Shamrocking

The Anthem Half Marathon was the second half marathon that I have ever run in my life.  It was the first one at home.  I got to sleep in my own bed, wake up at my house, and drive to the starting line.  (It also meant that I had to drive on home afterwards, but I'll get to that!)

The week leading up to the race was a little stressful.  I only ran twice between the Princess and this one....for a grand total of 6.85 miles.  I wanted to make my IT Bands forget that they were there.  It pretty much worked.  The weather was also a wild card for the weekend.  All week, the forecast showed that Saturday would be warm with the threat of rain in the afternoon and Sunday would be cold and windy.  Sometimes there was rain in the forecast for Sunday and sometimes there wasn't.  When I went to bed on Saturday night, I was pretty sure I was getting wet the next morning.

While I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night like I did for Disney, I did have still got up at 4:30 (am...in the morning) to make sure that I got to the beach with enough time to find a parking spot.  (I wasn't quite sure about my parking plan, but I knew that I wanted to be decently close to the finish and in a spot that cost me $0.)  I had my trusty bagel and peanut butter and my glass of water.  I filled my water bottles, unplugged all of the electronics that had been charging around the kitchen, kissed my sleeping husband, and started toward the Oceanfront. 

It takes about 25-30 minutes to get from my house to the Oceanfront at 0 dark 30 in the morning.  It was a pretty quiet drive until the interstate ran out and turned into the beach....then the traffic started getting a little heavy.  The race started at 41st Street in front of the Cavalier on the Hill.  It ended at 31st Street.  During the drive over, I decided to park near-ish the finish line in the FREE parking lot at 25th Street.  I knew that it would be a long, dark, cold walk to the start, but I wouldn't have to hobble too far at the end.  An added bonus was that it was free and I could sneak into the lot without having to go on Pacific Avenue.  So, I parked, I grabbed all of my running junk and started walking. 

As I got a little closer to the start, I stumbled upon a row of porta potties right near the Corral 8 sign.  I stopped and christened the loo and then walked a few more blocks to meet my MRTT ladies for a quick picture.  (Public Service Announcement - the big black trash bag that was intended to keep me dry in case of rain worked beautifully to tie my fuel belt onto the POP door and up off the floor!)  I made it through the building crowd to the front of the Cavalier on the Hill (where I had my wedding reception...I always get a little teary and sentimental when I see it!)  I met the girls.  We chatted, got our picture, and then started the walk 3 blocks back to our corrals.  Two girls were in Corral 10, so I waved and wished them a great race when I stopped in 9.  I met up with another MRTT momma who had missed the picture and we chatted until the race started.  

Now, I need to tell you about my goals for this race.  First, I wanted to finish.  Then, I wanted to run the race that I told Disney that I could run when I submitted my 10K time for corral placement.  If that wasn't in the cards for the day (which, it turns out, it wasn't), I just wanted to cross the finish line before the insanely fast marathoners passed me....from behind.  They ran 26.2 miles (as is usually the case with a marathon) and they started 90 minutes after me.  I prayed for days that I could finish 13.1 with a 90 minute head start before they ran past me making it look all effortless.

I really needed this race to start on time to have a snowball's chance in hell of beating the lead marathoners.  So, 20 minutes after the start time, our race finally started.  J&A really condensed the time between corrals to make up for the late start.  But, it still took about 10 minutes to get to the starting line.  (There went my 90 minute lead on the marathoners.)  The horn blew and we were off.  My MRTT friend stayed with me for the first mile.  It was nice to have someone to talk to, but I could tell that I was holding her back.  When we hit the first mile marker, I wished her a good race and started my intervals.

It takes me about 3 miles to forget that I pretty much hate running.  For the first 3 miles, every part of my body yells at me to stop.  Luckily, the first 3 miles were though the North End, which is a pretty high falutin' section of the city.  It's also a residential section, so there were people out to cheer us on.  In fact, there were 2 unsanctioned beer stops already hopping.  After mile 3, the course got long and boring....for about 7 miles.   We ran through a swamp for 3 miles.  My fuel belt was bouncing on my bladder, so I really wanted to stop at a POP, but the lines along the swamp road were SO long.  My MRTT friend from the start decided to stop, so I ran past her and yelled to her while she waited in line.  Not long after, she caught back up.  I really wanted to be a dude for those 3 miles.  Lots of the men just jumped into the woods to take care of business.  There were not enough leaves on the trees for me to be trying that.

