Some girlfriends were also running this race, but I didn't see them before the start. SD dropped me off and I used the portapotty a couple of times and warmed up with some sprints and plyometrics. Then I took off my warm gear, dropped off the sweats bag and lined up in Corral I (for Incredible, I told myself ;-) )Of course, we had to wait for corrals A-H to cross the start. Twenty-two minutes later, I crossed the starting line.
At the expo the day before I had picked up a pace band for a 2:30 finish and spoke to the pace leader. In the corral I saw the 2:30 balloons on a stick. She was pretty far up from where I was but I thought I could catch up when she took the walking break. She had told me she would take a one minute walk every mile, which is what I had been doing on my training runs. I never caught up and the pace band fell off my arm somewhere. But I had my trusty Garmin!
I kept a steady pace and felt good, walking through the water stops but otherwise running. As we were leaving Pacific Grove and heading back to the shore, I saw a man running while using a walker! I said "Good Job" as I passed him and dedicated the next mile to him. "God bless him," I thought, at least he's out there. Well, this man didn't need my sympathy because we kept leapfrogging along the way! I'd pass him on the uphill and he'd pass me when I'd stop for water. At one point he passed and I told some women alongside me about dedicating a mile to him. "Now you can dedicate another one for him," said one of them. I told her he didn't need me dedicating any more miles, that he could dedicate one to me! Later I looked up his bib number; he's 70 years old and finished in 02:49:19. 'Atta boy, Charles!
The course is an out and back with the turnaround being around mile 7, so you can see the runners ahead of you as they head back. I kept an eye out for my friends and saw Sandi around Mile 8. She ran the NYC Marathon two weeks ago and was suffering from Plantar Fasciitis and looked like she was hurting. I dedicated a mile to her; she finished in around 2:22 which is pretty darn fast all things considered. Her twin sister, who also ran New York 2 short weeks ago, finished under 2 hours! These amazing women are only a few years younger than me and started running around 6 years ago. Here's a picture of us at the expo.
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Mile 10 is when I started to fatigue. I had developed the attitude that a half-marathon isn't too difficult, but that's because I ran them in the middle of marathon training. This time, my longest training run had been 12 miles and I haven't raced a half marathon in 18 months. I slowed down and did some high-knees and butt kicks, just to kind of stretch while still moving forward. I dedicated that mile to my friend Nancy, who was widowed a year ago. Then just before mile 11 I texted SD so that he would know when to expect me at the finish--he wanted me to alert him so that he could take my picture crossing the finish line. I also stopped and stretched and dedicated Mile 11 to my mother.
I was able to pick up the pace in the last mile and started to pick off the runners in front of me. Somewhere along the way a stranger said, "Come on, we can do this!" We introduced ourselves and she told me her name was Therese. She was on her way to a 30 minute PR and was very happy. We pushed the pace and I stuck to her like glue. My heart rate felt like it was around 1,000,000 bpm and I started groaning. But Therese encouraged me and I continued on. "Where the hell is the finish line?" "Over there--pink house." I got an opening and went for it. "Go, Dori!," I heard Therese yell. I felt bad that she was behind me, because I wanted her to cross before me, since I was only there because of her. Then a rocket named Therese flew by and if I had any breath I would have shouted encouragement. I looked up her results: Therese Marchetti, 50, 02:35:27. My time was 02:42:37, a 12:24 pace overall.
When I crossed the finish line I felt like I would die! Therese called my name and I went and gave her a big hug and thanked her for running me in. She said I helped her, too, and that, my friends, is what running is all about.
