13 POINT FREAKING 1

As I sit down to write about my experience running my first half marathon, I don't even know how to start! It was an amazing weekend....a huge thing accomplished with the best friends ever...and I have so much to be proud of!

The weekend started with the race expo at the Overland Park convention center....Lexie and Mel. took off work early, picked me up at Lexie's house and off we went!  We got our packets, shirts, took some pictures and headed off the drive the race course!  We had a few wrong turns, but we got the idea of what we were in for!  

Rock the Parkway Expo

Driving the course route!

We are ready!!!  Bibs in hand!

Saturday morning the alarms started going off at 5 am...and I was over that damn alarm!!  I saw 11:28pm on the clock the night before while trying to fall asleep, I woke up at 2:22 am and had to pee (Damn you, Mel. for making me drink all that H2O), and then at 5 am that thing started none stop until my body was outta that bed!!!  I got ready and met Lexie in the kitchen for a pre-race breakfast that consisted of a hard boiled egg, toast, coffee, and my pre-workout energizer!  At 5:50am Mel showed up and we were loaded and backing out of Lexie's driveway at 6 am to meet her parents at their hotel!  We rolled up to the parking lot at 6:40ish and we were to find Mel a bathroom...that girl and her pre-race pee and poops!!!  Gotta love her!  

We ordered these 13 point freaking 1 tanks from Ruffles with Love!!!  They were quite cute!

Lexie, Mel, and I then headed to the starting line...we left behind Lexie's parents, and our friends Jenny and Karisa to find a place to cheer us on! The race started in waves...2 minutes apart...each wave had 600-1,000 runners in it...now you do the math....it was the same as starting everyone at once!  We ran together for the first couple of miles and then Lexie and I got barricaded in by a wall of people...we had to jump the curb and get around them on the grass...somehow Mel was able to get ahead of the barricade....once we were all together again, I decided it was time to set my own pace and whether that be faster or slower than Mel. and Lexie it was ok.  So my pace came...and I was finding that happy pace...but I could always see Mel. and Lexie ahead of me...until I hit mile 4...and they were gone...just vanished and I got a little anxious...I was ok when I could see them, but when I couldn't see them anymore I wasn't sure that I wanted to be running, I wanted to be with them, but they were gone...the crowd was massive, the street narrow, and I wasn't going to be able to catch up with them...and I knew that...but I still wanted to be with them!  As I was coming up on mile 5, I needed to see someone that I knew, someone that was there for me, someone that woke up at the butt crack of dawn to cheer us on...at 5.6 miles I saw a sign that said "Go Mel, Lexie, Allison, Chrisie", and I thought "Oh shit, those are my people!"...sure enough there stood Mel's husband, mom, mother-in-law, and daughter...they were there for us and only us...it was the boost that I needed!!!  At mile 5.76, Mel called me to give me some encouragement...and they were 0.3 mile ahead of me...so I knew that I could keep going!  When I hit mile 7, there was a hill...and it was the biggest hill of the run...and it was tough...I just kept telling myself..."You didn't train this long and this hard to walk this damn thing, keep those legs moving!"...and I did....but I hated it!  At mile 8.1 my phone rang again...and it was my friends Jenny and Karisa...but I just couldn't talk...my breathing was erractic and it wasn't happening...so I hung up on them!  When I rounded the corner at 8.6 miles, I knew that it was a straight shot...there were no more turns...I was staying on this road until the finish.  At mile 9.3...I saw that same sign again....and there was Mel's family again!!!  At mile 10...I saw Jenny, and Lexie's parents...it gave me the little boost I needed to make it 3.1 more miles. At this time I really wanted to catch up with Mel and Lexie so that we could finish together, but I couldn't find it me to kick it up a notch...and I was really getting mad at myself...and then something overcame me and this thought ran through my head..."No, stop it, stop being mad that you can't go any faster, this is your race, you trained for this and this is yours, screw those girls up there!" After that went through my head, I was ok with where I was...but I was struggling...I was tired, my legs hurt, my right foot was cramping, I had blisters, and I was just DONE!!!  It is true that if your body can make it 10 miles...the last 3.1 miles is completely mental because I would have been done had I not just seen people I knew cheering for me or stopped talking to myself about all the training I did and how hard I worked for this.  With that mental focus, I was able to kick it up a little bit.  When I hit mile 13....I just wanted that 0.1 mile to be a step in front of me, but when I looked up it appeared like it was another another freaking mile ahead...but it wasn't and it came sooner than it looked like it would!

 and I FINISHED...

Those 13.1 miles were mine...

ALL MINE!!! (without walking one step)

And I am PROUD!!!  

I accomplished something that I never thought I would ever accomplish in my life...I was never a runner...in fact, I hated it...with a passion....

But here I am...A RUNNER!!!  

Spectators go to races to cheer for people...running is one sport that there is no booing at, all you hear when you are breathing heavy, sweating like crazy, and wishing you were done is CHEERS...and they cheer for everyone...yes, they are a little louder when the person they know is coming up, but they still cheer...for a complete stranger with pain in their eyes, sweat running down their face, cramps in their legs...and those cheers....they keep you going...they keep the mental focus that you need...they keep the  thoughts of how hard you trained in your head...they make those blisters forming on your feet seem small...and you keep going...one foot in front of the other for 13.1 miles. 

                                     

Rock the Parkway stats:

Time: 2:17:30

Average Pace: 10:45/mile

Place in age group: 331/524

Place Overall: 3047/5500

Finisher medal!!!!

After the race, I just needed to walk...if I stood for too long my legs would cramp and that doesn't make for a happy runner...I enjoyed chocolate milk, a banana, and a bowl of mac & cheese. All yummy goodness...and just want I needed!!!  I was sore for a couple days, but recovered quite nicely!!!  

13.1 miles...CHECK!!!!

The signs that gave me that boost that I needed!

Our fabulous supporter that drug herself out of bed to cheer us on!!!  Love you Jenny!!!

DID IT!!

After it was all over, I couldn't stop saying..."I ran 13.1 miles today." I would say it over and over...never really getting emotional...until....

I was driving home...that long 5 hour drive back to Oakley to my parents...

I received this text...

"Just want to tell you again, that I am so proud of you, Jo! It takes balls to train solo and then rock 13 point freaking 1 miles!"

....and I cried.

No, I sobbed.

My friend's know how to get to me...and Mel. got to me with that text message.

I cried because....I was PROUD....proud of what this race and training has done to me, proud that I accomplished something I never thought I would ever do, proud that I didn't walk one time, not one, proud that I actually did it (last time I bailed), proud that my friends were proud of me, proud that I ROCKED THE PARKWAY!!!! 

So what does a person do when they completed their first half marathon, when they ran a distance they never thought was possible, when the aches and pains are gone...they sign up for the next half marathon!!!

Rock 'n Roll-Denver - 10/20/2013