Race Day and Recovery

And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for! How'd the race go?.....well it had its ups and downs (ba dum cheh) both figuratively and literally. But before I give you all the details, let me paint the picture for you.

The morning of race day I awoke to rain pounding against my bedroom window and the wind howling between the houses in our sub-division. Yeah, I'm supposed to be running in this in 3 hours?! Oh, and did I mention it was 6am and dark outside?

My best friend is also deranged and is running the race with me. We arrive safely, check-in, and have about 30 minutes to kill before the start, so we kinda wander around and look at people. Runners are crazy. We saw the chick who clearly, this is all she does. Spandex everything, and about as big around as my pinky. She's out in the middle of the field doing weird stretch jumping things that I don't entirely understand the logic behind. Then theres the guy where the orange camoflauge polar fleece kilt drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon. (Seriously people, you can't make this stuff up) It was a little like seeing Dr. Seuss's "One Fish Two Fish" come to life, only runner style. There were old ones, young ones, short ones, tall ones, big ones, small ones, red costumed ones, and mis-matched thrown together ones like us....the ones standing around thinking "Holy %@*# this is crazy" and feeling completely unprepared.

Finally the time comes and over the loud speaker you hear "SCREEETCH!" and then masses of people start gathering at the flags stretched completely straight from the wind that read "Start." We mosey our way to the back half of the pack and wait for the whistle which we hear, but because we're so far back we have to wait for the people in front of us to move...Everyone is so excited the air literally is vibrating. Or maybe that was just me, I think at this point it would poignant to tell you it was 40 degrees outside, foggy, and I already  mentioned the wind.... But I had the stupidest smile on my face that I couldn't wipe off.

The first mile was on a paved road. What a treat! Just enough to get warmed up, run the whole mile, and pass people who had started at a pace quicker than they had trained for and had already burned out. (Not going to lie, it felt pretty good to pass somebody. I learned that this is called in the runner's world a "Roadkill" and can be a method of keeping score with friends of how many "roadkills" you have. Slightly morbid, but it is motivating.) We turned onto the dirt path just before mile 2. Nice path, tall grass, trees, puddles, it was great. And it was fairly flat too, at this point I'm thinking, this can't be so bad!

 I'm not sure how they measured their miles, but I swear that second mile was at least three miles long. IT NEVER ENDED! Finally when the little plastic sign reading "mile 3" came into view, I had to walk. It was beginning to get more hilly, and I was beginning to get a little scared. No turning back now. We caught our breathe, found the "Aid Station" with the nasty little electrolyte drinks and kept running.

Miles 4-6 were great. It was right in my comfort zone, right where I had trained for, but as soon as we hit mile 6, my legs became LEAD. I kept thinking "I've never run this far before....This is new territory" But one foot kept going in front of the other and I felt pretty good. Yeah I had to walk up the really steep hills, but so did "Old Man Jeeves." I use this name because it derives an accurate image of this man. Grey hair neatly gelled into a comb-over with the knee-high tube socks, shorts, long-sleeved tee-shirt, wrist bands, and a sweat head band. All in matching white and very dignified. I knew he had to walk, I knew this because he was in front of me. At first it was my goal to pass him. Then my goal became just to keep him within eye-sight. Finally my goal was just to make it to the finish line before he left this world. There was one GREAT thing about mile 6. There was another "Aid Station", and it had FREE BEER! No lie, it was greatest surprise ever. And I'm pretty sure that was the best beer I've ever tasted at 10:30 in the morning. Truly awesome.

Miles 7-9 were fun and beautiful! I'm so glad I had my phone to take pictures. I had never been to Silver Creek Falls this time of year because its so cold. But WOW! Is it gorgeous up there. If I can figure it out, I will post pictures on the blog so you can see it too.

This is where it got fun. When we were killing time at the start line we saw a professional photographers tent and figured there'd be photographers strategically placed along the trail. We saw one at mile three when we were still fairly fresh and grinning and figured that was it. Then after many hill climbs, stairs, and running behind waterfalls, we began the trek out of the canyon. This was broken into three phases: one steep huge hill, 1/4 miles of stairs, and second steep huge hill. At the top of the first steep huge hill was a photographer...Seriously.....is this a cruel joke? Lets photograph you, as your gasping for air and trudging up the hill? I tried to smile, but I've seen the photo of this point in the race...and you can see the contempt in my eyes! (This too I will post, as soon as I figure out how)

The 1/4 miles of stairs after running for 10 miles I think was just mean. It took all the wind out of my sails, and when I finally breeched the top of the canyon I was exhausted. And still had 3 miles to go! I gulped down the gross salty and undeniably refreshing electrolyte drinks and started running. Those last three miles were the most difficult mileage I had ever done. I had never understood the word "Trudge" until this point in time. I wasn't thinking about finishing the race anymore. It became a matter of just keeping forward movement, keeping one foot in front of the other, and not falling over.

At last the finish line came into view, it was just across the field. I could see it! And then the four little orange cones from hell appeared that were directing traffic to the right, away from the finish line, and up another HUGE @$$ HILL!! I'm pretty sure the people who planned this race were giggling evil little laughs when then they planned that part of the course. But now that I had seen the finish line, I KNEW I could make it there.

