Doing a 1/2 marathon is something I never really saw myself doing. Sure enough, we were on our way to the start line early (very early) last Saturday morning. Traffic was light and we managed to get to the Titan’s stadium with lots of time to spare. I was getting my number on and fueling up for the race, while someone was getting impatient. At this point I mentioned putting sunblock on, but apparently that was a dumb idea and they would be “OK”. After a quick pitstop at the porta-johns, we were ready to get to the start line. Since the race finished here and started at the Centennial Park, we needed to get on a shuttle and head over that way. Sounds pretty easy… in theory… No one was really sure what to do, and there was a lot of shuffling going around and not much instruction from the volunteers. After seeing two or three sets of shuttles leave, a volunteer finally said we were all standing in the wrong spot, the shuttles won’t stop here and we needed to move down the sidewalk. After seeing another set of shuttles go through, we finally got on one and we were off! Not too much longer I noticed we were in a different lane than all the other shuttles and started passing them. Apparently, we were taking the “long” way…

Once we finally got to the park, it was time to find the start line. There were a ton of people, like 31,000 not including the spectators. We found the mass start of racers and realized our start corral was way down from where we were. We finally got to our corral and got in line around 7:00 AM (the official start of the race). Each corral got its own start and there were a couple of guys on mics keeping the crowd entertained. Our start time was around 7:48 AM, so I guess we really did have a lot of time to spare.

The first couple of miles went pretty well, my ankle started hurting a little, but at this point not too bad (had a sprain during my training :(). Around the 5k mark, my ankle was definitely swelling and I was having a hard time keeping pace with Susan (although I did beat her for the 5k time ;)). My foot started numbing up and I tried walking it off without much success. Around mile 5 I felt the onset of calf cramps (something I’m pretty familiar with during racquetball and knew I needed to get some electrolytes/water soon). Each watering station I was sucking back the cytomax and water and that seemed to help… a little… Mile 10 I was full on walking, my ankle was hurting pretty good… at least my foot wasn’t numb any more. After an energy gel some more cytomax and water, I thought I’d give running a shot… bad idea… My calf cramps hit and I know I took a few awkward steps and managed to limp to the side of the road. A couple people asked if I was ok, I said I’ll be fine, reassuring them with a smile. I have had calf cramps before, but nothing like this… I started pulling my toes and tried to stand up and was almost able to walk… Sat back down and stretched a little more. Finally I was able to get moving, I saw a med tent (just before mile 12) and almost threw in the towel. I told myself no matter what I’m finishing what I started. My legs were sore, my ankle was throbbing, but I was pushing forward. Managed to get a semi-speed walking pace going, although I wanted to run, I knew if I did I was done.

I remember going down the hill before the finish line thinking, ok just a few more steps… just a few more steps… can’t sprint, just keep moving and I’ll finish… The finish line never looked so beautiful before, although I was in a lot of pain, I was happy it was over. I got corralled towards the post-race refreshments and on the look out for Susan (who kicked my butt and is a little crazy for wanting to do another one…) I ate a couple bananas grabbed a water and started heading back towards the porta-potties (where I thought we were meeting after the race). Susan was no where to be seen, so I thought maybe she would be at the car… finally I found her and we started talking about our race experiences. I wouldn’t say it was a fun experience, but I enjoyed it for the most part. I probably won’t be doing another one for awhile… I’ve got training to do, triathlon season is coming into full swing! 🙂