#47. Say 'Yes' to 3 things I'd normally say 'No' to

#1.  Run a Half-Marathon

On June 25th, 2011, I ran my first half-marathon, and for those of you who REALLY know me, you know that this is definitely something I would say no to doing.  I never imagined myself doing this kind of thing ever in my lifetime.  I'm not a runner, nor do I really enjoy running.

But, last Fall, after hearing all about my friend Abi's amazing experience at the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, a bug was planted in my head.  Abi had somehow gotten me to consider the idea.  Fast forward a few months, and our small group started talking about participating in the Pacific Crest Sports Festival weekend.  There were several events going on, triathlons and duathlons, and more.  Just about everyone in our group was going to sign up for something, so I agreed to do the half-marathon with Abi.

I started training in March, but got really sick with bronchitis after our very first training run.  Then we went on vacation/work trip to Las Vegas, and yeah, training was not happening there.  When I got back, I kicked it into high gear, and stuck to a strict training schedule.

My metabolism went ca-ray-zay, and I was eating everything in sight.  I ran all of my "long runs" with Abi, and sometimes Brittney, and one time, Kate.  We didn't miss a single one!  Another time, Jenell, from our small group, and I did a 4 mile run after work.   Overall, I enjoyed the training runs mostly because it was fun to run with someone, usually chatting the whole way.

With every long run, I absolutely could NOT believe what I was doing... 7 miles, 8 miles, 9 miles, me?  No WAY!   We were so blessed with the weather too.  We only had one rainy day... our last run before the big race... 10 miles through Lake Oswego, with rain drizzling on us the whole way.  Not too bad though.

On our first 10 mile long run, Dan promised to make us breakfast afterwards, and he did.  Abi specifically requested Dan's Amazing French Toast, and he made the biggest platter of French Toast you've ever seen.  I guess he knew we were burning 1500ish calories, so he planned for it.  Ben, who was training for his triathlon, came over for breakfast too. (Hi Ben!)

Then, the next week, after my 11 mile run, Dan surprised me with Cinnamon Pancakes with an Apple Compote!  YUM!

Finally, it was time to head to SunRiver for RACE DAY!  We left on a Friday morning, and picked up our friends Chris and Cat (who are in our small group, they were doing the Tri and the Du that weekend), and headed over to Bend, Oregon.  It was a great drive over, and gave us a chance to get to know Chris and Cat even better.

We stopped for lunch in Bend, and went on to SunRiver to get our race packets and an ice cream cone.  Then we made our way out to our rental house.  Scott and Jenell arrived shortly after, and we lost the men to the Foos Ball table almost immediately.

After we drew straws for the bedrooms (Dan and I got the short straw and stayed in the twin beds) we unpacked and got settled into our home for the weekend.  Soon, it was time to go to dinner, so we all piled into our Armada and headed into town.  Even though my car is HUGE and guzzles gas, it's a very fun car to have for weekends like this.  Dan drove the six of us into downtown Bend to meet up with Ben and Abi to complete our group.

L to R:  Chris, Cat, Scott, Jenell, Abi, Ben, Me and Dan

We ate dinner at 900 Wall, which was delicious.  It was a great to be together as a big group and gear up for the big race the next day.

After dinner, we found our way to a self-serve frozen yogurt shop and Chris, Cat, Dan and I enjoyed our second frozen treat of the day.  As I write this, I think this is what I miss most about my training days.  Double Desserts.  Sigh.

Once back at the house, the men retreated to the bonus room for some sort of Foos Ball tournament.  The ladies sat in the living room and visited, but before we knew it, it was time to get to bed and get some shut eye.

I slept absolutely AWFUL that night.  I'm not sure if it was the excitement and anticipation of the race, the fact that I was sleeping in a twin bed, or that my dog was taking up two-thirds of said twin bed, but I never felt fully asleep.  It was like I dreamt I was awake the whole night.  Ugh. So before I knew it, my alarm was going off, and I was up and dressed and getting ready to go.

Everyone was up and at 'em that morning, because Scott was getting ready to do his Endurance Duathalon (60 mile bike ride around Mt. Bachelor, followed by a 13.1 mile run through SunRiver), and Dan, Ben, Jenell, Chris and Cat were getting ready to be spectators for the day.

