Well, here it is.
Woke up at 5am and had breakfast in the dark while my mom was still sleeping.
Headed down to catch a bus to the start in Bath, NY around 6:20 am and it was FREEZING! It was 32 but the Real Feel was 29. I caught up with a lot of racers walking over and got in the half marathon line at first, before I realized there was a different line for the FULL and headed over to that. It was quite a hike and standing in line was cold. We boarded the busses pretty quickly, maybe 15 minutes of waiting, and were on our way. I sat in the first seat on the bus and another girl sat with me too. We chatted small talk here and there on the 30 minute ride. As we got closer I realized her leg was really shaking and she informed me she had to pee. Okay, no biggie, I did too, but not too bad...yet. A few minutes passed and she said nothing but "oh my God I have to pee, oh my God, I am not going to make it..." I said, "oh yes, you will." She said "No, I really won't." Okay, girl...whatever. Of course we took a turn and you'd think we were there, but no...we had to stop at each of the two train tracks we crossed which took some time and the worse she got. We got to the school parking lot by the start and now she's really like "I am NOT going to make it. I have to go SO bad!" She begs the driver to let her out and he says no and she keeps complaining then looks at me and says "You're going to have a great story to tell your family about the girl who peed in this seat with you." Great. Finally, the driver let her out to run to the Portapotties. Of course I ended up seeing her on the course, but I didn't say anything to her. Poor girl.
At the start they delayed a few minutes because busses were still on the way over. There was a heatless tent set up so I huddled with many others in that to try to cut the wind and it was better than nothing. However, we were all shaking. The sun started to come out and it got a little better. I made my way to the start and ended up seeing 4 people I knew, one of which, Ruth, was going to run with me. She came over, we hugged each other twice and wished each other luck and were off. I never saw her again after that.
I was VERY emotional during this race. Literally choking back tears many times. I felt great for the first miles and started out in the mid 9 min pace. I was with the 10:18 pace group but quickly passed them. I was in a really good groove for the first 13.1 miles. At mile 6.2 I shed two of the 3 long sleeves I had on and instantly the wind picked up and I wish I hadn't. When the sun was out it was nice, but the wind was brutal. I felt awesome and definitely felt as though I could do another 13.1. This continued until around mile 16. I always tend to make it that far and then slow down.
I made it to 18 before I hated life and wanted to stop and walk-but didn't. There were SO many people walking. I made it to 20 and figured I had 6 more in me no problem. I went through some ups and downs until 22. At 23 I stopped to pee and grab some water to refill my bottle and kept on trucking. I would walk to fill the bottle but get right back to running. Made it to 24 and 2 more miles seemed like torture. I got water again at 24. By 25 I knew I was going to get this done. There were a lot of long lonely stretches without any spectators so that stunk but I got through that too. I downloaded some good new music last night and that helped for sure. At 25.2 or so the crowds picked back up and all I was thinking was I wish Jona would be up here and run the rest with me and I can't wait to get to my mom at the finish. I pushed through and the rest was cake. Made it across the finish line in 4:32!!!!! a PR!!!!! WHAT!!!??? I couldn't believe it.
~~My original post got cut off and it was SO good, so I will try to remember it the best I can~~
I saw my mom yelling for me right when I crossed the tape and I was so happy yet ready to cry at the same time. She's my everything and I was so thankful that she was there for me at that moment.
PROS: great course-flat and fast with some great rolling hills-none too challenging, the crowds when there were crowds, the temperature and the fact that there was NO rain, all the great volunteers at the water stops, the amount of water stops and medical tents
CONS: spaces when there were no crowds to cheer us on, the roads next to the highway-seemed so desolate, the cold wind at times, and other than those I can't really say there were any more cons
Overall, it was a great experience and I am SO glad I stuck with it and completed it. I know that Jona will get one under her belt soon as well-and hopefully it will be somewhere I can make it to cheer her on and run with her a few times to push her through. Her support behind me really helped.
What's next? First, a week off of NO running whatsoever. Second, back to yoga for sure! Can't wait to take some me time, beau time, and reflection time.
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