Hey-O! Guess who has four thumbs and didn’t die this weekend?

These girls!

We may have precariously placed bananas, but WE ARE NOT DEAD. WOOT!
I wanted to tell you all about it yesterday, but my schedule was very full with laying on the couch, taking bubble baths and napping. I’m sure you understand.

Race Day

So Sunday morning started very early and with a very large helping of Pepto Bismol. We don’t even usually keep things like Pepto Bismol on hand, but I had a brilliant moment of clarity that morning and remembered that my mom had given Garrett a gag-gift basket for his 30th birthday full of “Old People Things” like Preparation H and other sundry items. Included: GENERIC PINK BISMUTH. Score. I’m pretty sure it was from The Dollar Store and probably expired. But whatever! I pounded that nastiness like Lindsay Lohan shoots Patron. It was amazing. Nerves, man.

We headed out to the course, stopping for coconut water and coffee (Yep, I had me some half-decaf on race day. I NEEDED IT DAMNIT!) parked the car, donned our bibs and then lined up behind about 1000 other people for the porta potties where we may have had the same conversation over and over right up until the race started.

It went something like this:

WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING HERE? I DON’T EVEN KNOW.

WHY THE HELL ARE WE DOING THIS? I DON’T EVEN KNOW.

And so on and so forth.

Most of the people around us seemed pretty calm and stretchy in their spandex though. There were even lots of people in costume — like these jail birds and their warden, who apparently were going to run the entire race chained together like it was no big deal.

I didn’t want to be chained to anyone, I was just ready to get this freaking race started because I needed a place to channel all that nervous energy.

And then all of a sudden we were off!

The Course

The course started off so great! We traipsed through the darling streets of downtown Folsom, towards Lake Natoma and down a bunch of small hills. I think at mile 2 I even shouted out “Downhill Forever!” I smartened up though and realized that for every hill I was going down, there would be one I’d have to truck right back up. This will at least give you an idea of the ups and downs of the course.

Man, there were so many! It really kept things interesting while running but since Sarah and I did not run any hills at all while we trained it definitely felt a little different. Around mile 5 I began to get a little nervous because my legs were feeling a little more fatigued than usual with all the ups and downs (DUH) and I still had more than half the race to go. Also, because there were so many downhills I was still running faster than my planned pace.

Pacing

Hmmm…pacing, let’s talk about that for a minute. So obviously I only had loose pacing goals since my main goal was just to finish. I was hoping to average a 13:30 minute per mile pace throughout the entire race, which would yield a 3 hour finish time. Yes, I know there are Kenyans who run marathons faster than that, but WHATEVER.

I knew my limits and despite that fact that I am comfortably running miles between 10 and 11 minutes right now, 13 miles in a row is a whole different story. And I hadn’t done ANY sort of training beforehand regarding pace so I just picked 13 as my arbitrary number and went with it. At mile 5 I was averaging just about 12 minutes per mile, which was sort of worrisome, but with all of those down hills it wasn’t that surprising. But my little leggies were starting to feel tired. Wait, my leggies aren’t little. Anyway, at that point I just wanted to keep going.

The First Real Killer

Right before Mile 7 though came the first killer hill. It looks so tiny on the elevation map but OHMYGOD I just about died when I saw it (for locals, it is that stretch of Hazel Avenue right by the Aquatic Center. Hmmm…when you are driving up it, it doesn’t seem that steep. ha!) This was the first time I had to walk, and boy were my legs happy to do just that. I had been telling myself “Just Don’t Stop To Walk” over and over because I was afraid of losing momentum, but this hill was just going to be a little too much, so I took the time to engage some different muscles and walk up that thing. Glad I did, because I ended up being REEEEEAL tired later on.

The Summit

At the summit (and the 7 mile marker) I started barreling down the hill so happy to not be going up anymore. But then I suddenly had the sad realization that running on tired legs DOWNHILL isn’t all that much more pleasant than running uphill. Tired legs are tired legs. Pace-wise this is where the race really slowed down for me. And at one point I was really hoofing it and feeling like I was working really hard and I was pacing behind a senior citizen who was SPEED WALKING. Ohmygod, mentally I almost lost it right there when I couldn’t pass the the grandpa with the walking stick, but I kept on trucking.