RACE DAY!

Ben, Abi, Dan and I hopped in the car and headed to the 1/2 Marathon Starting Line in SunRiver, while Jenell, Scott, Chris and Cat headed to the Wickiup Reservoir where the Duathalon was starting.

When we got to SunRiver, we found a parking spot immediately, and right next to that parking spot was a sign with an arrow pointing to the 1/2 Marathon Starting line.  We followed the sign and arrived the START, only to find that we were practically the only ones there.  There was NO ONE around at all, and I started worrying that there were only 15 people running this race, which meant for sure, I would come in dead last, if I didn't freeze to death first.  It was so chilly that morning.

At 7:23am, it's only 36 degrees!  Brr!

Abi and I decided we better find a Porta Potty before the race began, so we started walking back towards where we'd parked and suddenly ran into hundreds of people.  We were going against the flow of people, but we finally found all the other 1/2 marathoners, so that made me feel better.  And after seeing 152 people in line for the Porta Potties, we decided we'd just wait and use them on the race course instead.  Oh, and apparently, we missed the part about meeting at the course finish line for a race debriefing, then an athlete parade to the Starting line. Whoops! Oh well.

Ready to Run!

The Starting line became one big mass of people, no pace groups or anything... it was pretty chaotic, but exciting.  Finally, they counted down, and we were off!  For the first 3 miles, it was pretty hectic, there were walkers and runners mixed together and no order at all.  Abi and I dodged around the other people as best we could.  We finally got to a good spot with a little bit of space to run, but then we decided it was time to use the Porta Potties.  We stopped around mile 4 at the aid station.  There was one Porta Potty and a line.  We probably had to stop for about 7 or 8 minutes total, and then we were off again.

Overall the course was beautiful.  We literally ran around the entire SunRiver property, past tennis courts, horse stables, the golf course, by the airport, and much, much more.  It was so scenic and absolutely beautiful to look at.  And of course, there were spectators along the way, cheering us on and ringing cowbells.  Dan and Ben followed us closely, stopping every mile or so, to cheer us on, ring the cowbell and snap pictures like the paparazzi.

Papparazzi Shot 1 of 6875

I think it was around mile 5 or 6 when we appeared to be approaching another aid station.  I saw a bright blue box sitting on the aid station table.  As we got closer, I could read that the blue box said Bud Light.  In my head, I was thinking, "Oh aren't they funny, pretending the water is beer."  Well, when we got to the aid station, I could see that the water WAS beer, and the aid station attendees were not race volunteers but rather a bunch of young guys entertaining themselves by passing out beer to the racers.   Well, Abi and I joined in the fun, and each took a cup with a couple sips of beer.  We "cheers"ed each other, took a sip, and then dumped our cups.

At another point during the race, Abi and I rounded the corner, and saw Ben and Dan pulled over on the side of the road.  They didn't see us though.  They were too busy doing something to see us run right past them.  Abi said, "It looks like they're doing something to your car."  And I said, "I know what they're doing.  Dan's putting a '13.1' sticker on the back even though I told him not to."  (I wanted to pick out my own!)  We didn't call out to them or anything, we just watched them as we ran past, which was pretty funny.  We knew they were going to be really confused when they realized they'd missed us running by.

Finally, two hours and forty-seven minutes later, Abi and I crossed the finish line.  It was an amazing feeling to hear the noise of the crowd, and the announcer calling out people names as they crossed the Finish.  I got chills all over, and an extra burst of energy as we ran through the crowds.  I saw Jenell, Chris and Cat and then right after them, Dan and Ben, along with our friends Mark and Aimee, who were also in town for the Sports Festival weekend.

 

It's a little blurry, but this is the best picture of the day, cause I'm finished

so happy to be done

we did it!

After wandering around the athlete pavilion looking for post-race snacks-- nothing was as good as the mini Jamba Juice samples-- we joined the rest of our group and went straight to lunch.  We sat outside on the deck of restaurant in SunRiver, and I had my post-race cheeseburger.  Yum.

mmm... orange slices and jamba juice

After lunch, we calculated that Scott would be starting his run soon, so we set off to find him.  Once again, everyone piled into the family car, and we followed Scott along his run course through SunRiver.  His 1/2 marathon course was VERY similar to mine and Abi's, so we were able to follow the same driving route that Dan and Ben had taken earlier that morning.   After giving Scott a Power Tunnel or two, we made our way over to the Finish line to wait for Scott to come through.

