I DID IT!!!!!! :) :) :) Not only did I cross the finish line, but I had unofficially wanted to hit 2:30 as a time goal. I knew I should run with a goal of just finishing, but I really thought that 2 hours 30 minutes of running should be just about enough for one day. :) There was more than once in the last few weeks where I didn't think that was going to happen, but when the official time posted today it was 2:29:50!
I was having a lot of mental doubts the last few weeks. Once I got back from Phoenix and started having so many chaotic things going on with my life, my training hadn't felt as strong as it had beforehand. Then I started travelign to Raleigh and I was lucky if I was getting in a couple of runs but wasn't doing my yoga or pilates or spin or kettlebells and my runs weren't feeling good. So I was getting nervous that this was going to be an unmitigated disaster. Then I ran the 10k last Saturday. I was still feeling tired from flight delays, we were running a whole loop around Central Park which I hadn't done and I was generally feeling nervous. Than that race started, and I felt good. I did the whole 6.2 miles in just over an hour (1:05:19) and my legs felt good. My lungs felt good until I decided I could kick up the pace for the last mile. :) It was exactly the mental boost I needed to feel like I could get through the half even if it wasn't what it could've been had life not gotten in the way.
So once again I was in Raleigh this week through Thursday night. In some ways that probably helped my nerves this week, because I honestly didn't spend too much time thinking about the race and I think if I'd been here where it was happening it would have been a bigger presence. I got my race number and t-shirt last night. The shirt is nice a corally orange color tech shirt and I'm trying to figure out if I can wear it everyday for the next few weeks. ;)
Anyway, this morning I got up at 4:15am (yes entirely too freaking early) to begin my journey. I was at the PATH station by 5:15 and hit Prospect Park in Brooklyn around 6:10am. The very ironic thing that happened right there is that I saw a boot camp class getting ready to start that was led by the guy who I took boot camp from in NYC for a few weeks last April/May. As if this race wasn't already to a testament to how far I've come physically, the universe was just giving me a little reminder.
So the race officially started at 7am, I probably started around 7:10am based on the time difference between the clocks and my heartrate monitor timer. I had decided to actually do the race with my iPod which I normally don't do. I find it annoying in crowds when people have headphones in and don't pay attention to what's happening around them, but I knew that during the middle miles I was going to need an extra push. So my first mile was to the Black Eyed Pea's "Let's Get It Started", I mean its only fitting right? The song even has the lyrics "running, running" in it. The first mile was feeling good and we were just a bit into the second when I heard a lot of whistles and shouting for us to get over to the left right before 6 cyclists zoomed by us. I thought they were just kind of rude cyclists and then everybody around me started cheering. I was like what in the world is going on. Then I realized that those were the pace cyclists who were leading the people whose goal wasn't just to finish but to win. The course required two loops around Propsect Park, I wasn't even to the second mile and these guys were on the second lap already! I actually said to myself, they might be faster but they're not going to be out here for two and a half hours like I am. Around mile 3 or so, the cheers started again and I realized it was because the lead woman was passing us. I thought it was pretty cool that everybody cheered for her too.
So Propsect Park is pretty hilly, but I have to say that while I don't really like uphills, I've come to appreciate running on hills because whether you're going up or down you have something aiding your momentum a bit. When we hit the flat miles, it was actually much more annoying because every step was me and me alone. There were also a lot of spectators in the park which makes it fun. Lots of people cheering and some really fun signs like "Run Fast the Rapture is Coming" and "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon." The only bad thing about the first 7 miles was that I did have to stop for 2 minutes for the Port-a-Potties, my bladder is not sufficiently trained for distance running yet. I kind of wish the race had been a 7 mile race because I left the park feeling really good and happy. Of course the miles that were most mentally difficult were coming up.
I actually was physically and mentally ok until somewhere in mile 8. My legs started feeling really heavy about then and I walked for about a block to help get the muscles to loosen up a bit. Having done that, I ran the next mile and a half or so until I hit mile 10. Miles 10 and 11 were actually the most mentally draining. I had been asked recently how you can mentally tackle a half marathon and I said I guess I'd find out. The way I did it today was to focus on 1 mile, 12 minutes. At mile 8, I was at a time of just under 1:30 and I said to myself if you do 5-12 minute miles you make the 2:30 mark. So even when I was feeling tired and cranky, I just had to do the mile in 12 minutes. And think about how fast 12 minutes goes by when you're running late or sitting at a stop light or watching TV, suprisingly for me they actually went that way in the race. If I wanted to stop and walk, I'd look at my watch and say surely you can last another x minutes until the mile marker. I'd then walk through the aid station and at mile 10 a few more blocks past and then I'd pick it up again. The walking actually really helped me to get the bounce back in my running step, but by foucusing on the 12 minute thing I also made sure that my walking was pretty fast because I knew I didn't have it in my legs to run any faster than my normal 10-10:30/mile pace.
When I hit mile 12, I knew I was in the home stretch. I did walk a block past the aid station just to get my legs loose again and then I ran the rest of the race. I didn't realize that around mile 12.7 we'd be running up a ramp to the boardwalk but I had amazingly good spring in my step up it. I also realized that having Daughtry's Home be the last song on my iPod and ending about 2 minutes before the race finished was perfect. The reason Daughtry's home was perfect comes down to two different lyrics... "the miles are getting longer in seems" and "this pain is a different kind of pain". I then grabbed the head phones out of my ears just in time to reach the speakers. When I hit mile marker 13 and knew I only had .1 miles to go and that I was within reach of 2:30 I poured what little I had left in to it. I was suprised that I actually cried a little after I crossed the finish line.
One of the quotes I've used to guide my attempts to get healthier is that "Life is not about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself". I have been working hard to create myself as an athlete. There are ways to get in shape like Zumba and kickboxing that don't really make you an athlete but someone who works out, I really and truly want to be an athlete. But somewhere in mile 8, I also had to find myself because when you're tired and you're pretty sure you have 8 blisters forming on your feet (none actually exist but I was sure they were there then!) you have to push yourself through it. I don't necessarily love running, but I do love the inventory it makes you take of yourself, the fact that deep down you have to find the inspiration in you to make it to the end. Our bodies are amazing, amazing machines that can be trained to do incredible things. We can also abuse our bodies in many, many ways, but when we stop abusing them and start embracing them our bodies are capable of great things.
So, now its been about 9 hours since race time and my body is feeling suprisingly okay. I'm definitely tired even after taking a nap and my legs feel worn out, but not in pain. I'm sure tomorrow will be the real test.
So in closing, I'll leave you with a quote from the Penguin John Bingham ""The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
