Race Recap
Jeannie, Jenny, Me, and Dee, pre race. We parked the car downtown near the restaurant and packed into the subway with thousands of other runners, sardine style, to get to the start from there.
So! The race! I admit that I had bad feelings and negative self talk going into it. I was immersed in a bit of a pity party due to Nate's extended absence, Friday had been an incredibly hectic day, I felt as though I had been super duper slacking (beyond just a healthy taper) in the past three weeks, and my stomach was bothering me, which I don't know whether to attribute to nerves or an actual bug. Saturday was nice, we did our bike ride, some shopping, a brief stint in the sauna and time on the foam roller, and had a great gluten free pasta dinner. Dee stopped by as we watched the most exciting 2 minutes in sports (the Kentucky Derby), and I was in bed by 9. I slept really well and awoke a little before 5 as I like to have plenty of time to eat, drink coffee, and relax and distract myself by playing on the internet before I have to leave. Brooke and Dee arrived within minutes of one another just before 6, we were at Jeannies by 6:30, and all 5 of us in the car by about 6:40. Got downtown easily, took the subway (a very surreal experience.......all of these tens of thousands of runners with free SEPTA access, trains passing one another packed to the gills with runners of all shapes and forms, nervous excited faces peering out the windows at the passing strangers and filled with anxiety and anticipation.)
We lucked out in bypassing the worst bathroom line ever, and found a better alternative closer to our corrals. Tip: always bring your own roll of toilet paper to a big race. You will be the most popular person in the port a potty line. They played the anthem while we were still in line. We were cutting it close. We decided that I would go first a I was in the closest corral to the front, so I was in, out, and off with some blown kisses to my friends. I was in the purple corral ~ it went wheelchair division, elites, red, then purple, so somehow I got myself into a pretty fast group. I opted to go with music and I'm so glad that I did. I kept it quiet enough to hear the crowd, and I had added a few new songs the night before the race. I threw in a bunch of songs which reminded me of Nate as I was running carrying him in my heart and as my encouragement. If he can do this school thing, manage providing so well for our family, and still be a great Dad, I could run this damn race fast. At least, that was my thought. I added ~ Thunder Road, No Surrender, Sunday Morning, Glory Days, I'm yours, Hey Soul Sister, and even, in the epitome of cheesiness, "Gonna Fly Now" ~ If it worked for Rocky running through South Philly surely it could work for me......and True Companion, which we consider our wedding song. (It was to be for the glamorous fancy wedding we had planned.....but then we eloped instead :). Still our song). No surrender hit me right at mile 2, which was perfect as I was having second thoughts about my pace, and my first three miles are always the most difficult for me.....this was good. I mean, with my Garmin I knew I was ahead of pace to break 1:20 ~ I would have had to maintain a 7:53 pace (or something like that) and I came out of the gates around 7:18, even with navigating the crowd. I figured that I was banking time......if I had to slow down later I would have this time in the bank to still hopefully enable me to hit my goal. Now, here's my confession. Beating 1:20 was my stated goal, but 1:15 was my "real" goal. I wonder if all runners do this. What I really meant was that if I did slower than 1:20 I would be disappointed. If I hit 1:15 I would be thrilled. Hitting 1:13 had me crazy happy.
Right as I hit my stride at mile 3 "Love you like a love song" came on, which is one of my favorites as it just seems to match up well with my cadence. I got a burst of adrenaline. Another one when I passed a wheelchair racer, another one from the marine running carrying a full flag/pole. Another one when I saw the kids from very impoverished neighborhoods out cheering us on. More adrenaline (and tears) seeing the soldier missing a leg running with a prostetic. Coming into miles 5-7 is just awesome ~ rounding City Hall, the crowds are thick, the music is blaring and I was grinning ear to ear. Had a bad water stop at mile 6 ~ got tangled up with another runner, choked on my water a little, then slipped on a discarded cup. That accounted for my slowest mile. I like to stick to the very edge for miles 7-10 ~ love the high fives, the signs rooting on Mommy, the grandparents and Mom's and Dad's out there cheering us on. I can't wait to attend a race one day as a spectator, just to give back some of the awesome energy that the crowd has given me to other runners. Literally just making eye contact with a stranger and hearing them yell "YOU GO GIRL!" gets me moving faster. I'm such a people pleaser, and I know that the crowd gets me running a lot faster than I can on my own (i.e my splits were faster than my 5K last weekend, though it was hillier, I think that it had a lot more to do with wanting to perform my best in front of a crowd. Silly, but effective.
By mile 7 I knew I was going to beat 1:15, barring catastrophy. 7 felt like the longest mile, as the crowd thins out, and I wasn't yet into my countdown of the last two miles. I hit 9 with a huge grin on my face. The crowds are thick and enthusiastic at this point ~ 6 or 8 deep on both sides of the much narrower chute as we enter the naval yard. The cheering is loud. I admit to wondering if I was going to have a bathroom issue right about 9.2. It passed, thankfully. That would really, really, be memorable, in a really, really awful way.
I had signed Nate up for runner tracking ~ so I loved that knowing that he and Tiffany were tracking me (Tiff didn't run, was laid up sick) and I think that it helped spur me on. I crossed timers at about miles 3, 5 and 7, and I loved thinking that somewhere in Budapest Nate was getting updates and knowing that I was achieving my goals. As it turned out, he didn't get a single one, but hell, it drove me to run faster :)
Right at 9.2 True Companion came on. It is a TERRIBLE running song. It is a TERRIBLE finishing song. But as I listened to the words and started increasing my pace, I had tears in my eyes as I thought about how very lucky I am to have a true companion. A man who supports and encourages every silly thing I do, be it running or pottery or whatever I need as far as time with my friends or babysitting or simply time to myself. Nate is my number one fan, and as we grow old together, the friendship and the common interests that we have are just making this ride better and better. I finished hard, and my heart rate was back down to under 100 within minutes. I was so happy. SO HAPPY!
It was a lovely afternoon of a heavily celebration oriented lunch, many of us had PR'd and Jenny and Dee were celebrating their first BSR's, so lets just say we let loose a little. Dee hung around here for a while, Sara came up, and I had a great time snuggling with my sweet kids all night long.
I had a wonderful massage this morning, am about to take a long epsom salt bath, and then watch Game of Thrones in my freshly sheeted bed with the windows open, which I missed last night due to the Flyers Game. The kids and I are cooking up a veggie feast of brussle sprouts and ratatouille and rice, and tonight is our one quiet night before the chaos of the week hits. I'm even going to make some GF brownies as a treat :)
Congrats to Dee and Jeannie on AWESOME races, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude today ~ I will say it is extremely edifying to do something that you think that you cannot do. To finish in the top 50 in my age group, and the top 400 of all 20,000 women runners shocks and awes me. Running is awesome.
I really enjoyed reading all about your race (as well as pre and post). Once again, you inspired me, which I especially needed today. I think it is so totally awesome that you placed in the top 50 of your age group!
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