Yes this is a 2 part post because I have a lot to say!
Half #3 is in the books. It wasn’t my best performance but considering
the heat and humidity, I did well. In one of my last post before the race, I
mentioned I wanted to complete it in under 3 hours. I didn’t do that and I’m ok
with it. I’ll explain later why I’m ok with it.
Race Morning
My silent alarm on my Fitbit went off at 4am and I got my sorry butt
out of bed. We had a late night so I was going on about 4 hours sleep. Not the
most ideal but what are you going to do. I got all my gear on and had two
pieces of bread with Nutella. I checked the weather and it was 63 and humid.
The sun wasn’t up yet so that means it was going to be a hot/muggy day. I had a
plan in mind of how I was going to run this race and I was going to try and
stick to it. That never works so I’m not sure why I even try. Ha!
DJ got up and gave me a ride to the shuttle bus. Looking back, it
really wasn’t necessary as she really only could drive me to the end of the
apartments driveway as the shuttle busses were blocking the way. There were
busses everywhere. There were people everywhere. This was a crazy experience
for me. I felt very alone surrounded by these thousands of people. I just kept
thinking of my race and what I wanted from this day. I eventually got on a
shuttle bus and the driver had the heat blasting. Seriously? It is hot and
humid and you have the heat on? WHY??
The ride to the starting line seemed to last forever. I’m sure part of
that was the heat and also I just wanted to get on with this race. We finally
get to the drop off point and I stand in line for a porta-potty. It was the
longest line ever for one porta-potty. The time quickly ticked away. People
were sick of waiting and relieved themselves in the bushes. I’m not there yet.
We heard the National Anthem and the horn and there were still 20 people in
front of me. I decided to screw it, I’ll go later if I really need to. The
actual starting line was a third of a mile ahead. So I made my way to the start
and right before the start was a sea of porta-potties. Like 200 of them and no
lines! WTF? I wasted my time in line when I could have just ventured down here?
ARGH! This isn’t a great start. I made a quick stop at the bathroom before
heading to the actual start. There were hundreds of people behind me still
waiting in line for the bathrooms. It really is silly.
The Start
By the time I actually got to the starting line, the area was pretty
much empty. The clock said 13 minutes or something like that which means I
started way after the gun went off. This
is not what I had envisioned for my start of Grandma’s Half Marathon. I didn’t
have time to be disappointed…I had to GO! The one benefit to having nobody
around me at the start was I could start my intervals earlier. I didn’t feel
like I had to run the first mile without stopping. There wasn’t anybody around
to guilt me! I was going along at a really good pace and just tried to take in
all the scenery around me. Around the .75 miles I saw a “Go Kim Go” sign and I
thought that is cute, there is another Kim here…but wait a minute. Linda is
holding it and Mike is there in his bright neon green shirt. WTF? Am I seeing
clearly? I stopped for a bit to talk but they kept yelling “Go, Go, Go!” The
left Arcadia at 2am to drive to Duluth to see me run! Crazy! I was in shock…I’m still in shock! It made me
a little teary eyed. My first mile came
in at 12:15. I liked that pace a lot. Mile 2 and 3 were pretty much the same as
mile 1. There was the lake and there were houses. Not a lot of people but some
people were out in their yards supporting us. It was still very early. I
remember looking at my watch and thought it must be 8 am already and it was
only 6:45. Ha! It was nice seeing people supporting us. The first water stop
was at mile 2 and I took a couple waters because it was already hot. I poured
one over my head. Between mile 2 and 3 we lost the nice lake breeze and it just
got stale and hot. Miles 2 and 3 came in pretty close to each other at 12:29
and 12:32. I was trying to maintain an even pace. I saw Mike and Linda again at
mile 3. It was great to have somebody to
cheer you on.
The course was not flat by any stretch of the imagination. There were
definitely rolling hills. But it was nothing like Lola’s. The great thing about
this course is the support.
After the third mile I decided to take some sports beans. I was
sweating a lot and I need the salt. I learned not to put a handful into my
mouth at once because I have a hard time chewing so I threw a couple in and
then a couple more and then I bit into something hard. I’m like WTF? (I thought
that a lot during this race). I spit it out and realized it was an Advil. I had
forgotten that I put 3 Advil in my Sports Beans bag to have for later. Well I
thought what the heck and swallowed them down. Somewhere around mile 4 started
the showers. People put out showers/sprinklers to run through and cool us off.
