And forgive me for saying / typing this but Holy Sh** Balls, Batman. That was rough!!
Let me tell you the story of how I barely survived 13.1 miles.
And how I'm crazy enough to do it again....
The half marathon was scheduled for 10pm on Friday night. Which meant that we (meaning Coach Jim and I, of course) had to work all day and then go run for a few hours. And of course, because I needed time to de-stress and relax for a few minutes, I missed the Trax train home and had to wait a half hour for the next one. Which made me late to get home which left no time to get rid of all the clutter in my brain.
I was off to a fantastic start.
So after a quick little hissy fit about being too tired to do this crap and dragging myself to the car, I shrugged off the negative attitude since that just won't help anyone and we headed up to Farmington.
We had to catch the bus to the starting line at 8pm and I'm really not sure why they left that early because the race didn't start for 2 hours so once we got there we had to just stand around and wait. And of course, since we forgot to put on bug spray, there were mosquitoes everywhere. (Wow...we're good at this.)
We sat around and contemplated our bitchin' outfits for a while. That passed the time.
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| Notice all the glow sticks behind me. We weren't messin' around... |
But we looked good! See!
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| I like that Jim looks like a super hero with the Spartan logo and a utility belt :) |
We didn't get a picture of the starting line but it was a lit up archway in the middle of the dark trail. It looked pretty cool. And it wasn't until we were herd like cattle to the front of the line that I realized, "holy crap. I have to do this now. It's time to run....for a really long time. What have I done??"
I tend to do better in races and I think it's the energy from all the other racers that help me stay pumped.So I tend to take off a little too fast from the starting line which wears me out after a few miles. For those moments when I start to slow down or get a little frustrated, I have an awesome coach to help me stay motivated.
That said, the first 5 miles went by pretty smooth. I would say they went by fast but that would be a total lie. If it wasn't so dark outside, I probably could have seen that stupid snail cruisin' past me. Damn, he sucks.
At the 5 mile mark, Jim's mom, aunt and nephew were there to cheer us on. I couldn't believe they were up that late. I mean, it was past my bedtime on the bus ride to the starting line! So they snapped a few pictures while I was still feeling good. I just wish it stayed that way!!
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| (staged) Action shot! I'm surprised she even got this picture. I mean, we're so fast.... |
Miles 5 - 7 were pretty uneventful except that I had to pee really bad. Running when you have to pee sucks! I felt like I was carrying an extra 50 lbs around in my bladder. And it got worse as the miles went on and on and on and on.
But somewhere out in the dark, dark distance we could hear a tiny little voice yelling "Gatorade, water and Gu!" I hear you little kid! And I know there's a porta potty up there with you! I can make it....just a little bit farther until the sweet, sweet porta potty.
Ew...this blog totally veered left. Sorry..back on track.
I think I started to notice how tired I was about 8 miles in. By that time, I had matched my farthest distance. Every mile past that was marking another small victory. But it was painful.
We got to ten miles and the guy at the water station reminds us of how many miles we have left. "Just a 5k left now," he says.
I can do that! I've done a few 5ks! This is nothing....
WORST 5K EVER!!!
My feet were screaming at me. My legs are like jello and I feel like no matter how hard I try, I can't catch my breath. Which actually led to a scary little episode where I actually hyperventilated. No joke.
I really don't want to admit that because its not like I was competing in the Iron Man! I've only run 11 miles!
But that was still farther than I had run so I was tired and not paying attention to my breathing. It only happened for about 20 seconds or so but it was enough to scare the crap out of me and Jim. Once my lungs decided to stop freaking out, we were on our way again with only 1.5 miles to go.
The last mile was the longest mile I have ever run....ever. This was the point where I started to feel a little emotional. I seriously had a moment where I thought the finish line was fictional. All I wanted in my life in those last few minutes was a view of the finish line so I knew it actually existed.
Finally...in the distance...in that smelly parking lot in Farmington, the finish line stood gloriously ahead of us. I'm pretty sure I blacked out the last few feet. I heard Jim tell me to smile as we crossed the line. I don't remember what I said in response but it probably wasn't even in words. I think it was more of a grunt. I didn't smile. But I made it.
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| A few feet from the finish line. I'm dying right now! |
Ha! I did it!! I successfully completed a half marathon! Woo hoo!
I have never been so physically exhausted in my life.
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| Forced smile...barely conscious |
Even though it was rough, I'm really glad I did it. It's such an amazing feeling of accomplishment when you're finally done and can actually comprehend what the hell is going on around you.
So, on that note, I have 3 more half marathons to do before this year is over.
1. Fire Station Half Marathon in Sandy, UT
2. Halloween Half Marathon in Provo, UT
3. Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas, NV
And then.....the first FULL marathon.
We're all registered for the Big Sur International Marathon along the California coast line in April.
I've got a lot of work to do, y'all. And don't worry, I'll keep you posted on the ups and downs.
I have a feeling there will be a lot of them.
Well done!
ReplyDeleteCongrat's! Sounds hard, but what an awesome feeling to finish!
ReplyDeleteWooohoo! You did it! :)
ReplyDelete