Has anybody noticed my list of Races at the bottom of my blog? I'm pretty proud of that list, as it was absolutely blank a year ago. I was hoping to add my first 10k to the list this Sunday; I registered for the Jingle All The Way 10k in DC. Start time is 7:30am this Sunday morning. However, the hourly forecast for Sunday looks like this:
While the temperature will be warmer than it has been all week, it sure looks wet. I would be foolish to hope for another weather miracle like what happened for the LSL Triathlon. **SIGH** Just take another look at that forecast. That is a lot of rain. Undoubtedly the pavement will be drenched and there will be puddles to run through. I will be wet, if not SOAKED. This doesn't sound like a lot of fun....
WAIT A SECOND!
I have run in rain before. I mean, I did live in the Seattle area for a good solid 6-7 years. And what about THIS?! Yeah, I know I can do it; I have done it before. Just not in a race environment. But the race environment should make it more fun, right? Plus, this is CHRISTMAS THEMED! Those who know me even just a little bit know that I absolutely LOVE Christmas! I have my outfit all planned out. And when I pick up my race packet tomorrow, I will also get jingle bells to tie on to my shoes. How fun is that?
OK. Just the act of writing out this post has convinced me that I'm gonna do it.
Don't you just love when you fulfill a goal you've set for yourself? Take a look at THIS bulleted list I made back in February 2009; you only have to read the last bullet (even though I also fulfilled bullet numbers 3-6) to know what I'm talking about.
It took almost 2 years to do it, but it's finally happening and I will be able to put an official check-mark on it just DAYS before my 29th birthday. Plus, I didn't have to move away from the DC metro area to do it. YAY! I'm really excited and working hard to let the excitement overcome the large amount of stress that continues to wash over me. :)
I can't believe it's already been a year since I ran the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon to benefit CCFA. I spent a significant amount of time this afternoon reminiscing about that day. What an awesome experience.
And also odd that I came down with a cold this weekend AGAIN, exactly 1 year later. Ha.
I participated in World Run Day this year. I had no idea it existed until it came up when searching through my Active.com account for events in my area. It is a virtual event (obviously; it is world-wide), but you still officially register for it, can print out a race bib, and get a t-shirt. And really, what race is worth running if you DON'T get a t-shirt?!? You pick your distance, the time you start running, where you run, etc. The goal is to just get out there and participate! I liked this approach.
World Run Day occurs on the closest Sunday to November 8th each year, and so far has had 10,000 runners participate in it. What caught my attention outside of the convenience of me choosing everything, was that they also encourage you to donate to a charity of your choice and dedicate your run to something that is important to you.
Our mission is to broaden and promote the health benefits of running while also encouraging runners to donate to their own favorite charity on this special day.
They also have the following goals in mind:
Promote Running
Promote Charitable Giving
Mobilize the Running Community
Create Event Director Tools
Inspire and engage college students to become running leaders
Support World Run Day Celebrations around the World
Of course I jumped at this opportunity to donate again to CCFA and dedicate another run to my siblings, Tami and Matt. This weekend is the 1 year mark of my very first race ever, the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon with Team Challenge to benefit CCFA. Through donations, I was able to raise $3,876 for CCFA and run in honor of Tami and Matt. It was an experience I will truly never forget! It was my greatest physical accomplishment to date, and the most emotional journey. I experienced the highest of highs and joy while constantly thinking of my siblings and then crossing the finish line! I can't believe it has been a year already!
For World Run Day, I decided to donate through my old team member who is running with Team Challenge again this weekend. I wish I could be there.
My registration on the World Run Day website:
First Name
Last Name
City
State
Message to post to runday.com
Distance
Start Time
Start Location
Charity Name
Donation
Emily
Blakemore
Arlington
VA
Dedicated to Tami & Matt! www.ccfa-mleblakemore.blogspot.com
3.1
10:00 AM
GW Parkway
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America
$20
We were also encouraged to take pictures of ourselves. As I learned from the Army Ten Miler, taking pictures while running really doesn't work for me. And it definitely wouldn't work if trying to take pictures of myself while running. I was my own race photographer.. How was I going to do this?
