I did it! (ING half marathon)

(Wow, this is a horrible photo, but it's the only one I have at the moment of my participation in the ING Georgia Half Marathon today. I'm hoping Laura will send me the photo of she and I before the race that Katelyn was so kind to take of us in the MARTA parking lot. Anyway, this photo was taken by a friend, Keith Burroughs, at about mile 7 or 8 of the 13.1 mile course. He encouraged me to act enthusiastic so he could snap a more interesting photo.)

Laura and I got up at 4 a.m. this morning. Wow that was early! I packed our breakfast and then we were out the door at 5:02 to pick up Katelyn who lives just a few houses down the street. (Katelyn's parents and little sister are volunteering at the race today and had to leave at 4:20 a.m., so I said I would gladly give Katelyn a ride.) About 4 miles after leaving the house, a goose was waddling across the street. I sure was glad it was just past a traffic light and I was still going slowly! We drove to MARTA and then took the train into Atlanta. My timing this year was much better than last year :). We walked along and figured out the corral system and then went into the visitor center at Centenial Olympic Park. It was heated, not too crowded, and the bathrooms were clean! What an amazing find! We hung out in there and ate our breakfast (bagel with cream cheese and Capri Sun (I didn't have any disposable water bottles at the house, so thanks Kyra)). At about 6:30 a.m., we left the visitor in search of our starting corral. It was getting more crowded at this point. Katelyn entered corral 4 and Laura and I proceeded to corral 5. We were cold, but it wasn't nearly as cold as last year!

This was the first time I've run since March 11th, and I've been very sick most of the days since then. I wasn't sure if I should even run this race, but decided that I could at least walk it. I started out with Laura, but she quickly left me in the dust. I felt good in the beginning, jogging slowly. I saw my buddy Bryan Shepherd a little after mile 1; he volunteered for Team 65ROSES and was serving as a "course marshall". I yelled his name and then ran over towards him. He gave me a high-five as I passed by. I continued on with a smile. Bryan always puts a smile on my face! (Once upon a time when I played tennis, Bryan was our tennis coach. He still coaches in our subdivision and I smile everytime I hear his happy voice from the tennis courts behind my house.)

The first water station was at about mile 2. I looked hard and finally spotted Susan Burroughs. I yelled her name from the middle of the street. She waved and then I saw/exchanged waves with the Franklins who were beside her. So far so good!

I consumed a Clif Shot at about 40 minutes into the race. At about 5 miles, my left knee started hurting. I had problems with it a month or more ago, but hoped the forced rest would cure it. I guess not... As soon as it flared, I added in more walking. I would jog until it screamed at me, then walk a little, then jog again, etc. By mile 6, I could only jog a few steps at a time. Shortly afterwards I made a conscious decision to just not even attempt to jog anymore. I could walk without pain, and I went into this race content with the thought that I would walk it, if needed, so what the heck. The reason I was walking wasn't the same as I had anticipated, but regardless, I would keep going.

The cheering group at Poncey Highland was hilarious! There was a small marching band on one side of the street and men dressed as a cheer leader, majorette, and some other character on the other side of the street. I laughed so hard at the cheer leader! He was hilarious! At some point I saw a woman with a sign that said "You've done worse things for longer!" This phrase stuck in my mind when I was wearing down. I kept reminding myself of that, and the fact that I was participating in this race for Susan and Kara, when I felt like giving up. (Susan is my friend who has CF and recruited me to run for Team 65ROSES last year. This year, my friend Shawn donated in my name for her friend Kara who has CF. I kept them both in my thoughts throughout the adventure.)

Walking briskly through Georgia Tech at about 11.5 miles brought back a lot of memories. Those were the good ole days! I finally stopped here to use the port-o-toilet. My fingers were so swollen and my left foot definitely had a blister forming.

About a mile later, there was a rock band playing on the side of the street. They had a cardboard sign that had what I'm guessing was their band name, followed by "MEOW" in a different color marker. I cracked up, thanks to Kyra and Grace! At school, a group of Kyra's friends play basketball on the playground. They decided that everyone needed a nickname. Kyra's friend Grace didn't want a nickname. Kyra is quite persuasive though. Grace gave in a little and told Kyra that only she, no one else, could call her "minion". So everytime Kyra calls Grace "minion", Grace responds with "meow"! I thought it was weird when Kyra told me about this a while back, but thought it was hilarious when I had lunch with her class one day a few weeks ago and Kyra called Grace "minion" and she responded with a cute "meow" and then they continued on with their conversation. Grace is so cool! Anyway, this sign and the memory of Kyra and Grace kept me going for a while.

As I neared the finish line (13.1 miles), I wondered if I should try to jog across it. But I quickly decided not to. My rationale was that I had walked the last half of the race so there was no point in running now. I finished in 3 hours and 19 minutes. My slowest half marathon ever! Oh well, at least I finished! After receiving my medal and mylar blanket, I found my way over to the Team 65ROSES tent and saw Laura chatting with Sue. Laura had finished about 45 minutes before me. Congratulations!

We made our way back to MARTA and then went to my favorite local Mexican restaurant for lunch. How rewarding!