A Saturday to Remember

 

Saturday's Race Day Recap

My official stats from the Competitor.com website:

 

Finished In:

03:14:01

Overall: 19048 out of 22277

• Division: 1770 out of 2098
• Gender: 11611 out of 14189

My Garmin was a bit different on timing (3:11) because (in all the excitement) I had forgotten to touch START as I crossed the line. I remembered about 0.15 miles into the course (based on when we passed the 1 mile marker at 0.85 on my watch).





Me and the girls just before making our way to the corrals





 

Cathy (the reason I ever signed up for this craziness) and me



After reviewing my splits, I averaged a 14:41 minute mile along the course. My average heart rate was 169 with a max of 178. No doubt that I was pushing hard based on that rate for sure. I have to giggle in that my starting heart rate just within the first quarter mile was 160 but the last minute of the run shows me at 155. One might say I was quite relieved that it was nearing the end and that I could see the finish line :) By 1/2 mile into the race, my left hip reminded me ever so kindly that it was not completely recovered. By 6 miles in, I was beginning to wonder if a hip replacement was necessary. I failed to  mention that if I could have stripped that long sleeved white shirt off while keeping pace then I would have stripped it off in a heart beat and tossed it to the side of the road....I was so damn hot!!! Dannah and I both agreed that by mile 10 1/2, our silent thoughts were screaming "What the H#!! were we thinking when we even considered the 1/2 marathon?"  We both seemed to hit the proverbial "wall" at about mile 11. She had pressed thru like a real champ up until that point. Of course, I was hating life by about 9 miles but persevered. Luckily, I felt like I got my last burst of energy about the time she was dog tired so at least we were not both running dead on our feet at the same time. As usual, we pulled one another thru until the end. If I had to guesstimate, I think we actually jogged a total of 4 of the 13 miles.

After we met up with David at the finish line (yes, he surprised me and came to meet us despite his terrible back pain), we walked another mile or so back to the Jeep.  If he hadn't shown up, we would have been facing the walk from downtown back to Vandy's campus...aka The Green Mile (about 3 miles uphill). Considering that I felt like I had grown another toe in between my big toe and 2nd toe on my right foot I was so glad to see his smile at the end. When we finally made it back to my car parked on Vandy's campus, I took a sec to check my foot for any anomalies. Yep, just as I had suspected...I had earned myself another blister or two but not in the usual places on the side of my feet. I managed to develop a nice size one along the inner edge of my big toe nail and along the side of that toe as well (as it presses up against the next toe). Of course, my 2nd and 3rd toes had apparently taken a beaten again because they had blisters on the tips of them as well. Can't quite figure this out since my shoes are seemingly big enough. I think it must be that I am squeezing all those toes together when I run since the left foot looks unscathed. :) Guess I will read up on possible causes and solutions before the next long run.

According to my Garmin, I managed to knock out 1,568 calories from this 13.1 miles of manual labor. However, I made up several of those by enjoying a ice cold chocolate milk and some frozen fruit at the finish line followed by lunch with the girls and David. Lunch at Chuy's was a nice finale to the 1/2 marathon experience no doubt. I was so tired, thirsty, and hungry that I could barely think straight. However, I did have enough wits about me to order a salt loaded margarita. All runners need to replenish their fluids and sodium...so I thought this would be the best option...hahaha. Never mind that I didn't need the ETOH on an empty stomach. The belly was quite stuffed after the bucket of chips and salsa followed by the little piece of heaven that the menu called Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I did drink a ton of water and Gatorade along the course plus had a couple of nice tall glasses of H2O following the rita so hopefully it all balanced out in the end.

After feeding my face at Chuy's, we headed home to shower and rest a bit before the After Race Party back at Gilda's along with the concert to follow at the Bridgestone Arena. David didn't feel up to going since he had walked way too much to unite with us after the race so I invited my friend, Amy, to tag along to keep from wasting the extra ticket. The gathering at Gilda's was great! Had a chance to see all of the gang all dressed in real clothes. The ladies actually had makeup on and their hair presentable...unlike all those Saturday mornings that we were facing mileage with sweat and tears at 8am. "The Gazelle" had made it back from the Louisville 1/2 Marathon that he was running just in time for the party. I was excited to see all of the folks that I had worked so hard with over the past 15 weeks all in one room gathered to celebrate our accomplishments. An honorable mention would be that we had raised $113,000 for Gilda's Club as a total sum with all of the fundraising.



Katie and Dannah appeasing me for pictures



Amy and me as we got up close and personal with Rodney



 Rodney Atkins was the main act for the night. The concert was free to the Marathon participants so we went ahead and made the trip back downtown because we wanted to have the full experience of the event. With no assigned seating, we didn't have a great view but had fun singing along with the songs that we remembered.



Dannah's best pose with her cotton candy while Katie appears scared to death.



You can't help but giggle at this one.

To Summarize my first 1/2 Marathon experience ...I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Weigh Day (Friday)

In all the craziness on Friday, I forgot to divulge the verdict from Weigh Day (Friday). Yes, I am happy to say that I have successfully lost a few pounds this past week. My Grand total: 195.5 as of Friday AM. I think this places me about 3.4 lbs down for the last 7 days. The only change I have made that might have worked in my favor was that I drank more water and no ETOH (yes, I had avoided the ritas) along with increased my protein intake. Overall, I feel a bit thinner but I realize that I must push harder toward leaving those 190s behind. Now that I have this 1/2 marathon behind me, I am heading back to the gym 5 days a week...3 heavy days (consisting of run/walk) alternating with 2 days of cross training. That was the magic formula before so I will drink from that same cup again to see if it works for me. Increasing exercise not only burns more of those calories but also kills my appetite.