Historic Half

It's still surprising to me that I finished a half marathon! Not even two weeks ago I packed an overnight bag and headed to Fredricksburg, VA to run in the Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon. I was in a bit of disbelief. I wasn't truly nervous yet...more excited to see my good friend Frances from Charleston and one of my college roommates.

After checking into the hotel and many hugs, Frances, her husband Scott, and I headed to the race expo to pick up my race packet. The expo was smaller than I expected, but none the less I managed to put a dent in my wallet. Two headbands ("virgin marathoner" and "will run for beer"), something called a spri belt, which is a glorified mini-fanny pack, and some car magnets. The spri belt was a great investment (held a mini-camera and some gus), and my only regret is that I didn't spend the extra dollar or two get a belt with race clips. The belt was extremely light, didn't bounce, and honestly the only time I thought about the spri belt was when I was reaching for my Gus. The car magnets are from the One More Mile booth. I LOVE this site...I have two shirts from them ("Will Run For Beer") and ("This Seemed Like a Good Idea 3 Months Ago...(the back says Race Official Do Not Pass" which was a hit with other joggers on the run!)) In true fashion, I was so excited to be there and with friends that I went overboard. I now have 4 magnets for my car:

I was only planning on buying one, but I found so many that I liked, and it was buy three get the fourth free. I held back from buying the "Will run for beer" magnet." (note...I'm not a big beer drinker, but there is something about drinking a beer after a good, hard run. Try it sometime time...you'll understand. I think I got Frances hooked after the half...)

Anyways...afterwards was lunch and then we drove the course. And oh dear G-d, what did I get myself into?! it didn't seem so so bad...a small incline over the highway at mile 1.5...a short steep hill at mile 2...And mile 10...I began to wonder how people drive up or down that hill in the winter when the roads ice over because honestly, it would have been a great hill for sledding. It was the longest 13.1 mile drive ever.

That night was dinner with my college roomie, a helicopter pilot who hasn't changed one bit! It was like we just saw each other yesterday, reminiscing on old stories and catching up. As it got closer to bed time, the freak out began. what the hell was I going to wear? the temperature was dropping and the rain was coming in. Weather.com showed 70% chance of rain at the start of the race, 60*....and both the chance of rain AND the temperature was to drop throughout the day. made me realize that my tank and shorts probably wasn't the best idea....

At 5am, we woke up to what looked like classic DE weather: HIGH WINDS. Honestly, the trees were practically sideways and it was raining. I psyched myself for the race saying over and over, "I've ran in high winds...I can do this..." At 6:45 we left the hotel (the hotel was literally at the race start). And then I started getting all giddy in the cold rain waiting for the race to start (wore the tank and shorts). And finally...

4000+ runners started running!

The first few hills weren't so bad, but we ran it so slowly. 11:30 pace slow. We began to speed up around the 3 mile mark, and again around the 6 mile mark. At mile 8 or 9 we began to slow it down a bit in preparation for the monstrous hill at mile 10 (we were actually passing quite a bit of people at this point). I Gu-ed around mile 5, mile 9.5, and then again after mile 10 (that third Gu probably wasn't necessary, but I did it anyways).

There were quite a bit of people in town cheering us on (impressive considering the weather was so bad). At mile 3 it finally stopped raining. At mile 6, the rain started and at mile 7 it was TOTAL DOWNPOUR. We started singing "running in the rain" to the tune of "singing in the rain." Whenever I saw a crowd of people and if I was feeling slow, I would yell "It's her birthday!" and point to Frances, who was wearing a "Birthday Girl" tee that she designed (it was her 30th bday). Just before mile 10 there was a band singing "Johnny B Good" and at the 'run johnny run' part we would sing 'run frances run' or 'run rachel run.' We were our own cheerleaders.

Mile 10 was intense but we ran the entire way up. We were so proud of ourselves! At mile 11 I thought, "I so have this...it's only 2 more miles! I can actually do this! I'm almost done! I am a rockstar!" It made me giddy...I picked up speed. But oh dear...what, ANOTHER HILL?! This when the third gu came out...everyone had used all their juice to get through mile 10 and that the tiny incline (an overpass) was daunting. People crashed. But there was no way that I was going to get this far and just walk. I got through it with the help of some gu and then...

MILE 12! ONE MORE MILE! This is mine....I TOOK OFF. Through out the run I was running at a cool & comfortable 10:30 pace. At mile 12, it was a 9:17 pace. Not exactly Kenyan-like, but not to shabby for a person who had been running 2+ hours.

My overall time?

Afterwards we got our medals and was met by Scott who greeted us with towels to dry us off and keep us warm (he had already finished the run, showered and changed). We got our coins (I have my own coin now!), some food (bagels!) water, and of course, beer.

Then stretching, HOT shower (probably not a good idea for the muscles, but we were so cold...and then a nap! A nice lunch, and then I had to make the three hour trek home. And yes, I wore my medal the entire way home.

I WILL post pictures of us once I receive them in the mail. The professional pictures taken along the run are GREAT. I'm smiling and waving in all of them and and we don't look the least bit tired (proof that we probably ran too slow...but I didn't want to kill myself on my first half). I'm probably going to order two photos...one of me crossing the finish line and a picture of Frances & me posing at the end of the run. Once I receive the prints I'll scan and post them :) (I would post personal pictures from the kid's camera that I purchase and put in my Spri belt, but the photos won't load. grrrr...)

It was the best best experience ever, and while I hate to discredit the intensity of training for and running 13.1 miles, I have to say (albeit quietly) it wasn't that bad! Running with a friend, the cool (rainy) weather, and the crowds cheering us on made it such that it wasn't possible to quit.

I jogged about 3 miles a few days after the run and can I say it was (mentally) SO MUCH HARDER than the 13.1 miles the previous sunday! This past saturday I ran a 5k and I just realized this morning (after checking some stats) that it was another pr (25:32). I haven't ran since saturday, but will go out for a jog today if not tomorrow. Next up? Marine Corp Marathon in October. Now I'm REALLY begining to think I'm insane...