Brief note before I give a re-cap...I realize that I haven't blogged since April 20. Partially was from being a slacker but the other main reason was because I had a recent, very quick change in my work load and job description. I was chosen to participate in a training for my job. My entire workload was taken away from me and I have been traveling to Philadelphia to receive training for a new initiative at my job. I will spend about a month training and then about 8 weeks rolling the initiative out in my office, teaching my peers. It's a lot to take on, and everything was very last minute. My life, the week before the half marathon was thrown a huge curve ball, and it has been a bit overwhelming, so unfortunately my blogging had to be put on the back burner. But alas, I had some free time tonight to finally provide a re-cap of the Dicks Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 6, 2012.
I have so much to talk about, I actually had to outline my thoughts on paper prior to writing this, just to make sure I said everything I needed to say.
So Saturday evening, the night before the race, Omar, Shay, Sarah, Big Al and Ben crashed at my house so that we could commute down to the race together. We attempted to go to bed early, but all of our nerves were a bit shot, and most of stayed up much later than we wanted to. I tossed and turned for quite a while. I just kept thinking about how the race was already here. These 5 months of training, 274 miles run, all lead up to this one day. I kept worrying about the dumbest things, like driving down to the race and getting caught in traffic, or possibly getting into a car accident and injuring/killing all of my friends heading to the race, peeing/pooping myself during the race, etc...my mind was just going all over the place.
We got up bright and early, 5 am, to grab something to eat and make our way to the North Shore. We used Omar's parking pass and then walked the bridge to the start line. Sometimes, Omar working for the Pirates comes in handy and this was one of those situations. We used the bathrooms in the parking garage lobby. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the starting line, Sarah and I both had to go again. Port-o-john lines were freaking ridiculous, so we just decided, against our better judgment, to just hit a port-o-john as soon into the race as possible, in hopes that others weren't doing the same thing.
Before the race we got a group photo
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| From L to R: Omar, Me, Big Al, Shay, Sarah and Ben |
Omar purchased us the throw away shirts. We matched. Aren't we a cute couple??
Here the girls prior to the race, ready to start the half (Shay, Big Al and myself) and the full (Sarah).
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| From L to R: Me, Sarah, Big Al, and Shay |
And me and my man
Waiting for the race to start was SO nerve wracking and all I could think about was how badly I had to pee. When I could get my mind off of the fact that I was about to run a half marathon, the longest I've ever run in my life, I tried to look around and just take the scene in. Over 25,000 people were signed up for the race, and it was just awesome seeing them all lined up for the race to start. We were in the last corral, so it took us 20 minutes to cross the starting line.
Ben was in corral c so he was way ahead of us and Big Al booked it as soon as the race started so we did not see her again until the end of the race.
Shay, Sarah, Omar and I stayed together for a short while, until Sarah ducked off to use the port-o-john. Omar, Shay and I ran just a bit further (a little shy of 1 mile) and waited for about 10 minutes to use the bathroom. Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating. I didn't want to have to stop during the race, but I had to pee so badly I honestly thought my bladder was going to explode. I'm just so scared of being dehydrated again, so I was too loaded with liquids for my own good. I knew that I would only need to go once, and I'd rather get it done with early and not have to stop again during the race.
The first 6 miles went by VERY quickly. Too quickly, in my opinion. Shay, Omar and I were taking in the sites and enjoying ourselves. We were weaving in and out of people trying to get a caught up a bit from our time lost going the bathroom. It worked out well because the crowds had thinned and we could make some headway in the race not being completely surrounded by people, like we were in the beginning. I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the entire first half of the race. This was the first large race I completed, and it was such an awesome thing, being surrounded by runners and having people in every neighborhood of Pittsburgh cheering you on. Each neighborhood decorated with balloons and tents and were lined with people. Some were cooking out, had horns and whistles, signs and sometimes food for runners. Very cool.
The weather was beautiful, but pretty hot for early May in Pittsburgh. The sun ended up being quite relentless. Not enough clouds in the sky...every water station was a Gatorade or two down the hatch and a water thrown on my head and neck.
Around mile 7 things started to go a little downhill for me. All of a sudden, my IT band in my left leg started to hurt. Not badly, just enough to let me know that it was there, it was a re-occurring injury, and that if it wanted to, it could flare up and really force me to slow down.
