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David and I walked (yes, walked!! yay!) to the start line from my apartment. Part of being in the Foot Locker Challenge included VIP access to everything so we got to hang out in a VIP start area before the race. That was pretty awesome. They had their own tables, refreshments, food, porta potties, and bag check. After getting there I met up with the rest of the team and we met our bike escort who would meet us at mile 3 and stay with the group until the halfway mark, and would then follow the leader to the finish.
We were told that we were going to be starting in corral 2 which put us really close to the start. That was pretty neat since the elite runners were within distance! The only problem with that though was that we were then starting off with the second fastest pack of runners.
David (official Team Monika race photographer) got a picture of Ryan Hall and Josh Cox at the start line.
We started off the race at a pretty quick pace (normal, due to excitement) but kept that pace for several miles. As we passed through mile 3 and then 5 I realized that we had been running a sub 8:00 pace the whole time. Yikes! Way too fast! I started getting worried because I like to conserve energy and was afraid I'd burn out in the end of we kept it up. We lost one of our team members by mile 2, and honestly by mile 5 I thought about dropping back as well to save my energy. I wanted to stick with the pack though through the halfway point (13.1 miles) as planned though so I gave it all I could to stay with the group. We slowed down a bit by the time we got to the only real hill in the race which was Highway 163 which goes up through Balboa Park. It was about a 3 mile stretch with a gradual incline, and I made even more of an effort to stay with the group because David was positioned at mile 9 for a photo opp.
Well, sidebar for David's story. I had given him a map of the course and times that I would be in different places. He joined me at the start and was then going to run back to my apartment (about a mile with a cut through pass) and see us go by at mile 2. I never saw him at mile 2 and figured he just couldn't get there in time since we got there in 15 minutes versus the 18 I told him he'd probably have. Well... it turns out he actually went to the 9 mile spot by accident instead. After waiting around for 20 minutes (completely alone on the side of the freeway) he finally realized that he was in the wrong spot and no one would be coming by for a while. Around 45 minutes into the race the elite pack finally came through and he got a great video of that.
Another half hour after that my group came by and he got a nice action shot.
From that point David went back to get Kenny and the two of them headed off to the finish line to wait for me. I stuck with my group for a few more miles until we got to 13.1 and then one of the guys just took off like a rocket with the bike escort in tow. The other girl pulled ahead too, so the remaining guy and I stuck together. The amazing thing is that we crossed the 13.1 mark at 1:48:32. That is the fastest half marathon I have ever run! David and I ran a half marathon in February and our time then was 1:56, with my best time before that being 1:54. In retrospect, now I feel like if I can run a 1:48 half marathon and then run another 13.1 miles.. there is no reason I shouldn't be running a 1:45 half marathon on its own! But back to the race. So about 2 miles after we split off from the front two the other guy started falling back so I was then on my own. And then .. the muscle cramps started kicking in. O... M... G...
I used to get toe cramps all the time in gymnastics and I've gotten ab cramps before during an ab workout, but nothing could have prepared me for the pain of my (abnormally huge) quad muscles starting to cramp. I didn't know what to do and kept pushing on until the pain got unbearable. I then tried to switch up my gait a bit to see if that helped, and them my calves cramped. I started to freak out mentally at this point because I still had 10 miles to go! I went over to the side of the road to try to stretch my quad by bending my leg back at the knee. That totally didn't work since that isn't ever enough to stretch my quad normally. So, I decided to squat down instead. That totally did the trick! As soon as I squatted down both muscles relaxed. I stayed down for about 15 seconds and then got up and started running again.
I was so relieved to find that I was back to normal! For about a mile... before it started all over again. To make a long story short, I had to go through cycles of running through immense quad pain until I couldn't take it anymore, stop and squat for a while, then get back up and start running again. This made the last 10 miles of the marathon the most miserable 10 miles I have ever run in my life!!! It was a total physical and mental struggle that I wasn't at all prepared for. I went from running with the 3:40 group (Boston qualifying time!) until mile 16 to running and stopping and running and stopping while tons of people passed me. At certain points I wasn't even sure I'd even be able to finish! But, I couldn't let that happen and kept pushing on mile after mile.
When I entered the Marine Base that we finished on I was so relieved. When I saw mile 25 I was even more relieved than before. And when I passed mile 26, I realized the end was near. I was becoming so discouraged in the last few miles that I had stopped looking at my watch and was just trying to finish regardless of the time. When I got to mile 26 I finally looked at my watch and realized that although I wasn't going to beat 4 hours, I was totally going to be finishing within the minute after 4:00. As I approached the finish line I kept searching the crowd for David's red hat, and finally saw him standing almost literally under/to the right of the finish line.
Big smile for David and Kenny and then I crossed the finish line in 4:00:32. My best time to date! My best time before this was 4:03 at this same race back in 2007. Okay so I didn't finish today in 3:59 and change, but 4:00 and 32 seconds is just fine in my book! Especially considering what I went through during the last 10 miles.
After crossing the finish line I met up with David and Kenny over at the VIP finish area. That was probably the best part of the VIP package! They had a full buffet of food laid out, all you could drink Miller Light (not that I would ever want one after a race), tables, a first aid station, gear pick-up, and porta potties. All of the elite racers were hanging out there along with a bunch of other VIPs. I totally wonder what other ways people get to be VIPs? Its so cool! I wish I could be part of that for every marathon! Here are Kenny and David proudly wearing their VIP passes.
So while I was there I saw two of my other teammates. Turns out the other girl Lauren came in first, becoming the first female to win this competition! She crossed at 3:45 and was followed by the guy who rocketed off who ended up finishing at 3:48. She says she finally caught up to him at mile 25 and overtook him from there. I came in 3rd at 4:00 and the other two guys came in at 4:19 and 4:20.
Here is the press release announcing the results. Pretty cool! My second press release that doesn't involve the mention of dental products!
Here is Elvis presenting Lauren with her Tiffany's trophy!
We also got a group photo with our bike escort who was a really nice guy.
And of course, here is David - president of my marathon support club.
After hanging out for about an hour and a half and sampling the buffet and socializing, we headed back to the car. On the mile long walk out (just what I needed) we were surprised to see Ryan Hall was signing autographs by a Nissan booth near the exit! We saw him briefly in the VIP area, but before I could go embarrass myself and be a dork asking for a picture with him, he took off. Now we know why! David and I quickly jumped into line for an autograph while Kenny was left wondering "who is that guy??"
David and I both got autographs and got a picture with Ryan Hall, 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials winner and US Half Marathon record holder. Wow! Running geeks! He was very nice and friendly too and asked us about the race and what we'd be running next.
After the race I went back to shower and we went for my favorite post-marathon meal - Mexican! Better yet, we went to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Chevy's! I'm fairly sore right now and anticipate that tomorrow will be somewhat miserable considering what I pushed my legs through. The pain will only be temporary though and in the end it was a great race and totally worth it. I feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of the Foot Locker Challenge team, and feel like being on the team helped me get to a 4:00 finish (even if we went to fast in the beginning and I cramped the whole rest of the way)! David and Kenny were also such great race support and I'm so glad they were here to share the day with me!
If I blog tomorrow it will probably only say "wow, ouch". Haha!
1 comments:
Nice Blog!
/s/ cousin David
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