I ran through all of them. A family was cutting up banana and giving us some
chunks. That was great. I love bananas. Mile 4 was a tad bit slower at 12:37
but still well within my plan of keeping my pace around 12:35 in the
beginning.
The Middle
Mile 5 was the last one along Lake Superior. It was really starting to
get hot and I was feeling it. I need to keep myself cool if I was going to keep
going. I poured some of my water onto my buff to wipe my face. It was nice but
it got warm quickly. I saw Mike and Linda again around mile 5. I think I heard
only 9 more to go or something like that. Ha! Mile 5 slowed down quite a bit to
12:58 but my overall pace was still in my desired pace range so I didn’t worry
too much.
At mile 6 we had another water stop. From this point on there was one
every mile and with the hot day it was needed! They also had ice. I would take
a couple of ice and put it in my bra (it works!) and another I wrapped into my
buff to cool my face. That worked great too. I’m so glad they had ice. My mile
6 mile was 13:32. I slowed down another 30 seconds. This wasn’t good. My overall
pace fell to 12:44. I started feeling like I wasn’t going to break 3 hours. It
made me sad but I pressed on. It was also during this time I got sick of my
visor. I was hoping to see Mike and Linda during mile 7 but they didn’t catch
me again until mile 9 so I carried that damn visor for 4 miles. Mile 7 slowed again but this time only by 12
seconds to 13:44. It was at this point I changed my goal and said I would try
and keep my miles under 14. The heat really played havoc on me but thankfully I
wasn’t like some people who passed out. Somewhere around mile 6 and 7, an
ambulance had to pick up a runner lying in the shade. Her running friends were
all around her and when they started running again and leaving their friend
behind I heard one say, “why didn’t they elevate her legs, she didn’t have a
pulse!” Yikes. I’m assuming she is ok as I don’t think anybody died.
Between mile 7 and 8, I saw Kristin, Danielle’s friend and fellow
bridesmaid in Danielle’s wedding. She lived nearby. I stopped for a short hello
and picture and pressed on. I was really slow at this point. I took advantage
of every sprinkler, shower, water, ice, food I could see…except the alcohol.
Not for me!
Coming up to the end of mile 8, I heard what I thought was a polka
band. But it was very faint. The closer I got to the mile 8 marker I was sure I
was hearing polka music. Yep! There were some guys playing accordions. I took a
quick selfie…my first time of this whole run. As soon as I started running I
had a huge emotional rush come over me and I was bawling. It was so odd. I
don’t normally start crying but that did. I think it was because it was the day
before Father’s Day. For a moment it was like my dad was with me. I wiped my
tears with my iced buff and continued my trek. Mile 8 slowed down even more to
14:11 but I stopped to take a selfie and I cried for a solid quarter of a mile
so I say whatever.
To calm myself down, I started counting steps as I ran and walked. I
know this sounds crazy but it worked! I would walk for 15 paces each foot and
then run for 40-60 paces each foot and counted it. It distracted my mind and I
actually got faster! By this point in the race I was surrounded by a lot of
walkers so the fact I was able to still getting some running it was amazing.
I was so relieved to get some bananas, strawberries, oranges and frozen
grapes during mile 9. They were so good. I have to remember the frozen grapes! I
was so happy to have real food. I saw Mike and Linda one last time just after
the 9 mile mark and the horrible Lemon Drop hill. The hill wasn’t horrible but
I was tired and cranky and didn’t want to run it. But I saw Mike’s shirt so I
had to keep running. Just before them that was a digital road sign that said
4.1 miles to go. I threw my sweaty visor at Linda and kept on going. Mile 9 was
a bit faster and under 14 minutes again at 13:58. Woo hoo!
Not long after that at mile 10, I saw DJ and Katelynn for the first
time. I told them there was no way I was making 3 hours but I’d see them at the
finish. My time was 2:12:50, I was over almost 2 minutes faster than the 10
mile race two weeks ago. That made me happy! But I didn’t think I could do the
last 5K in 47:25 to beat the 3 hour mark. I didn’t quit and I thought I’d give
it a shot anyways. But that all changed at mile 10.67…
No comments:
Post a Comment