First, I decided to choose a course that would have interesting sights. Second, I decided that I would stop running periodically to attempt to take pictures of myself with the interesting sights. Third, I decided that I didn't care about my time (good thing, too!).
The course I laid out looked like this:
I set out at about 8 in the morning with my race gear which included my Team Challenge race singlet from the half marathon (still had Matt & Tami's name on it), and my running belt that held my race bib that I also wrote their names and CCFA on. Then I drove to my pre-determined starting point.
The first part of my route included a pretty steep uphill climb on to Lynn St, then I ran through the Rosslyn neighborhood, which also included some small hills. I was pretty winded by the time I got to about the 1 mile mark, then I stopped to take a picture. It took forever to finally position myself and my phone at the right angle to get me and the memorial in the picture. It was such a beautiful day!
I look a little angry here.
I decided that for the rest of the photos, I was going to try to get my race singlet and/or my race bib in them. That's what the professional race photographers do. Just a little jaunt from the Iwo Jima Memorial, is the Netherlands Carillonwhich has a fantastic view of Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. A little hard to see through the photo, but really great in person.
Another VERY short run and I was at one of the private entrances to Arlington Cemetery. I took the liberty to step just inside the gate before I continued along the course.
Down and around the cemetery, then back up to the main public entrance of the cemetery, and I stopped again for a photo op. These little sprints from one photo location to the next was really giving me a great accumulated time! Haha. I certainly didn't give myself time to get tired during the second mile of the course.
Left: View towards Arlington Cemetery Memorial Entrance. Right: View towards Lincoln Memorial across Memorial Bridge.
At this point in the course, I hit a lot more pedestrian traffic. There are always runners around this area, which is cool when you yourself are running, too. It's like when you're on a motorcycle and pass another motorcycle and you wave to each other. There's just something instantly bonding when you pass another runner. A wave is not necessarily exchanged, but a lot of smiles and head nods of acknowledgment.
I could see the eyes of other runners looking at my Team Challenge singlet, and then further down to my race bib. On this day I got a lot of smiles. I got a lot of head nods. And then I had somebody actually stop and offer to take my picture. She said, "Is it World Run Day today?" To which I responded, "Yes". We exchanged some other pleasantries, she took my picture, then we were both on our way again.
I only stopped once more for my last picture before I finished my race.
This race was unlike any I had ever participated in. It was a different experience, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I felt more connected to my surroundings; appreciating the sights instead of staring at the pavement right in front of my feet, not worrying about my time, and really taking in the awesomeness of the area I live in. I also spent most of the time thinking about Tami & Matt and my family in general, as well as reflecting on my half marathon experience (I still get teary-eyed thinking about it sometimes). I paid more attention than normal to the other runners I encountered, which brought on an overall heightened awareness of everything around me. I wondered what was going through their heads while they were running. Were they running to reach a specific goal? Were they training for a race? Were they running just for the physical benefits? Did they run to clear their head or work out a problem they were going through? Did they use running as a stress-reliever? I appreciated the opportunity to acknowledge the piece of the world around me and all that it held.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable run. I have to remind myself that running can be FUN and ENJOYABLE.
I'm still waiting for the miracle "I love to run!" to happen, but in the mean time, I'll plug along and continue to sign up for races, as they keep me motivated and make the dreaded training worth it.
Then one day, MAYBE, I can really call myself a runner. Because until I love it, I don't get that title.
On October 24th, I participated in the Army Ten Miler race in Washington, DC. I registered back in April and the race sold out in a record 35 hours with 30,000 runners! Very cool. I trained pretty good for this one, with my longest distance being 8 miles. I felt like I was mostly prepared for race day, but of course I was still nervous as this was the longest distance I would be running since my half-marathon last December in Las Vegas.
The Saturday before, I spent all day cleaning my condo and getting my race gear together so I wouldn't have any underlying anxiety Sunday morning. A clean house really gives off a more peaceful feeling than mess. I went to sleep a little after 11PM and slept pretty OK. My alarm went off at 5:07am and I took my time wandering around, getting dressed, programming my iPod, and making my breakfast (loaded protein shake) before I headed out to drive to a metro parking lot. I got to the metro a little before 6AM and arrived at the Pentagon around 6:45.
Left: My view coming out of the Pentagon Metro. Dummy parachuter caught my attention!
