. . . but it gives me good stories to tell
So today we ran our 3rd 1/2 marathon since October 30th 2010. The first one we ran there was 3 of us and our "coach" had a respiratory thing that irritated her asthma and I dropped an entertainment center on my foot like two days before the race so we were not in the best shape. But we finished in a little over 3 hours, whoo hoo go us!
The 2nd one was in February of this year. Our coach turned up preggers which is so exciting but she couldn't run the race sooooooooo it was just two of us. We trained...not as much as last time. And I was just getting over some sort of sick funkyness and she had a hurt knee but we finished in just under 3 hours, whoohoo!!!
The 3rd one was just the two of us. Our coach JUST had said baby and still wasn't allowed to train. . .and we didn't train at ALL. This is why I say I am crazy. I think we thought if we signed up that would get us in the gym. . . ha yea no! I think we may have gone to the gym 4 times between the two of us and we didn't get together for any long distance Saturday/Sunday training. Then last week she comes down with a respitory infection and my knee gives out, just walking and bam I'm on the ground. Her Dr said she could do the 1/2 marathon but doubted she would be able to run, maybe just speed walk. My knee seemed ok but would get weak at random. So we said "we paid for this B***H we are doing it!" We fully expected to die along the way.
Here is how the day began. The half started at 7:00 AM on the Northshore which is a good 30-40 minutes away from her house. And we had to be there for 6:30 because they closed the gates at 6:45 to start the race. This meant I had to be at her house for 5:30...which meant leaving my house at 5:00. I woke up at 4:50. . . need I say more o_O. I rolled up to her house at 5:45 and we left at 6:00. As we are driving across the 26 mile bridge we realize we may not make it and just start giggling. Mind you we BOTH drank beer during the LSU game the day before, I didn't go to bed until 11 or so and she went out with other friends till 11:45PM, oh AND we didn't train. So we were a hot mess.
We pulled up to the gates at 6:55 fully expecting to be turned away, nope (whoohoo). The lady at the gate said "watching or running?" We said running, she said go go go go they are about to start. Crap! We got as far as we could and parked. As we walked into the open field (about 1/2 mile from the car) we see the start line and hear the national anthem, ok cool we made it! The national anthem ends and we hear "*Pow* and the runners are off". Doh! So we start running to the start line (we have to go through it to activate our timing chips) and we see a herd of people running towards us . . . uh oh. So we dart off the track, through the crowd and as we are getting to the start line we hear "and all the runners are on their way". No wait for us!!!!! We literally started DEAD last a good 5 minutes after the group went through. It was not NEARLY as big as the other halfs we've done. The 1st two were 4,000 or more runners. . . this one was about 1,000. So we kept running at least until our picture was taken and then she grabbed my arm, we had to walk she couldn't breathe.
Mind you we were speed walking which she was ok with. And we quickly passed many others that were walking much slower. At mile marker 2 many of the other runners were showing visible signs of fatigue. Some were limping, some were having a hard time breathing and some just looked worn out. Not good, you have 11.1 more miles to go people. We had a good pace, we tried running a few times but she couldn't and honestly I really didn't want to test my knee so I was fine with speed walking. It was a gorgeous course and a very pretty day. We chatted through most of it and just enjoyed the day. Like a REALLY long walk in the park. Around mile 11 we were getting bored, I know how bad is that. I mean we felt a ache here and there but everything was tolerable. We kept saying I hope they still have some Abita when we get there (Abita beer was one of the sponsors). And we were starving even after power bars at mile 8 so we were discussing what food options they may have.
We ran through the finish line 3 hours and 26 minutes after we started. . . not bad for not running almost all of it. They still had beer, whoohoo! But no food. . .boooooo! Our finishers medals were. . . wait for it. . . BOTTLE OPENERS, sweet! So we settled on a ledge with our beers & water and stretched and relaxed for a bit. They were doing the awards which we really weren't paying attention to until they announced the 70-75 yr old age group winners. Wait what??? There were at least 3 because they had a 1st, 2nd and 3rd. And all of their times were around 1.5 hours....holy crap! Well don't we suck for a couple of 30 yr olds. . . hey at least we finished right....and we weren't last, oh yea!
So aside from a little soreness when walking and some trouble with a blister or two we did fine. Especially for doing zero to prepare for it.
Side Note - While we are marathoning it my finace had my vehicle. . . ya know since his is broke and awaiting a timing belt. . . he texted me. He got a flat tire. . .there was a MASSIVE screw, not nail, in my back tire. Luckily it was fixable (we got that tire patch stuff at Wal-mart) and she is good now. But the tire looked a little worn. . . I JUST replaced the two front tires not more than a month ago and now this...I need a drink!
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