In the West End, we got to see Shay's Mom and Aunt Nancy and that cheered Shay up and added some pep to our steps. By about mile 8.5 my IT band was really starting to hurt. Why? I have NO IDEA. I was pissed though. It hadn't been bothering me on runs since I got a foam roller and rolled it every night. I blame being away from my house the week before the half and not having my foam roller in Philly.
Around mile 9-10, in South Side, we saw Omar's sister Mona and Omar's mom. They were cheering us on with cow bells and signs. We gave them both high fives. That definitely put a big smile on my face. It's really awesome seeing people you know while you're running, so if you're reading this and your friends and loved ones are racers, go out and watch them. Support them. Cheer them on. It's SO appreciated by those who are running.
By mile 10 my IT band was killing me and it continued to get worse, a shooting pain in my left leg the entire rest of the race. The pain was the worst on the downhill. It felt like quad was going to detach from my knee. I could tell that my form was really suffering and I was limping a bit, but we only had 3 miles left and I just refused to walk at that point.
After crossing the Birmingham Bridge, the final of 5 bridges that you cross during the race, we thought the course would be most downhill until the end. Boy were we wrong; way to throw 2 hills into the last 2 miles of the race marathon planners...RUDE! By this point, the 3 of us agreed that we were ready to be done running, ready to finish. We each would chime in the occasional encouraging phrase to push ourselves up these last 2 hills, before the final downhill decent to the finish line.
The last half mile was thrilling. Running the last bit of the race, seeing the finish line in sight, and running down the street lined with people cheering you on. Exhilarating! Like nothing I've ever experienced in my life. A complete and total high.
Very close to the finish line I heard a familiar voice yell Shay's name, a bunch of her friends and boyfriend were watching us and were cheering us on during the final stretch. We picked up the pace and gave it all we had, crossing the finish line with our hands raised above our heads in victory.
Omar, Shay and I ran the entire race together. We supported one another to the finish line. We laughed, danced, acted like fools, and made it 13.27 miles to the finish of Shay and my first 1/2 marathon and Omar's second. I definitely don't know if I could have pushed myself through the pain to finish the race without the support of those two. Running my first half marathon with my ever supportive, awesome boyfriend and one of my best friends. Shay motivated me every step of the way. That girl is one of the best running partners anyone could ask for. She is positive and peppy and definitely kept a smile on my face even when I was in pain. Omar is more of the quiet, supportive type. He doesn't like to make small talk when he is running, but it's like he knows when you're struggling and when you need someone to push you. It's at that point that he always has something encouraging to say. Two very different support systems, but both helped in more ways than I can describe. What an amazing experience and memory to share with them.
Here was our final time (I paused my watch for the bathroom break)
I was hoping to get closer to 2:10, but I have no complaints. Overall, my main goal was to complete the race. I'm officially a Runner of Steel. BOOM!
We were all so happy to be done and show off our bling. Big Al killed the half with a sub 2 hour time. You go GUUUURL!
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| From L to R: Big Al, Omar, myself and Shay |
I didn't get to see PJ at all Sunday :( So here is a celebratory picture that I stole from his facebook. Where is your smile Joshy? PJ's goal was sub 2:00. He killed it with a 1:56. I couldn't be more proud of ya buddy!!
And Susan (momswimbikerun) with her PR of 2:07. You're such an inspiration!
Kim killed her first marathon with a 4:04 time. You're amazing Kim!!!
AND, no picture sadly, but brother Ron also ran his part of the Marathon Relay. 6.4 miles in 56 minutes. FANFREAKINTASTIC BROTHER!
And last but certainly not least, Sarah finished the Full Marathon. I couldn't be more proud or inspired by my frond. She had an emotional week due to a sudden loss in her family. My heart broke for her during the week and then again when she told me she decided that she was not going to run the marathon. At the last minute, she changed her mind and decided to do the race, and I think she is happy she did. I have so much respect and admiration for this girl. She has inspired me so much during this entire training process. Love her to pieces and I can't wait to run a race with her by my side.
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| Beautiful sisters! |
It's been 3 days since the race and I'm still on a high. It's really hard for me to put into words every emotion that I felt during, and more importantly, after this race. Sunday was hands down one of the best days of my life. Is that pathetic?? I don't even care if it is. I have never been so inspired to get myself in better shape, to be faster, to be stronger, to be healthier and most importantly to run more races. I can't wait to get back into things and start training for my next half. I'm officially addicted. Who would have ever thought that would happen to me, the girl who has always hated running?
