Half-marathon? Check.
I did it. I ran 13.1 miles of up and down the San Francisco hills alongside 22,000 other [crazy] women and 2,000 men.
Where do I start… seriously, my brain is not functioning at the moment so expect this blog to make as much sense as running 13.1 miles up and down hills for fun does.
I slept about 4 solid hours Saturday night before the nightmares about missing the race kicked in waking up every ten minutes to check the time. Combined with the 5 hours of sleep I got last night after the 13.1-mile jaunt around town and some afternoon sight-seeing, I’m in the “bite me zone.”
What is the “bite me zone” you ask? I just learned about the “bite me zone” at the TNT inspiration dinner (which was RIDICULOUSLY tear-jerking and inspiring) from our speaker, John Bingham, runner and author. As he says, it’s the point of the race when “you are running out there with your bestest girlfriend… you are closer to this person than anyone in your life… you are closer to this person than your own family… you love this person more than you do your own children… and around mile 21 you turn to her and say, ‘SHUT UUUUUP!!!!!!’”
It’s true ladies and gents. I approached it… and I wasn’t even playing near “mile 21.” Ha! I was on the verge of my “bite me zone” at two points – mile 10ish right before I saw my family cheering me on, and right NOW!
Bare with me please.
The race.
Throughout this training I have on numerous occasion referred to this event as the ‘second hardest physical challenge I have embarked on to date.’
I was wrong. It is THE hardest. Backpacking 192-miles across Northern England is a piece of cake compared to this. Psssssh. Coast to Coast, you got NOTHING!
But I am proud – VERY proud, actually – to say that I not only ran the bloody thing, but I ran it smart. According to Nike – and who knows better than the sports goddess herself (yes, Nike is a female, duh!) – my average pace across the 5k, 10k and 15k splits were within a 15-second range. If that’s not some smart pacing, I don’t know what is.
I averaged a 12-minute mile according to my final time. And although slower than I was hoping for (and am capable of on flat ground), I tracked my first 3 miles at around 11:30ish so I started slow and was consistent.
This is a big deal!! Consistency is not my strong suit in life. This is a MAJOR breakthrough. MAJOR!
Holy crap! Wait, am I actually starting slow and pacing myself? Since when do I do this? *random thought that floated into my consciousness during the first couple miles.
Not only did I rock this whole concept of pacing, but I rocked the hills. Well, two of the three at least.
I was very lucky going into this run. I not only had all the TNT coaches’ advice and insight into the course, but we stayed with my mom’s friend from college and her family (Monique and Phil) and Phil is a hardass runner[slash]biker[slash]triathlete. He’s just an overall endurance bad-ass. He also knows every running route in San Francisco. EVERY one. Like I said, I was very lucky. (Also because M&P are lifetime winners of the “best host[ess]” award, but that’s a story for another blog.)
Phil took one look at the race course map and began describing the terrain. He had the course figured out, so I knew when to expect the big hill and what to expect. Actually he thought there was a chance we were running up stairs for the first hill, so mentally, I was prepared for stairs.
Mike 5.5ish is where life began to suck for a bit.
Luckily, there were no stairs. As we ran up the road at the big hill I was faced with the butts of a lot of walkers. Come on people, it’s San Francisco; you knew it’d be hilly! RUUUUN!!
I was determined to run this damn thing. I thought of a story my mentor had told us about a previous race:
“Last year when I was running up the big hill I overheard someone I passed say ‘New York City? There are no hills in New York City!’”
ha! Somewhat true. NYC may not have a lot of hills. But no city better breeds determination and competiveness than the big apple. I was running that god damn effin’ hill even it killed me and anyone in my way.
We all lived; don’t worry!
Heading up a hill #2, the smallest of them all. It doesn't look steep but trust me, it wasn't flat!
Can’t say I had this attitude throughout all the hills. The second one I managed just as well – Jelly Beans made it fun – but the heading up the third hill I had to stop a couple times to quell the jack-hammering in my legs. No time lost, I basically butt-slid downhill to make up time. 🙂
I ran the whole thing solo. I can’t decide if I run more effectively solo or with people. Hmmmm. But it made me appreciate the entertainment along the way more: There was bands, drummers, a DJ, the Oakland choir, etc, etc. Oh and at one point they posted signs with all the “reasons to run.” I wish I had photographed them all. Here’s what I can remember and my response.
Hmmm. I want to see how many of these apply to me!
- Leukemia YES! Obviously, DUH!
- Me Yes! I am totally a little bit selfish and doing this for me.
- My friends and family LOVE YOU SEAN, SUE AND EVERYONE ELSE!
- Massaged afterwards Nordstroms here I come – thank you to my ladies!
- Skinny Jeans Ahead Bought my first pair a couple weeks ago. Hehe.
- [something about eating a lot] hahahahahahahaha! Let’s not even go there.
- Celebratory cocktails They mean “celebratory champagne chugging” right?
- Bucket List I prefer to call it a live-life list…. But sure, its there.
It went on and on. There wasn’t a reason I couldn’t relate to. Apparently I was in the right place!
It was the entertainment, the “reason” signs, the “GO ELIZABETH” cheers from random coaches and supporters, the 21,999 women around me and my obnoxious stubbornness that kept me going most of the time. It was also my family. At mile 5 (which I knew because I was texting with my mom during the run to make sure I didn’t miss them) I looked ahead and saw a bright pink and a bright teal “I ❤ NY” t-shirt, complete with “Team Elizabeth Cheer Squad” pins standing on the road divider scanning the crowd. I had imagined myself sleekly running by like a jaguar hungry for dinner, but let’s face it, I don’t run sexy, so instead I ran over to them and wiped my sweatiness all over their clean NY Cheer Squad uniforms in the form of a hug. My brother took the opportunity to snap away.
Hands up! Baby Hands up!
For a second there I think I can run without watching the ground in front of me. I can't.
I saw them again at mile 10 – like I said, on the verge of the “bite me zone.” But I managed to express excitement and do a little dance for the camera before Monique jumped in for a brief coaching session. (With Phil’s addiction to endurance sports, she is a Master Marathon Groupie.)
You can put running shoes on the dancer, but she's still gonna throw her hands in the air.
"How are you feeling?" I'm effin tired to be honest.
I was being chased... by 10,000+ runners.
From this point on I basically wanted to die. It’s the only way I would stop and I couldn’t see how it was possible for me to finish this thing.
At mile 11 the clock read 2:36:XX. That’s 24ish minutes for me to finish 2.1 miles. That’s less than 12-minute mile – with a double stitch and sporadic star-sightings. (Repeat Harry Potter thought-sequence from JackRabbit Race.)
An under 3-hour half-marathon didn’t seem to be on the horizon.
I tried though. I picked up the pace, ran till the stars came, sometimes saw black spots, slowed it down a bit, then picked it up again. Ugh.
I won’t lie kids. I will tell you all the truth. There was a lot of walking being done by these feet during those last two miles. I passed the “Full Marathon” and “Half Marathon” split off and laughed at “June 2011 Liz” for ever entertaining the thought of running a full marathon first time out.
What the hell were you thinking Liz? You seriously worry me sometimes. Why are you not under 24-hour supervision? I am taking all decision-making privileges away from you until further notice.
You are seriously a lunatic.
It wasn’t until I saw the finish line that I found my inner white robot. Have I discussed the I, Robot visualization or am I losing you? Is anyone actually still reading this?
About effin time!
I rounded the curve out of Golden Gate park onto the highway along the beach. There was about a 1/4-mile to go and I could see the clock.
2:56:XX.
OH SHIT LIZ! You are soooo gonna beat three hours.
RUN!!! RUN!!!
RUUUUUUUN!!!
I finished at 2:59. Minus the 22:23 that it took me to get to the starting line and my final time is…
TA-DA!!!
I can not WAIT to see the photos taken during that stretch. I could hear myself grunting and panting and feel my lips gripping my teeth. I was seething. I don’t even know if I could tell you what that is. But I felt seething going on.
I was in an all out, run from the cops, run for your life, run like a jaguar trying to feed her cubs, kinda sprint. I was not finishing this race with an ounce of energy left.
So I ran, and ran, and ran, and ran, and stopped… right BEFORE the finish line.
And I stepped over it as the world flashed black and white and my heart began begging for mercy.
I had no choice. There was such a bottleneck of people who had crossed and were waiting in the “collect your Tiffany’s Necklace from a hot SF fireman in a tux” line that I couldn’t have run over the finish line or I’d have knocked them all down.
Oh, did I tell you I got a Tiffany’s necklace? It’s their version of a “medal.” And a hot fireman did give it to me.
See? Tiffany’s “NWM” Necklace. (More proof that Nike is female.)
See? Hot Fireman.
Put those two together and you get one Happy Liz!
See? HAPPY LIZ!!!
As soon as I passed through the “collect your Tiffany’s Necklace from a hot SF fireman in a tux” line…
and the “collect your race shirt in any size even though they made you pick one ahead of time” line…
and the “here’s a bag of coupons and crap because obviously shopping is the first thing on your mind now” line…
and the “here’s a water bottle; you look like you are networking at the pearly gates” line…
and the “here’s a plastic blanket that you are going to wear more for show than warmth” line…
I stopped seeing stars… found my family… and smiled for the camera as if I had just, well, finished my first half-marathon and was handed a Tiffany’s necklace by a hot fireman.
Family cheer squad
Family cheer squad (including Monique; she is now family) was pretty proud!
Loving this plastic blanket thingy...
...it makes me feel so important!
Thanks family! I can’t express more than that right now. Brain… fart!
Now, there is one element of this event that I have left out entirely: Team in Training. The race was fun; it was exciting; this was an experience I will never forget. But I didn’t just do it for “fun.”
I raised more than $3,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society so far…
and YOU CAN STILL DONATE!
The training, the prep and the race was was also a tearful, heart-warming, sad, confusing, joyful and a whole mix of other emotions I don’t know the words for experience.
I can’t even begin to thank you all right now, so I am not going to. Anything and everything I have to say to you, my friends, family, colleagues and other relationship categories, requires thought and eloquence – two mental processes I have no control over at this late, sleepless hour of life.
So stay tuned.
Till then, know that I love you all, you inspire me and…
PS. In honor of new experiences, I am posting this without any editing. Lord help tomorrow-Liz’s re-read.
I drove the morning shift. It was one of those days where everything in air felt perfect: the weather was warm and sunny, and the road empty and welcoming. We passed farms, cornfields, cow pastures, and wind farms!! (Minnesota must offer tax breaks to farmers, etc, to install windmills. Can someone with steady internet look this up for me?) They were everywhere: single ones standing alongside barns, pairs of them in the middle of fields, and rows and rows –– some still being constructed –– decorating the horizon. Seriously, MN is super green! And the wind farms are beautiful to watch! (We passed a truck transporting a blade; scary!)
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