Luckily this was also where the race got pretty scenic and serene. It was the back side of Lake Natoma and with lots of shady trail areas so it was somewhat enjoyable, if only for the view. This is the thing that I have learned to appreciate most about running — the scenic places that it takes you that you may otherwise never go. There were a lot of those moments during this race where, despite being tired I felt really glad that I was getting to experience this gorgeous place that I live. But even good scenery couldn’t distract me from how slow I felt and how hard I was working for every step.

At the 9 mile marker I stopped to chug a Gu, stretch my hips and look at my cell phone. I had texts from Garrett and my Mom cheering me on and that helped me get a bit of my mental focus back and pick up my feet.

Aren’t they the cutest? My mom’s *may* have made me feel a little weepy for a minute. But it also helped me get a little bit of my fire back! (Or at least what fire I had left!)

Miles 10 and 11 though were a total blur. Everything hurt, all I could think about was crossing the finish line, and I started daydreaming about buying the biggest bottle Gatorade available. I’m not even kidding you, I was having IMPURE THOUGHTS about Gatorade when I hit the 11 mile marker. Luckily there was an aid station at 11.5, so I chugged a little bit of the Gu Electrolyte Beverage that they were shilling and it tasted like Dom Perignon. But then it was back to the grind.

When I got to Mile 12 I started really having doubts about finishing. In hindsight that was so dumb, of course I would finish I only had one mile to go, but in the moment all I could think about was that the last mile was completely uphill and just thinking about that was crushing mentally. The brain ALWAYS gives out before the body does. I began to walk and just feel really bummed and defeated. This is also for sure where my (already slowing) pace really crapped out. But then I came around the corner and saw the last bridge that we would be crossing, and it was a pretty one.

I picked up my feet, shuffled across that bridge, did a hybrid of walking and running when the winding hills to the finish line got hard and then finally spotted Sarah at the top of a big incline. She was wearing her finisher’s medal and I could see the finish line and so I harnessed up every ounce of energy I had in me and crossed it — and it felt amazing!!!!!

Official Time: 3:12:02

I didn’t break any records or anything (My average pace ended up being around 14:39) but you guys I’m just so happy to have finished. It’s a start! And it can only get better from here!

Thoughts for Next Time

(Wait…Next time? My Mom and Garrett just dropped dead over the fact that I’m saying there is going to be a next time. HA!)

I ran this half marathon as an exercise to see if I could, really. I wasn’t sure I could go for 13 miles, I didn’t really put a lot of effort into training aside from my regular CrossFit routine and a few long runs, and hey — I finished. Check Plus!

But in the past couple of weeks, and especially during the race, all I could think about it is what I could possibly do if I had tried a little harder to work on speed, or running hills, or if I really gave some energy to learning to pace myself consistently. This was a challenge that was a lot of fun to tackle, but I feel like the process of this race has helped me learn so much more about myself and my running skills and it makes me excited to do better.

So of course I HAVE to do it again. I mean, right????

But I’m taking the rest of the year off. Not thinking about any crazy events, not doing any major training, just enjoying the fact that I accomplished a big deal goal that I wasn’t sure I could do. I’m proud of that and I definitely took a minute to appreciate that after the race on Sunday. I also took a minute to appreciate this when I was done running:

I would like to tell you I came home and ate a delicious salad or some healthy dinner, but I MAWED a Chipotle Burrito and it may have been the best one I’ve ever had. And then…I slept like the dead! It was a restful sleep free of anxiety dreams and running worries and it was a great way to finish off the weekend. Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and tweets and encouragement throughout the entire process you all. I literally wouldn’t have made it across the finish line without you!

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Sunday morning I am running my first half-marathon. Ever. In my life. Yes, that was trepidation you heard in my voice, my nervousness is quite palpable, actually.

My goal: Just Finish.

