10-26-13 Running my first BIG race
Scheduled Miles: 31.1
Actual Distance: 28.08
RPE: 4.125
Total Miles To Date: 238.15+
Miles on Black Torin: 140.22
Miles on Blue Torin: 97.93
The smile on my face started around mile 8 or 9, and hasn't gone away yet. I finished a half marathon. There are probably a lot of people out there who can say that, but how many can say they did it weighing around 300 lbs.? Well here is my medal for the race, which I am currently wearing and may just wear to church tomorrow to boast of my accomplishments (j/k). Today I really had the feeling of an endurance runner, I ran the whole race (accept my one bathroom break and to get out my gel and asprin out I had in my camel bag). So about 2-5 minutes total. I would have walked more but I had someone come up behind me in a bright green skirt and give me a high five telling me to keep going. Then when I started to want to stop running again a local high school Cross Country team ran by and I got another high five. I love the sense of belonging that happens when you see other runners running. Even people who were just doing their Saturday run said hello. It was amazing! |
| The Breath Taking View From Near the Start Line |
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| The Breath Taking View of People Waiting for the Bog |
During the beginning of the race it seemed like everyone and their dog was passing me, I saw Waldo, and apparently he was gettin' busy, and that's why it was so hard to find him in all those books from when I was a kid. It seemed like Waldo was a popular costume (I bet the long sleeves and beanie helped with that). The other popular costumes were Batman (everyone heard I was doing it and copied, I am a trend setter after all), Superman, and Thing 1 & Thing 2 from Cat in the Hat.
So I started the race, and everyone was passing me at the start line, which means I was pacing myself correctly. Since I finished with a finish line sprint it shows I did it right (in my eyes). I remember the first few miles I had this younger woman and her friend who passed me and were in front of me (the Lady Bug and Twister Mat). They at one point picked up momentum and were long out of site. I also remember this guy who was decked out in Under Armor beanie, Under Armor long sleeve tech shirt, and Under Armor tights. He looked like he had been plucked right off an Under Armor ad, and had the biceps to match. The last person is a woman who was in green, she was old enough to be my mom, and was doing a walk run method with a lot of speed walking. Along with a bunch of other people who passed me that I don't remember. It was between mile 6 and 7 that I met up with the woman in green again. She had fallen at this point and gashed open her head, the bleeding had stopped by the time I got up to her and slowed down and talked to her some. She was really nice and we chatted about how we kept passing each other. We wished one another good luck, and I was of to conquer the rest of the race that I was familiar with. I kept going and Wonder Woman kept stopping to walk until I got into her peripheral, then ran again for a little while (enough to get a good distance ahead of me but still visible). This game of cat and mouse continued for miles 7 and 8, then just after mile 8 I broke by her in a flash, which was my regular speed since I never stopped running. Miles 8-10 I had two smurfs do the same thing as wonder woman. On mile 8 I caught up to Mr. Under Armor, then I promptly passed him. He looked gassed at that point, and like he was on the long recovery walk. Mile 11 is when I ran into the Lady Bug and Twister Mat again. They had stopped to walk. When I passed them I was pretty excited. I understand I wasn't competing against any of these people but remembering them helps to keep different points in the race in perspective.
As I got closer to the end of the race a lot of people were walking, some like they were defeated. I kept saying to myself, "don't they know it's only a mile away, you can see the end if you look down the street we're crossing." I was flabbergasted by how many people were walking those last 2 miles. So I just kept going, and said to one person who picked up running again for a few seconds, "It's just around the corner." I then passed her and went on to the end.
I hit that last strait away and picked up speed. I got high fives (the most under rated sign of supporting someone), people encouraging me, saw my Father-in-law, and then I made it to only 20 feet left, my IT band tries to tell me to stop but I don't care at this point what it has to say and I cross the finish line with my wife taking photos of my as I do it. I get my medal and just want to walk now that I've come this far, I downed a bottle of water, squeezed a banana out of its peal into my mouth and grabbed an orange. My run was over. I walked for a little bit after the run, got some amazing protein recovery drink that tasted like strawberry milk and another like a good banana milk (not artificial). After that my wife and I walked to the car. I showered and we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. My race was finally over. Right before my shower I stood up to get out of my car and realized I didn't stretch, which I corrected.
So that was my first experience with a half marathon. After that I understand why a marathon is as frightening as it is, being twice that length and all.
Well Until Next Time,
-Riley
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