I cannot begin to express how excited I was about my first Half-Marathon. Then again, I think through my constant tweeting, and blogging (on the day of), you may already have an idea. The night before, I went to bed fairly early and thought I had a pretty good amount of sleep. I felt refreshed and quite a bit hungry to be honest. So even though I tried to go back to sleep, I instead, took a shower and made myself a ham, cheese, and lettuce sandwich on whole wheat. I washed it down with some hot apple cider and two glasses of water. Then...tried to sleep.
30-minutes later, my alarm goes off and the big moment had come.
After a 20-minute drive from my apartment to One-mile Recreation Center at Bidwell Park in Chico, CA I was worried that I may not have worn enough layers to keep me warm. I only had on me my Almond Bowl long-sleeved shirt, under it was my Shebeest Cycling Jersey and under that my forever dependable Juno bra. I also got to try my new Compression socks which I purchased the day before. That, of course, is not probably the smartest idea and later, I will tell you why. Was I cold, not in the beginning. After sort of warming up, and sort of stretching, I felt
Since my sister was volunteering, she dropped me off at the starting point so I have to admit, I felt kind of lonely not being able to share my excitement with someone familiar. Although, I did see a lot of familiar faces and got to hear from eavesdropping, that some of the unfamiliar faces came from all over the State! How amazing!
8:00 AM came around and the 5K runners were off. I made my way to the end of the Half-marathon/marathon line. Luckily, it was easy to identify with my group due to the bib color-coding.
8:15 AM After a few short announcements from the coordinators, we were off! And I felt I was going at a good easy pace. I tried to pace with a few people in front of me. Then maybe half a mile into it, I starting slowing down...or they started speeding up.
Mile 1-2 ~ I found myself at the tail-end of the pack. It didn't bother me really and I was just happy to see that there was someone in front of me whom I could follow because I have a tendency get lost, yes, even if there are signs and cones available!
Mile 2-2.5 ~Runner-lady in front of me started power-walking. So I started to do the same; I decided I needed a break anyway. But uh-oh, she was a fast power-walker and I was losing sight of her. It was also around this time that someone I knew creeped up from behind me. I was so happy to see her. And of course, she sped up. It was fine until I lost sight of her too.
Mile 3 ~ There were some people going the same route I was and I couldn't tell if they were part of the race or not. There was a nice fellow whom I started to pace with. And it wasn't until Mile 8 that I realized then that I knew him from the Under the Sun Events facebook page. This is is 608th race and it was quite nice to have him there in front of me. Talk about motivation!
Mile 4-5 ~ I was still feeling good and the volunteers were amazing! They certainly kept everyone going, including myself. The park was so breathtaking and scenic. During my power-walks, I really enjoyed looking at my surroundings: the trees, the creeks, the roads--beautiful!
Mile 6-7 ~ It was around this point that I saw my sister at the place she was assigned and it really gave me a second wind. I tried not be too terribly emotional and I kept it together. I was just thrilled to see her but I couldn't help but want her to be running with me.
Mile 7-8 ~ It was around this part where things just started to feel quite rough for me. Running turned into sprints of jogging and power-walking. I was starting to feel the fatigue and I wasn't sure anymore where the race was leading to. Other runners were heading back at this point and they couldn't be even more encouraging. At one point though, I wasn't sure where the turn-a-bout was! But after a few more people passed me, I figured, I should still go forth and see where I would end up! Besides, I'm sure there would be a volunteer at the end of this road...and of course there was.
Mile 9-10 ~Did I mention how awesome the volunteers were? I loved the little teenagers! They were great. A lot of the children were also so eager to hand cups of water or energy gel shots. They were super! It was mile 10 that I had to power-walk. My legs were no longer able to run. My foot was cramping. MY FOOT WAS CRAMPING! And this is where I feel I should have just bought the compression socks without the sock part (ones that just go over the shins). I wished I had worn my usual running socks, my "marathon" socks. BIG, BIG MISTAKE. A MISTAKE that's now costing me.
Mile 11 ~ Spectators, would stop me to ask what mile I was on. I wasn't in the mood to chit-chat so I blurted out "11". I could hear them go, "wow!" and whether it was a "that's-awesome-wow" or a "she's-out-of-her-mind-wow" I could no longer tell, nor I no longer cared. I was cold, I was freezing and I hated myself for not bringing with me gloves, a jacket, or a scarf. I was so done. And every park bench I passed, I wanted to take a moment and sit down. But I was in a race for goodness sake! At this point, I was a bit frustrated and angry with myself. I was also annoyed at the fact that a couple had passed me when I was so far ahead of them! This isn't a leisurely stroll! KEEP PUSHING! I told myself. ALMOST THERE!
Mile 12 ~ I don't know how many times I asked myself, why? Why am I doing this? What's the point? But I still wasn't giving up! I've committed. I'm going to finish! And so I decided to have a different mindset. I needed to think about the positive side of things: thank goodness for the cold and not the heat, thank goodness, for just cramping feet and not shin splints or a sprained knee!...
Mile 13 ~The last stretch! Almost there...so close and yet so far! Still power-walking. In a lot of pain now but ALMOST THERE!
FINISH LINE ~ As soon as I saw the turn to the finish line, I started going back to jogging gear. And my calves couldn't decided whether or not they were going to cramp up or not. I just had to keep going. Then finally: I FINISHED at 3hrs and 39 minutes!
My sister was there waiting for me, I got my medal, ate some delicious fruit and wraps, and hydrated. We then spent the rest of the afternoon at in the steam room and watching movies. It was all worth it. Now I have to just prepare myself for this final race coming up. It's time to get myself in gear since I roughly know what to expect. It's going to be tough, but I can do this. This was the most empowering race thus far.
Running Strong,
RunnerKE
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