Race Report

Finally...race report time! Gosh sorry...things have been busy, but I am back!

The day before the race Michelle came in from Portland to run her FIRST half marathon. I had convinced her a while ago to give this one a try. It was close to my house and cheap. She agreed and it was off to the races for a couple months of training. I would call and email to check up on her to make sure she was still liking running. She always told me she did and that she was practicing, hill and speed work! Who! She ws doing a lot more then I was, that was for sure. I was in maintenance mode the whole summer after my marathon so I never did anything more then just run, which was OKAY by me.

When she got to my house we were off to pick up our packets and BRIGHT green shirts. We made some pasta dinner and made sure Michelle had an extra two pieces of bread. That is what is nice about the night before a race...bread is your best friend. We scooted over to Molly Moons for some ice cream, I know weird, and then we were off to bed. The race started a little later then most, so it was weird to "sleep in" the morning of a race. It wasn't raining yet, but holy moly was it cold. AA drove us to the race...he's the best...and gave us blankies to wrap up in. We found Aunt Laura and Chet and Judy (the owners of Jock and Jill and my relatives!) and chatted with them for a while. I looked over at one point and noticed two women wearing matching outfits and looked up and who was it but Jill with Running to Sanity and Mel with Tall Mom on the Run!!! Ran over there to say hi and give pre race hugs, chat about how cold it was and how they should come to Alki to run with me soon! Chris and Meg arrived and chatted with them before we had to go and line up. I have to say it was weird to not line up with Meg. She is always right next to me when we start races. Right there to pray and laugh at each other. But don't you worry people...she will be back in action before you know it. She will soon be a running MOMMA!!!!!! Can you tell I am excited for Siena to join us on our runs???!!!!

Finally it was time to line up and I could tell Michelle was getting a little nervous. Right before the gun went off I prayed for us and then were off! Spotted AA and Meg right at the start line, gave them a wave and then tried to get into a groove. It is so hard to set your pace and what not with so many people around you. I planned on running with Michelle until she sped off. I knew she was in better shape then I was and that she would take off soon, even if it was her first half. We stayed with Aunt Laura for a while chatting about doing races in WARMER climates. :) I had never stayed with Laura that long during races so I was kind of proud of myself. But just like I predicted Michelle and Laura started to pick up the pace. I could have stayed with them, but I really didn't want to die and go to a slow crawl at the end miles. So I let them go and settled in. I was feeling good and at every mile I checked my watch and had to calculate where I was. My new shoes don't have the Nike thing so my Nike watch is pretty much useless. I am asking for a Garmin for Christmas I think...! Anyway, I knew if I could keep my pace I might be able to break two hours! I wanted that sooo bad. I kept Michelle in my view the whole time and around mile 5 I finally caught up to her. As we passed the mile marker I checked my watch and told her we were kicking some major butt! I started to pull away expecting her to join but she fell back. I wanted to see if I could keep this pace so I kept going. At mile 6.5 I took half a GU, something I would later regret. I should have taken the whole thing, because at mile 10 I WAS STARVING!!!

I saw Meg and AA at mile 7 and told them to cheer hard for Michelle who was right behind me. I love seeing people on the course! It helps so much. After I saw them, though I noticed I was slowing down and couldn't get my pace back. Lack of hill training hurt me and my legs couldn't recover after the figure 8 hill earlier in the race. I kept asking God "please give me Your power and Your strength." I kept going though and at mile 10 I was hurting. My hip hurts, I was hungry and I then realized I wasn't going to make 2 hours. I was sad, until I looked over and who was coming up on me but Mel and Jill! Mel told me to stay with them, she was coaching and pacing Jill to a PR. I stayed with them for just a little bit but they had jet engines under their shoes and I let them go. My hip was killing and didn't want to have something really bad happen. Jill raced to a kick butt PR and Mel has found a new love in pacing and coaching. I love it!

Finally the finish line was right around the corner and I was feeling horrible. When I saw AA right before the finish line I looked him right in the eye and told him "I need help!" Crossed the finish line at 2:05 and bend completely in half. I need to stop doing that because medical comes racing over thinking I am dying. Which I kind of think too, but then in 2 minutes I am fine again! :) I grabbed a doughnut and water and went to go stand by the finish to watch Michelle finish. She finished so strong at 2:19 and was so happy it was over! :) She did AMAZING!

After some eating and sitting we decided it was time to hit the road. Michelle was back off to Portland. On the way home I knew my skin was in trouble. I was chaffing so bad and I knew my shower would hurt. Sure enough I took off my clothes and before I got in the shower I looked in the mirror and was bleeding from my sports bra strap and my shorts strap. Does this sound familiar?? Yea haven't learned my lesson yet. Got in the shower and started crying and screaming. AA handed me Advil and I cried the whole shower because it hurt so bad. Oh well, the next morning I was fine again! :)

Over all a great race. One more race in October and then I am done running long for the season. I am starting P90X soon...oh gosh! I am off for a 6 miler today after work on Alki! Should be a good one for some personal time with my main man JESUS!

For pictures, check out Michelle's facebook here!