Center: Tents with millions of bananas!
Right: View of the Pentagon to the right, Air Force Memorial in the distance on the left.
I met up with my friend April who I met through Team Challenge last year and her friend Carin.
We made our way to our corral together. It's nice to have somebody to meet up with instead of doing it all on my own.
My headband says, "SLOW ... It's the new FAST!" That's me to a T!
I think we ended up crossing the start line at about 8:20am or so. 30,000 people registered for the race, but according to the website, it looks like only about 22,000 ended up crossing the finish line. Wonder what happened to those other 8,000 people!
The view from the opposite end; the Start Line!
The atmosphere was very cool. Of course lots of military personnel, as it was the Army Ten-Miler, afterall. A couple of Army bands along the course, and a highschool band as well. The cheering crowds also make a HUGE difference as far as motivation goes. I tried to take a few pictures on my phone along the course, but turns out pictures don't come out all that well when you're bouncing around...
Left & Center: Running across Memorial Bridge; you can see Lincoln Memorial in the distance.
Right: One of the Army Bands along the way. I gave up taking pics after this one
We started at the Pentagon, ran towards Arlington Cemetery, crossed Memorial Bridge toward the Lincoln Memorial, ran around the Watergate building, back down past the Kennedy Center, then up the Mall; WWII, Washington Monument, and all the way up to the Capitol, then turned around and ran back down Independence Ave and across 14th Street bridge to end up back at the Pentagon. A pretty cool route.
I was feeling good through mile 4, and then I felt myself slowing down. I had to remind myself to try to keep pushing myself to go faster. Then around mile 7, I started feeling my legs. They were starting to get sore.
Shuffling along... I tried to pump myself up!
Mile 8 came and my hips started hurting. And I felt my right foot rubbing against my shoe. Mile 9 mercifully came and went, then the last mile was brutal. The 14th Street bridge was an up & down hill battle and it took all my will-power not to stop and walk. Finally we took the ramp off the bridge to go down to the Pentagon and then turned the corner. There was the finish! I picked it up and gave it all I could (passing a lot of people along the way -- YES!) and booked it to the finish.
SWEET RELIEF! During the race I kept thinking, "Why do I sign up for these things? Why do I do this to myself? I hate this. I don't want to run anymore." Then immediately after I crossed the finish line, I thought, "YES! That was awesome! I bet I could have pushed myself harder. I wonder if I could beat my time in another race!" Again, I experienced the stupid magic that happens when you start participating in races.
I'm to the left
I'm on the right; right under the word FINISH
This is my official finisher's photo
At the end of the day, I felt really good about myself. I was glad I trained well for this, and I met my goal of finishing under 2 hours (really, I am SLOW, so I have to set realistic goals for myself). I had HU-AGE blisters on my toes, but that's a small price to pay for the sweet high of finishing strong.
This is a long post. Who knew I had so much to say? I also apologize for the embarrassing photos*. I thought about not including them, but then I realized that a really long post without pictures is like a really long road trip without music; it still can be fun, but without something to break it up, it can get BORING.
I flew in to St. Louis Thursday night before the race and retrieved my 5ft tall bike case from the over-sized luggage area. It was GO time. I was excited to see my brother Todd, SIL Natalie, and their 3 kids. My greatest joy is being an aunt. :)
That night Natalie asked me if I wanted to go for a practice swim in the lake the next morning so I wouldn't feel panicky about it on race day. I thought that was probably a good idea! So we woke up in the wee hours of the morning, put on our suits and drove the few minutes to Lake St. Louis. The lake was already set up with buoys for the swim courses, so I could do a dry (wet?) run of the exact route I would swim during the race the next morning. Perfect.
I waded in to the warm, murky, fish-filled lake, lowered my goggles over my eyes and set off with Natalie beside me. I quickly realized that Natalie was so much stronger and more skilled than I was! My mind again flashed back to the lack of training and preparation leading up to that moment and I cursed myself for being so lazy. I tried to shove the negative thoughts out of my head, but I couldn't get my rhythm down and had to stop several times just to catch my breath. It was so different not being able to see anything but brown floaties when my face was in the water instead of the blue stripes on the bottom of the pool floor. With every couple of breaths, I had to look UP to see where I was going when I took a breath; instead of just to the side. I couldn't tell which way I was swimming without lines to follow. So that was something to get used to. Natalie was a good motivator. She was aware of my movements (or lack thereof) and stopped when I stopped to ask how I was, how I felt, whether I wanted to continue, etc. I made it to the end of the course (finally) and as I got out of the water I told Natalie, "Well, at least I know I can finish. I may be the last person out of the water, but I know I can do it."
