Sunday, July 21, 2013
Today was by far the hardest physical thing I have ever done! Today was also the one and only half-marathon I will ever do :). I did not sleep well last night because my nerves were shot, but I got up at 4:00 this morning to get a small cup pf coffee, shower, eat something, and get ready for today. We took a cab to the city, met my brother, and found our corral number and waited for our time to start.
Our corral left the start at 6:50 and we knew we had 3 1/2 hours to finish. We all set our GPS's on our phones or watch and we are still a little confused because nobody's GPS matched the mile marks on the race course. We all were mapping over a mile more than what the signs were saying and it was pretty frustrating and discouraging. My brother walked the whole way with me and we listened to some music and spend several miles just talking. There were water stations throughout the course and we depended on those stations. We got to mile 9 and the water station had run out of water!!It really was a downer and those of us still on pass to finish in time took a major hit in our progress. We pushed through and at mile marker 10 there was a group passing out cut-up oranges in baggies that were almost frozen. We were so relieved that we grabbed the bag and started chowing down. My brother then reminds me how desperate we were that we just took fruit from complete strangers and started sucking on them! We started laughing and it was a mood lightener and helped us keep going. We went through the tunnel at McCormick Place and we could see the home stretch! We had ONE mile left!!! We got our second wind and then had it knocked out of us. There were shuttles that had pulled up and blocked the road and made ALL of us get on the shuttle because they had to reopen the road so we could not keep walking on the road. We were all crushed!! ONE more mile!! The guy getting us on the shuttle said they were just taking across the road to get to the last mile so we could cross the finish line. Everyone was trying to explain that we could of already finished by the time they got us all the shuttle! We were all so disappointed and in disbelief because we were all still on pace to finish in time! Well, it got worse because our shuttle guy did not go across the road, he got on Lake Shore Drive and started driving! We could see the Finish Line from the shuttle and he kept driving! 20 minutes later after he sat in traffic, missed the turn, almost got into an accident, drove several city blocks, he finally stopped and let us out. We had to cross the road and walk to the finish line. We are walking up and of course the finish line lane is completely fenced off! We are getting closer and we hear the announcer saying that the "last runner has come across the line" and starts thanking everyone for coming! Those of us that had gotten off the shuttle were panicking and thankfully one of the crew members saw us and opened up the fence to let us cross the Finish Line and get our medal! Jeremy just texted me to let me know that the website has me down as finishing, so I guess that is good. No it did not turn out the way I had envisioned, but I am thankful that I finished. I am thankful for the experience, but I think I will stick to 5K's if I want to race again :). Thanks o everyone that was praying for me and thinking of me this morning!
Here are a few pictures from the race.
Our corral left the start at 6:50 and we knew we had 3 1/2 hours to finish. We all set our GPS's on our phones or watch and we are still a little confused because nobody's GPS matched the mile marks on the race course. We all were mapping over a mile more than what the signs were saying and it was pretty frustrating and discouraging. My brother walked the whole way with me and we listened to some music and spend several miles just talking. There were water stations throughout the course and we depended on those stations. We got to mile 9 and the water station had run out of water!!It really was a downer and those of us still on pass to finish in time took a major hit in our progress. We pushed through and at mile marker 10 there was a group passing out cut-up oranges in baggies that were almost frozen. We were so relieved that we grabbed the bag and started chowing down. My brother then reminds me how desperate we were that we just took fruit from complete strangers and started sucking on them! We started laughing and it was a mood lightener and helped us keep going. We went through the tunnel at McCormick Place and we could see the home stretch! We had ONE mile left!!! We got our second wind and then had it knocked out of us. There were shuttles that had pulled up and blocked the road and made ALL of us get on the shuttle because they had to reopen the road so we could not keep walking on the road. We were all crushed!! ONE more mile!! The guy getting us on the shuttle said they were just taking across the road to get to the last mile so we could cross the finish line. Everyone was trying to explain that we could of already finished by the time they got us all the shuttle! We were all so disappointed and in disbelief because we were all still on pace to finish in time! Well, it got worse because our shuttle guy did not go across the road, he got on Lake Shore Drive and started driving! We could see the Finish Line from the shuttle and he kept driving! 20 minutes later after he sat in traffic, missed the turn, almost got into an accident, drove several city blocks, he finally stopped and let us out. We had to cross the road and walk to the finish line. We are walking up and of course the finish line lane is completely fenced off! We are getting closer and we hear the announcer saying that the "last runner has come across the line" and starts thanking everyone for coming! Those of us that had gotten off the shuttle were panicking and thankfully one of the crew members saw us and opened up the fence to let us cross the Finish Line and get our medal! Jeremy just texted me to let me know that the website has me down as finishing, so I guess that is good. No it did not turn out the way I had envisioned, but I am thankful that I finished. I am thankful for the experience, but I think I will stick to 5K's if I want to race again :). Thanks o everyone that was praying for me and thinking of me this morning!
Here are a few pictures from the race.
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