The Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon

First of all - I want to thank EVERYONE who texted, e-mailed, cheered, etc. for me yesterday. Trust me - it meant a TON. And after you read my report - you'll understand why.

Friday night I was nervous. More anxious, but you know - rushing around to get everything laid out. The right shirt. The right socks. All my foot stuff.

Even Runny Bunny helped me get ready with BodyGlide and Moleskin.

3:00am Saturday the alarm went off, and I popped up. Yawned. Stretched a little. And began getting dressed and ready. At 3:30 Amber drove me down to Tukwila, WA, where the starting line was, and dropped me at the "drop-off" point. At 4:00, I was told I was the first drop off of the day. I walked 1/2 mile to the starting village. I had some water. Half a bagel. And found my porta-potty.

By 5am people were really starting to arrive, so I headed over to my corral. They used 38 corrals for this race. Mine? Corral 33. And it was a lively corral of 75 people.

Corral 32 had some WiSH'ers in it! Yup - the DisBoards folks were there!

Here's a cool fact. I met a nice lady in my corral who TAP DANCED the entire race. Had on tap sneakers. WOW. She was on the news and everything.

At 6 we were told to go to our corrals. So I hopped into it and stood, knowing the start was an hour away. John Bingham was on the microphone making announcements and telling us inspiration facts (over 70% of our participants were WOMEN - nice!). At 7am, corral 1 was sent off. Each corral was then staged out over about 90 seconds. Yes. I stood, and walked for about 55 minutes until crossing the start at 7:55. So I'd already been on my feet two hours solid. And awake for 5 hours. The sun was already up and it was somewhat warm.

The first three miles or so were quite good - in fact, I had my best 3 mile pace on the first three miles. About 16:40. After that I averaged around 17:50 per mile. But about mile 3.5 my feet started to warm up and really kind of hurt. I figured the further I went, they'd just get used to it.

WRONG.

But the scenery and the bands helped. Sadly, none of the participants were really talkative on the course. I was alone.

At mile 5 I stopped and stood for about 10 minutes in line for a potty.

Between 5-6 there was a family who'd set up a shrine to Michael Jackson and were blasting his music. Nice. :)

After mile 6, we hit Lake Washington. BEAUTIFUL. Total payoff. A gorgeous day. Even saw a GIANT BALD EAGLE about oh....20 yards up in a tree. Came out to see the race.

As we passed mile 8, my feet were still really hurting. But I knew I had to keep going.

Mile 9 is where we had problems. After mile 9 there was a VERY short VERY steep hill (20-30% grade over maybe 50 yards) - and as we finished it we ended up in a highway tunnel that was over a mile long.

Inside the tunnel it was HOT. I was panting. Head was spinning. Needed water. Legs were burning. And I started to feel very claustrophobic. My feet were screaming after the hill. I seriously considered sitting down and waiting for a medical bike. But I found a water station and powered through to mile 10.5.

Now I'm in Seattle. I can see where we're finishing. I'm wincing with every other step. Occasionally hear myself moaning slightly in pain. I decide before we hit mile 11 that before Disneyland, I'm getting new shoes. These New Balance shoes are the wrong ones.

I see the finish line, and realize we've only passed mile 11. We now have to go INTO downtown Seattle, and turn AROUND to get back to the finish. I pass mile 12.

Around mile 12.5, my cellphone rings. It's Amber. She asks how I'm doing and tells me she's downtown ready to pick me up. I tell her I'm close, but that I hurt. She tells me she's so proud of me and that I'm doing it. I hang up and start to sob on the course as I move. All throughout the race, I've heard DING in my ear as texts popped up. I haven't read any of them - but every one pushed me further. I see mile 13. I'm a little calmer. I hear screaming my name - and I look over and see Dana and Kevin. The cheer for me, and snap this picture.

I begin sobbing again as I see the finish and cross it. I wave again at John Bingham who gives me my second Team Voice shoutout of the day. He shouted when I crossed the start.

This is my reward.

That and knowing I can do it. Alone. Without Disney. Without Team Voice.

Don't get me wrong - you guys were with me - but on the course - it was all me.

I prefer it with you guys! LOL But now I know I can do it alone.

I went to the family greeting area to find Dana and Kevin. Apparently it took them longer to get there than me. I looked for them for awhile, and couldn't really stand comfortably any longer. Amber was nearby, so I headed to the car, feeling AWFUL. Apparently they waited there after I left for an hour longer. I am SO sorry about that Dana. Forgive me!

Regardless, I got in the car and had another sobbing fit. Just emotion. I'd completed it. I was in pain. But I'd succeeded. We drove home. I showered. I was sore. We had a nice dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I was sore. We came home. I was sore. I slept all night. I'm still sore.

But I did it. And the soreness is welcome.

Now - as for what's next? Yes. I'm going to Disneyland!

And I have a plan for that. I think that my difficulties yesterday can be summed up in a few areas - and here's how I intend to combat them:

1. Hills. Easy. Anaheim is a MUCH flatter course.

2. Shoes. Easy. New shoes are on the budget at the end of July.

3. Motivation on course. Easy. Disney races ooze magic and Team Voice will be there.

4. Extra weight. I think the extra 20 pounds I had made life harder. So here's the plan:

July is a difficult month for me - including dealing with my parents and a large scale trial at work. Lots to do. Plus my normal responsibilities.

So for July the goal is simple. LOSE WEIGHT. Amend my diet. Watch my food intake. Ramp up my training at home with EA Active (i'm restarting my 30 day challenge on Medium difficulty) - and prepare for August by losing as much weight as I can.

August is running month. I have five weekends in August. Long runs of 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 are on the menu. Plus weekly maintenance runs during the week obviously.

And there it is guys - the plan.

Your thoughts on the plan? The race? Anything? Just tell me. :) I LOVE getting comments!

MAIN STREET AWAITS!