A Fun 13.1
Bite This: My friend and I were two of approximately 7,000 people running this weekend in the half marathon. That's not counting the 5,000 in the full marathon and the hundreds of spectators along the way.
It's done. Despite the hip injury, and resulting lack of training (down to running only 2 days/week for the last month and a half), I made it through the half marathon. And I am ready to do another one. Well, maybe once my hip heals.
I can see how people get addicted to this kind of thing. From waking up at 4:45 am and standing for what felt like hours at the starting line, to the spectators, entertainment, and having the company of someone else the whole way, it made for a really fun Saturday morning.
The race itself was pretty cool, running through parts of downtown, the plaza, Westport, the Power and Light district...basically anywhere and everywhere I have been to a bar. The weather was not so cool, or quite literally, it was cool. It was a balmy 37 degrees which felt like 27 degrees. Luckily it was not raining like it had been all Friday and Friday night. The spectators made this race. My parents faught the traffic and the parking hassle and I saw my dad twice on the course. My mom was at mile 8, right when I was starting to feel it, so she gave me a nice boost, and also got a nice picture of my backside. My favorite sign along the way simply stated, "You're running better than the government." Well said, well said. And the band playing Van Morrison at mile 6 also gave my friend and I the motivation to start dancing....while running. It involves a lot of fist pumping.
Not only was this my first half marathon, but it was also my friend's first. What was bizarre to everyone we met along the race, was that this was also our first time running together. We did not think anything of it, really, since we run about the same pace, but apparently that's an odd thing to do for a race. But it was awesome in spite of the fact that I cannot run in a straight line and ran into her a few times. I had someone to talk to, to encourage me, and to push me along the way. (We were also in different age divisions, so I did not feel as competitive. JK.)
I started the morning off with two cups of coffee (because, side note- caffeine enhances performance) and about the maximum dose of Ibuprofen, and was feeling good. My friend's husband was nice enough to pick me up and drop us off, so the anxiety of parking and getting there on time was gone. I felt great through mile 8 and then my hip decided to pop in and say hello. But I ignored the dull ache and continued on. My friend pushed me from mile 8-10 when I was starting to get a little mentally fatigued, and as she was getting pumped up. About mile 10, my friend was starting to feel fatigued with a side of knee pain, and after handing her a spare Ibuprofen from my Pez dispenser, I kicked it up a notch because we only had 3.1 miles left. Mile 11, my friend and I just started kicking it and we ended up sprinting into the finish (which my cross country coach always said, "why are you sprinting at the finish? You should be too fatigued to do that, and if you're not, you're not running fast enough throughout the race.") We started out with the 2 hour pace team and ended up ahead of the 1:55 pace team with a time of 1:54:05, finishing in the top 20%. The endorphin rush lasted for the remainder of the day, hence, the reason why this kind of thing is addicting.
The recovery process included drinking about 20 ounces of water, and about 36 ounces of wine. I felt great afterwards, but this morning everything was sore including my toenails (which one of them is now black). So what did I do? I went for a 4 mile "shake-out" run. (It really wasn't any different than a 4-mile training run - I obviously do not know how to recover correctly or pace myself.)
So, this is a really long post about a half marathon which is not nearly as hardcore as a full or not nearly as great as running my 10th or 50th half marathon, but to me, this means something. And, well, this blog is all about me afterall.
At the finish line, after I made sure my pale friend was not going to collapse, we looked at each other and said, "yeah, next year, we're doing the full." Because, well, running 13.1 miles is just not enough fun.
Sound bite: Nothing...I got nothing. I am leaving for paradise in a few days gaining a new sister-in-law, so my brain is already on vacation.
It's done. Despite the hip injury, and resulting lack of training (down to running only 2 days/week for the last month and a half), I made it through the half marathon. And I am ready to do another one. Well, maybe once my hip heals.
I can see how people get addicted to this kind of thing. From waking up at 4:45 am and standing for what felt like hours at the starting line, to the spectators, entertainment, and having the company of someone else the whole way, it made for a really fun Saturday morning.
The race itself was pretty cool, running through parts of downtown, the plaza, Westport, the Power and Light district...basically anywhere and everywhere I have been to a bar. The weather was not so cool, or quite literally, it was cool. It was a balmy 37 degrees which felt like 27 degrees. Luckily it was not raining like it had been all Friday and Friday night. The spectators made this race. My parents faught the traffic and the parking hassle and I saw my dad twice on the course. My mom was at mile 8, right when I was starting to feel it, so she gave me a nice boost, and also got a nice picture of my backside. My favorite sign along the way simply stated, "You're running better than the government." Well said, well said. And the band playing Van Morrison at mile 6 also gave my friend and I the motivation to start dancing....while running. It involves a lot of fist pumping.
Not only was this my first half marathon, but it was also my friend's first. What was bizarre to everyone we met along the race, was that this was also our first time running together. We did not think anything of it, really, since we run about the same pace, but apparently that's an odd thing to do for a race. But it was awesome in spite of the fact that I cannot run in a straight line and ran into her a few times. I had someone to talk to, to encourage me, and to push me along the way. (We were also in different age divisions, so I did not feel as competitive. JK.)
I started the morning off with two cups of coffee (because, side note- caffeine enhances performance) and about the maximum dose of Ibuprofen, and was feeling good. My friend's husband was nice enough to pick me up and drop us off, so the anxiety of parking and getting there on time was gone. I felt great through mile 8 and then my hip decided to pop in and say hello. But I ignored the dull ache and continued on. My friend pushed me from mile 8-10 when I was starting to get a little mentally fatigued, and as she was getting pumped up. About mile 10, my friend was starting to feel fatigued with a side of knee pain, and after handing her a spare Ibuprofen from my Pez dispenser, I kicked it up a notch because we only had 3.1 miles left. Mile 11, my friend and I just started kicking it and we ended up sprinting into the finish (which my cross country coach always said, "why are you sprinting at the finish? You should be too fatigued to do that, and if you're not, you're not running fast enough throughout the race.") We started out with the 2 hour pace team and ended up ahead of the 1:55 pace team with a time of 1:54:05, finishing in the top 20%. The endorphin rush lasted for the remainder of the day, hence, the reason why this kind of thing is addicting.
The recovery process included drinking about 20 ounces of water, and about 36 ounces of wine. I felt great afterwards, but this morning everything was sore including my toenails (which one of them is now black). So what did I do? I went for a 4 mile "shake-out" run. (It really wasn't any different than a 4-mile training run - I obviously do not know how to recover correctly or pace myself.)
So, this is a really long post about a half marathon which is not nearly as hardcore as a full or not nearly as great as running my 10th or 50th half marathon, but to me, this means something. And, well, this blog is all about me afterall.
At the finish line, after I made sure my pale friend was not going to collapse, we looked at each other and said, "yeah, next year, we're doing the full." Because, well, running 13.1 miles is just not enough fun.
Sound bite: Nothing...I got nothing. I am leaving for paradise in a few days gaining a new sister-in-law, so my brain is already on vacation.
Nicely done Lara! love that slogan - "You're running better than the government" ...enjoy Hawaii!
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