Well in January when I started this blog I said I was going to do a 1/2 marathon in Nashville in April. Last weekend I met that goal. You can do a LOT of thinking during a 13.1 mile walk through
the streets of Nashville.
Here are some of the thoughts I had…
Pre-race:
- Standing in my corral of people at 6:45 am. "Nashville is beautiful. I am seriously in love with this city. It is like a big small town. People are friendly, it is clean, lots to do. I need to come back here."
- The first wave of runners left the starting line at 7 am. It is now 8:06 am and I am still waiting for my wave, wave 36, to go. I am really tired of standing here knowing what is ahead.
Wave 36 is released:
- Everyone around me is running. I should run too!
- Okay, now that the lady ahead of me is walking I can walk too. Since now someone else walked first. Damnit! She is running again. I hate that woman.
Mile 5:
- okay, I am hanging in there. Only 8.1 to go. What? 8.1? I wish I couldn’t do math.
- Another hill…. Why do I feel like all we do is go up hill? But I can see the top and know that what comes up must come down, right? Almost there.
- YOU HAVE GOT TO BE F_&%$F KIDDING ME!! I get to the top of this mother truckin hill to find that we are at only at the bottom of another hill.
- The Universe hates me.
- Make several zig zags between curbs on this race as I am determined to high five every kid on the race course standing there with their hand out. Shoot mental daggers at the people in front of me who ignore these little kids who are just trying to be supportive. Remember you always take whatever a kid is offering… be it a hug, high five, or smile.
10K mark ahead:
- Wait, what?!?!? Why didn’t anyone tell me there was a 10K option on this race. Is it too late to switch?
Mile 8 and my feet are killing me (I have some foot issue I
won’t bore you with, the bottom line is there is some nerve that causes
shooting firery pain). I stop and take
my shoes off and rub my foot. It helps.
Mile 8.5:
- hmmm… my foot doesn’t have that pain which is good, but it feels like these shoes are rubbing in different places now. This isn’t good.
Mile 9 I stop again and take my shoes off to find huge
blisters on several toes. Feet swell so
much in blistered areas that I can’t tie my shoes. I can just slip them on. My only options are quit or limp the
remainder of the race.
- “I have almost 2 hours and have 4 miles to finish. There is no way I can do this”
(limp and repeat these two above phrases 1,000,000 times just slowly
reducing the mileage and time left)
- I can’t stop. I have literally come too far to give up. Plus all that time I spent training and was away from the family, I can’t stop.
- I wonder if there is an oil to make me run faster?!?!?!? There is an oil for everything else these days surely there has to be an oil for this!!
- Make a mental note to add “hunt down and hurt person who designed this race course” to my bucket list.
- Why does my Map My Run app say that I have completed 14 miles but this is only mile 12? Clearly these race people didn’t lay this course out correctly. :P This is the worst city on the planet. I am never coming back here.
- Why do I have friends who convince me to do these things? I need lazy friends who just get together, sit poolside and enjoy adult beverages for the weekends. These healthy friends who do exciting things and push me to be a better person… they suck.
- That 70+ year old woman with perfect hair and little floral jog skirt just came trotting past me. Really Anne? You are getting shown up by this much older woman. You should really be ashamed of how far you’ve let yourself go.
- That woman is 70… know what that means? There is always hope I can be better. I hope when I am 70 I can still be out doing these things. Today I struggled but I still beat every person who is still in bed at 11 am on this Saturday.
- Person on side of the road smiles and says “YOU ARE ALMOST THERE ONLY ½ MILE LEFT!” My mental reaction “Go to hell"
- Over this bridge and I am done.
See friends cheering for me as finish line
approaches. Trying not to cry. Realize tears might not be due to pain as much as the fact that friends Cara and Lori look like they just walked out of a salon and not across a 1/2 marathon finish line (they finished around the 2 hour mark).
- Hate friends for being beautiful and skinny in their running outfits after 13 miles.
Cross finish line, claim medal and collapse onto the first
empty piece of shaded curb I can find.
Exhausted, sore, sunburnt and feeling accomplished I drink
some water, go get some lunch and make my way back to the hotel and shower. While lying on the bed with throbbing feet
and overall soreness I scan through facebook to see what other people have to
say for the day.
Find a status that says
- “Please pray for xxx. Their little guys cancer came out of his 3rd remission on his birthday. Headed to St. Jude again on Monday.”
Glance at the medal next to me. See the St. Jude logo. Know this race was a St. Jude fundraiser. Think of all the people who ran/walked past
me wearing shirts that said “in memory of…”
Give thanks to God for not only getting me through the race
(because he is the only thing that did) but for giving me 4 healthy kids. Give thanks that St. Jude exists for those who need it and am grateful that has never been me or my family.
Realize my struggle today is NOTHING compared to those kids facing/experiencing cancer.
Give thanks that I even have the ability to walk for 13.1 miles. While sore and bruised, I realize that even having the chance to TRY is a complete gift.
Vow that next time I will sign up as a St. Jude hero. Wait?!?!?
Who said anything about next time…. Clearly I am delusional.
Overall it was a great experience. I am happy to knock 2 things off my bucket
list – complete a ½ marathon and go to the Grand Old Opry. Would I do it again? Yes….but right now I am going to shoot more
for the 5 – 10K range.
Thanks for all the encouraging messages over the weekend. I have the best friends. XOXO
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