It started out good. They staggered the start which was great. All the fast people up front, all the medium paced people in the middle and what they called their scenic joggers/walkers in the back. We fell somewhere between medium-scenic. We waited in the back for the 5K-ers to start and joked about what would happen if we jumped in with them instead of the 12K-ers. It came down to W.W.R.D. "what would Rachel do :) I started off strong, right up a hill I might add. I had my music going and I had effectively zoned everyone around me out so it was just me and the course. As I climbed the first stretch and passed the 1K mark I wanted to turn around and go back. HOW WAS I GOING TO DO 11 MORE OF THESE?!?! Then we flipped a u-turn to continue the race, and headed back downhill a bit. I started to feel a little confidence creep in. As LMFAO Sexy And I Know It blared on my headphones I felt a little groove enter my stride and had to kind of laugh to myself that this was the song that was motivating me :)
Sailed past 3K feeling good. Turned the corner and HOLY S#*% it was a giant hill. I should maybe take a moment to clarify that during my regular training runs I AVOID hills pretty much completely. I HATE THEM! I kept praying as I watched the people ahead of me... PLEASE TURN! PLEASE TURN! (I felt great to find out after that Rachel was doing the same thing:) When I finally got to the turn myself I said OH CRAP! (probably not actually CRAP:) ANOTHER HILL!!!! Seriously! I climbed, my legs were getting tired and I allowed myself 20 walking steps to give them a break. The first time it helped. As I climbed what I believe was the 3rd KILL- I mean HILL- I gave myself 20 more steps, this time my legs cramped up as I walked. I started running again. I just kept pushing wondering when would this hill be done. Just when I thought that we couldn't go up anymore you'd turn and go up some more. Or you'd go down and then up some more. A friend on Facebook said she nicknamed this race the 12 Hills of Christmas. I kept thinking if I ever finish this I am never doing it again :)
I passed the 5K mark with a full realization that this was the distance of my last race. A nice, easy 3.1 miles that I had felt pretty good at. Oh how I was wishing this was a 5K. I was now on track to not only double it but double it plus 2K. I really started questioning my idea to do this. Wasn't this in fact MY idea. I think I told everyone I was doing it and that they should too. What was I thinking. I wasn't a runner. Not a REAL runner. Why had I decided to do this. And when, OH when were we turning off this straightaway. The street rolled like waves on the ocean. Up, then down, slowly, gently but an incline none the less. I struggled to stay positive. "For every up their is a down. It can't be ALL UPHILL?!? More a question then a statement. I was really trying to talk myself through this.
I hit the 6K water station. I wanted to stop, guzzle the water and walk it off but I sipped it, swallowed, sipped again, swished it and spit it. Just enough to wet my whistle literally. I kept trying to figure out "if I have gone this far then how much further will I have to go before we are hooking around to the return." Some of my group had now joined me. Karen had passed me a little ways before and now Krissie had also caught up. We were back and forth as to who was in the lead. Not that I was trying to beat them but they were definitely motivating me. They seemed so calm and smooth in their stride, I felt dilapidated and a pain in my rib was starting to take over in my head. I wanted to stop and walk it off but I kept going. I was now following Karen and Krissie and hoping to keep their pace. Talking with them while I ran made the time pass faster. I suddenly was SO happy Rachel had started our group. Conversational running was kind of our training platform and not only did it help pass the time, but it helped our endurance and made it a little easier mentally to push through. Karen even gave me some of her magic beans (Jelly Belly Sport Beans) Maybe it was just in my head but I started to believe :) The harder I ran the less my cramp hurt. But I was also starting to get grouchy in my head. I apologized to my running buddies and told them I would keep the cursing to a minimum. I had already endeared myself to the strangers around me with my UGHs! and NOs!
From the 9K to the 11K I felt a little joy and hope seep into my soul. Karen said she "totally missed the 7 and 8K signs, perhaps she had blacked out :)" Every time we passed the sign (9K) (10K) I let out a whoop and did the math ho much further...really? As we approached the last marker which read 7 MILES! we spied our fearless leader, Rachel! Seeing her made me kick it into my last gear. Definitely the only one I had left. 7 miles were down with only .4 to go. One thing I will say about myself is when I see the end in sight I can pull out my speed. I started running as fast as my legs would carry me. When I turned the corner and realized the clock was on 1:24:00 minutes I really started going. I had wanted to do it in 1:30:00 and I had to beat it. As I rolled towards the finish, they read my name and I looked right to see Joe and the kids cheering me on. I ran through the finish. And I was done.
| bib number: | 355 | ||||||||
| age: | 32 | ||||||||
| gender: | F | ||||||||
| overall place: | 1160 out of 1423 | ||||||||
| division place: | 255 out of 321 | ||||||||
| gender place: | 683 out of 907 | ||||||||
| time: | 1:23:45 | ||||||||
| pace: | 11:15 | ||||||||
| gun time: | 1:25:44 |
The rest of the girls followed right after me. They did awesome and totally saved me on that 2nd half. I think I was battling myself in my head more then my body. So here we were tired, sore and really REALLY proud of ourselves. It felt great to have done it together! We hugged and high-fived. We laughed and compared our war stories. More laughing ensued :) We went home exhausted but exhilarated, sore but not beaten. The gals are moving on to their 1/2 marathon goal and I shall continue to train for smaller things. Cheering them on as we go. I am proud to say I did it. I just might even do it again. Talk to me next Christmas :)
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