It is finished. The journey that began back in September has ended. We are now, officially, half marathon runners!!! (cue dramatic music)
With much anticipation and, at least in my case, mounting dread, we arose on race day with one goal in mind – get across the finish line. We each ate our tried and true pre-race meal (hard boiled eggs and a Luna bar for me, Goo for the Massage Goddess – YUCK!). The weather was perfect – four degrees above freezing, sunny skies, and zero humidity. The lack of feeling in my legs and rear end was much appreciated for the first eight miles of the run. The race started before we knew it (literally, people just started running, and we so we did too), and then we were running…and running…and running. My God, 13.1 miles is a long freakin way!!
I felt like a champ until about mile 10, but with only three miles left to go, I happily plodded along. And then, I hit mile 11, at which point my entire lower half began to throb and my body went in to rebellion mode. I made it through the 11th mile by relying on an internal littany of four-letter words. I stopped to walk at the water station at mile 12. With another hill staring me in the face, I was really afraid my last mile might be reduced to a barely upright shuffle. Fortunately, good music, and the incredibly enticing knowledge that the finish line was rapidly approaching pushed me through. Two hours, 14 min, and 28 sec after my chip crossed the starting line, I plowed through the finish and claimed my medal.
There is much to be learned from this experience. I mean, there has to be any time you spend more than two hours entertaining yourself while enduring physical torture. Lesson 1 – Lemon-lime Powerade is actually quite yummy. Lesson 2 – When you sweat non-stop for two hours, you get this white filmy stuff all over your face. It’s quite gross but apparently dogs love it. Lesson 3 – People will be mad at you if you’re the one that talked them in to this and they’re pretty quick to tell you that they will never do it again. Lesson 4 – Nothing is quite as sweet as setting a goal for yourself and then working your ass off to achieve it. Lesson 5 – Energy is not finite. It comes from some unknown place inside oneself. Harnessing that energy and being able to access it at will is an amazing skill, and one that takes far more than 10 weeks to master. Lesson 6 – Achievement is not defined by a medal. It is the smiles, tears, pride, and grudging admiration on the faces of the fans at the finish line and the ability to go to sleep at night knowing you left it all out on the pavement.
While my 13.1 will most likely never become a 26.2, for one moment in my non-athletic life, I was a runner. That’s worth something to me. And the cool thing is, after experiencing the hype of race day, my whole family is running the Turkey Trot with me on Thanksgiving morning. And in the moment they cross the finish line, they will be runners along with me. So, a big thanks to all of the other runners out there who have been and continue to be the inspiration for the weeble wobbles of WhyKnot Massage. Run on, my friends, run on!
