The night before the race, I managed to sleep a solid 5 and a half hours, and woke up feeling good. I got up and while making breakfast I thought to myself,
As soon as I was about to take my first bite of food, it suddenly hit me that I no longer felt "great".
I delayed leaving for the race as long as possible, then TriGuy and I headed down to the start.
I hit up the first portapotty I saw then met Rachelle from Livin the Fit Life. We chatted briefly but unfortunately my conversation was less than stellar in an effort to not heave during our first meeting.
I'm so sorry Rachelle. I'm shy but not usually so incredibly lame.
I made another pit stop right before they played the rousing "Is it Live or is it Memorex?" version of Whitney Houston's Star Spangled Banner, and I then ambled over to the race start. It was a small group of us (229 to be exact), and there were no timing chips. Apparently it was a good thing I took TriGuy with me because he once again had to inform me that I was--in fact--racing as people started rushing across the starting line.
What would I ever do without him?
I started the race knowing that a PR was not in the cards, and I was wondering if finishing it would be a possibility. I ran soooooo slowly. Seriously. I was back with the walkers. And thank goodness for them, because they kept me from being in last place. Selfish, I know.
The first part of the course took us through a tree-lined neighbourhood of mansions. At Mile 2 I took a quick break for water and other amenities, then headed back out onto the course. Once I made it to around Mile 5, I came across my cheering squad (TriGuy, Ann Marie, Erika and her daughter)!
Best sign ever.
I chatted with them for a minute and they assured me there were still lots of people behind me. That would change quickly as I veered off-course to the park to visit more "amenities". I then began 5 miles of almost exclusive uphill running. Normally hills would have made me happy, but not that day.
I texted TriGuy around Mile 7 that I was walking. I tried running a couple of times but my body quickly shut that idea down. It was so annoying, but I knew that my awesome fans were waiting for me at the top of the next hill. I then took another 'break', and really thought about a DNF (did not finish). But since I had less than half the race to go, and only 3 more uphill miles, I decided to keep on truckin'. Why, you ask? Because I'm
I blasted the next mile, then shuffled from one hill to the next, steeper one. I stopped at each water station for H20 and Gatorade. Most of the time I was completely alone on the course and had the undivided attention of the volunteers while I savoured my drinks. I even had a couple of nice little chats.
There were some very steep downhills to lead us back to the finish, and once again, I passed my cheering squad with about 2 miles to go. This time, I had a smile on my face because I knew I would finish. They yelled some encouragement to me, and I soaked it in, oblivious to my peril.
I ran through a crowd of day trippers (the course was clearly not being manned anymore), through some light construction, and haphazardly found my way to the finish line...to a staggering 3 hour finish.
I honestly feel that having my friends cheering me on kept me in the race and I'm so grateful to them for being there! The one mistake I made was my wardrobe choice. On the day of my smashing PW (personal worst) by a full 30 minutes, I would say this was the wrong t-shirt to wear.
UPCOMING POSTS: PT, BLOGGER MEETUP
Hey bloggers, link up at Yeah Write with me this week, and readers go on over for some great posts to read!
