Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Half, but it made me feel Whole [Ellie]




On May 1st I ran my first half-marathon. I say first because I plan to run more. Here's why:

5:55 a.m.
I wake to my alarm. Peeking outside I see rain pouring down in sheets. Thunder booms in the distance. I throw my bright red rain jacket over my race t-shirt.

7:40 a.m.
Anna, sister/running buddy/personal trainer extraodinaire, and I arrive in Downtown Columbus. The rain has stopped. We follow the hordes of people heading toward the starting line. More than 6,000 people ran the half marathon alone; add to that 5Kers and spectators, and you've got easily 10,000 shoehorned into a couple of blocks. Wall to wall people.

7:47 a.m.
We find what looks to be the starting line, except we can't see it. It's covered in people. The road is so full of racers that we have to squeeze onto it, stopping just shy of actually shoving people out of the way. The atmosphere, like other races I've been in, is carnival-like. Their are balloons and tents everywhere. People are excited, bouncing in place, stretching, taking little warm-up jogs, using the port-a-potties. The mayor and a local news personality are hamming it up trying to rally the crowd. They are largely ignored. We line up with others planning to run at a 9-minute mile pace.

8:00 a.m.
The race begins, or so it would seem. The wall of bodies in front of us begins to move forward sluggishly.

8:05 a.m.
We actually cross the starting line. We are unaware of this.

At this point time becomes irrelevant.

During the first few miles, my body feels tight. I think, This doesn't feel great. I'm doing this for 13 miles?

Miles 3 and 4 pass. Entirely warmed up and in a rhythm. The Central Ohio humidity which has, for the most part, been absent from our training runs, makes its presence known. Already I'm hot and sweaty. I take my jacket off and pray for rain.

We run through German Village. As we pass the park, Villagers are lined up and cheering. Some seem to specifically cheer Anna and I. It feels good to be doing something people cheer for.

Right before we hit mile 5 it starts to rain. I'd feared this before the race; now I am just grateful.

Mile 6, almost halfway though. There's a large crowd at this intersection. More cheering; it feels so good! We seem to be picking up time with each mile.

The drink stations keep offering Gatorade. All I want is water. I want to dump it all over me.

An older gentleman teases Anna and I that we are chatting just to show off that we can still talk.

We catch the woman assigned as the 2-hour pacer. She's holding a tall stick with balloons. As long as we stay ahead of her, we'll accomplish our goal.

Mile 9--Wow! Really? Mile marking for the race was haphazard. Nine snuck up on us. Only four more to go. That's a morning jog.

Mile 10. Anna and I "high ten." Exhaustion is setting in, but we're almost there.

Mile 11. Only two more? That's less than 20 minutes. We pick up a little speed. I know I'll regret it if I don't give it all I've got. Who knows if I'll ever do this again?

Mile 12. It happens. I think the thought I've never allowed myself to think: Well, maybe I could run a marathon. Pure insanity.

Anna feels energized and wants to pick up speed. I can't make my 32-year-old body go any faster, though I'd like to.

10:00 a.m.
We spot the finish line ahead. Suddenly, I can sprint.

10:02 a.m.
We cross the finish line smiling. We give each other a corny high 13.1. Our official time? 1 hour, 57 minutes, 55 seconds. We met our goal of breaking 2 hours! We came in 1,508 and 1,509th. That's good enough to put us in the top 25 percent of finishers. Not bad for a first half marathon, eh?

And the aftermath: So sore I can hardly walk the next day, and then gradually better the following days. Stairs=torture. A week and a half out, I can still feel strain in the tendons under my left ankle, but it's getting fainter every day. They're going to have to get used to it, 'cause I'm doing it again next year!

So much thanks to Spencer and Rachel for taking care of the kids while we ran. Thanks, also to my sweet visiting teacher Norma, who made an awesome "Distance Runner Care Package" and helped watch the kids. Thanks to Bryan for getting the kids up and ready every morning while I was gone running. Finally, armloads of thanks to Anna, without whom I would never have even dared attempt this. Talking with her made running 13 miles (and all those training miles, too) a pleasure.

10 comments:

Merkley Jiating said...

Congratulations! That is more than I can even dream of running. I am very impressed.

Sam says to ask Anna if she remembers the time that he basically carried her on his back when they ran a half marathon together. :)

Also, we have become very familiar with the Billy Joel song, although it does not speak very highly of Allentown. Are you going to come visit?!

Annie said...

Congrats Ellie! That really is a huge accomplishment.

Becky said...

Way to go!!!! You were like 40 minutes faster than my half marathon- you're awesome!!!!! I could never have sprinted at the end!

kiki comin said...

SOOOO awesome. i am so proud of you..and can't wait to tell you what i am doing starting monday..if i survive!:)haha.

Heather said...

What an incredible and inspiring account! Thanks for writing about it so I felt as if I were there. For I know that reading about it is as close as my body will ever be to long distance running.

You are fantastic - and even thought about a full marathon WHILE running the half? Wow. I can tell how wonderful it was to have Anna train with you. You two are lucky to have each other.

Congratulations again!

miche said...

way to go Ellie!

Spencer and Anna said...

I've been waiting for this post so I could comment about how much you rocked this half marathon. :) I had such a good time running the race with you and look forward to doing many more like it.
And to Sam, maybe if "you" hadn't had to carry "me" the whole half marathon, we could have finished it as fast as Ellie and I did. :)

sarah stitzlein said...

Soooo proud of and impressed by you, Ellie! Take some time to celebrate your accomplishment.

Bryan and Ellie said...

Ellie, my love, you rock. You worked really hard and you accomplished something real. I give you an A+!

Hubby

Merkley Jiating said...

I knew Bryan graded people in real life! I knew it! Also, I didn't see that picture last time. CUTE! Can we get some updates on the children, please? I miss them.

Thanks for the compliments on the sign language video. Funny to watch myself because I don't even feel like it is me anymore. It was so long ago that I just look at it and go, "Oh, that's nice."

Any plans to come to Philadelphia this summer? :)