Rock -n- Roll, Baby!

I DID IT!!!!!

I completed the Rock-n-Roll marathon, in just under 5 hours. (Yes, my chip time read 5 hours, 2 minutes. I'm deducting a few minutes for my bathroom stop. There was a line, after all.) It was an amazing experience! It's difficult to describe the energy of the event; there were thousands of spectators cheering, and over 20,000 people participating.

The race began at 6:30 a.m. In order to get ready, meet up with my team, and shuttle to the start area, I had to get up at 3 a.m. (and I did not sleep well for the hours I was in bed). There was water, coffee and bagels, and hundreds of port-o-potties waiting for us there, though. Our bus was among the first to arrive, and we had the unique experience of watching the crowd grow, and the sun come up. Three bottles of water, two bathroom stops, and two-plus hours later, I left the team to line up in my corral to start the race.

For the first few miles of the race I was trying to find my pace and a place to run. The group was so thick at that point that it was difficult to get in stride. I figured out quickly how to move around other racers, though, and the first several miles were truly fun. The bands were lively and the runners were cheering for them as much as the crowd was cheering for us. And between miles four and five when I passed Erin, Kirsten, and my mom -- who were going crazy cheering for me -- I was feeling great and just enjoying the whole thing.

The first half of the race went smoothly. I stopped for a few minutes at mile 8 to use the toilet, and walked a few minutes here and there, as was my plan. (I ran the whole first hour; it went by really quickly to me!) But after about mile 15, I was thinking "okay, I'm ready to be done." And then the race got hard. Between miles 18 and 24 I walked more than I ran, and I was really struggling mentally. I knew that I couldn't stop moving though. A few times I went to the side and stretched lightly for a moment, but I felt like if I allowed myself to stop too long, I wouldn't be able to start again. At some point, a TNT runner from the LA chapter started walking with me. She was struggling the same that I was, and I was glad for some company for a few minutes. There were coaches from other TNT chapters encouraging everyone from the sidelines, which helped, too. I had our honored team members' names on the back of my shirt, and when I was really feeling bedraggled, one of the coaches reminded me of why I was doing this: "for Judy and Fred!"

Then, around mile 24, Erin was cheering for me at the sideline. I'm so glad she was there! I needed her then! She had some Excedrine, which I took for the headache that was faint before the race, and she walked with me for a few minutes. I was really close to losing it, but she encouraged me, and it was enough to get me through. And I actually started feeling better, and I ran the last mile. I was determined to run through the finish. It felt great! Not too long after finishing, I started to forget how much I had struggled; it was just so awesome!

I told myself that I didn't care about my time; I wanted to go out and have fun and be present in the moment(s). I couldn't help, though, but track my minutes and think about my pace. Months ago one of our training lessons was about goal-setting, and the reading talked about setting three different goals for the race: one that was most certainly attainable, one that might be possible, and one that would be a dream goal, but not easily achieved. At that time, finishing in less than five hours was my "wouldn't it be awesome if..." goal: and I did it!