I was really worried about my BFF finishing the race. I was supposed to start in corral J and she was supposed to start in corral L due to the pace we entered when we registered. I was going back and forth about whether or not to drop back and start with her in her corral. I was thinking about it all night and all morning. I came to the conclusion that I trained for this and she didn't. That it wouldn't be fair to be picked up by the fail bus with her when I put in so much time and effort week after week. I'd have to leave her behind eventually, and I'd be stressed about running to catch up with where I should have started out. So I made the decision to part ways at the very beginning and send her all the positive energy I could. Here's our pic together before the race:
A friend of mine who is at almost every running event I attend was going to be there and was assigned corral K. She needs an alias for this blog.... um... since she's kind of family in a weird round-about way, I'm going to call her "cousin". We usually have a similar pace so I thought I would at least drop back one corral and do the race alongside her. Well, she had friends who were in corral G so she said we were going to cheat and start in that corral. That made me nervous starting out with people who were even faster than we were. And you're allowed to drop back, you aren't supposed to join an earlier corral so I thought we'd get in trouble. No one seemed to notice. I started my Garmin when I crossed the start line, and we were off!
I practiced aligning my body and using my Chi Running techniques. I would swing my arms back with my music, I'd practice a tight core, move my hips, let the road drag my foot back, tilt forward. Practice practice. I was doing great. Nothing hurt, I wasn't out of breath, and I just happily jogged along and chatted with cousin and her brother, and ate chocolate marshmallows at the different candy stops. She was getting over the cold that I had a couple weeks ago so she was having a tough time. She'd stop to walk and blow her nose, and hack up crap and spit on the side of the road. Oh man I remember that. Sucks! She kept trying to convince me and her brother to run off without her but like I've always said, as long as I'm not dead last and in danger of failing, I don't care how long it takes. Our average 13 minute pace was just fine with me.
It was fun running along empty streets! I've definitely never been inside the Battery Street Tunnel without a car! Here's a few pics...
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| Cousin and I at the start line |
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| Inside the Battery Street Tunnel |
He asked if he should just stay there and wait for me to turn around and reach him again, or continue up ahead but I said my foot felt fine so he could hang out there. Just after the 5 mile mark, my ankle got that little painful twinge. I thought, oh no! I should have told him to keep going, I may need my shoes after all. 5 miles was right where my ankle started hurting during my 8 mile run. But I calmed down, practiced my Chi alignment, and the pain magically went away. Woo! That workshop was worth every freaking penny. Chi Running FTW! At around the 6 mile mark, cousin and her brother stopped to use the bathroom and I decided to head off on my own. All the way up Aurora Ave and back down again. Look at that hill in the distance! ...
Here's a pic my husband took of me when I made it back to where he was waiting... almost the 8 mile mark. Still feeling good and smiling!
When I reached my husband I gave him a quick kiss and asked if he had seen BFF. He told me that they had started turning people around the other direction and that she was about 2 minutes ahead of me. Oh no! Well, at least there was no actual "fail bus"... just that they made people turn around so they could open the road back up. Ugh. That freaking sucks. I kicked it into high gear and tried to catch up to her. I found her and tried to offer some encouragement but I don't think it really worked. We passed the sign that said 8 miles, and her Garmin said she did 6 so she had to cut 2 miles off of her run. She said she wasn't going to take the finisher medal because she didn't really finish. I told her I was proud of her just for trying and took off. I wanted to try to finish the 9.3 miles in 2 hours. We really should have taken a selfie when I found her, but I didn't think about it until later.
I finished in 2 hours and 2 minutes. Not too bad! I got my medal, hot chocolate, and the best chocolate fondue I've ever had with lots of yummy stuff to dip!
I fessed up yesterday in a text to BFF and told her that when she registered for the 15K, I booked my Disney trip. I told her that if she puts in every single mile, no matter how slow, from here on out... I will do the Disney Half at her pace. We'll goof off and take character pics, and just have a good time. No nervousness, lots of breakfast. I hope that made her day a little better. And husband said a lot of people kept the required pace and were turned around anyway and were really mad. Pretty sure the clock started when corral A left. How stupid is that?! They really should issue an apology or something because the people who started out last, should have had the same opportunity at a 15 minute pace as the elites. Seems backwards to me! If BFF started in our corral, she would have made it all the way. I was thinking later that she should have taken her damn medal and then just kept going around town on her own until her Garmin read 9.3 miles. It wasn't her choice not to finish.
Anyway, when I got home I headed to the hot tub with a celebratory beer and left my compression sleeves on. Felt amazing. I even wore them in the shower and then let them air dry so they felt cold after. Brilliant!
I'm so sore today. It's a good sore though. I'm using muscles to run that I haven't used before. My core is so sore it hurts to laugh. I'm going to have a 6 pack soon! Ha... I can hope! :)
