Seattle Amica Half Marathon

Sunday

November 28th, 2010

5am

Seattle, WA

I ran a half marathon on Sunday and it went great.  It was my first solo run.  Meaning I went on my own.  I was a big girl.  I drove down by myself and everything.  I was very worried about my performance but let it go.  I had spent the afternoon in bed on Saturday.  My tummy has been bothering me lately.  I think I owe Thanksgiving and my sister bachelorette party to my ill feelings.  Having nervous and sour tummy does nothing for racing.  But what can you do but be brave.  I was a little worried about being in Seattle by myself that early in the morning.  But my family has been to more than one of these now so I didn't want to pull anyone out of bed.  I was very pleased to be able to park right at the start line.  It went smoothly.  I forced myself to sip water and ate half of a banana while chatting with fellow runners.  One lady I talked to was a seasoned running.  Running since 1993.  She had a stress fracture in her foot.  I held back informing her that a stress fracture is a sign of not getting proper nutrition.  I would never inform someone who has been running a whole lot longer than I have what she could be doing wrong.  I am still learning.  Wisdom will come with experience.   I then chatted with a gal who was running for the first time.  It was fun to be able to talk to people from two side of the spectrum.

The cold always get to me before a race.  I don't like running with too many clothes on.  But there were so many people there that body heat really helped.  Yes, there were that many people.  The body warmth factor was great until the race started.  The streets didn't really accommodate that many runners.  As soon as the race started, it was hard getting around people.  You were forced to settle in to a certain pace.  Especially when we ran up on to the freeway.  Bottle neck, and there was no getting around anyone.  If felt fine starting out.  I just thought to be patient, the crowd will thin out and we would have more room.  That didn't happen for at least 2 miles.  As soon as it did though, I found I was the one being passed!  I had a lot of people pass me.  Since I not been feeling good, I kind of accepted I was going to sit back and just run this race and let it be.  I stopped at every water station for gator aid,  which I normally don't do.  When ever someone asks me how it goes, my answer is always, Hard!  The course had some tough hills.  We're in Seattle afterall.  Hills are expected.

About 1/2 mile from the finish line, I got a really bad side ache.  WOW it hurt.  I had to almost come to a stop.  I did a fast walk trot and took deep breathes until it subsided.

I had not seen anyone go "down" before at a race.  Meaning, you hear stories of people collapsing ect.  Well I ran by my first.  He was laying in the bushes on the side of the trail.  No I did not ignore and just run on by because he was with someone with help on the way.  I shouted to the help who was around the corner that they needed to get to him faster.  He didn't look good at all.  He had no color in his face.  A few other runners around me agreed and encourged her to radio for help before she got to him.  There was another guy on the side walk towards the finish as well.  I felt like laying down next to him after that side ache.

I won't post results because you won't find my name.  That's all I'm gonna say about that.  I was however BLOWN away by my time.  My time for the Seattle Rock n Roll in June was 2:12.  I thought there was no way I would come close to that because I stopped so many times and held back on my pace.  I finished 2.13!  My friend texted me Holy Crap great time!  I asked her what it was and I could hardly believe that.  How that happened I don't know.   I will take it though.

Today you can call me sore.  I had not been running much these past 2 weeks because of the weather so I am feeling it today!  I would do it over and over again though.  So worth it.