Last Saturday, November 5th, was Savannah's Inaugural Rock n Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. Twenty three thousand runners and runner supporters descended on the quaint little city of Savannah, GA to run, celebrate and rock out. We anxiously lined up at the start line as early as 6am, freezing our little running tooshies off, for a chance to participate in a nationally recognized race. Some traveled far and wide for the event. I traveled across the Savannah River from Bluffton, SC. Despite my close proximity we still left at 5am. Yea, you heard that right.
I met with some running buddies in one of our regular spots. Even if I wanted to be tired it wasn't happening. Everyone was pumped up for the race. After finding our VIP parking spot just 2 blocks from the Start (thank you to the local news station for supplying my friend, Chris with this), we stretched, hopped around, used the rest room, noshed on cliff bars...basically we killed time until the fire gun went off at 7:30am. And the race was on...literally.
I started in corral 7, lumped together with other runners who expected to finish our 13.1 half marathon in around 2 hours. The only other half marathon I've participated in, the Bluffton Half Marathon, was a flatter course with far less people (200 vs. 20,000). Still, I had been training and thought I could at least do as well as I did in the Bluffton race (2 hours 23 seconds), if not better.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Although I live pretty close to Savannah I honestly don't spend much time there at all. Winding through the different neighborhoods on foot gave me an entirely new perspective on the city. The streets were lined with spectators, friends of runners as well as residents and volunteers, cheering us on and supplying us with everything from water to high-fives! The energy was electric and incredible.
Somewhere around mile 6 I felt my pace start to slow. I ate a Gu Energy Pack for a quick pick-me-up. For those of you that don't know, Gu is exactly what is sounds like...sticky gu that you squirt into your mouth, loaded with sugar and carbohydrates for both instant and sustained energy. It did the trick! I was able to hold an 8.5 mile an hour pace.
You can learn more about it here.
When I hit mile 12 I had no idea what my time was. I didn't have a watch, an iPod...nothing. Sure, there were clocks on the race route but seeing as I started in corral 7 there was at least 7 minutes on the clock when I crossed the start line. I was determined to make it in less than 2 hours so I started pushing harder. I'd pick someone ahead of me and make it a goal to pass them. Once passed I'd set my sites on someone else. I continued this way until I crossed the finish line.
I felt incredible. And terrible… All at the same time. I proudly took my medal and banana and posed in front of the Rock-n-Roll sign for my post-race photo. I opted not to purchase it because it's terrible. CJ and Jonathon look much prettier after a race, so here's a photo of them.
It wasn't until the results were posted online that I found out I not only beat my previous time but actually shaved 7 minutes off it!! That's right! I finished in 1 hour and 53 minutes. Now, this hardly compares to the 1 hour and 37 minutes one of my friends finished in BUT it's still something to be proud of! And proud I was!
I couldn't believe it. Seven minutes?!? All I needed was a little uncertainty and a little doubt to make me push harder. I've had a great group of people to help me prepare for this race and none of us plan to stop here. On the ride home we discussed our next big race. Maybe a triathlon? We'll certainly throw in a handful of local 5 and 10ks. But more importanly, now I know I can give more. I can always give more. Now that I've recognized this I've decided that when the Rock-n-Roll comes back next year I'm going all out. I'll be completing the full 26.2 marathon. It's completely do-able. Luckily my friends are up for the challenge as well. I can't wait!
Happy Running :)
No comments:
Post a Comment