Race Day

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, what is that? It's Natalie's alarm. It's 4:20 already? Nope. It's 4:10! Natalie was afraid her alarm would not go off so she set two. She got up and I turned my alarm off that was set for 4:20 as well in case Natalie's did not go off. Then I went back to sleep.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP.................!!!! What is that noise? Is that the house alarm? Did Natalie set the house alarm off? Oh no, the louder alarm is going to sound off at any minute......BEEP! BEEP......! Wait, it's still the same noise. What is going on? Stumble out of bed, run into the wall, open door and ask "Natalie! What is that Noise?! Is that the coffee machine? Can you make it stop? What is that"? Nat says - "I think it's the alarm in our room. Chris set that alarm in case mine did not go work".

O.M.G. I Pick up alarm and give it to Natalie while making the statement "I hate this house". I go back to bed for another 10 minutes then realize I need to get up. It's now 4:30.

Once I was up I was exhausted and not super chipper. I was still nervous about my race. I have never run a race by myself and I was not sure who I was going to turn to if I hit a wall. To Nat's credit, through all of my worrying she made me laugh the entire time and that was nice.

7:00 am the race starts. I am corral 19 so I don't start for another 45 minutes. I heard the gun go off and immediately hoped that nat, preston and charlie have a great run. I am not sure what time I started but I was ready. My only goal for this run was to beat 2:20:00 which was my last 1/2 time for ING Atl. I started out quicker than I normally do and found myself running with the 2:15 pace group. I was comforted by this because I knew I could keep up with them for a little bit and they seemed to keep me going. It was faster than I have been running for a long time but it felt good. I did not see a sign for mile 1 but noticed mile 3 because there were mats. Then I did not see a sign until mile 6 and I had to use the bathroom at this point but didn't want to lose the pace group. So I kept telling myself I would stop at the next set of port-a-potties. Well, we didn't get to the next set until mile 8 and I had to go. I jumped off and said my good buys to the 2:15ers. I was totally sad but told myself that I had run a really good 8 miles.

Thankfully there was not a long line and I was able to pee pretty quickly. I jumped back into the sea of runners and started again. This time I was running faster than I was before but I was in search of those 2:15ers!!! Where is that pace sign - I wasn't gone that long. I know I can find them. Where are they? Well, I never found them again and I walked through my water stops because I kept pushing myself to catch up with them. Next thing I know, I am splitting off from the Marathoners at mile Marker 11. Oh my gosh, it's mile 11 - this is fantastic. I am definitely feeling the run now and have to keep listening to the same song over and over because it is pushing me through every hill and keeping my mind positive. (I am blocked from you tube at work other wise I would post the video)

Now I am just intent on finishing. I keep pushing and my legs are getting tired. I must have listened to Matchbox 20 about 100 times. Mile marker 12.......I am getting closer! Mile marker 13 and I can see the left turn for the .1! There are a lot of people cheering and I push a little more - the finish is right around the corner. I was surprised though - I almost always have a sprint left in me but this time I did not look for it. I was still sad I could not find the 2:15 pace group and I was sure I failed myself so what was the point in sprinting? There was no way I did better than my last race. So, I kept running minus the sprint and finished. I was very happy to be done and very happy Natalie convinced me to run with my cell phone. I was able to call Chris so we could meet up. Chris had been tracking us on his IPhone - he said I was pretty consistent. You kept a 10 or so minute mile the entire time". I asked what my time was (convinced it was worse) and he said "You ran a 2:13:--; that's great". I did???? I was sooo excited! I shaved 7 minutes off of my last 1/2!

I told Chris I kept looking for the 2:15 pace group and never found them - he said it was because I passed them! All of my worries went away and I was instantly relaxed.

Nat's run to be continued................