Race Report Part 2 (Race)

Okay! I left off right as the race was about to begin. I had a few moments to look around and marvel at the same thing that struck Lisa ... how many women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and levels of fitness there were! It was an incredible sight to be sure. We were all milling about, some groups of women chatting, some quietly waiting, until our official gunshot went off to start the race. There was an excited surge there at the back where I had strategically placed myself. Then we stalled. There were just too many people in the way! Everyone waited a bit, then started to walk, a few started to jog, then gave up and walked again. It takes a while to get 1200 women and one guy moving. It was pretty funny though. By the time I approached the starting line there was enough room for me to start a slow jog so I can officially say I was running at the start.

Now is as good a time as any to express my appreciation for anyone that comes to watch me (or anyone) race. It's a lot of standing around waiting for short glimpses of your racer, but there is nothing like it when you run by someone cheering for you on the side of the road. It probably means more to me knowing that it can be kinda boring sometimes and I truly appreciate anyone coming. Having not one but THREE people cheering me at the start was awesome!

So off I went, looping around the high school and out to start the course - first heading towards the beach. It was so neat to be in such a big pack of people and be running by such a long line of spectators. We turned left out of the school and you could see the ocean from there. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun glinting off the water was so pretty. Soon enough we were at the intersection and running alongside the ocean. By then I had settled into a nice comfortable pace and was trying not to go too fast. From my training I was thinking I should aim for about a 12 min/mile pace in order to be able to make the distance and have something left at the end. We turned left onto Webber and before I knew it I was at mile 1. One down, 12.1 to go! I checked my watch - oops! 11:08. Too fast. But starting out too fast is typical of how I run, even in training, so I noted it and slowed my pace down a little more. I started wondering how long it would take me to pass my walking family. I didn't think it would be in the first mile, but from that point on I was keeping an eye out. A woman next to me commented on how beautiful one of the nearby houses was, and I agreed, telling her there are many houses around here I'd love to live in. Around that time I heard someone say "there she is!" and I thought to myself how cute it is to see people's families and friends looking for them and exclaiming excitedly when their runner comes into view. Then I got closer and realized it was my family! I called out to ask what the heck they were doing standing on the side of the road - since they were supposed to be walking. They told me they stopped to wait for me and see me go by, which made me feel very special. I gave them all a wave and carried on my way. That group was only half of them, though. I ran for a little more and saw Natalie and Lisa up ahead, with baby Mikey. Natalie was looking over her shoulder to keep an eye out for me but I was directly behind her so she couldn't see me. So I called out her name and she spun around to wave and cheer and give me the high five she had promised to give me. A wave and hello at Lisa and I was on my way again. Speedy little Jen and Chloe were a bit further ahead. So I called out Chloe's name and got my promised high five from Chloe and cheers from Jen too. Wow, was that ever fun getting to run by them all. A woman next to me asked if I was a school teacher in town or something because it seems that everyone knows me. I told her, "nope, that's just my WHOLE FAMILY!" And it struck me again how fortunate I was to have everyone there.

Around the 2 mile mark I heard the woman I had talked to before about the nice houses say oops she'd better slow down since she's trying to maintain about a 12 min/mile pace. I wondered to myself if we'd be running together the whole way since that was my intended pace too. I don't remember exactly how it started, but soon enough I found myself chatting with her, and found her to be delightful company. And before I knew it we were past mile three and back onto the beach road again. Wow - the first of the three legs was already over!

My new friend's name is Jen, and we got to see her husband and two children cheering for her on the side of the road. I told her I had noticed her daughter earlier - an adorable little girl on her daddy's shoulders overlooking the crowd. We passed an old guy with an antique pickup truck and bantered with him as we went by. It was just such a fun atmosphere. Everyone was happy and the day was beautiful with the ocean spread out beside us. I looked up ahead and way off in the distance saw the piece of land jutting out into the water where Nubble Light is. Then it hit me ... oh my god ... I have to run all the way out there! It really sunk in then just how far I was going to be running that day. But soon enough Jen and I were chatting again and before I knew it we were heading up the hill towards the lighthouse.

The Nubble Light section was more hilly. These are considered gentle rollers if you're from New England, big hills if you're from a flatter part of the country. Nothing to sneeze at but definitely smaller than some of the hills on my regular training routes. I just had to be careful to slow my pace down a little so I didn't get too winded and lose valuable energy that I'd need later. Jen and I started talking about the different houses and which ones we'd like, and both agreed that the tiny cottage hidden down below the bigger houses would be just fine. Either of us would be happy with just that one. Come to think of it, we'd be happy with some water! We knew there should be a water stop coming up soon so we just put that in the back of our minds and paid attention to the panoramic view - ocean on three sides. After growing up on the seacoast, having a stint living on an island, then moving inland, I have officially fell back in love with ocean again.

