When I planned out my races for the beginning of this year, this race was not included. In fact, I only intended to do two this spring. However, when I got an e-mail from my friend Laura's weight loss group leader about participating in this race since it would be Laura's first half marathon, I decided I had to be there to support her. And since I did not just want to be on the sidelines, I decided to make this one of my long distance runs in preparation for my half in May.
Thank goodness I decided that it was only going to be a long distance. Earlier this week, I got the news from Laura and Joanna that it was going to rain...100% chance of rain! Yikes!!! And I also for some reason when doing yard work determined that I needed to drop a brick on my foot. Ouch! What in the world was I thinking! My poor foot has been killing me all week! Since Jason had already taken off time for vacation and we had already paid for the hotel and the race, there was no backing out. And have I mentioned that my youngest nephew, Trent, chose this medal as his own! So, come rain or shine, pain or injury, this race was going down in the books as finished. Trent needs his medal!
I did my best to prepare for rain. I tried to prepare for blisters since I have been having issues lately on my longer runs. I got new socks to try which were a bit more cushioned. I even put moleskin on the areas that I have had problems with. I went to bed very early only to be awakened by some arguing bikers in the next door room. Joy! Thank goodness they either resolved their issues or the phone call to the front desk put a stop to it.
I got up a little after 4 a.m. and got started getting ready. With breakfast eaten, phone in a plastic bag, iPod in a plastic bag and everything else ready to go, I headed out to pick Laura up about 5:15. We headed over to parking and then got on the very first shuttle to the start line.
The shuttle to the start line let us out within short walking distance to the start. We headed over in the rain and hit the port-a-potty lines (okay, so with the rain there were no lines!) Then we headed to the covered building to wait for the corrals to line up. We got into our corral and waited for the race to start. It was still raining and I was pretty damp.
I wished Laura luck as we started out. With my foot already bothering me where I dropped a brick on it, I had made the decision to walk before we started. So, I headed out at a pretty good pace. Somewhere around mile 2 both of my feet started giving me issues. I knew it was my toes and I knew it was likely blister issues. I was trying to stick it out but at mile 3, I stopped at the medical station with the intention of checking the foot that was giving me less problems. When I pulled the shoe and sock off, I knew I was in trouble. I had blood and not just a little. The blister had popped and was bleeding. I got a bandaid on it and some moleskin and decided to check the other foot. It was much, much worse. We got it cleaned up as well and I put both shoes back on and headed back out on the course because the lady at the medical tent said she didn't think it was TOO bad.
So, I got back on the course and decided to slow my pace quite a bit more to lessen the intensity of the pain. I also decided that I needed a good distraction. So, I found two fun people to enjoy the lovely torrential downpours with! I really enjoyed Jennifer and Chantelle. Chantelle was originally from South Africa and her husband had told her that a half was only 10 miles, so she didn't train for her first half. She was pretty ticked by mile 10 and had come up with many ways to torture him for it! LOL. Jennifer was on her fourth half. We chatted and complained about the non-ending rain for quite awhile.
Little did I know that we would enter the neverending forest for the longest 4 miles of my life! It was a creepy little area and we were certain there were serial killers lurking about around there. Definitely should not have been at the end of the race! I would have preferred starting there than finishing there for sure!
The continuous rain and puddles were not a great comfort to my very sore toes. Every time I hit a puddle the toes that had blisters stung so that was not helpful at all. I continued on and prayed for the end of the forest multiple times. I grew irritated at the volunteers on the course who gave tons of misinformation about mileage and water stations and medical tents. Mostly, I was seriously drenched, no drowned, by the rain and I was tired and I was ready to get off my feet and take the shoes off!
But I soldiered on, helping Jennifer and Chantelle along. They were definitely a comfort to me in that I would have been way more focused on the pain had I not found them! So, when it came to the point we were finally finishing, I had gotten a little bit farther ahead and I stopped, turned around and waited for them to catch up to me, so we could cross the finish line together. After 10 miles together, we ran very slowly our finish line.
I was greeted by Jason and Laura. We headed over to the tables and picked up post-race snacks and then headed to the car to get out of the rain! I have never been so happy to put on warm, dry clothing in my life! And taking the shoes off was awesome, but my poor feet are so sore and so torn up right now, I think I will likely be off of them for awhile!
I was happy with the course right up until the forest. Since I am not a trail runner and not a huge fan of trail running, that made me pretty miserable. However I am so super proud of Laura for finishing her very first half marathon and doing it in under 3 hours. She did amazing and I am glad that I was able to be here with her!
As for me, I am calling for at least a week of rest and recovery for me and my feet and then I will be back out to get some more mileage in to get ready for Myrtle Beach next month!
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