13.1

Pre race:

Our "little" adventure started Friday afternoon when Gretchen and I headed downtown to pick up our race packets. We talked on the way about our concerns - oversleeping, the heat, and finishing last. There was no line to get our bibs (were we planning to drool? no, silly - it's the big tag with your number on it) and shirts (to wear that day? oh, no way, as they are long sleeved and it was H!O!T!). It was an all female event and they had some students from a local beauty school there doing free manis and hand massages, etc. so we took advantage of the mani. [Side note, when I got home Seth noticed my nail polish color had changed! I ALWAYS have on nail polish so for him to notice the color difference was funny to me!] We made plans to text each other at 5:15 in the morning, hoping we would worry less about oversleeping that way.

I can't recap Gretchen's night but mine wasn't what I had hoped. I didn't get dinner until almost 9pm. And I definitely didn't get to bed quite as early as I had planned. Once in bed I slept okay for awhile. Then something woke me around 4. I looked at the clock at 4:15 and then I laid there for what felt like forever, thinking of the heat, my two experiences of passing out when I was too hot (when I was much younger), and how much faster everyone else would be than me. It felt like I had been lying there forever. I checked the clock again. It was 4:20. Argh! I laid there until 5:15, never really sleeping again. At 5:15 we texted each other.

My text to her: Good morning?
Her text to me: Hello Sunshine!!

Clearly she seemed more enthused than me. Turns out she was just trying to psyche herself up! We met at my house at 6am and my dad came over to drive us downtown. Thanks, Daddy! It was great to not have to worry about parking (downtown is like one big orange barricade) and not to have an extra car to drive home after it was over.

Race:
There was an opening ceremony at 6:30, but we were too nervous and thought it was a good time to hit the bathrooms one last time. I knew there would be portable toilets along the route. I also knew that if I stopped moving completely after about the halfway point, I wouldn't be able to start walking again!

The mayor started the race at 7am. There were less than 2000 participants so they didn't divide up into runners/walkers. It was a little intimidating as all the runners ran by and I started to feel like I was already in the very back (my fear of being last). After a few blocks though it seemed that we all got a bit more spread out and we were able to pass some people, which was a little boost to the ego. The one mile mark came really quickly. And then we figured out it was the actually the one km marker for the 5k race. [Their course was different so that was the only marker that was confusing]. You can see the course map here. There were volunteers at each mile marker calling out the time and we were pleased to find that we were right on pace with where we wanted to be. We were actually pleased for the entire race. There was also water or gatorade at every mile. We started out in the dark and it was overcast for a little while but it didn't take long for the sun to come out and it to get really warm, then really hot.

We picked out some women who were jogging and walking and decided to just sort of try to keep up with them. They got pretty far ahead of us at one point so we jogged to catch up and it felt really good to use some different muscles for awhile so we kept it up for just a little longer and passed them and we never saw them again. But there were some others that we set our sights on after that and just did the same thing of trying to keep up. Toward the end someone passed us and said she'd been pacing herself off of us the whole race so that made me feel like we were doing okay.

Around mile 10 we were walking through a downtown neighborhood and some woman was standing on the side of the road passing out ice cubes. I know, don't take candy from strangers. But, I wasn't putting it in my mouth, just holding it for a moment. I'm not even sure she had anything to do with the race itself, but she was very popular!

We really felt okay most of the time. We used our energy gel around 3 miles and it made me feel a little strange for just a few minutes. It has caffeine and I get a huge headache when I drink caffeine, but usually not right away. It was more of a spinny head feeling, but only for a little while and then I was good again. We had planned to do it at 3, 6, and 9 miles but we felt good at 6 miles, knowing the halfway point was so close so we skipped it then (probably not smart on our part). We both knew we were getting some blisters on our feet. And we were really warm but took advantage of the drinks at nearly every mile (small drinks to avoid that bathroom stop). But by mile 12 we were really having to work on the mental aspect of it all. We started to count down the blocks after the 12 mile marker. At about 12.5 miles a race official was on the side of the road alerting all that the race had been black flagged and we could "continue at our own risk." I hadn't seen anyone having a real issue with the heat and my mind starting racing to "are they all passing out at the finish line?" Or, "Is it the people behind us?" And then my countdown wasn't helping much anymore. Thankfully, the finish was very near where I had worked downtown so I knew that it was about a block to the turn and then after the turn it was a really long city block and then the finish line. Gretch wasn't as familiar with where we were and at about 12.8 miles she said, "I don't want to quit but I'm not sure I can make it." HUH??? I remember praying - a lot - that she could just hang in. I was worrying about the heat and she was feeling crummy so we slowed down a bit. My goal was to cross the finish line upright, not speed, so just getting there was all I cared about. I told her if she needed to puke, just to do it! But, she said she was okay. We rounded the corner and could see the finish in the distance. About halfway down the block, Gretchen spotted Matt and the kids and I think that really helped! Then I saw Dave and our boys and they were waving and smiling. They turned the clock off on the finish line just about the time we got there (because technically the race was cancelled/black flagged) and had to scan our chips for our time, which was annoying. They gave us our medals, a rose, and a bottle of water. My hands were so swollen that I couldn't get it open and I really considered asking any random person I could find but somehow Gretchen got hers open (her hands were equally swollen) so I had her open mine too. Then we got back to Matt and Dave and all the kids and our Mom.

As it turns out, our spectators did see people having to be helped across the finish line while they were waiting for us. Selfishly, I enjoyed watching some people finish after us, just so that I could say I wasn't last!

When we started the race I felt a little teary - as they said, "go" and I thought, "wow, I am doing this!" I really thought I might cry tears of joy when we were done. Turned out I was so exhausted it didn't even occur to me. Gretchen confessed partway through that when I suggested, earlier in the year, that we do this race she thought I was crazy. But, that being there and doing it, she no longer felt that way! I didn't ask her around mile 12 as I'm guessing she was back to thinking I was insane.

Finish line!

Melting.  The car thermometer read 95 degrees on the drive home. Ick.

With all the kiddos except Max, who was very content in his stroller.  It was really special that our hubbies brought the kids down to see us cross the finish line!

Post Race:

I'm glad to say that other than my feet I felt okay the next day. Two toes hurt and I had one real blister. Other than that, I was sore, but not in a bad way. Dave was awesome. We had plans Saturday night so he let me/made me rest in the afternoon. Sunday we had my parents and Gretch and her family over for a little celebration lunch. Then later in the afternoon we all napped. It was rainy and cool and perfect for a nap!

Now, time to get back to it. Unfortunately, my little toes are still very sore. They hurt a lot when I wear my walking shoes. Boo!