As we were finishing the Nubble loop, we came across a family sitting on their front lawn watching the race go by. Lawn chairs, a 12 pack of Guiness, and they were all set. One woman was even in a Snuggie! Hey, I guess if you're going to have 1200 women run by your house you might as well make a party out of it. After that we came across the "water stop". The poor thing looked ravaged. The table was lying on its side, there were cups all over the ground, luckily packs of new cups too, and jugs of water all over the ground in various levels of empty. Uh ... okay ... I guess this one is the self-serve water stop? Hmmm. Well, nothing to do but go with the flow so we served ourselves up some water and off we went. At this point we're heading back inland some, and through neighborhoods again. After a while Jen said, "I really need a water stop!" and a guy who was pulling his trash can out to the curb was happy to let us know there's one right around the corner. And this one had people! And they were handing out water! And even giving out Luna Moons. Oops, I forgot to mention that I had just taken my Hammer Gel. My warm weather running outfit didn't have pockets, so I had safety pinned that to my shorts, following Jen Fields' learn-the-hard-way advice to not stick the pin through the part where the gel is since it will leak out the pin hole. The gel behaved nicely and didn't bounce around too much, and tore off the top just right when I gave it a tug. The key to the gels is that you need to follow them with water, so I was happy to see the water stop too. But because I had just taken my shot of sugar I didn't need the Luna Moons. I tried one of Jen's blueberry ones which was quite tasty, but didn't open mine, figuring I'd be seeing my gang soon and could hand them off.

Sure enough, we were back onto the road along the beach before we knew it, and approaching mile 8.5 which goes by the turn off for the high school. The same spot where we saw Jen's family when it was mile 3. Sure enough, Jen's family was ready and waiting and she was able to drop off her 2nd bag of Moons for her kids who apparently love them (marathoners in training?) Then in jumped Jen Fields to run with me. It was like I had a real crew! She asked how I was doing, met my new friend Jen, handed me some lip balm and took the Moons off my hands. Then we came across Aric who was so awesome to see. He's been such a quiet but solid support during all my weeks of training so it was emotional to be able to share that with him. Like not only "look what I can do!" but "look what you helped me do!"

Then everyone else went by in a blur. Natalie and Chloe had pompoms which I guess they were handing out to all the kids. Come to think of it Jen Fields had her pompoms too but those are her own that she brings to races. Did I mention she's a pro at cheering? Anyway, it was so awesome to be waving to a cheering crowd like a celebrity!

Then we shot passed the turn off for the high school to begin the third and final leg. Wow, this was going by fast! By this point Jen and I had fallen into such a comfortable rapport, you'd think we'd been friends our whole lives. Jen's knee was hurting a little, and my legs were starting to feel pretty heavy, so I figured the final leg would be where we'd really earn our bragging rights. Not long after, we started passing the leaders who were on their way to the finish. That's what was so neat about the course, it looped back on itself a couple times which was good for spectators and fun for the runners. Although we finally figured out that we should switch to the other side of the road so we could stop feeling like salmon swimming upstream, and get out of the way of the other racers.

That stretch of road - 1A along the ocean until the turn off onto Axlethome was soooo long! It seemed much shorter the day before in the car with mom. But by then my legs were really starting to feel fatigued and I was getting out of breath. I told Jen I needed to slow down and she was fine with that so we adopted a slower pace and kept plodding along. I told her I was glad she was there because this part would have been hard for me mentally. Although I knew I would have been able to finish, it was much better having someone to talk to and keep my mind off my lead-legs. Two more miles ... I can do anything for two miles! Then it was one mile to go, and we were back on the main road for our final stretch along the ocean. And then there's the turn for Long Sands Road! Look, now here's the turn for the high school! Earlier Jen had been telling me that she usually gets excited for the finish and has an extra spurt of energy. I usually do that too but warned her that I had nothing left so if she wanted to sprint at the end to go ahead without me. Or I thought I had nothing left. But then I saw the 13 mile marker, and the finish line was only one tenth of a mile ahead. I looked at Jen and said, "wanna finish strong?" she said something along the lines of "hell yeah" and we gave our final burst across the finish line.

And then I was surrounded by my whole family! Getting big hugs and congratulations. I wish I had more memory of that but right at that moment I felt like I was going to barf, and I really just wanted to lie down. Hahaha... okay I guess I really didn't have anything left. Natalie, helpful as usual, asked if I'd like her to get me a gatorade and I told her I'd love one. There wasn't any left but Natalie came back with a water for which I was just as grateful. Then it was a hubub of activity, getting the skinny on how everyone else's day was, how the walk went, and telling them about my experience. I had lost my new friend Jen in all the commotion but she came back over with her family and I got to meet her husband and daughter and son. We posed for pictures together, exchanged facebook information and thanked each other for a nice run. What a nice unexpected bonus to my day, meeting a new friend :)

We all hung around for a little while, extracting pizza from the militant woman guarding the food table, and then people started to go their separate ways. Jen Fields home to her family, the Ritzes headed off to pick up their new puppy, Lisa and Rowly started their trek back to Vermont, and Aric headed home to relax. I went back to Mom's with Laura, Mikey and Debbie for a bit. I took an ice bath to help with my leg recovery, then a quick shower, and Mom served up some Chicken Divan ... a great post-race meal! After a little more visiting I decided to follow Laura out and head home, assuring Mom I felt totally fine and not to worry about me driving. It did kind of hit me on the way home how tired I was but I was still ok to drive and anxious to get home. Aric had some spaghetti ready which I had some of, then was snug in my bed by 8:30pm. Ahhh, what a busy day! I closed my eyes and was out like a light. :)