While I let the familiar feeling of dread settle in, Natalie drove us through the bike course and pointed out different sections of the route to pay special attention to; rough pavement, possibly busy intersections, and the areas to gear down to prepare for blind BIG hills that appeared right around a corner. This was super helpful. Later that morning I had an appointment with the local bike shop for them to put my bike back together. This guy came highly recommended by Natalie; she had received some above and beyond service from him when he fitted her to her bike. I was excited to meet him and hopefully have him give me the same service. :) I dropped off my bike, chatted with the guy who promised to call me later that afternoon when my bike was ready, gave him my new "egg-beater" type pedals I wanted installed on my bike, and made my way back to the house to start my work day (my job thankfully allows me to work remotely when needed).
On the drive back, I felt the first feelings of excitement. I don't know what triggered it, but I realized a smile had broken out across my face. I took this as a good sign. Usually excitement fuels me to work hard in a race. When I get to the start line and I just have the feeling of "I really don't want to do this", my performance is terrible because I have no motivation. So it was good to finally have a new positive feeling about the race.
As the day progressed, the weather got a little crazy. Or a LOT crazy. In between torrential downpours, we picked up our race packets, did some last-minute shopping for a little bike pack to put our sport beans & energy bars in, then headed to the bike shop to pick up my bike. I was SO grateful that the dude took some time to fit me to my bike - for FREE! He also only charged me 20 bucks to put my bike together! This was awesome! I was expecting $60-$65, so he really gave me a sweet deal. I was very happy.
That evening as I was organizing all my race stuff, I started to get those excited/nervous butterflies in my stomach. This was actually happening! I finally was looking forward to it! Then we turned on the news to hear the weather report; high winds, heavy rain, large hail, excessive lightning and Tornado warnings. Sheesh! We already had received an email earlier that week letting us know that wet-suits were not allowed to be worn during the race as the water temperature in the lake was too warm for wet-suits to be safe. So if we didn't die by boiling ourselves in the lake, we still had an opportunity to give up the ghost by drowning in the floods from the rain, a bloody beating by the hail, being whipped around by the wind, electrocution, or having a house land on us from the tornado (Wizard of Oz style). Wow.
We started discussing the possibility that we were actually going to race the next morning and if the race DID end up being canceled, would they post-pone it until Sunday, or would they postpone it for an entirely different weekend? I sure was hoping that after all the hassle I went through to actually get there (physically and financially), the race would still go on at some point that weekend......
and then the tornado sirens blew.
I went to Zach's (my nephew) room to grab him and take him to the basement, while my 2 nieces and Natalie made their way down, then we all joined Todd on the couch while we waited for the sirens to stop. The girls were a bit nervous, but were soon reassured that we were in the safest place possible. I had never experienced reacting to tornado sirens before, so that was pretty exciting! We watched the graphics of the weather map on TV as it located each lightning strike, areas of high wind, hail, etc, then eventually made our way back upstairs to put kids to bed (the sirens had stopped). Natalie and I still prepared our gear as if race day were actually happening, and right before we headed to bed, Natalie checked the hourly forecast on the internet. 90-100% chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms from 1AM through 3PM the next day. Odds did not look in our favor.
I had mixed feelings as I climbed in to bed. On the one hand, I would be so completely bummed out if the race were canceled after all the money I spent to get there and participate. Plus, I was FINALLY excited to actually complete this race (after 6 months of dread) and to do it with Natalie, too. My bike fit me better than it ever had, I had the pedals that I had wanted for months finally on my bike, and I was mentally prepared to tackle this thing. But on the other hand (as detailed out in my previous post), I was NOT physically prepared for the race! So if it were canceled and I didn't complete it, well it wasn't MY fault. Nobody could look down on me for that (and I couldn't look down on myself). But mostly, I wanted to complete it. I wanted to be able to say that I had done a Triathlon!
