I have waited a LONG time to do my half-marathon race report, and here we are! It’s so funny how you work so hard on something and it occupies so much of your brain space for so long, and then it’s over in a flash (well, a two-hour-and-forty-minute flash). I have a feeling that’s what my wedding is going to feel like too…only with different attire and different sore feet.
Anyway. Backing up to Saturday night, I spent the day running errands, drinking water, and trying to visualize a great race. Mitch made us our “carbo load” dinner of turkey burgers on whole-wheat buns with pan-fried potatoes. Nothing spicy, which in this house is pretty unheard of. We ate early and were in bed before 9. As I was drifting off to sleep (thanks, melatonin), I thought, man, wouldn’t it suck if we overslept in the morning.
Yeah, you see where this is heading. We meant to wake up at 3:45 am to eat, drink coffee, use the restroom, and leave the house at 4:45 to pick up a friend because we were giving her a ride. At 3 AM I woke up, checked the time, and forced myself to go back to sleep. I won’t mention who didn’t set the alarm properly, but at 4:30 I woke up again, looked at the time, and jumped out of bed. “Babe, get up, it’s 4:30” “oh, sh*t!” etc. So, instead of taking our time, I quickly forced down 2 slices of toast with peanut butter and honey and some coffee. I learned the hard way about getting everything ready the night before, so this time, I just grabbed my bag and off we went.
We picked up our friend Lauren, then drove to Jenny’s house, where her boyfriend gave us a ride to Balboa Park (so we wouldn’t have to deal with parking). Here’s how it worked: the race ends in the park, and we were shuttled to Cabrillio National Monument, where the race began. We had about 20 minutes or so to kill before the race started, but before I knew it, we were off! The starting area was a little confusing, but we just headed in the direction of, you know, the other 5000 people who were running.
The first couple of miles were “rolling hills” as we excited Cabrillo. I was NOT mentally prepared for hills at the start! I saw some people walking and I thought “OMG shoot me now if I have to walk already,” but I didn’t. No one around me was really talking, so Jenny and I didn’t talk either at first. I just couldn’t believe I was actually here, doing this, running a half marathon. Once we exited Cabrillo and got to the point where Jenny and I had done our 11- and 12-mile runs, I felt a little more confident. I knew what I was in for now.
I liked how they had a timer at each mile split, so we could see how we were doing. Our time at the 10k was 1:13:30, which I think was right about our time for the 4th of July 10k race. We spent the race chatting as usual (I like to pick Jenny’s brain on wedding stuff since she works for a restaurant as their events coordinator…it’s really fun for her). I also spent some time looking at the spectators (“Go Mommy” signs made me smile), reading people’s shirts (my favorite: Please, let there be someone behind me to read this” and “this seemed like a good idea 3 months ago”). I could tell it was going to be over before I knew it, so I wanted to really remember and experience the whole thing.
When I crossed the 9-mile mark at 1:49, I thought about Mitch and how he was done or nearly at that point. (His goal was to make it under 1:50.) He makes it look so easy, huh? (And…let’s talk about the sweat band for a minute. Sexy.)
Ok, now back to me. This was around the point my stomach started feeling off, and I slowed down a little, but I didn’t stop! I was drinking my “light” Gatorade throughout the race, but I didn’t end up eating my sports beans because I didn’t want to mess with fumbling in my fuel belt, and I thought the sugar burst might upset my tummy further.
At about mile 10, Jenny picked up her pace and left me in the dust (I kid). I was actually glad to run the last 3 miles solo. I put on my music and thought, “this is MY race…it’s all me.” There might have been Britney Spears’ “Stronger” played 3 times in a row, but I’ll never tell.
When I got to the dreaded “6th Ave hill” I knew I was so close to being done! At this point, I was basically with all the walkers or the walk/runners…but I wasn’t walking and that’s all that matters! I didn’t let myself look up the hill; I just focused about two feet in front of me and plugged away. When I passed mile 12 at the top of the hill as I entered Balboa Park, I felt a surge of adrenaline kick in. New PDR! I didn’t walk up the hill! I was almost there!
(Crappy race photo, but the look on my face is just awesome.)
My foot starting cramping, and I thought to myself, “oh HELL no this isn’t happening now. Just push through!” Then I started feeling a kinda lightheaded, but when I saw the finish line, nothing else mattered. All of a sudden, I looked to my left and saw Mitch, who was looking for me but didn’t see me until I almost ran into him. “Go Baby Go!” he yelled out. “I didn’t walk!” I yelled in return and tried to “sprint” into the end.
I ran through the finish line, throwing my arms up at the last minute and attempting to smile. I thought I would cry at the end, but I think I was too concerned with not passing out to reflect on my achievement. I grabbed some water, and met Mitch and Jenny. Mitch ended up finishing in 1:48:44 (woo hoo!) and Jenny in 2:33ish. We went over to the tents, but they were all out of Jamba Juice samples and I knew brunch was coming so I didn’t eat anything.
A walk to the car, a quick stop at home to shower, and we were off to brunch. Gina, you mentioned something about celebrating responsibly. You can stop reading now.
Actually, half that plate was veggies and fruit, so I guess it’s not so bad. But this was plate 1, mind you. I’ll let you imagine my omelet plate and dessert sampler. And two mimosas.
After brunch, we passed out for a few hours, woke up and went to a family friends’ house for a barbecue (read: even more yummy food). My stomach was NOT happy with me for everything I put it through on Sunday, but oh well.
Remember what I said about my ring getting tight when my hands are swollen? Here’s what it looked like after the race.
Totally not just a gratuitous ring pic. Not at all.
So the question now is, will I do another half? Well, probably not anytime soon. The long runs took a lot out of me, and I need to focus more energy on school from here on out. But I’m sure I’ll do another half at some point. The nice thing about a time of 2:39 is that there’s lots of room for improvement.
I want to take the next few months to improve on my overall fitness (which I feel is lacking as of late, half marathon or not) and figure out how to incorporate healthy living into an insanely busy schedule. I’ll sacrifice some things (sigh…adios, Real Housewives) but workout out is essential and eating right are non-negotiable. As best I can, I want to document this here on the blog, because I know I’m not the only one doing the work/school thing, and I want to prove it can be done.
