Oshkosh Half Marathon 2011: #runjesrun

I did it.

I ran my first half marathon.

I conquered 13.1 miles.

SQUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEE!

The Prep

I started preparing Friday. I picked up my bag with my number, chip and shirt at lunch. I laid out all my clothes, gear and food. I also decided I wanted my own Twitter hashtag: #runjesrun.

I got a few friends together Friday night and we went to the all-you-can eat pasta dinner. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. Next time: I’m cooking. When I got home, I grabbed a movie (The Goonies!) and hit the bed early. I did not fall asleep early. I was way too excited. But I tried.

Saturday: awake at 5:57 AM.

And it was 35º, and pouring rain. If it had been any other Saturday, I would not have gone out to run. Not after months of cold weather, snow, puddles and mud. But this wasn’t just any Saturday.

I’ve had this long run ritual down pretty well for about six weeks. I got into my running clothes, drank my water and one cup of coffee while eating the Power Bar and banana. I checked Twitter and FaceBook. Surprise #1, of many for the day, was Yanni sending me a clip of her daughters cheering me on. The #runjesrun tag on Twitter was already busy. To everyone that was up and tweeting me: thank you. It meant everything to me.

ready. to. run. also: the last dry photo of me for the day.

I left the house at 6:55 and went downtown. Parked. Headed to the start, where hundreds of people were milling around, trying to find a dry place to hide.

I made one very big mistake. Terrible, in fact. I did not pee. Next time: I must pee before the race, even if I don’t think I have to.

My plan had been to run with the 2:20 pace group, at least for the first couple miles. Panic almost ensued when I could not find the pace group. I managed to find them as we were lining up to start, however. I turned on my playlist. I got Runmeter loaded up. I waited.

The Run 

I’m not going to lie: for most of the run, I was miserable. It was cold. I was soaked before the first mile was finished. My feet were soaked and mud-covered. The course sucked. It was hard. But I did it.

My strategy: go slow. Run the whole way. Stop at every water station and take a drink. Stay strong. Blaze in the last quarter mile or so.

I started the first mile slow. I felt good. Strong. Wet. People were tweeting me non-stop, which was a great motivator.

One of my besties, Lauren, lives right between miles one and two. I knew she had something up her sleeve for the day but I had no idea how awesome it was going to be. As her place came into sight, there she and the husband were, holding up this banner:

Yeah. Not only did I have my own hashtag, I had a banner to match it. Thanks, Matt!

Miles two and threw went by quickly. I stuck with the pace runner. I was soaked through at this point, but not feeling too cold. So far, the run had been on the roads, but mile four veered over to the Wiouwash Trail, right next to the lake. This meant one thing: mud, mud and more mud. And it hit me: I had to pee. Bad.

The mud run continued up through mile six. I commented to one of the guys running near me that at least it was good training for my Warrior Dash in September. He was really excited because he had just run one. Well, at least he was prepared. I was cold. And I had to pee.

The course ran over the river, up past the tech school, behind the stadium, and back to the river. The husband was on site to get some video of me. I remember the mile seven marker, and clearly thinking, “This sucks. I am miserable.” It was raining harder. I still had six miles to go. So I sucked it up, and kept putting one foot in front of the other.

The next stretch of the race was south, towards and through South Park. I almost almost almost stopped to pee, but didn’t want to stop running and didn’t want to mess up my time. So I kept going. I slowed down for the water station there, and had the hardest time picking my feet back up. A tweet from Chris made me pick it up, though, and I had to laugh when Shahryar said “imagine who will play you in the movie version”.

I hit mile ten. I remembered Erin telling me, when you hit ten, it’s just a 5K from there. I was still miserable, though. It was getting colder. My hands were numb-er. I was starting to hurt. But there were still people lining the road, cheering. If they were willing to stand out there for us, I was willing to keep running for them. Of note: next time, more cowbells are needed.

I made the mile eleven marker and picked up my pace. I gritted my teeth and kept going. I hit the mile twelve marker, and thought, “This is now the farthest I have ever run in my life.” And then I hit The Wall. I had never run this far in my life. I was cold. I had to pee so bad I could cry. My hands were frozen. It had moved from rain to sleet. I was running into the wind. People were passing me at this point.

And suddenly, I couldn’t even hear my music because so many people were tweeting me through the last mile. #runjesrun So I gritted my teeth. I picked a person ten feet ahead of me. I passed him. I picked a woman twenty feet ahead of me. I passed her. And I just kept picking them off until I got over the bridge, turned right on to the river walk, and saw the best thing of the day: the finish line.

I hit the thirteen mile mark. Yes, I actually said “SQUEEEE!” And I hit the gas. I didn’t think I had anything left in me, but hell yes I did. I turned one last corner to The Alley. The Finish Line. People lined up left and right. Music. Announcers. I didn’t see or hear anyone. I just saw that line and went into The Zone. Here I am, a few feet from finishing.

13.08-ish

And I crossed it: 2:19:29!

And I started getting a scrunched-up-I’m-going-to-bawl-my-eyes-out face. Until I was handed: my medal.

bling!

I can’t wait to see the picture that was taken of that moment. I think the grin almost cracked my cheeks.

The husband found me right after and handed me DRY CLOTHES. The problem was that I had to get into them. Trying to peel off soaked clothing with numb hands in a bathroom stall is not for the weak. Oh, and I finally got to pee. That was the second-best part of the day. Then I got hot coffee and a piece of pizza. This is my victory moment.

can you hear the "squeeee!"?

Post-Race

I shivered all the way home. But when I got there, I had another huge surprise waiting for me, thanks to Lauren (again!). There were flowers, balloons and posters that she wanted to put outside but didn’t because of the rain. Girl: I love you. Thank you for making my day.

The third-best part of the day was the hot shower. And stretching. And hot coffee. And stretching.

Then I napped. Hard.

Thoughts: that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. That was definitely the hardest run of my life. But I have the best goddamn friends ever. I wish I could list everyone who was along the course, at the finish line, or leaving me comments on Twitter, Facebook and DailyMile, but I’d be writing for another two hours. And I Did It. I ran a half marathon. Me. The girl who had never been a runner in her life. The girl who couldn’t run a quarter mile two years ago.

So.

When can I do that again?!

Splits

1 – 10:40
2 – 10:19
3 – 10:26
4 – 9:49 (ouch! too fast!)
5 – 10:42
6 – 10:45
7 – 10:32
8 – 10:23
9 – 10:37
10 – 10:52
11 – 10:40
12 – 10:43
13 – 11:10

I wanted negative splits, but I was happy with the reasonably consistent pace I managed. Considering the varying conditions of the roads/sidewalks/trails, wind and precipitation: not bad.