The Area 13.1 Alien Half Marathon

I'd like to start by saying, "I did it!" I finished my first half marathon. 13.1 miles on these feet of mine. Was it easy? Not even remotely. Will I do it again? Ask me in a year. Do I now want to run a full marathon? Not. On. Your. Life.

I started my day with intestinal distress. I have stress issues as it is and serious stress does ugly things to me. Atleast I don't have panic attacks anymore! Either way, I woke up and had oatmeal for breakfast and spent the morning with the kids. I took Gabriel with me to the grocery store around noon to buy groceries for the next couple of weeks. It was there that the day started getting rough. As we were walking to the car, he stopped abruptly and I didn't see him. I was wearing flip flops and I ran my little toe right into the back of his shoe!!! OMG...the pain. I swear I jammed it right there. It hurt SO bad, but it wasn't bruised or swollen. We made it home and I put up groceries and made some lunch. I wanted this meal to be something that would last for the duration of the race without causing me further distress, so I settled on a PB&J on whole wheat. I would like to mention that I don't like PB&J, but I thought it was a pretty safe bet, so I ate it. After lunch, I got everything together and got dressed for the race.

The race was in Roswell Georgia, about an hour from my house and there were 2100 people running in it, so I got there pretty early to ensure I had a close place to park. I did get a pretty good spot. I was meeting my friend and co-runner, Jessica at the race and she got there right after me. My mother also came to cheer me on. While we were waiting for the race to start, we played some games and checked out the booths of free stuff. I ended up winning a water bottle and scoring some free Muscle Milk, a fruity drink, some coconut water and a Sugar Free Red Bull. Not too shabby! About 30 minutes before it was time to head over to the starting line, we decided to stop for a potty break.

Here I am waiting for the bathroom

After that, we lined up for the start of the race. We went pretty far to the back and got a little bit behind the "Finish in 2:30" pace keeper. There were a LOT of people in front of us. So, after what seemed like an eternity, the race began. We started out at a light jog and went around all of the people going slower in front of us. We got to the first mile in no time. The first water table was supposed to be at 1.5 miles, but it was right there at the first mile marker. We had a cup of water and continued on. We were jog/walking our way through the next mile. Mile 3 was a hill, so that was no fun, but mile 4 was flat, even though it was a dirt road (full of potholes). The first water/aid station was at mile 4. I missed the water, but went for the next cup of what I thought was Gatorade. I have no idea what it was, but it wasn't Gatorade. And that was the beginning of our demise. 

The next water station was around mile 5.5, only when we got there, they were OUT OF WATER! Talk about dragging down your morale. We hadn't had water in about 4 miles because what we got at the last table wasn't water and now we had to stick it out until mile 7. I can honestly say that we slowed down considerably at this point, but we managed to make it to the 7th mile, where there was water.

I've never been so happy to have water up to this point!

So, we're off again. We were able to start jogging again and making up some time after the water. We were going at a pretty good pace. There was another water table a little past 8 miles and we had water there. After mile 8, it seemed to take FOREVER to reach the next mile marker and even see the turn around point. I had my GPS watch on, so I had a pretty good idea of how much farther we had to go. Around mile 9, it started to rain on us. Jessica was running in glasses, which got pretty wet and she was power walking at that point. My feet were really starting to hurt and I didn't want to keep slowing her down, so I just let her go ahead of me. That was the last I saw of her until the finish line. Almost to mile 10, there was supposed to be another water/aid station. It was also at the top of a hill. On my way up the hill, there was a guy going down telling everyone that they were out of water. Talk about devastating! I had just gone 2 miles since the last cup of water and now I would have to go 2 more without it. That's 4 more miles without water. My feet were killing me and I was starting to get dizzy and sore. I jogged a little bit more, trying to catch up with Jessica, but I couldn't see her anywhere. Also, they had already taken down the spotlights lighting the trail and it was pitch black dark outside. (By this point it was 9pm) I could barely make out people in front and behind me, let alone the pavement I was walking on. 

When I finally got to mile 11.5, there was a final water station. No, they were not out of water. Instead, they were out of cups! That's right. No water again. By the time I started drawing near the 13th mile, I tried to jog, only to have my calf muscles spasm and cramp SO bad that I was physically unable to run. In fact, I could barely walk. Everyone on the sidelines kept encouraging me to make a strong finish by running across the finish line, but I just couldn't do it. I ended up missing my "goal time" by 15 minutes, but I did cross the finish line within the allotted time frame, so I did get a finisher's medal. 

After the race, I had to spend some time in the first aid tent because when I crossed the finish line, my lips had turned purple. They had me sit and drink some water and I felt better after a while. After the race was over, we went to IHOP and I had some chocolate milk and a cheese steak sandwich and some fries. 

Don't get me wrong, I am extremely proud of myself for finishing a half marathon. I do think, however, if I had been properly hydrated, I would have been less fatigued and I would have made excellent time. In the future, I will have on a hydration belt and not be dependent on the race itself to provide me with water. 

This is me crossing the finish line. Do I look defeated, or what?

So, how did I finish off? Well, in my age category (30-34) I placed 198/214. Overall, I placed 1655/2100. I finished in 3:16 at a 14:59 pace. For my first half marathon, I really didn't do that poorly, I just feel a little disappointed that I didn't meet my goal and that I know I could have finished a lot stronger.

I had to go to work today after a night of restless sleep. My toes kept cramping. Also, during the race, the friction on my triceps rubbing against my shirt caused a chaffing rash that hurt like hell (still does). When I looked at my foot today, the little toe is swollen up to twice it's size, the area going up my foot is black and blue and the inside edge of my toe is purple. I spent the majority of the day with ice packs on both feet. As soon as I end this post, I am going to soak in an Epsom Salt bath of warm water. I plan on taking a week or two to recover and then I will go back to running no more than 3 miles, but that is a discussion for tomorrow!