Pretty sure my alarm went off the next morning at some outrageous hour like 4:37am (I always set my alarm to end in 7. I don't know why). I went upstairs and Natalie was already on the internet looking up the hourly forecast. I looked out the window and saw a soggy wet yard, but it wasn't raining(!) and I could see some blue sky. Then Natalie said that the storm must have blown through faster than they thought because the forecast now was for party cloudy and only 10% chance of rain!
THE RACE WOULD GO ON
YAY! I got myself ready, ate a little breakfast, filled my water bottles (one water, one Gatorade) & put them on my bike, gathered my stuff, and we headed out! Oh BOY was it humid! Blegh. As we were driving the few minutes to get to the lake, Natalie and I noticed big black clouds not far off. We hoped they wouldn't affect us! When we got ourselves and our bikes to the transition area, I started noticing all the other participants. WHOA. These were like elite athletes! What the crap? This is just a little local triathlon. Why aren't they competing in iron mans? I suddenly had this vision of me being the absolute last person to cross the finish line. I was feeling very intimidated. But then I also saw some older people. Like in their 70's. I was impressed! I figured if they can do this, I can do this. I'll give it my best, and I'll be proud of that. Then I noticed some "challenged" athletes as well. These were competitors that had some physical disability. Totally inspiring. This really was a race that welcomed all levels of abilities and I thought that was really cool.
I had my bike "parked" and all my stuff set up underneath; towel, biking shoes with socks stuck in them, running shoes, iPod already programmed and ready to go for when the running portion came, running belt with race bib attached.. Then I had my helmet hanging off of my bike handlebars with my biking gloves and sunglasses inside. With everything set up and ready to go, I grabbed my swim cap, goggles and ear plugs, then made my way down to the lake with Natalie to wait for our waves to start. We had previously waited in line to get our race numbers written on our calves and arms in black marker and got a water-proof timing anklet that we would wear throughout the race.
Natalie was doing the long course, so her wave went out before mine. Once she took off swimming, I got pretty nervous. But I did pretty well calming myself down and developed my "strategy" for the swim; I placed myself far out to the right of the rest of my wave waiting in the water to start. That way when the horn blew, I wouldn't have to deal with the frantic flailing of limbs as everybody took off. This worked out great! I didn't have anybody swim over me or knock me in the face or anything! I told myself to stay CALM. Go slow. It wouldn't do me any good if I wore myself out in the first minute of swimming. So I set out at a good leisure pace and did my thing. I gratefully found my groove and didn't have to stop swimming once! (except when my arm hit somebody's foot or leg; the water was so murky I couldn't even see my own arms, let alone somebody else's!). When I rounded the 3rd buoy, I was pretty tired, but I could see the exit so I pushed myself to keep going.
YES! I finished the first part of the race! And it was my scariest most un-prepared section, too! I felt pretty awesome and was proud that I did much better than I expected and much better than just the day before! I jogged back to the transition area to grab my bike. I wasn't really concerned with my time here. I was doing this just to finish (no time goal), so I just kind of leisurely dried my feet off, put on my socks and bike shoes, applied chapstick, put on my sunglasses and bike gloves, adjusted my helmet, took a swig of water..... like I had all the time in the world. Ah well. I really was just enjoying my high after the swim. Then I buckled down and got in to bike mode.
I guided my bike out of the transition area and just as I was clicking my other shoe in to the pedal, I heard my name! I looked over and there was Natalie's sister and mom cheering. YAY!! That was so much fun! That gave me a boost and I started the bike route off with a big smile.
I LOVED the biking portion of the race! At one point I was cruising down a hill at 33MPH! That was so exhilarating. There were a few challenging climbs, but I was expecting them, so I was able to gear down appropriately to tackle. I was happy to pass a few people along the way. One scary part was that they didn't close down the roads so there were still cars driving on the route. There were people directing traffic, but there were also way too many dumb people that didn't pay attention. I witnessed an almost crash with a SUV and a biker. Geez! The driver totally wasn't paying attention. Shortly after that near-miss, I heard sirens behind me. About 30 seconds after the emergency vehicle passed me, I came up on the incident. A man was in the middle of the road with a ton of blood around him. Somebody was holding his head in their lap. It looked bad. I hoped he would be ok, and I wondered what exactly happened - did he lose control and crash on his own accord or did he come in contact with a vehicle? I shuddered a bit and kept pedaling.