And right now I feel fairly confident that I can do that. I’m not looking to break any records, or win any awards, I’m just looking to cross a finish line. That alone will mean quite a bit to this girl right here:

You might remember that picture, I’ve posted it here before, but if not, that was me on my first day of Crossfit (two years ago, this month – HEY-O!) On that memorable day the warm-up involved running 100 meters. It was uncomfortable and awful, and I remember feeling particularly embarrassed that I had to walk. 100 meters is not a long distance and I struggled — and it wasn’t in that triumphant-backed-by-a-soundtrack kind of way. I felt uncomfortable, I worried that I looked stupid, but most memorably it just made me upset with my body.

I kept trying to improve, though never running outside of the gym. Eventually I switched up my footwear which made a HUGE difference. Little by little I got faster and slowly but surely my body could go a little bit farther. It was a long term exercise in patience and persistence, because despite the fact that we run a lot in CrossFit there were blocks of time where my running did not improve at all. But then I began to challenge myself to run outside of the gym.

It was funny because I never had that ubiquitous desire to “Be A Runner” that so many people talk about. What I did have was this feeling that running was difficult, and you KNOW how I am with a challenge. Then one night last year I got ballsy. I signed up to run a half marathon in Seattle with a friend (Hi Jessica!) and I set my eye on the prize. I started training very diligently and making good friends with the treadmill at my office gym just about every morning around 5am. This went on for a few months, but after those few months I noticed a little hiccup – I had stopped losing weight. I was CrossFitting like a maniac, eating clean as a whistle, running 4 days per week and generally being a workout superstar! But the weight was just hanging on. Also: I WAS REALLY FREAKING TIRED.

So I reevaluated, hemmed and hawed, asked for advice and did some really deep thinking. I heard loud and clear (from many of you, actually) that training for running events and weight loss don’t generally go together. And because my goal at the time was to drop some weight, and I wasn’t about to give CrossFit up (that I was doing for my sanity), I ultimately decided to NOT run that race. There is a little part of me that still feels sad about it (Running! In Seattle! Waaaaah!) but it was the best decision I could have made at the time and I don’t regret it one bit. Once I subtracted the 5am running and added the extra sleeping, I was right back on track with the weight dropping.

But that “Goal: Unacheived” feeling sort of nagged at me. In the meantime I would run here or there for pleasure, and YES — I do mean pleasure. Running has never come easy to me, and I will never tell you that the first mile I run is enjoyable, but when you have felt that moment of sadness that I felt my first day of CrossFit — sadness about your body and its performance (or perceived lack thereof) you end up reveling in your own progress even if it is progress doing something that isn’t 100% enjoyable all of the time. And as I did it more, I became more confident.

I have said it a number of times: I will never be a super speedy runner. My body was built to lift heavy shit, not so much to race. But I have to tell you, when Sarah suggested we run this half-marathon at the end of October, I felt a little bit inspired.

Working on my running over the last few months has been SO. MUCH. FUN. at times. Of course it has also been crappy and tiring and hard, but improving on the tough stuff has been AMAZING! I’m not sure I would have challenged myself to run this race on Sunday if it wasn’t for the encouragement of Sarah, but heck, now that we are all signed up, I’m so glad the race is here and we get to do it!

One of the biggest gifts of the last 2 years, since opting to change up my lifestyle a bit, are the people who I have met, gotten close to, and learned from. It’s so fun to have friends who want to go out and run way too many miles on Saturday morning! It feels so nice to have coaches who are invested in your performance. It builds so much confidence to make a goal and then take the necessary steps to achieve it, but it is sharing those goals, and encouraging others, and having lots of discussion with a like-minded community of people that just make it all the more meaningful. It’s happened here in town, at the gym, on the internet, and out in Colorado at the very least. It’s THE PEOPLE that are the coolest part of this journey.

So I’m wondering, My People (yep, that’s you) – if you have a second on Sunday morning, can you send Sarah and I some good pre-race vibes? I’ve been running a lot, but Sunday will actually be the furthest I’ve run, um…EVER, . 13.1 miles, HOLY CRAP I’M A LITTLE NERVOUS. So any good ju ju you have to spare would mean a lot to this girl. But even more, it would mean so much to that girl in the picture up there, who never thought she would even be in a position to ask for support in a race like this. So thanks, y’all! It means the world….

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