I have been looking forward to this day for five months. I had imagined it at least 4-5 times a day since I signed up in January. And it was even more than I could have realized.
Saturday. 5am. Woke up, tried to cram oatmeal into a very nervous stomach, and tried to remember everything I needed. All of these three things were a bit difficult. Packing the night before was hardly productive as "race brain" had taken over. Decisions were impossible. Knowing the answer to anything was not going to happen.
The first fun of the day was the 6am arrival of my high school friend ACP from Chicago! We hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving. What a fun and special addition to such a great day.
Natalie and Stacey were not far behind and we were off to the race.
The day was beautiful. Perfect weather. A little breezey. OK, REALLY breezy. After checking bags and multiple attempts at bib attachment (*i have no torso*), it was time to head over to the corral starting gates.
Walking to the corral and eventually up to the starting line felt like we were rock stars marching to battle. I know that analogy does not make sense. But I have no better way to explain it. We were a few waves back from the start. So we got to hear the horn go off twice. The second horn indicated Natalie's start. She was off!!!!
Our wave collectively slowly marched into starting position. Music thumped louder. Cheers and the announcer got louder. Stacey and I clutched hands and just looked at each other. This was it. Right now.
The feeling of approaching the roller coaster drop was there again. And ironically, the song on the speakers urged everyone to put their hands up.
Our horn sounded and we were off. To be honest I really don't remember anything about the first mile. I remember the sound in my ear indicating mile one and I realized we were in it. We're running a half marathon. Mile one was over.
Mistake one: I said to myself: "Only 12 miles left."
I knew where some of my friends were going to be along the way, so I really looked forward to each of those areas.
My arms and shoulders hurt today and I'm pretty sure it's from frantically waving at everyone I saw. So honored that people came to watch me run by for 2 seconds. Some people were at multiple points on the course and that to me was like some sort of magic!!! How'd you do that!??!
We got to mile 5 without much of a hitch.
The worst part of the first 5 miles was the dodge and weave of all of the walkers on the course. The zig zagging really took its toll on me by mile 6. I tried to take a sip of something at each water station, which were a little further than a mile apart. By 6.5 or 7, something wasn't right. Nothing hurt, but I suddenly panicked - I was not going to be able to do this. I didn't know what to do.
I said out loud, "Stacey..."
She looked at me. "Joyce, it's not going to be easy."
Joyce, "Right."
Stacey, "There's going to be pain, and we have to get through this."
Joyce, "Yes."
Stacey, "Take a few deep breaths, slow down for a little bit and let's go."
Joyce, "Yep."
I tried to do what she said. And it worked at first.
But then I slowly lost it again. It wasn't working. I slowed way down. I could see Stacey in her purple for a little while, but then she was gone.
Worst part was I couldn't find the tough mental voice I usually use to talk myself through these things.
I was blank.
The only thing I could think about was finding my friends waiting along the way to ask them what to do.
When it dawned on me....
This is my race.
This is MY race.
I took a few deep breaths and kicked into gear again.
By mile 8, I was CRAVING the next water station. The "Marathon Fueling Station" signs were some of the best sights on the latter half of course.
((Looking back in the light of today, I realize I wasn't drinking enough water in the early part of the race. I have been training in colder weather. I'd worn short sleeves only twice during long runs. Race day was in the mid 60s and was in full on sun and wind. I had taken too little water and that was the cause for the blank mind, the feeling of malaise, the slow movement. NOW I know.))
The most pain I was feeling was the urge to pee. Have you ever tried to run when you really had to pee?? But I was soooo thirsty. Every port-a-john I passed had a line. I don't know why I wasn't willing to sacrifice 3 minutes of my time. But it made sense to me back then in the midst of it. Now I know it probably would've been better to stop and wait in line rather than not want to drink or not to run because i had to pee.
I walked a LOT during mile 9. It was a desolate part of the course. I would run a little bit and walk through and beyond the water station. Eventually figuring out that I'd get more to drink if I grabbed a cup in each hand.
At the end of a water station at mile 10, I saw them. Friends! They had hilarious signs. They were ready to high five me and kick me into gear. I may have high fived Jake at the end of the line a little too hard in an effort to pump myself up.
Move it.
Almost immediately after them, I saw another friend. I ran over to her, and tried to say to her without other spectators hearing me, Alexa, I'm struggling.
She looked at me and said firmly,
"No. You are awesome. You Go. Right now."
I don't know what it was about her tone of voice. But she meant it. And I did go.
I knew I was close to the last 2 miles. Because every single spectator was telling me that. I was really looking forward to the last bit at Schiller park. Such a pretty park. I knew that just beyond the park was the final push up High Street to the finish.
The final turn was very exciting. I love the neighborhood. There were a lot of DJs spinning their *funky beats*. I finally just let loose and started singing along with the songs.
The emotion was building. I had struggled through probably the worst run I've ever had and now I was this close to the end of my journey.
One of the spectators yelled out, "Yay!!! GO 2:50 pace group!!!"
Interesting, since I started out with 2:40.
I had really slowed down.
The pacer slowly passed by and I gasped.
It was Elisa.
It's Elisa from my 15k blog post!!
I wanted to call out to her,
"I'm sorry for misspelling your name!"
"I'm sorry for not running with you from the beginning!"
"Thank you for what you did for me back in April!"
or
"I really like your sequinned skirt!!"
But I couldn't say anything.
She, as I remember her from the race in April, called out to the group,
"We are less than one mile away from the finish!!! How long have you been training!!??"
5 MONTHS! is what I thought to myself.
She continued,
"You OWE it to yourself to go hard right now. Finish strong. Look at the finish line!! Do you see it!???"
I did see it. I saw the flags. I heard the music.
We were getting close.
She turned around to make sure everyone was with her.
That's when she saw me and squealed.
"GIRLFRIEND!!!!!"
I immediately leaned into her and burst into tears.
This was it.
This was the final push.
"YOU'RE DOING IT!! YOU'RE DOING GREAT!!"
Almost at the finish, I saw ACP and Linda ready to watch me cross the finish line.
I crossed that line and took two deep breaths and just shook my head.
I did it.
That's when I heard JOYCE BUCKLEY!!!!
It was one of the magic spectators with their multiple locations!!
Mary Kay waited for me at the finish line.
I made a straight line over to her and collapsed into her hug and burst into tears.
"Joyce, you did it!!! YOU DID IT!!!!"
Cap City Half Marathon 2013 from joyce buckley on Vimeo.
