Just a day past completing my first ever 1/2 marathon, not to mention my first ever ANYTHING remotely considered a "competition", it still seems sort of surreal.
But just to make sure, I checked the results page...yep, there I am. Hah...and not even in last place...what a trip.
Lisa Walters
Bib # 4162
AGE 45
Sex F
Age Group 45-49
Time: 3:11:31.2
Average: 14:37/M
Gotta tell you, I'm pretty damn proud of myself. For multiple reasons;
#1 At the outset I was excited about doing this run, however between coordinating my employer's 4mile fun-run fundraiser, starting school, and being sick, my lack of training was SIGNIFCANT.
#2 The weather was not horrible, but not exactly ideal either. I was so ready to just stay in bed and listen to the rain, rather than go out in it...let alone go out in it to do something as crazy as walk 13.1 miles..to nowhere, for no reason - C'MON! Not even if my car were up on jacks, and Nordstrom were having an "85% Off Sale" would I venture to WALK 13 miles. (But that was before...now I could not only walk there - I'd get there in just a little over 3 hours, which means I'd have to leave my house about 6am to arrive in time for the doors to open - TOTALLY DOABLE!)
And the #3 reason I am still a bit surprised/stunned/pleased is that: I am not usually a person who holds myself to my word, and anybody else that I might have told about this could go screw themselves if they gave me shit about NOT doing it...I really don't care and I really do think that "Hey. I'm a big girl, if I decide NOT to do something that's my business not theirs." That said, my attitude has changed quite a bit since Sunday.
The Shamrockn' half marathon is actually quite a fun event. It starts at Raley Field in West Sacramento, traverses the Tower Bridge and winds around downtown Sacramento, historic Old Sacramento, and the River Park neighborhood of West Sacramento, which is quite lovely - if you happen to be driving by on a sunny day with the convertible top down and Jackson Browne on the radio. The only thing I could hear were rain drops landing directly on my ear drum as they were blown sideways through the air. As I passed by these pretty homes, with their manicured lawns, and most certainly cozy, warm rooms (probably with fireplaces) all I could think was "What was I thinking?!"
I asked myself this question many times over the course of the day...mile 4, mile 8, mile 9, mile 10...and at various other times in between; when I'd get passed by grey haired ladies or 12 year old kids, when I was sweating from my hair follicles, when my hip bone started to grind against my god-knows-what-bone, when I was fumbling with my water bottle/hammer gels/clif shots/bib number/timing tag, etcetera - all accoutrements that go along with an event of this sort and which I had no idea even existed, until my mentor informed me that I would need all this crap! So, on the Friday before the event, she and I spent a couple of hours at Fleet Feet, picking up our bibs, t-shirts, safety pins, amphipod (that's the water bottle holder thingy ma-jiggy), body glide (another NECESSARY item), and mostly asking a LOT of questions such as "What do I need THAT for?" At which point Mary was probably thinking, 'What WAS she thinking!?'
Sunday morning as I was using reason #3 above, to try to get out of this predicament, Mary was doing her best and working her magic trying to talk me BACK into it. Which she did. And I thank her. And I curse her.
But, back to the race; Fortunately the rain didn't last too long. However, the wind never ceased. By the time I reached the 11 mile mark, a nice man standing on the side of the road, asked "How you doin, son?" as I passed by...yes, I looked just that pretty! My hair was sticking out sideways from my black baseball cap, my face was a lovely shade of wind-chapped crimson, and my sports bra effectively turned my normal B-cups into barely A's - no wonder he was confused.
However I looked, by this time I was feeling pretty damn good - spirtually anyway - I KNEW I was going to make it! While physically the lower half of my body was wracked with pain, the upper half felt fine...too bad I couldn't have walked on my hands for the last 2 miles. Seriously though, I don't know how anybody actually RUNS this distance. It just hurts. I tried to run a short distance for each mile, but it just never felt right. Other people would jog past me, seemingly gliding by, quietly and effortlessly. Me? I'd pick up the pace to a jog and think, "Can't anybody else hear every bone from my femurs on down cracking as my feet slap, slap along like duck flippers on pavement?".
Being used to walking on dirt trails, or crushed aggregate like the American River trail, the concrete and asphalt route of this run was hard on my feet...I think they went numb some time shortly after mile 8 - which can be dangerous when you're trying to avoid a pothole, or, just remain upright.
Other adversities were minor but abundant; it seemed that no matter which direction we were going (we being me, and the other 300 or so SANE people taking our time at the back of the pack) there was a constant head-wind. Seriously we'd be headed one way, do a u-turn and head back the other way and STILL have the wind blowing directly at us...this was especially true between miles 9 and 10, where I also started to sprout a large blister on my big toe. However, at this point, there is no stopping - if I stop now, even to ask for a band-aid from these very nice ladies who are bandaging their own wounds, I will NEVER EVER start again...And although I warmed up from the inside out, the temperature of the day never rose above 55 degrees, and since I'm almost always cold anyway, my perspiration just rose to the surface and well, I'd say "froze" cuz that would be funny, but more accurately I'd have to say "chilled". I think I finally got warm around 9pm when I slipped into a very hot bubble bath, accompanied by a nice glass of wine.
Overall the experience was, simply, gratifying. I have to say that hearing "Lisa Walters' crosses the finish line, Welcome Back Lisa", as I came into Raley Field really made me forget all the excuses, all the discomfort (for a few moments anyway), and gave me a sense of pride of accomplishment I haven't felt in a VERY long time...probably not since childbirth...mutually unbelievable feats of physical endurance that I, the least athletic/graceful/coordinated person on the planet was able to achieve. I am not a competitive person and not generally one to "push through" the negative self-talk or less-than-perfect conditions. I can talk myself OUT of just about anything. Funny; yesterday, I learned how to talk myself IN to something! It won't ever be as easy to use lame excuses or bold defenses to justify my lack of follow-through again...What WAS I thinking?
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