I turned left to enter in to the first of 2 turn-around points and I saw Natalie! Yay! We waved, yelled and smiled at each other as we passed - me going in and she coming out. When I came out of the turnaround and got back on the road that had the accident, the guy was gone and so were the emergency vehicles. There was still the blood on the street, and they had orange cones to direct us around the scene. Later we heard that this guy was one of the elite athletes and he came in contact with a vehicle (no details on that part) and had some teeth knocked out. He was pretty banged up, but overall OK.
At one point, I wondered how far I had gone. I was feeling really good and completely enjoying my ride. I looked down at my bike computer to see I had already flown through 8 miles. Woo hoo! Only 4 more to go. And I wasn't tired. I turned on to the road that lead into the second turn-around point and saw Natalie again! Her friend that was doing the short course had caught up to her and I could hear them chatting. I was happy to see a familiar face and to see that she was doing well. On my way out of the turn-around to get back on the main road, I felt like maybe I needed a little fuel. I reached in to my little bike pack and grabbed a new package of Sport Beans. Let me tell you - the ziplocks on those things are strong! I tried to pry it open with my teeth, but it slipped out of my hand on to the ground. Boooo. I decided to just wait to refuel after I completed the bike course. The last tiny bit of the course was up a STEEP hill. How rude! When I turned the corner and started pedaling up, I gave a very loud audible sigh, then an "Oh Geez" and shook my head. One of the spectators heard/saw me and yelled, "Hey, you're almost done! This is the last leg! You've got this!" I smiled and acknowledged him with a nod of my head, then powered up that dang hill.
This transition was definitely shorter, as all I had to do was take off my helmet & bike gloves, switch shoes, clip on my running belt and strap on my iPod. However, I was NOT looking forward to running! As much fun as the biking was, I was ready to be done and end on a high note. The last thing I wanted to do was run! I thought this was the stupidest idea ever. So I didn't rush to get back out there. I took a couple of swigs of Gatorade, reapplied my chapstick, slipped my second pack of Sport Beans in to my running belt and made my way back out.
My legs were like lead. I turned to the right when I came out of the transition area and was faced with a hill right off the bat. Rude again! I kind of shuffled my way up, but I didn't have it in me, so I geared down in to a power walk. I reached down to grab a bean and saw that my other brand new bag of Sport Beans had fallen out of my belt. LAME. The entire running course I was pathetic. I shuffled along and could only sustain a slow jog for maybe a minute at a time.
It was the longest 2 miles of my LIFE! Seriously! To think back to it and know that I couldn't run 2 miles is just embarrassing and disgusting. The last bit of the course was downhill, then turn left back on the road that leads to the transition area, and up a slight hill to cross the finish line. I ran down the hill to give me some momentum, then gave it all I had and sprinted up that little hill to the finish line! OH SWEET RELIEF!!!
I AM A TRIATHLONER!!!
I was so dang happy! I let a volunteer take off my timing anklet, while another put a finishers medal around my neck. I was all smiles and couldn't believe I had just completed a triathlon! I immediately started to think of NEXT time. "Since I could do this while totally out of shape, I wonder what my time could be if I actually trained consistently. I could definitely shave off time out of my transitions...." Such is the unexplainable magic that happens when participating in races. While the training sucks and even during the race you have moments of hating it (at least for me - maybe some people actually love it all!), as soon as you cross that finish line, you feel such a high and sense of accomplishment, you can't wait to do another one!
Enter DC Triathlon! I have 210 days to train.. And a Jingle All the Way 10k (first 10k!) next month to keep me motivated. YAY for races!
PS - Natalie's finish was excellent! She did the long course and ended it with a 6 mile run. She never stopped and pushed herself hard all the way to the finish line where she promptly vomited! Now THAT'S a finish! No question she gave it her absolute ALL! She's awesome.
*Seeing these photos gave me the reality check I needed to go on a diet. Spandex is unforgivable.
