In the days leading up to the race I had been checking the weather, quite frequently. And as I feared, race day dawned cold and wet. No matter. I had steeled myself to running in the rain. I had no idea.
I got up early, ate a small white bagel with peanut butter (much against my usual tendency, but wanted to avoid the runners trots) and a banana. I drank a few swigs of coffee, not sure if that would do me in, or help me along. I’m addicted to coffee now and didn’t want a raging headache halfway through the race. I drank as much water as I could till my 2 hour cut off time and then got in the car just at six and was off.
I had packed a gym bag the night before with shower essentials and dry clean clothes and I’m glad I did. I had also planned on taking a jacket, brimmed hat and my camelbak with me on the run. The jacket was a mistake. I need to get a race belt. The hat was a welcome friend.
I arrived at the YMCA that the race was being sponsored and held by at just after 7. I had plenty of time to get situated. I got my race packet which contained a nice t-shirt and instructions. As I was reading over the list of do’s and don’t’s, I was horrified to discover that I had to make it to the 10.2 water support station by 2 hours and either get picked up or risk no traffic support on the remainder of the course in to the Y. This was news to me and I shared it with a new friend that I had met. She too, was a new halfer and was horrified. This would be a race within the race. Great.
I found out I could wear my earbuds and went to the car to put them in. Race time drew near and although the roads were wet, there was just a light mist in the air. Not bad. I thought I could do this. We lined up, my friend and I, talking about who we were and what had brought us to the race, while a man on a megaphone read through the rules and regulations. It was difficult to hear him. Oh well.
There were three distances in the race; a 5K, a 10K and the Half-Marathon. All of the distances were tracking the same course, just having sooner turn around points. Everything was clearly labeled for all distances. I was grateful for that.
The go was shouted and we were off. I was afraid of starting off too quickly and with a new friend, the excitement of a race and not paying attention, I did. We reached the first mile marker and I looked at my watch, 9:30. Too fast. But I didn’t want to be an embarrassment to myself so I tried to keep up with her. I was able to do this until just after the 2 mile mark and I told her to just go. And I started walking.
By this point I had taken off my jacket and tied it around my waist. I hate having something swishy around my waist and I knew I’d hear it through the whole race.
The light mist that had started at the beginning of the race was now a heavier drizzle, still not too bad. And it was cold, but I was warming up quickly. I ran/walked through miles 2-4 ok until I looked behind me and discovered that I was alone. I was very alone. I could still see one last pack of people in front, but by the 4 mile mark the 5K and 10K people had long since turned around and the crowd had thinned considerably and I was alone. Panic set in. I knew it was too early in the race to try to make up for lost time, I had already wasted so much energy in the very start of the race and I also knew that my walking intervals were going to set me back from that last pack even more. But what to do? I was already tired and still had 9 miles to go. I drank more of my tea with honey mix and ate some more raisins, hoping for an energy miracle. It never came.
So I soldiered on. I met each water support station with a smile, a thanks and slight embarrassment. I am glad, though, that I discovered very early in the race that I was at the very end of the pack (what pack? I was a loner.) because that gave me plenty of time to come to grips with it. I continued on my run/walk sequences and was waiting for my second wind which usually comes. But by mile 6 I was very wet, it was raining now and we had a headwind to contend with. It was cold. I was still putting the miles in and saw my time and knew I would probably make that 10.2 cut off in time. But for some reason the 2 miles before that were so long in coming! There were markings from previous races on the ground that I tried to guess my distance on, as they didn’t have every mile listed for this half on the road. So I got confused as I thought I had reached 10 and there was no water support. I thought they gave up early and left, thinking no one was left. But I finally saw them on top of the hill (it was one heck of a hill) and as I was taking my water cup I looked at my watch, 2 hours on the dot. Whew!
It was around this time that I started to feel a stiff ache settle into my leg muscles. It was too early for me to be feeling like this. I usually started to feel an ache by the last mile on my training runs, so I got concerned. By mile 11 I was in pain. But the Lord is good and my friend came running up behind me! I asked her how she got to be behind me and she said she went the wrong way. Ugh! How discouraging for her! So we ran together for a while, soaked, cold and dragging. But she still had more oomph left in her and took off again. I should have been put out by being left twice by the same person, but by this point I was just trying to finish. I didn’t even care if there wasn’t anyone left to hold off traffic. I didn’t care if there wasn’t anyone at the finish line. Someone would be at the front desk, I could ask for my metal there and I had a watch on that could tell me my time. So I didn’t care. And I was still on target for my time. I was doing ok that way.
I continued on and got to the 12 mile mark. The people there on the roads were so encouraging. Because it was pouring now there were no spectators, only the road support. Bless their hearts for staying out there in that. And then at 12.25 miles I crested a hill and was blessed with a beautiful sight. I saw the opposing hill alive with fall colors and a beautiful mist covering part of it. That helped, but I still had much of the way to go. The last half mile of the course was different than the first half mile of the course. I really got confused and didn’t know how much longer I had. I finally turned a corner, muscles screaming and saw the chute. I saw the back of the Y and knew I was home. I saw my family. That gave me the boost I needed and came in at 2:37 my time. I don’t have official time yet.
I got my metal, which is very nice and water. I had great difficulty walking to the showers. I was near delirious and was stumbling all over the place. I had trouble standing upright and even sitting was too much. I didn’t know how I was going to make it into the showers. But I did and the hot water revived my muscles. I was able to get showered, dressed and walk out of the Y upright. Although I had to wear my flip flops because the blisters on my shoes were so big and my feet were so big they didn’t fit in my dry shoes.
I am wondering with how my muscles reacted to the hot water, if the cold wet conditions played a part on my muscles. I have never felt like that before and I trained well for this race. My last long run went extremely well and I felt really good after. This is the worst that I have felt from a run ever. I never got the first or second wind I get after I warm up. It was difficult the entire time.
My husband told me that they were waiting about 10 minutes and in that 10 minute time they kept saying to themselves “she’s running in this?” That made me feel better. Either I’m hardcore or insane. Maybe a little of both. But either way I can clearly say that I’m a Half-Marathoner!
Whoa, that’s surreal.
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