That was one of those "moments" crossing the finish line, seeing the flash from the photographer (I'd still like to know how he got from mile 10 to 13 so fast!), and realizing we had done it. I hugged my best friend and was just so excited. We had really run as a team. There were times when she kept me going, and I her. We laughed and took crazy pictures at the different mile markers, and found out we weren't as "bad" of runners as we thought.

As far as the recovery goes? I'm going into my second week of pain. Barefoot shoes are great, when the muscles of your feet are used to them. Otherwise you bruise the bottoms of your feet. And theres not anything you can do about it, except take lots and lots of ibuprofen and try to sit as much as possible. That was my only "injury" after the initial muscle soreness wore off. I'm pretty proud of that.

I'm planning on racing the Silver Creek Falls Half-Marathon again next year. WITHOUT A DOUBT. It was so enlightening and fun and unexpected. Words cannot describe the feeling or the "knowing" of what I had finished. There are three other moments in my life where I have felt that way. 1- Walking down the aisle with my new husband, 2- When I graduated from college and held my degree, 3- Holding my son for the first time. I'm not being over-dramatic at all, it really was THAT BIG OF A DEAL to me. I'm glad you read this and I could share it with you.

So I'm definitely still here. And I'm definitely still running.

Back in the Habit

Okay, no one even needs to say it. Its been WAY TOO LONG since my last post. It seems like so much has happened, but then again nothing at all.

I have come to one no-brainer conclusion however. Running in the rain is hard. (This is where you roll your eyes and say "Duh") Its not only physically hard but its very difficult to convince your primortal self (which has developed to do everything possible to stay inside, stay warm, and stay dry) to go outside in the cold, the wet, and the wind. The wind is the most irritating. THAT is the element that blows raindrops into your eyeball causing your contact to momentarily lose suction and pretend like its going to fall out. This results in you jabbing your finger in your eye to keep said contact in place. Having done this you've successfully kept the afore mentioned contact in place, and have now added untold amounts of dirt and sweat into your eye. And now class, whats in sweat? SALT!! I've done the "Dirt-Salt in the Eye" dance on more than one occassion. I've even thought to just let the contact fall out and become a victim of the run. The only thing this accomplished is I saw two blurry paths where one had been, and saw two blurry trees with low-hanging branches where one had been, and received a decent thump on my forehead as I ducked for the upper of the two blurry branches.... I ducked for the wrong branch.

I actually enjoy running in the rain. Its fun, in a bizzare masochistoic sort of way. It makes me feel like a runner. I'm still having a hard time identifying myself as a "runner."  Runners are those crazy people who run obscene distances for no apparent reason. Or worse, they run long distances on a treadmill which truely "gets you nowhere". Runners sport spandex like their entitled to it. As if their legs and thighs are the ultimate epitome of fitness gods and goddesses. Runners talk about their shoes like they are long lost lovers. You will be told details about their shoes that you really probably didn't want to know to begin with. But you'll listen to anyway because you're a good person. They wear legs braces and compression wraps like they're badges of honor, and taut them as such...Its funny. Even writing this I'm sitting here thinking to myself "I've kinda done that, I'm sorta doing that, I sometimes think that."

You may read this and laugh, but running has a way of changing things. Running 2-3 miles now is no problem. Three months ago it would have killed me. I've run 5 miles to which I said "Good run!" as opposed to "What that *bleep* am I doing?!" I have also developed a sore knee from running on concrete and asphalt. But WOW! I was so elated when I was shopping for my knee compression brace. I felt like I had earned the RIGHT to be injured (even if by my own insanity....)

I have a half-marathon to run/walk this Saturday. Fortunately its at Silver Creek Falls, and not a treadmill or a road race so my knee will be safe for another day. (I'm still wearing my knee brace and ankle brace just to be safe. That and it makes me look legitimate) Unfortunately, its at Silver Creek Falls and those are some BIG HILLS!! I know I can't run the full 13.1 miles. But after many a panic-attack, a few beers, and a supportive conversation I'm still going to complete the race. Run 2 miles, walk 1 mile, repeat until finished. I'm only racing against myself. I've never completed a half-marathon before so I know this will be my personal record :)

I'm beginning to become very excited about my big race. Actually, my first race, period. I've signed up for a 5K and then couldn't race because I was sick. So naturally when a second opportunity comes to race again, its a half-marathon. 4 times longer and harder than the original race! (I see the logic, don't you?) I already have my wardrobe planned. Naturally my amazing "barefoot" running shoes. Shoes that are so ergonomically correct you don't have to wear socks! Thus allowing for your feet to breathe and your socks won't hold moisture to your foot. I've mentioned to you before my love for spandex. The greatest material ever invented. Honestly for running its the best thing that ever happened since I ran my first mile without walked. Right now my spandex is used as its meant to be  used, as a means to be more comfortable running. I don't own the legs of a running goddess........yet.

All in all, I'm still here. I'm still running.