I have to be honest . . . it was one of the worst days of my life. And yet, one of the best as well. Just being honest here, people!
It started out at about 4 am. For weeks now, I've been obsessively checking the weather, and I've been saddened and dismayed to discover that the forecast was highs in the 60's and rain. Seriously? For the last three months, I've been training in freezing temperatures. And now it's going to be in the 60's? What a fluke! And the rain? I've already seen some people run marathons in the rain, and it is not pretty, folks. Not pretty at all.
So here we are, 4 am. Luckily, Mike got up with me and set out to help me put BodyGlide on my entire body. My hands were shaking, I was feeling nervous as a cat, and I'm putting slippery stuff all over me. Nice! The deal with BodyGlide is that it helps prevent chafing. Chafing feels pretty darn nasty, especially if you are all wet from running in the rain for over two hours. Slippery BodyGlide it is. We put it everywhere. Even the parts of me that were covered by clothes, as those are usually the worst chafed parts when it rains!
I grabbed my neatly packed bag, got myself a cup of coffee, and Mike loaded me into the truck with a kiss and a smile. I was still scared to death. I drove over to my running partner Elle's house, where her friend picked us up and drove us downtown. I sat in the back feeling like I was going to puke the entire time. I'm not sure why I was so nervous, but I think I was afraid of failure. That, or blisters from running in the rain! I tried to stay calm by eating my usual breakfast and sucking down my coffee, but I really wasn't fooling anyone.
Once we were parked, we walked several blocks to the George R. Brown Convention Center, and I began to feel a bit calmer. When we made it inside, we checked our bags, and then settled in with the rest of the KatyFit group. We met up with our running friends, cracked jokes, used the portapotties, and generally just tried to keep my mind off the inevitable. Eventually, it was time to walk down to the starting chutes.
Because so many runners participate in the Chevron/Aramco Marathon and Half Marathon, the runners are divided into different starting times based on their estimated finish. We were placed in the Black Chute, and we worked our way up to the front of it, and made one last portapotty stop before the race started.
The first 5K of the race was exhilarating! When the starting gun went off, I felt like the entire culmination of the last few months was finally beginning, and I was so excited. We started slow (about an 11:00 pace), and began working our way through the large group of runners. Over and over again, we were told how awesome our "Hell on Heels" shirts were. I'm so glad that we had them made - I felt so proud to be wearing such a cool running shirt!
However, at about mile 4 I had to stop and check out my foot. Come to find out, despite the BodyGlide, and despite the fact that it hadn't even rained yet, I had started to develop a large blister on the ball of my left foot. I hadn't got blisters the entire season - why would they start now? The only idea I can come up with is the BodyGlide - I'd also never used it all over my feet before . . . I tried to put a bandaid on it, but by mile 4.5 we had to stop again so I could take the bandaid off as it was hurting worse than it had without it.
As we approached the 10K mark, I got a huge lift as my family was standing there in the intersection to cheer for us! Mike's parents graciously stayed home with our kids, so that Mike and my parents, my brother and sister in law, my BFF Amanda and her son Grayson, and my friend Kelley could come up and cheer for me. It takes some huge family love to willingly stand in the rain just to see your loved one run by real quick, but they did that for me and I am forever grateful! I wasn't close enough to high five them as we were on the other side of the two lane road, but seeing them brought tears to my eyes and helped me push through.
The course was about this crowded throughout the entire race!
Mugging for the camera!
As we started working on the third 5K of the race, the heat began to get to me. It would alternately drizzle for five minutes and then the sun would come out in blazes. It felt terrible - like a sweltering jungle. My body just wasn't used to the heat. Elle and I switched to running a 10/1 interval (running for ten minutes and walking for one minute), but I still couldn't get a hold on my breathing and my body temperature. I started looking around for water like a camel in the desert. I actually found an unopened water bottle on the side of the road and opened it up, then dumped it all over the front and back of me, and inside my hat. It helped (somewhat) to cool me off.
Pointing and screaming SOCKS!
Changing the socks . . . I could barely even stand up!
Quick kiss from Mike to carry me through!
We turned around at approximately mile 9 and began to work towards the finish line. This put us passing right by my family and friends again, and as soon as I saw Mike I pointed my finger at him and screamed SOCKS! He had brought a dry pair of socks for me to change into. At the time, it seemed like a great idea, but looking back it was difficult to make the change, and it took about 5 minutes. Next time, no socks, I swear!
As we approached mile 11, my mental game was really off. I actually had to walk for quite a few minutes instead of just one, and I started crying. I'm embarrassed to say that, but it's part of the process of running a long distance - at some point you have emotions and they have to be let out somehow. Elle put her arm around me and calmed me down, and the other runners around me encouraged me and told me what a great job I had done getting to that point. It helped, but then I was just embarrassed that they all saw me crying! I decided to pick up my feet again and push on.
Finishing on my own - proud and strong!
As we neared the finish around mile 12.5, I encouraged Elle to take off on her own and finish strong. I wasn't feeling like I had any energy left in me at that point, and then as I watched her take off and get about two blocks ahead of me, I tried in vain to pick up the pace and catch her, but there were too many people between us at that point and I just couldn't run that fast! However, I did run the final portion at a strong pace, and crossed the finish line with a smile. Elle was there waiting for me, having finished about three minutes earlier. I'm so glad she ran the race with me - she helped me so much! Plus we ran into all of our KatyFit running buddies at the finish line as well!
Me, Roy, Brin, Coach Bob, Jenny and Chuck
So, I'm officially a half marathoner now! Was it worth it? Absolutely. Oh yes, and my time . . . 2:26:34. I'll take that, thank you very much!
