The big day!

The big day was one week ago (sorry for the delay).  There was a bit of worry over the weather because it rained most of Saturday and was foretasted to rain most of Sunday morning as well.  We knew we'd have colder temps, so we tried to be prepared for the cold and the possible rain.

In the end, we got so lucky.  We left our hotel to walk 2 blocks to our start, and it was clear and crisp though chilly - still very bearable.  Backing up a step, the boys had stayed back at our house with Paige with the plan for them to come meet us at the finish line later in the morning.  The race was scheduled to start at 7am.  There was a time change that gave us an extra hour.

Very thankful that we got to the starting line on a clear morning with no sickness and no injuries - all my prayers were answered!  We had plenty of time for bag check and to get warmed up a bit and in place to start near the front...turns out about 3500 of the 5000 registered were there that morning. 

There was a really tough start - up a hill first thing.  I thought I'd collapse right there.  I knew there'd be hills, but not at the start and I just wasn't ready, but got past that....and kept going.  I ran as much as I could - keeping up with the other runners helped, but tons of people were passing me at the beginning as the runners spread out and sort themselves by their running pace.  It was a bit intimidating.  I missed Ginger!

Anyway, we ran about 5-6 miles before we got to the bridge..the bride was a bit colder and also a bit intimidating.  Nice view, but you could also see the churning  salt water of the bay under us - very far down under us.  Maybe the adrenalin of fear helped - who knows.  Soon enough, I was nearing the end of the bridge.  There had been a lot of construction on and around the bridge (they are retro fitting it for earthquake preparedness - frightening and good!)...so, they had course changes and some closures....there's one part on the bridge (might bear mentioning they didn't close any lands of traffic on the bridge for us - just the one side pedestrian path which gets pretty narrow) - anyway, there's at least the one place on the bridge where it is at best single file with one runner each way squeezing by each other creating a HUGE bottle neck.  All I knew, was that near the end of the bridge, I (and all my fellow runners) had to stop for almost 10 full minutes!  Not cool!  It was a nice break on one hand, and we got to enjoy the view, but it hurt our times, our momentum and it was really tough to get started again especially when just on the other side of the bridge there was a hill that we could see already that was almost straight up!

Anyway, made it through, and the bridge on the way back and the rest of the course and finished! I FINISHED! 

David was there (he had finished well over an hour before me!), and he re-ran the last few yards with me.  The boys were there with cute posters with Paige at the finish line!  It was so great to see all their faces - so meaningful to me!  (I'll get photos of their posters from Paige to share soon).

Last Training Run

Today was *planned* to be my last and longest run - 10-12ish miles.  I planned to make it a trial run for this Sunday's big race - same clothes down to the socks, water and 'fuel' (gu or bloks or running beans).  The only differences would be that I wouldn't have Ginger with me on race day, and I wouldn't have my hydration back pack (carrying the weight of water).

Got off to a decent start...the beginning and the ending are the hardest.  The beginning is just a struggle to get your body moving in the proper motions and getting over the first aches and pains and your brain screaming for you to stop...and your breathing to change over to be able to fuel your muscles in their new cardio needs.  The ending is just tough because you have used up all your physical and mental reserves. 

Regardless, about mile 2, I find that my drinking spout isn't working.  I can't get water through it.  We had already had to stop twice - once for Ginger to pee and once to poo.  I decided I'd stop to see if I could get it to work because I didn't think I could make my distance without water.  I took too long and was annoyed with myself.  Had to take my pack off and take the hydration bag out...couldn't get it working after all that!  AND the worst part, that I realized a few minutes later that it was now leaking!  Actually, I felt the cold wetness on my lower shirt and upper shorts.  Thought it was just some of the water that came out when I was trying to fix the hose.  So, I kept going.  By the time I realized that it must be an active leak....I was pretty soaked and cold water was actually trickling down my legs and getting my socks wet in my shoes....not to mention my wet underwear. 

When I got to the bathroom, I stopped to check it out to see if I could dry off - no towels and you can only do so much with toilet paper....I dumped the rest of my water, dried off the best I could...and I had to make a decision.  Do I try to continue on to my 10 mile goal wet and without water to drink.  My biggest concern was the wet clothing and chafing or blisters it might cause that would then be an issue for me on Sunday.  I decided to turn and head back.  I ended up with just under 6 miles which is a bit disappointing.  What can I do?  It is too late to fit in another long run - today was pushing it.  I will have to wing it on race day and hope that I can manage the full 13 miles and that I can do it in less than 3 hours AND that I can refuel while running and not throw it back up. 

Wish me luck!!!