As many of you know, I have taken up running. I first decided to run a 10K and then I got talked into running a half marathon. I really didn't want to do it because I wanted to do a triathlon next, but I did it and I am glad I did it and I'm glad it's over! haha I have been meaning to write about it for a while, but I am a slacker and just got around to it.
The race was on March 20 and I had been training for months. I was ready and a week before the race, I got a call saying that Antonio was in the E.R. because he had wrecked snowboarding. He had to get two plates put in his arm and his surgery would be on March 18. I guess all 0f my training would go to waste. Antonio couldn't take care of our 3 year old and our 9 month old with a broken arm. He knew how hard I had trained and insisted that I go. He had his sister come stay with him so that I could still run my race. I was sad he would not be there and now we didn't have a photographer to take our pictures. :(
On the morning of the race I was nervous. I was not nervous that my lungs would give out because I was in shape and had trained hard. I was nervous because I was having problems with my IT band. When I would run for long distances (over 7 miles) I was in pain. Maybe I over trained. I don't know, but I just wanted to be able to finish the race.
Anyone that runs races knows that runners have problems with having to go #2 when they run for a while. I do not have this problem. Before the race, the lines to the bathrooms were long. I didn't want to wait in line to just go pee so I didn't. As the race got ready to start and with all the talking about poop, I realized that I needed to pee. It was too late. The race had begun and my sister and I were inching our way towards the starting line. I told her that I needed to pee. She said she would start running and I could catch her later. I crossed the starting line and remembered that my brother told me that if I had to go to the bathroom to go to the first stop (which is about 1/2 mile in) because not many people would take a break so soon. I rushed over to the bathroom and was in and out in about 30 seconds. I tried to find my sister and I could not see her because there were about 5,000 runners. I started to run faster. She was always telling me how slow she ran so I thought I would have no problem catching her. I kept running and looking for her and could not see her. All of the sudden I was at mile 3......4......5 I was getting more mad by the minute thinking how she would be at the finish line mocking me because she beat me. Anyhoo.....this made me in a bad mood. My legs didn't hurt, but I couldn't enjoy the beautiful scenery because I was mad. I finally gave up and just accepted the fact that she was going to beat me. I then focused on the pain my body was starting to experience. It wasn't as bad as it usually was, but I kept asking myself "why the hell am I doing this?" I made an oath to myself that if I got through this race I would never have to run over 6 miles again. 6 miles would be my max. I would NEVER run a half marathon again and I certainly was not going to run a full marathon. I kept looking at people around me. I would make up mean nicknames in my head for them. It really wasn't an enjoyable experience. At about mile 11 I was out of the canyon and running through the town of Moab trying to get to the finish line. I wanted to run faster, but I just couldn't. My legs wouldn't let me. I didn't care what my time was I just wanted it to be over. There were a ton of people on the sides cheering, looking for their family and friends that were in the race. This only made me in a worse mood. No one was there to see me. I turned up my music and kept running and counting the minutes till this was all over. I kept wondering where are the damn balloons?? There was always balloons at the finish line. I finally saw a banner and realized that was the finish line. I was about 200 yards away from finishing and I hear "JEN!!!" really loud. I looked over and saw my brother's friends Troy and Gary cheering for me. It seriously made my day! I crossed the finish line and stopped for the volunteer to take off my time chip and I literally couldn't walk. I didn't stop the whole 13.1 miles and it's a good thing I didn't because I would not have been able to start back up. I limped my way through the crowd looking for my sister to see if she was gloating at me. I didn't even care anymore. I was just glad to be done. I limped back to where I saw Troy and Gary standing. I figured my sister and brother would be there. I saw my brother and he finished about 25 minutes before me. I asked him where my sister was and he said that she hadn't finished yet. I said that she did because I didn't ever pass her. He reassured me that she hadn't finished yet. All of my being mad was for nothing. I must have passed her and didn't realize it. Troy told me that I finished around 2:05 and I was excited, but I really didn't think I finished that fast. Gary showed me a picture he took of me and he said "you look pissed!" hahaha I guess it was written all over my face. Anyway....I found out that I finished in 2:04:48! I ran an average of 6.5 mph for 2 hours. Whoo hoo!! I went to the line to wait for my sister. She came in at 2:34. I heard her say "Where's Jen?" Evidently she was worried about me the whole time and thought I had got hurt and was lying on the trail somewhere in pain. She didn't see me pass her either. She almost went back to look for me. Here I was mad at her the whole time and she was worried about me the whole time. I'm a crappy sister!
I vowed that I would never run a half marathon again and I have kept that promise, but somehow I got talked into doing the same half marathon in 2011!!! I'm a sucker...what can I say? I am going to try to not care about my time and just enjoy the run, but I don't know if I'll be able to do that. :) At least I will have Antonio and my kids to cheer me on and to take pictures. The picture above is the only picture I have. My sister hates it and says that the only reason she wants to run another half is because she needs a better picture of her. :) My race is on March 19, 2011. Wish me luck!
