I ran the whole time, I didn't walk at all as a result of being tired. I kept my slow & steady pace and made it to the finish!!
I finished the race in 2:25:48. I'm very happy with my time, I just wanted to A.) Finish B.) Finish under 2:30 HRS if I was able to! <--I knew if I kept my pace steady, I could do this.
My husband, myself, & my 2 fellow runners went to Dallas on Saturday to get to the Expo, get our packets/shirts, & check in to our hotel in order to wake up bright and early on Sunday morning for the race!
(I even bought a foam roller @ the expo = good decision on my part.) None of us really had a solid nights sleep the night before the race, partially due to jitters and partially do to the fact that we SPRING AHEAD time change took place late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.... awful. Either way, it worked out. We woke up early, showered to wake up... I ate half a banana & a Nutrigrain bar to fuel for the race. The race used water, Cytomax (Ew), & GU gel(Double Ew) on the course. I trained with Gatorade, so I filled my 4 Fuel Belt bottles with Gatorade. I knew 4 bottles of Gatorade would be enough for my 13.1 run + the water on the course. If I ran a full (26.2), obviously just 4 little bottles of Gatorade wouldn't be enough, but it worked out pretty well here.
The race started at 8 AM, so we left he hotel around 7. My awesome husband dropped us all off and then took care of the car situation so he could meet us at the finish! It was NOT warm that morning, especially when you're only wearing a tank top & shorts. We got there, got in line for the portapotty ASAP....race day jitters made the bathroom a much visited place for everyone that morning! haha. We checked our gear and then went to our corrals. Amelia & I were in the same corral and Neil was like 5 corrals in front of us. It was COLD... I kept stretching, but the cold made it a little difficult to keep my muscles warm and willing to move around. They used a wave start - which meant 1 corral at a time would start into the race. Our corral didn't start until like 20 minutes into the race. At this point, we all just REALLY wanted to get started. We finally started.... for the first mile or so I was still really cold, my hands were numb and 2 middle toes in each foot were numb too...weird I know. I was worried they'd stay like that the whole race, but it went away pretty quickly which I was very happy about. I was running just behind Amelia until about mile 2 or 3, when I stopped for a 4 second potty break...it was distracting me & I really had to go!! I didn't have to wait in line at all and I attached my fuel belt on the run again, as to not waste any time.... probably the fastest bathroom break I've ever had. It was nice to run through Dallas, we ran through some beautiful neighborhoods with some serious houses. Wow.
It warmed up pretty nicely as the race went on too. The sun was out & it was turned into a perfect day for running. I had a t-shirt on over my tank top and wanted to take it off, so I did without stopping to walk. Keep in mind my BIB# was pinned to my t-shirt and my fuel belt was over my t-shirt too... so I had to pull the shirt out from under the fuel belt, un-safety pin my BIB#, take off my headphones, take off my shirt, tuck my shirt in my fuel belt (all while BIB# & headphones in my mouth and STILL running), plug my headphones back in and put back in my ears, and re-safety pin my BIB# to my tank top. Now that's multi-tasking for ya. People watching probably thought I was nuts, but there is no way I was stopping. Anyway, SUCCESS... runing in tank top commenced. The race had a 2 person relay too...so at about mile 7 was the relay switch. When people were switching out, I was thinking; "Crap, that's it? I've only done half?! Oh well, I'll keep going." So that's what I did! They passed out GU at mile 9-ish (Gross). No, I didn't take any. I would have for sure tossed my cookies. I just can't get past the texture, so I just kept up with my Gatorade! Mile 10 I was feeling pretty good... pretty sore, but pretty good. My knees were a little sore (which isn't something that normally bothers me), my hips were sore, my feet were sore, my calves were sore... quads & hams actually felt ok. I just ignored the pain and kept on! My friend gave me an awesome quote the day before by an awesome author I've read - "If you can't run, then walk. And if you can't walk, then crawl. Do what you have to do. Just keep moving forward and never, ever give up." ~Dean Karnazes (Author or Ultra-Marathon Man, Confessions of an All-Night Runner) I kept thinking that in my head. Mile 11 I got a second wind somehow! I felt pretty good... only 2 miles to go. Starting picking up the pace a little at 11.5 (couldn't believe I still had some wind in me to do this). Mile 12 I really sped up, the spectator crowds started to thicken, I felt closer to the end, and I wanted to finish with a decent time! I turned up my music and ran faster than I had throughout the whole race. I don't really know where that last kick came from, but it came from somewhere down deep and it felt awesome! I was passing virtually everyone around me (let me tell you, I'm not a fast runner, so this was a new feeling for me.) I could see the finish, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were cheering, the announcing was excited & urging everyone to the end and BAM! I crossed the finish line!! One of the best, most accomplishing feelings I've ever felt! Like 5 seconds after I crossed I found Neil & Amelia and we all celebrated together!! I got my finisher's medal and we moved through the 'Runner's Secure Zone' - we took our Finisher's picture, grabbed some water, fruit, muffins, bagels, basically anything we could get our hands on. We were HUNGRY! As soon as we walked out of the Secure Zone, we found my husband! It was awesome to see him. I will say... the only negative thing of the day, while he was waiting for us and using the portapotty - his Rayban sunglasses fell off his head and into the toilet. GROSS. Poor thing was understandably bummed about that, but he was still awesome to us and very happy at our success!! (I think I may have even converted him!!! He might do a half with me!! He could feel the excitement everyone was experiencing.)
All in all, it was a GREAT experience. Pete(my husband) drove us to Chipotle (the BEST Chipotle I have ever tasted - if you know me, you know how much I love that place and how depressed I am that we don't have one where we live.) We hobbled around a bit, then crashed in our hotel for a couple hours... we were all pretty drained. We went the Dallas Galleria mall today and walked around a bit - which I was impressed we could even do this, but we did! It helped our sore muscles to move around a bit. We're all still pretty sore and probably will be for a couple days. Here's what's sore right now: hip flexors, hips, calves, my right achilles tendon is pretty tight - my quads & hams actually aren't too bad. But guess what?! NO major shin splints!! I have some shin soreness, but it really isn't bad! I'm so happy about that...considering it put my training on hold for a short bit. I love my foam roller that I bought at the expo - I had been using the one at the gym, so I'm glad I have one for home.
So now that I've had such a successful experience with my first half marathon, here's my next debate:
Chicago Marathon - 10/10/10 <--how cool is that? Also the race I was training for last year, before I got shingles. Now that I've done a half, part of me says "If I can do a half, I can do a full with proper training." and the other part of me says, "Don't push your luck, stick with a half, because you know you can do it."
OR
Chicago Half-Marathon - 9/12/10 <--I know I can do a half, and mayyyybe just maybe I can convince Pete to do this one with me!
I also am pretty set on doing the Soldier Field 10-Mile on 5/29/10.
So basically I need to choose from the Chicago Half or the Chicago Full. Decisions, decisions!! Input would be greatly appreciated!!
Here are some pictures from race day! Enjoy! I know I did!
