Pre-Race
Even though I was staying at a hotel that you could literally see the finish line out the window, I still managed to be late to the actual race. I woke up at 6:30 with hopes of leaving the hotel at 7:45 for the 8 o'clock start time. Somehow or another I lost track of time while getting ready and didn't eat until 7:30ish (a bagel and a banana) and this right here was my big mistake! Mistake number 2 came when we didn't leave our hotel until 7:55 and didn't know where the start line was? We rushed out (someone stopped and took our photo) then we sprinted to the start line.
I was pretty mad that we left so late and hate that feeling of panic before a race. The gun had already went off as we rounded the corner and saw coral 20 something! Shit .. I am suppose to running in coral 3 and really wasn't too happy about being stuck behind walkers/joggers. So we continued to sprint on the side walk and snuck into the gate around coral 10. Not ideal, but I guess it will do. I wanted to have time to move my bib number off my skirt, (the skirt was riding up and twisting all around my waste) but obviously didn't have time too!
The race
I was still in panic mood when I crossed the timing mat and my main goal for the first few miles was to get around the slow people and find a pace that felt good.
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| making my way through the crowds |
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| with the other sparkles right behind me |
I pretty much missed my watch peeping at me until about the 5k mark which I hit around 25 minutes. It was also at this point that my watch displayed that it's data base was full and couldn't store any more data! Great!! So, yeah I have none of my splits expect the first three miles. I felt good for the first three miles of this run and that's about it. Right after the 5k mark I had wished I had tried to stay with my friends because I was already lonely out there on the course. At the next water stop (mile 4) I saw Jessica! Yes, she caught back up to me so I was happy to see her and have someone to run with. Unfortunately, by mile 4 my stomach issues began. Why oh why did I eat so late? I gave my stomach no time to digest my breakfast and I could really feel it start to come back up. I ignored the problem the best I could and kept running. The next few miles were uneventful and as I hit each mile mark my watch became more and more off. By mile 6, I was at 6.2 on my watch. Maybe from extra foot movement from zig zagging through the course? Although I shouted out to Jess, "we are at 49 minutes, so we have an hour to run the next 7." hmm... I thought to myself as I tried to do the math in my head, and hour to run 7 miles and finish in 1:49... I can do this! I broke up the rest of the race in my head as my 7 mile Dupont loop that takes me an hour to run. I got excited because I knew I could do this and continued to run. About mile 9 I really started to slow down and my stomach just hated me! I basically felt like I was going to puke at any minute which made running really hard to do. I couldn't keep the pace and Jessica faded into the distance without me.
I somewhat threw in the towel at this point and slowed down to keep my stomach as happy as I could keep it. Although I hit the 10 mile mark at 1:25 if I can remember right and a small about of hope crepped into my head as I did the math, which brightened up my spirts. 1:25... I can run a 5k in 25 minutes and still finish in 1:50. But the last 3.1 miles didn't go smoothly at all. I felt like I was running really slow and I mean really slow and wished I had pushed myself harder to stay with Jess because I really needed a buddy to help push me to the finish line at this point. Each mile marker I looked at my watch and saw how slow I was running (9 minute something) how lovely. About a mile from the finish line one of the runners near me shouted out "almost there" every 10 seconds for the entire last mile. I had a small amount of energy left and maybe ran my last mile in a 8:40 or something? I look at my watch and saw 13.1 on it (at 1:52 I think) but wasn't at the finish line yet! Man, this sucks that I'm not at the finish line yet. I don't feel like running anymore. I pushed harder and finally crossed to finish line with 1:53 something on my watch and a total distance of 13.32. I did not PR or have a good race!
After the race
I thought I might throw up, but luckily I didn't. I went to get some water and look for Jess, but I couldn't find her. Instead I waited by the finish line watching out for Linda to finish the race. Linda finished around 2 hours and then we found Jess. We proceeded to wait in line to get some more cheesy pictures and congratulate each other on a good well done.
Over All
1. I was really excited to do just a running race and not feel like death on this run as I usually do coming off the bike, but I still felt like death!!! I know that my stomach acts up and I can't eat that close to that start of a run, so I don't know why I did? I'm mad that I ate so late because it messed up my run big time!
2. I wanted to finish in 1:49 and I didn't!!! Looking back on the race I felt like I could had pushed myself harder and felt like I gave up at mile 9. If only I would have kept running with Jess, I could have finished in my goal time. Why am I such a baby?? I'm still pretty mad about the run and myself. I haven't even bothered to look at the official race times because I just don't want to know.
3. Not running for 2 weeks before this race did not help me. Even though my back didn't really hurt on the run due to the time off, I felt out of running shape. I also need to do more speed work if I want to get faster. 1:49 you are mine at the Philly Half Marathon!
4. I loved wearing matching outfits with sparkle skirts!!!! The outfits were so much fun and as people saw us running by they would shout out "go blue skirts" which would put a smile on my race. I realized that running a race with friends is so much better than running a race by myself!!! And this was also my first rock n' roll series race. I liked the bands and the crowd support on the course which distracted me from my stomach issues.
5. I got to run in CA and with great friends at that! So at the end of the day, even though I didn't PR I still had fun and am glad I came out to CA to run this race. Plus having a beer to dehydrate afterwards always helps.
