It's Like a Trilogy

Today’s Numbers: (Technically, yesterday's numbers ...) Nancy's Days Run: 60 Nancy's 2013 Mileage: 251.3 Elly's 2013 Mileage: 123.2 Money Found For Food Bank: $23.85

With a day to chill from the internal frenzy that was Rock the Parkway, it's time to recap! While I spend the next few days deciding which to rest and which to run, I'll spend some time reflecting and writing about the weekend. So, we'll do this is in four parts: The Pre-; The During; The Post-, and -- the all important -- The EXPO! Thank you for coming along!! Ready, set, read!

The Pre-

One thing I did not anticipate about this run was that I'd have any particular issues about it. When I registered, I was completely confident in my ability to the point that I just knew  this Half was going to by my new Personal Record because of how far I'd come in my running and because the course was billed as being oh-so flat. What I didn't know at the time I registered was that my training would be permeated with an injury and that whomever deemed the route as flat had his or her pants on fire. We'll get to that.

Yesterday morning, the whole Crew got up at 5:30 a.m. (because they're awesome) to get to the starting line but not after my making multiple trips (and, I do mean multiple) to the bathroom. You know. Just to be sure (because who wants to use the porta potties?). But, I have never had to tend to such issues multiple times. Clearly, I was wound up -- not in a bad way as much as I just didn't know what to expect given, what I would consider, pretty substandard training. Yes, I gave my training my all, but I didn't know what "my all" would end up looking like. Heading out the door at 6:10 a.m., we were all about to find out!

As soon as we arrived, I decided it was a good idea to visit our friend porta potty. Evidently, my intention of thwarting this issue was, itself, thwarted. Of course, there was a line, so I used that time to stretch. That's where I saw these really cool shoes and socks:

I loved her shoes. The socks were fun, but
I wouldn't want them. But, I'd want her
shoes. Just sayin'.

It's never a bad idea to take care of the internal systems before setting off to run for a couple of hours, amiright ?

Once I was ready to get down to the real business of the day, I started to get excited. I mean, check out the huge rack-o-bling that was right there!!

Aaron was all, "Grab-n-go, right?!!!" At 6-whatever in the
morning, that was really funny especially after the running-out-
of-medals issue at Roots and Blues 2011. And, no, I have no
plans to drop that topic.

Of course, I didn't swipe a medal, but I did steal a hug from two of my biggest fans:

We had almost an hour before the race began which boded very well for accommodating the stretching part of the program that I tend to do very insufficiently. I found a great retaining wall to use while the Crew patiently waited and mentioned a time or five that they were chilly. There they are up there ...

... while I was below stretching the ol' legs countering a time or five that it most definitely was not chilly. So, shhhh.

As the crowed really started growing, it was time to get to our spots. Right after parting ways with the Crew, you guessed it, I decided to see if the porta potties by the starting line were as good as the other one I already visited. I paid for the event, why not experience all aspects, right?! (UGH and SIGH)

That's not even the half of 'em. And, if
you figured out how to maneuver the
crowds, you could find the really short
lines. Booyah!

Finally, I settled in to the starting corral where I did, as anticipated, move myself back a wave. Seeing as I registered 7 months ago assuming all systems would fire without issue during training, I couldn't pretend like I could uphold the pace I intended back then. The fact is, I had no idea what I was going to do and how this run was going to turn out. At all. I almost moved myself back two waves, but I figured a compromise between the two was reasonable even though I haven't met that pace in any of my long runs during training. Other races? Yes. This round of training? No. (So, how again  was that move reasonable? Look, I was just glad thinking about it didn't make me have to use the bathroom.)

There's my view! You can see the start
way up yonder.

Of course, I had to take my usual shoes-in-the-start shot.

The Asics to the right were my real intention, but, no matter
what I did, the gray-and-peach Nike lady kept walking in my
way. Where her priorities were, I have no idea. heehee

And, there's mine, double knotted, chip timed and ready to go!

The course started out one direction and almost immediately u-turned parallel to the corrals, so we saw the race begin even though we couldn't hear a thing. Almost 20 minutes later, our wave moved toward the starting line and heard the music pumping and the crowd cheering ... and, everything got really real.

Just a few feet away from the start ... you can feel  the energy
at this point!

The 5Kers would start about a half hour after our last wave began, so they lined the starting gates to cheer. There was a young, red-haired boy, probably 10 years old, standing and cheering us. He had on the 5K shirt and bib, and you could see him catching the energy of the crowd. He and I fist bumped good lucks to each other before I moved up away from him. The Middle (Jimmy Eat World) was booming out of the speakers, and, unexpectedly, I was overwhelmed.

Literally, I put my hands on my knees, and I took a deep breath to choke back the tears. So much of my training made it feel like I didn't belong in that spot at that moment, and that scared me a little bit. At the same time, I knew I was capable of finishing no matter what that meant. I was suddenly acutely aware that there was about to be an internal fight myself and myself. At least I was certain I would win.

I didn't know my internal fight would include the fact that I had a very sudden urge to pee. Again. Like I needed one more thing to think about!! But, there was, basically, nothing I could do about it at that point because ready or not, we were on our way!!

And, tomorrow ... Come along for the ride ...!