Beautifully Me: Run to the Beat

What an amazing experience!!!

I was unsure of how this 1/2 marathon was going to go. I'd done the Zombie 5K Evacuation the day before and I knew my knee already hurt. David and I drove up to London after the Zombie run and stayed the night, so that I would be fully rested. That man - he takes really good care of me! Love him. Everyone else doing the run was coming up that morning on a coach (bus) they'd rented. I was planning on meeting up with them somewhere...little did I know, I would never find them in that sea of yellow!!!

See if this link works: Run to the Beat if it doesn't I appologize. If it does, see the 'yellow sea' ?

The first 1/2 marathon I ran, Run for the Ranch Dec. 2011, was not nearly as massive as Run to the Beat. I'd never seen anything like it! I guess I pretty much went into Run to the Beat clueless - like I do a lot of things, honestly. When I realized I was all on my own I almost turned back. I almost asked David to just take me home. I kept thinking about my poor knee and how it hurt and how long it was going to take me to run 13.1 in the cold with a bum knee. I knew if I could run just enough to stay warm I could make it, but I will not lie to you...it took every ounce of energy I had not to turn around and run to David instead.

We are just making our way to the START line...

Not moving very fast...just getting started.

What got me through? What made me stay?? What made me run???

I was already there. David had spent the time & money taking care of me. The fuel to London & back, the hotel, out to dinner, coffee, breakfast. If I turned around I would have let myself down & I would have wasted a lot of money and to me that meant letting David down too. I just couldn't do that. So I ran and as I ran I seen others with knee braces, tape, and even a crutch! It was then that I told myself, "Suck it up, Buttercup!"

I had a goal I wanted to reach and even tho with every mile I ran I watched it slip further from my grasp I knew I was closer to it than I had been a year ago & I couldn't give up. My knee hurt like hell and every time my RunKeeper told me I was behind my target pace I wanted to cry & push a little more. The injury just wouldn't let me push much more than I was. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I could have reached my personal goal if not for my injury.

I took comfort in knowing I would see at least one person I knew a long the way and that person was my husband. I expected to see him at mile 7 and when I didn't I worried that he had gotten lost and decided the quicker I got to mile 13 the faster I'd get to see him again. I'm thankful I didn't see him at 7 because up until that point I was considering walking off the course! Then out of the blue there he was between mile 9 & 10, taking my picture, asking me how I was and running along side of me. It was just what I needed & at the perfect time. Him, his voice, his encouragement and even though I was on the edge of an emotional break down at that point I knew I had to keep going. I knew I could do this and I already knew I would do it again in the future.

He soon left me there to get back and be ready to watch me cross the finish line. Little did I know I would catch up to him just before mile 12 (I think it was) and I was shocked to see him again and I thought I must have really gained some speed. My goal of 2:24:56 was long gone, but I still thought I could make it in 2:45.

Shortly after seeing him there my iPhone was dying so I took it off my arm and stopped my RunKeeper at 12.16 miles & 2:37:11. I think either the Run to the Beat mileage or my run keeper mileage was slightly off, because my RunKeeper had me hitting miles just a little before I would actually see the sign that said mile 11, 12 or 13.

At this point I had no music to run to, no RunKeeper to keep me in check...now, it was all heart and mine was slightly breaking. My knee was killing me. It hurt to stop. It hurt to run. It hurt to walk. I didn't know how I was going to make it just one more mile! My shoe came untied and I had to completely stop to retie it. That sucked cause getting going again was not easy. The more I hurt the more I realized if I kept moving it didn't hurt as bad as if I stopped! The one mile I wanted to sprint through & I could barely move, or so it felt.

Everything seemed to go down hill for me during that last mile and I really struggled. When I rounded the bend headed for that glorious finish line my slightly broken heart shattered at the sight of the time clock. I am a clock racer by nature - do it for nearly everything...no idea why. The clock read: 3:16 something and I could not understand how in the world it took me that long! I could not believe that my RunKeeper was that off or that I had slowed down that much!

I knew I wasn't going to hit my goal of 2:24:56, but I was positive, absolutely positive that I would be under 3 hours. For it to say 3:16 & with all the pain I was in - I was completely heartbroken. I couldn't even smile as I crossed the finish line. I was devastated. It took all I had left in me to cross the finish line and make my way back to my husband without crying.

When I saw David just before the finish line, he had said, "Come on babe! You got it, you've still done it." I had no idea what he was talking about - I hadn't looked or seen the clock yet. I saw it next which left me even more confused. Was he telling me I'd beat my original time by a mere 8 minutes!!! I didn't know whether to be flabbergasted or what, I was totally confused. 8 minutes was not going to make me happy!

I don't know if David could read my expression or if he could tell I was having a difficult time, but the next thing he said to me after I'd crossed the finish was; "The time is wrong, you started 20 minutes late!" Which was true! I did start late a long with a lot of other people. I don't know the grand total of how many people were there, but it was in the thousands! Like 19,000 + All in yellow shirts, all being corralled and herded through the stockade to the start line (yes, I felt as if we were livestock there for a bit). When you have that many people - there is NO way they can all start at the exact same time. Thank God for time chips :)

After hearing this news I was still struggling with my feelings/emotions but only slightly and mainly because I'd gone through this whole ordeal and had a lot of pent up feelings/emotions that had no idea where to go! But I had finished my 2nd 1/2 marathon. I had set a new personal best or record, even tho it wasn't the one I wanted. I had done it & I'd done it with an injury. Probably not the brightest of ideas but I believe that is what happens when ones extreme stubbornness collides with their extreme determination.

Some of the highlights for me during the race were:

seeing people who were over weight, possibly obese out there getting it done.
seeing other people with injuries sucking it up & making me glad I wasn't the ONLY one.
seeing people of ALL ages out there; young & old.
some of the costumes...there was a woman running with some sort of blow up breast on her back...I did not let her beat me! I was not about to be beaten by a boob!
the kids along the way that would hold their hand up and give you 5 as you run by.
other kids/adults standing at various stages passing out candy to the runners.
watching runners do the pee-pee dance at the toilets.
watching the sea of yellow run by on the the other side of the hill (we had to go up & back down) - seeing all those yellow shirts running gave me chills.
the scenry - saw parts of London I don't think I've seen before.
the music at mile 10.
crossing the finish line & having my husband there instead of some other country.
A new time, a new personal record 2:54:37!!!

What could have made it better:

actually being able to find my running friends & joining them for coffee after
having my kids there (if they could have handled it) to cheer me on and give me 5 - yep I missed them.
to have not been injured and to have accomplished my goal.
my phone not dying on me
my shoe staying tied! :)

All in all Run to the Beat was an amazing run and I will never forget it!!! If my crazy running friends want to do it again next year...I'm sure I'll be there. Until then, the next 1/2 marathon is already booked for March 2013! See, I told you there'd be another one!

A few photos to show the highlights & costumes: