the rest of the story...

The alarm went off at 4:30 to which I promptly hit the snooze button (if you can call it that on a cell phone). I laid there attempting to wake up, deciding if I was excited or nervous - whether I would be spending the morning in the bathroom and not able to eat or whether I was ready to run. Turns out I was ready to run. I had worried about being sick the morning of the race. When I get nervous - even if my mind is unaware of being nervous - by body sends me to the bathroom. Typically this happens on the first day of school etc. It even happened to me on almost all of our longer runs this summer. However on race morning - my body was ready and I became the encourager in the room. Surprisingly enough Nicole was nervous and I was the peptalker! My only goal was to be mentally ready and be able to go to the bathroom (*wink wink*) before the race began. I did NOT want to have to stop along the way.
Around 5:25 several of us runners met in the hallway and went downstairs to gather together before walking to the shuttle. As we got on the shuttle we saw our coaches and other runners on their way too. A few minutes later we arrived at the convention center and waited to meet the rest of our group. There was a steady crowd of people heading to the starting line. That was one aspect that just amazed me. They just kept coming and coming and coming. I arrived at the convention center around 5:45 and I don't think the steady stream of runners started to filter down until after 6:45. As people arrived we shared excited and nervous hugs, took prerace pictures and finally got last minute encouragement and instructions from our coaches. The whole time I'm trying not to tear up. It was such an emotional moment. Having spent the last 4 months working towards this seemingly unattainable goal and realizing that the day I've(we've) been working for is finally here. It was go time...after a group picture and a LONG porta potty line in which I got my morning wish and a 42 minute wait from the first wave start to my wave start. We all moved to the starting line like a herd of cattle. By the time I got to the line I already had to pee...I truly ignored this feeling for as long as I could. We started off around 7:42 and by 7:45 Taylor and I were walking. We made our coaches proud and followed the rules to stick to our run/walk ratio from mile 1. Fortunately many others were doing the same. I took it easy and Taylor and I watched our mile time to try to stay as consistent as possible to what we've been training at. My concern was that my last long run that I completed was the 10 miler. I knew I had 3 miles more than that to complete that morning and I did not want to push myself early and not be able to finish strong. Slow and Steady finishes the race (they may not win but they WILL cross the finish line).
Mile 1 & 2 - Felt great - took it easy and cheered on the elite runners who were rounding mile 11. Hit the first few bands - great music - loud fans albeit no one I knew. I did see an awesome sign - One said "better you than me" the other next to it read "you run and I'll drink" as she held her travel coffee mug to her mouth. I couldn't get over how many people we were running around and was waiting for the mile when this would begin to clear up (that mile never came).
Mile 3 - Finished a 5K feeling awesome. This was where we found Amy W. our "fill in" coach for part of the race. She informed me that Nicole and Tracey were up ahead but waiting in a bathroom line. It was crazy crowded and we waved as we passed Nicole and Tracey in line - apparently LOTS of runners had to go at mile 3. This was the only bathroom spot that had a line longer than 1 or 2 people. Eventually they caught up and we snapped a few pictures while running. It was at this point that everyone else from our group - minus the walkers and one other running group- passed us. These were all groups that had per mile times longer than ours. Taylor and I decided to stick to what was working - stay at or slightly over our normal pace to make sure we made to it to the finish line. She probably could have gone faster being she is only 17 but I appreciated her willingness to stick with me for the long haul.
Miles 4-7 Bands continued to be pretty good. Body still feeling great. It was during these miles I had to keep commenting, quietly of course, how prepared we were. By this point people that started off running were now run/walking or just walking. We passed people who were huffing and puffing, people who were sprinting for 30 seconds only to walk for the next 5 mins, people wearing NEW sneakers, people without water belts - people who did not have awesome coaches who prepared them to face what this day would throw at us. It was also somewhere between mile 7 and 8 that I made my poor running buddy wait for me to go to the bathroom. It wasn't an emergency but I knew I had to go and assumed it would easier at this point to go rather than waiting until I was uncomfortable or wouldn't want to get back up from a sitting position later in the race. While there was no line apparent, I did wait for 5 mins. Grrr. We were finally coming out of camp pendleton with some eh bands where the mental battle started in.
Mile 8&9 - It was during these miles that all I longed for was to see a double digit mile. I kept reminding myself that I had run 8 miles many times and it was no big deal. My back was starting to get sore, my body tired. I had already taken salt and eaten several packs of sport beans. My stomach started to feel a little iffy and all I wanted was to be done but knew I had a ways to go. I think I also knew that coming up on 10 miles was the longest I had run. The final 3 miles were new territory and would be a long mental more than physical battle to the finish line. And of course...right when I needed her most Coach Amy comes running towards me with her arms in the air. We ran for about a mile together and it certainly helped. Encouraging words, a fresh face - a change of conversation with an update on other runners. I didn't want her to leave but I knew it was now time to focus on the finish line - running smart - not giving in to my head saying that I was too tired to run and should walk. She left saying that all we had left was a maintenance run. Around this time I realized that we were not finishing in under 3 hours. I wanted that and assumed it would happen. Secretly disappointed but knowing that crossing the finish line was the more important goal I ignored the overall time on my watch and kept running.
Miles 10-12 - Tough physically - tough mentally. I decided that I was going to maintain my run/walk even if I was tired. I did NOT want to say that I finished but walked the last few miles. That was how I finished the 11 miler and I was disappointed in myself. I was NOT going to disappoint myself now - this was the time to push through. We passed a few familiar faces cheering us on but many of our runners families had already gone to the finish line to congratulate their runners. We kept plugging along ,passed our last water stop, passed other runners and kept watching for the 12 mile sign and the turn onto the boardwalk. The 12 mile sign finally came and shortly after we rounded the corner onto the boardwalk.
The FINAL mile - I don't remember seeing the ocean or sand, even though I know we ran for quite some distance on the boardwalk. I decided to take an extra walk break just so that I could finish strong . With 5 blocks left until the finish line we saw coach Lea Ann and she got us going to the finish. Everything hurt and I was ready to be done. I kept one tshirt I saw along the way in mind - pain is temporary, pride is forever. So with that in mind I sprinted (in my mind at least) to the finish with my calves cramping the whole was across the final line. In 3 hours 9 minutes and 46 seconds I completed my first (and not last) half marathon.
It took all I had in me to keep walking through the secure area to get my medal, iced towel, water, goodie bag, banana, and ice pop. I just wanted to sit and take my sneakers off. Taylor and I got a finish line photo together with the beach in the background and soon after saw Nicole walking toward us. She helped us navigate our way through the crowds to get Tylenol (after a brief survey of course) and to our charity tent on the beach. I remember being tired and just wanting to see Amy and Lea Ann. I spent most of the time quietly sitting by myself just resting and thinking and texting everyone I knew that I had indeed finished. It was great.

My Body - 2 small blisters underneath a callus - some leg and back soreness that was gone by Tuesday night. This run was easier on my body than others - and contrary to what some people say - I did run hard - eventhough I was less sore than other runners. I just ran smart! hehe

Something I found funny - so many people commented on the humidity - how hard it was to run through that. I honestly did not notice the humidity at all. I've run in much worse. Maybe I didn't notice because I was so focused/excited/prepared - who knows. Either way I'm glad I felt the weather was great for a run - even if others found it tough. G0 figure!

I still cannot believe I finished. I can't believe I set out to do something so unlike myself. I am a runner (I may not look like one but I am darn it!) Next time I'll come in under 3 hours. I've said so many times that I would have NEVER agreed to do this if it weren't for Amy. She has been such (she is such) an encouraging person and is one of the only reasons I stuck with this. I didn't want to let her down and in the end I didn't let myself down either. This not only helped me get in better shape - even though I gained weight (my own fault) - but reconnect with old friends and develop new friendships. I've found an athletic event I can be good at and improve on. I am living proof that ANYONE can do this - even someone still many pounds overweight and someone who started VERY out of shape. I still find myself thinking about the race from time to time when I'm doing other things. There is no way to truly say thank you the way I want to to Amy and Lea Ann and have yet to begin to try to show my appreciation. I just cannot put into words yet what their dedication and encouragement has meant. I keep forgetting that throughout this I also raised over $1,200 for Easton ROCKS. I gained so much out of this process that I forget I helped my kids too. :)

Apparently I miss getting up at 5am on a Saturday so much that tomorrow - during the pouring rain - I'll be doing water stops for our full marathoners who are running their 20 miler training run in the morning. I did enjoy eating what I wanted to tonight though - no more pasta w/ meat sauce - I went out to eat! Woohoo! I said all along that I would not do a stop the first Saturday after our race because I was going to sleep in but when do I actually stick to my original thoughts - If I had I would have been cheering on other runners instead of being cheered on while running.