If you haven't heard already, I finished a half marathon!

Bah-duh-dum! Race recap for my first ever half marathon. As written from my couch where my legs are propped up, my hair is a mess, and my feet are screaming.

EYE-Q CALIFORNIA CLASSIC -  FRESNO, CA - MAY 20TH, 2012
So like I said in my last post, I woke up really early on Saturday morning so I could prep myself for a good night's sleep. I also, though unintentional, spent a lot of time working outside on Saturday. We installed sod in our front yard (the contractors on the house next door ruined our lawn and did a shitty job "fixing" it) and we put down humus in our backyard. So let's just say I was exhausted when I went to bed at 8:45.

P.S. Sweet Mini Peppers are really good with Baby Bell cheese

 Oh and Saturday night I had a kick butt dinner. I know, this really isn't a necessary part of my recap but it's important to me, so you are hearing about it!  I had Grilled Chicken with Baked Zucchini and Red Potatoes. As a last minute addition, I added sweet mini peppers and carrots AND I harvested basil and cilantro from my garden. Yum...mmmie! I feel like this meal was the start of my day for this morning, so I was glad I opted out of the burgers.




I am the princess of prepping and preparing the night before I do something. So when I woke up well rested and relaxed this morning, everything was ready to go. First thing I did was eat a protein bar, some strawberries, and downed a bottle of Vitamin Water (my regular Powerade was nowhere to be found at the store). I ended up having a good two hours to digest before the race. I got in my car five minutes later than I planned because I was having a shoe meltdown. I wasn't literally having a meltdown but I WAS trying to get my shoes tied correctly. And I went back and forth between my running shoes and my day-to-day work running shoes. My order for new insoles never went through at work this week because the medical side was having credit card issues. They are Spenco insoles and have to be cut to size for your shoes, so I couldn't just put my work insoles into my running shoes. I decided that since I've clocked my longest runs in my running shoes, I needed to wear those. Then I remembered that I have a shoe problem and I'm SO picky about how my shoes feel (my mom is probably having flashbacks to arguments at the shoe store with the child version of me). So imagine me jumping around at 5:15 in the morning making sure my shoes feel OK. Luckily, the only witness of this tom foolery was Hank and he thought it was pretty fun!

I made the 25 minute drive to Chukchansi Park and made it there before the huge 6AM crowd showed up. I parked, got my number on my shirt, retied my shoes, and made my first trip to the porta potties. After, I ended up sitting  on the ground and stretching for about 20 minutes while the crowd thickened and then decided at 6:30, that I needed to use the restroom one more time. My pre 6AM trip to the PPs did NOT include a 15 minute wait in line. The problem was that there were about eight lines going at once for a group of 20 PPs. It was ridiculous. (it is worth mentioning that despite my anxieties, I didn't need the restroom ONCE during the race. Big win for me that my food and hydration choices limited my GI Tract upset!)

After that adventure, I stood closer to the starting line, did some warm up walking, a little more stretching, and I people watched. There were women in tutus, women in cat costumes, and a few people wearing crazy wigs. I also listened to the people around me to see if they were talking about pacing strategies. I ended up picking up some good, though last minute advice. The started making announcements and things about the runner corrals but I couldn't hear anything. They were supposed to do more organizing at the start line but failed. When the gun went off, I had no idea that it was even time. Well, to be fair it was 7:00AM on the dot but who knew that half marathons actually started on time?

I was in a pack of runners that were moving slightly too fast for my comfort, so I hung back a little bit and made it to mile marker 1 in about 12 minutes. I passed mile marker 2 about 12 minutes after that. (I found out later that the front runners passed Mile 3 in 15 minutes... crazy!) I was already indulging in the water/vitamin water mix in my camelbak and I decided at Mile 3 that I was going to dig into my snacks. I went out and bought PowerBar Energy Blasts and they were actually really good and I feel like they really helped me. By mile 3, I was already walking a bit. I found someone who I overheard talking about pacing before the race and I followed 20 feet or so behind her and tried to match her paces. That helped me until about mile 5 when she took off.

