader" bragging rights. I think the pirates won hands down. This neighborhood built an entire pirate ship, dressed in kerchiefs and eyepatches, and sprayed us down with hoses yelling "Give me an Arrrrgh!." I even saw some of them handing out beer! Mile 7, Mile 8, past the pirates, through tree-shaded neighborhoods...
Around mile 9, once we were on Atlantic Avenue it started feeling a little harder. The sun had come up just as the race was starting, and by now, it was beating down on us without any relief. There was no shade and no breeze either, even though the beach was visible to the right, in between hotels. I was really looking forward to the GU station at mile 10. I knew 100 calories of carbs and vitamins would push me through to the end. But mile 10 came and went, and no GU!! Argh!! Mercifully, there were a few "misting stations" where you could cool off. Up till this point, my strategy had been to walk through the water stations that cropped up every couple of miles, and then run the rest of the way. By now, my pace had slacked off to 11+ min. miles. I was still feeling strong, but I was tired and it was definitely an effort, especially mentally, to keep going.
As we turned onto the boardwalk at mile 11, the sun was beating down harder than ever - but at last there was an ocean breeze. And there was a band playing something really LOUD and FAST, so that helped. At mile 12, I turned on the gas a little - and ended up having to stop and walk for a bit. I had some sort of weird pain in my left foot that I hope is not the beginnings of a stress fracture. At 12.5, there was an unexpected water station! Praise Jesus! I picked up the pace again, and when I saw Mile 13, I started sprinting. I ran that last 10th full out ... and suddenly - i had done it, it was over.
To my left, a guy was puking over the rail. To my right, another guy was holding up his girlfriend, who had literally fallen out and could barely stand up. Me? My muscles were seizing up and I felt kind of foggy and light headed and I had my hands on top of my head, trying to slow down my breathing. the crowd pressed all around me; we were all herding slowly, slowly toward I don't know where. Someone handed me a bottle of water. A few minutes after that, I got a little towel soaked in ice, which I draped over my head. Then somone handed me a bottle of Amino Vital, which was good because without remembering doing it, I had finished off my water. Then, a man smiled at me and put a medal around my neck and I would have cried, except I was too dehydrated to have any tears. Then I saw Lauren, and she gave me a banana. And soon after that, the colors got sharper and the world started making sense again. We found Rama and KerriAnn, and Eileen and we all kind of slapped each other on the back and hugged and talked gibberish about what we remembered from the course.
My time was 2:22:12, a 10:54/mile pace, if that matters.
Things I learned:
1) make a reservation for your pre-race pasta dinner!
2) carry your own GU!
3) it's difficult to conceive how i will ever run 26.2 miles, when 13.1 was such a challenge. i am backing off my goal of finishing in under 5 hours. if i can finish at all, it will be *something.* And that's all I want to do.
4) blister, schmister. the bodyglide and the bandaid worked.
posted by August at 1:33 PM
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