One of the coolest parts about waiting along the running trail for Scott, was when we would clap and cheer for the people running by, more than a few of them noticed my medal around my neck and would congratulate me.  It was pretty impressive considering these people were right in the middle of their own triathlons and duathlons.  I wasn't able to focus that much during my race.  It was pretty cool.

After Scott finished his event, we (meaning, Abi, Scott and I) were all wiped out, so we headed back to our rental house for the rest of the day/evening.  But not before stopping to get an ice cream cone.... Yes, it was my THIRD in two days.

Our house was right on the river, so we went out for a little post-race soak.  The river was freezing cold, so it was a lot like icing my sore muscles.  Once I was completely numb, I was feeling pretty good!

Everyone worked to put together a potluck dinner, which turned out amazing.  After dinner, there was more Foos Ball, more chatting, more stretching and laughing, and finally, more sleeping.  We all went to bed super early that night, since half of us had run races that day, and the other half of the group had their races the next day.

Sunday Morning, we were up early again.  At 7:15, we were all out the door, piled into the family car, including our weekend mascot Mollie, and headed off to get everyone over to T2 to set up their Bike to Run transitions.  Then we made our way to Wickiup Reservoir where the Start line for the Triathlon and Duathlon was located.  After we left Jenell, Cat, Chris and Ben to start their races, Scott, Dan, Abi and I had a full day of spectating.  We drove along the race course to wait for our friends, and had a blast cheering on everyone else.  It wasn't an official contest, but we definitely won the award for Best Spectators.

Sunday morning:  The START for the Duathalon

Ben & Chris get in the water and get ready to start their swim

Jenell & Cat are lined up and ready to ride!

I love this picture.  It captures our day as spectators perfectly.  Here are Scott, Abi and Dan, watching and waiting to see Ben and Chris swim in.

Scott is cheering on Ben as he races by on his bike!  

Power Tunnels!

And they're finished... Chris, Ben, Cat and Jenell!

Chris, Scott, Ben, Dan

Cat, Jenell, Abi, Me

And then, it was all over.  We cleaned up the rental house, packed up our cars, enjoyed a celebratory lunch at Cascades Brewing Company, and then headed home.  It was a busy, exhausting weekend, but totally worth the experience.  

I had such an unbelievably fun time, and I found myself on a high for many days after.  Not only was I exhilarated from my own experience of completing an event I never thought possible, but I was motivated and excited by my friends and their accomplishments as well.  It was such a good experience, that I think there might be another 1/2 marathon in my future some day. might.

The entire experience has been life changing, and I have a ton of people to thank for being so supportive and encouraging along the way.  First of all, I have to thank Abi, for getting me started on this idea, and encouraging and coaching me along the way.  I want to also thank my BFF Brittney for being a huge support, for training along with me even though she wasn't even running a 1/2 marathon (although, she should have, with as much training as she did), and for giving me the cutest little "good-luck-on-race-day" goodie basket ever!

I also want to thank my parents, and all of friends and family (who I cannot even begin to name because I would for sure forget someone!) who encouraged me along the way with texts, emails, facebook posts and comments.   I was truly touched by each and every person who thought of me, especially as race day got closer and closer.

And last but not least, my amazing husband, who thought I was crazy for signing up for this, but encouraged me 110% every step of the way.

From constantly telling me he was so proud of me, to making me breakfast after long runs, to taking me to the Nike Employee Store so I could get new running clothes, he has been my #1 supporter.   Especially the day, when I needed to get my run in, but I didn't have Abi or Brittney or anyone else around to go with me.  I wasn't feeling very motivated, but Dan, who is not a runner (always gets bad shin splints) said he would ride his bike while I ran on the Springwater Corridor.  He followed me the entire way, as I ran 5 miles, talking to me, handing my water to me when I needed it and even stopping to search for my earring when it fell out, so that I could keep going.  This is just one of the million ways that he supported me on this crazy adventure and I couldn't be more grateful.