I was at mile 6 by 8:13, so I kept a pretty steady 12 minute/mile pace up until that point. I had made myself a promise not to look back to see how many people were behind me BUT there were a lot of points where you doubled back and ran towards the people behind you. It happened three times between Miles 2 and 7. I was probably mid pack at Mile 7, so it was actually nice to see that I was doing so well. The zoo portion was great! There was a ton of shade, the animals were out in their exhibits (which is not normal, usually they don't come out until after the zoo opens later in the morning). Notably, I saw the grizzly bear, the sea lion, and the giraffes. Did you know a Giraffe can run a marathon in 25 minutes and that a Zebra can run it in 20 minutes? Neither did I but the zoo was so helpful in posting these facts along the zoo trail. I can ride a horse so would it be possible for me to hitch a ride on a zebra? That would be a great picture at the finish line!

Mile 8 hit me like a brick wall. I was well hydrated, I wasn't having horrible lactic acid burn (thanks to my PowerBar products and new found ability to eat at the right times) but I did become very aware of my feet. I felt like the asphalt was burning right through the bottom of my shoes and I (thought) I could feel blisters on the bottom of my feet. So I walked through to Mile 10 but still kept great time. At Mile 10, my mind completely shut off. I think when we got to that mile marker, I audibly swore. Something along the lines of "shit". Loud enough to where the person directly next to me heard me and asked if I was OK. I just smiled and nodded and kept going. Even had a little celebration with the volunteer who was standing there chanting "3 more!" but other than that, I just wanted to be done. I have no memory of passing mile marker 11 so when I got to 12, I was really confused. I asked the girl holding the water cups if that mile marker was right and she smiled and nodded. I "whoooped!", drank one cup and poured another on top of my head.

I got a huge spurt of energy after crossing over that Mile 12 marker and ran a majority of the final mile. I stopped briefly half way through because my legs were SO stiff. I stretched out a bit and ran into the finish. We had to run down the ramp into the ball park and across to the finish line which was located right by home plate. I ran harder in that last spurt than I had the whole race. I actually passed 4 or 5 people in my rush to the finish. I don't know my official time but I know it is just over 3 hours. At first I was thinking 3 hours and 4 minutes but it might be slightly more than that. Either way, the minutes don't matter to me too much because I stayed in the 14 minute mile range even though I walked about half the race. I didn't finish last and I most definitely finished before the finish line closed!

I grabbed my medal, a bag of ice, and a cold water and found a spot to meet my husband. He came to see me cross the finish but didn't actually see me cross the finish. Oh well, pictures will be posted within a week so he will be able to live the moment with me again.

Speaking of pictures, I am aware of at least 5 pictures of me somewhere in the bunch of pro pictures snapped in the event. I'm resolved to purchase the one where I am giving a huge toothy grin to the photographer. Might as well have some fun, right? ;)

Looking back on it, even though I spent some time being uncomfortable, it was a fun race. The volunteers along the course were really enthusiastic. My favorite signs were "Pain is only temporary but pride is permanent. (Oh.. BTW... Big hill coming to your right)", he flipped that over and it said, "Stop reading my sign and keep running!", and "Why do all the cute ones keep running away?" I also got to see parts of Fresno that I haven't been to before or hadn't been to in a long time. I also remember now how eclectic the Tower District is and I have a few shops that I want to go browse in at some point soon.  And you know, for Fresno, there sure was a lot of shade!

And just to add some humor to your day, this is "Hank's" Facebook post from the afternoon, "I don't update my status often but I have something I really need to say. I am so upset because my Mom didn't take me to Fresno today to run in the half marathon. I've been training so hard for this moment and she says, "They don't allow dogs." Don't they know I'm not a dog, I'm HANK. Pffft... oh well. She let me wear her medal so I guess that's OK."

Hank's Facebook is not a place where I actively post. I mainly use the account to help me with those annoyingly addictive Facebook games that require friend involvement. I just wanted to throw that out there so you don't think I'm an uber crazy dog mom.

Oooh! To add even MORE to this post, I wanted to share a few songs on my playlist that completely lifted me up and just made me feel so much better... (I finished the race before my 3 hour and 15 minute playlist was completed.. yay!)

Grooveshark Playlist - If you are interested in listening...
So What - Pink... this one came on as I passed Mile Marker 7. Yes, Pink. I am a rockstar!
Runaway - Mat Kearney
Footloose - Blake Shelton version
Sexy Silk - Jessica Cornish.. not really a "running" song but it made me smile.
Ready, Steady, Go - The Meices
Cruel to be Kind - Letters to Cleo
All or Nothing - Athena Cage