At about mile 5.5, the course took us onto Fort Story, which is an Army base.  Just before the gate, there was a secret POP with the shortest line I had seen since we started.  I jumped into the line so I would be a little more comfortable.  Short doesn't mean fast.  10 minutes later, it was my turn....only to have the girl who went right before come out and say that she had used the last bit of toilet paper.  I did my thing, cursed the lack of toilet paper, got myself back together and took back off again.  (While I was waiting in the line that never ended, another MRTT momma who was a little more my speed ran past me.  I tried to catch her for the next 8 miles.  It never happened.  It would have been nice to finish the race with a friendly face.  Cursing the POP again.)

Fort Story was boring.  It was wintery stark and militarily boring.  The buildings looked like military buildings.  The guards were in uniform and looked like they would rather be ANYWHERE bust standing out in the cold for hours and hours on a Sunday morning.  We ran past the Cape Henry Lighthouses and that was pretty cool.  This is when I started to hurt.  My right knee felt like sandpaper.  (The same one I had problems with at Princess, but there was no Biofreeze to get me through this time).  Finally, after 4 miles of Army base, we left the base to repeat the first couple of miles and head to the boardwalk for the finish.  About this time, I saw the first marathoners heading toward me.  Man they were fast.  Everyone around me clapped for them.  They just kept running.  (It was a long time before I saw a woman marathoner.  When I finally saw the lead women, I was just in awe....those girls were FLYING!)

We passed the beer stops and the spectators and turned onto Atlantic to get to the Boardwalk.  I looked for my marathoning friends, but I never saw them.  I guess it was my lightning speed.  The last 3 miles were a blur.  I know that I talked to everyone around me.  I get annoyingly giddy at the end of a long distance.  I say things to people that I really want them to say to me.  Even though I don't remember much, except that it hurt and I wanted to be finished, I know that I enjoyed those last 3 miles.  I liked seeing the marathoners running the second half of their race on the other side of the street.  I liked looking for people that I know.  I liked knowing just how much further I needed to go.

When I got onto the Boardwalk, with the finish line in sight, it happened.....I heard the bikes with the whistles coming to push the half marathoners to the left side of the road.  I thought I was was done.  All I wanted to do was finish before the stupid marathon winner passed me.  Was that too much to ask????

But, he never came.  I crossed the finish line with my cheesy finish line smile.  I got my medal and my hat and my blanket.  I got my finisher picture.  I saw the volunteers getting ready for the marathoners to finish.  But I never saw the winner.   I  accomplished two of my goals.  I didn't run the race I told Disney I could, but I finished and I finished before the marathoners. (For the record, the winner finished about 10 minutes after I did.  I "beat" him by 10 minutes.  I like the sound of that - I "beat" him.)

I hobbled down the steps and to the party tent to see who and what I could see.  It was loud in there.  A little girl was digging in the sand and throwing it all around her.  (I hate sand.)  It was really crowded.  I gave up and headed to the car to drive home.  The walk helped loosen the legs, but the drive tightened them right back up.  I was so cold when I got home that I couldn't bring myself do an ice bath.  I took my chances with the hot shower just so I could warm up.

None of my family came to the finish line.  It would have been hard with 3 kids in the cold and wind, especially with the parking situation.  They had a sign waiting for me when I got home.  That was all I needed.  They were cheering for me from home!

My Garmin died at Mile 10.35  Apparently it didn't charge correctly.  Not cool, Garmin.  Not cool.

My official time was 3:10:54, a 14:34 pace.  I will take it.

My goal for the Nike Women's Half in April - finish in under 3 hours.  Maybe without a potty stop, it will happen.