It's done...

First of all, oh my gosh, have I really not blogged in that long??  Oops!  It's been kind of crazy lately...really only to get crazier too...

Well, as much as I have to get caught up on, I guess the important thing is this little thing I did today called a 1/2 marathon!

For those of you that have never run one....and for those of you that have....wow...that's crazy intense!

First of all, yesterday I was crazy nervous!  I had this weird feeling of wanting to cry for most of the afternoon.  For no apparent reason.  I was just crazy excited and nervous and highly emotional!  I got to bed around 9 PM after eating the craziest amount of pasta that I have had in a LONG time!

I had a hard time falling asleep, due to nerves...but 6 AM came eventually.

First stop - Shorewood to pick up my fabulous running partner and sister-in-law Gina.  We got down to the race and found ourselves in good company with many newbies.  I was SO scared!  Like that feeling you have before getting on a rollercoaster.  Adrenaline like I've never had. 

We lined up with the 9 minute milers.  We wanted to be pushed, but we wanted to be realistic as well.  We got to see "the Kenyans" take off.  So neat!  They were sprinting!  A 1/2!  Woah! 

We kept on pace with a 9 minute mile over the Hoan Bridge....until our first water stop....then we got separated!  I couldn't believe it - 1.5 into the race and I lost my buddy.  First I stopped to look for her...then ran slow...then thought, crap, what if she's ahead of me, so I sprinted! 

We finally caught up with each other around the 3 mile marker...or the turn around to go back over the Hoan.  We started up the incline again and I told Gina I had to walk...AND I had to go to the bathroom.  We walked for a minute or so and then ran...because if you run up the hill, you get to run down! But at the top of the Hoan we found a bathroom and I HAD to stop.  It took way too long, but I was so happy that we did!  We then ran until the Art Museum when I had to walk again. 

At this point, the sun was beating down on us and I really really thought I was going to puke.  We were still well on our target pace.  But I got cold feet.  I really wanted to quit.  There is no way I thought I was going to finish that thing.

To be honest, we walked A LOT of Lincoln Memorial Drive.  Each time we started running, I thought I was going to puke.  There was NO shade and thank God I ran with my 2 bottle water belt, or Gina and I wouldn't have had cups at the water stations!

Around mile 9 we started seeing people drop.  Paramedics were every where.  We saw people on stretchers, with oxygen, eyes rolling in the back of their heads...It started to get scary.  But we entered park and I TOTALLY got a second wind.  I was ready to rock it out.  We ran through the shade and downhill.  Feeling good!

Then it was Gina's turn.  She got really tired and felt pukey too.  But we had our off times at off moments, so I was able to cheer her through, just like she did for me down LMD.  The next water station we saw had a man down and a yellow flag posted.  As I had read up on all the flag colors, I explained to Gina that it was a moderate risk and we should really watch ourselves...but as I said that, they changed it to Red status.  Red basically meant a heat index over 90 and all non-elite runners should stop running. 

Well, I was at mile 10...there is NO WAY I was going to stop running!  So we took it slow and continued to watch people drop around us.  The very next water station the flag was black.  The race had been called.  Heat indexes over 100....Again...I wasn't stopping now.  We were well off our pace, but still doing well. 

Mile 11 got pretty rough, but then, again, it was down hill and pretty shady.  As we entered Veterans Park, we had all these volunteers YELLING at us to stop running.  The race is closed, no running.  The black flag is up, no running. 

We hit mile 12.  One more to go.  I now wanted to die!  My legs burned and felt like rubber.  We ran past a fire truck blasting water.  I ran though it, thinking I would get a fine mist....Well, it was like running through a down pour and I was soaked.  But happy! 

OH and did I mention my headphones didn't work...so I had no music the entire run!

And now my pants were falling down because they were so wet! 

At this point we ran into my friend Dave and his friend Ruth.  Both of which are very avid runners and training for a little thing called the Iron Man.  They started running the last 1/2 mile with us.  It was nice to have some new motivation and encouragement...but I had to walk again.

Dave pointed out the finish line to us and we started running again.  200 m from the finish we hit a gravel trail that was like running through fire!  The heat hit us like a ton of bricks.  It was the worst part of the race...well, it was bad anyway!

Gina fell back a bit and I turned around to see her puking in a garbage can.  I stopped for her, but Dave told me to just keep running and to finish this.  Great idea.  Dave went back to get Gina and I crossed the line at 2 hours 49 minutes. 

However...my Garmin watch said 2 hours 48 minutes and 13.2 miles.

Crossing the finish line was like running into the beaches of Normandy.  There were seriously people laying every where.  Packed in ice.  Wet towels over them.  They were handing out bags of ice of us.  I stuck my arm shoulder deep into a tub of ice water and immediately felt great!

I caught up with Gina and we breathed a sigh of relief...as people continued to drop around us.   We sat in the grass with bottles of water, bags of ice and pita chips that we choked down.  We couldn't even drink our beer!

We headed home after watching a feel more people fall over from heat exhaustion and I took a 3 hour nap.

My feet are blistered and in pain.  I'm going to loose my toenail.  I won't be able to run for awhile.

But I finished.  In extreme heat, never running more than 6 miles...I finished.

Will I do it again...HECK YEAH.  I'm still on a high.  I feel my pulse in my toe, but I'm on a high.  I may sleep with my medal tonight.

THANK YOU to Gina for running this crazy adventure with me.
THANK YOU to everyone that has encouraged me, motivated me and congratulated me.
It sucked.
It rocked.
I guess that's running....