The Half Marathon

Saturday, July 22, 2006. Notable for being THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR!

Oh my God, it was supposed to be 110 degrees today. It only wound up being 107 degrees, but yes, the hottest day of the year so far. I knew it was coming, the entire week had temperatures of over 100 degrees, lots of warning about water, shade, dehydration, etc., and I was supposed to run 13.1 miles.

Now you've got to understand that it wasn't 107 when I started at 7:00 a.m. It was about 73 degrees. By 9:00 a.m. it was just over 80 degrees. By comparison, when I've been running in the wee hours, it's around 50-60 degrees and I've had a couple of mornings that have been chillier. I don't do well in the heat anyways, it opens me up to things like migraines.

And it wasn't just me. David was signed up for the 5K. He would be starting after I was gone, and he had a different route, and the Mom in me was a bit nervous; add to that the heat and I was concerned. I made him start drinking water religiously early in the week, told him he had to eat lightly but sufficiently, and got him a pack to carry water or Gatorade for the run. Following my own advice, I did the same.

We were all up early this morning. Keith was coming to support us and "catch" David at the end of his run. I decided to carry my cell phone because I wanted at least a ring to let me know that David was OK. Along with the phone I carried a frozen bottle of water, which melted rather quickly, two Access Bars, one for the beginning and one for the middle of the race, some hard candies for instant sugar and some Fig Newtons (I have discovered work quite well for me for energy on the route).

At 15 minute miles, I was figuring approximately 3:30 to complete the race, give or take. All I wanted was to finish on my own two feet and injury free. I was nervous, never having run 13.1 miles. Would the ten I had done two weeks ago be enough?

A rousing speech, a crowd ready to go, some music and a big send off and the race was on. From the beginning I broke a rule. I got caught up in the excitement and instead of starting out walking at my pace, I ran with the crowd for the first mile and a half. Then I started my run/walk intervals. I was tired, the heat hadn't done anything great for me, and I wound up slowly falling behind my pace. By the time I got to the pseudo-halfway point (more on that in a minute), I was done, and not just slow, done. Of course, this was about five and a half miles from the finish, so I needed to get back on my own.

I called Keith, because I knew he was going to be looking for me and I wasn't going to be anywhere near my expected finish time. I didn't want him to worry.

It got hotter. I went slower. UGH!

Finally, I got close to the finish, where Keith and the kids were waiting for me. They walked me in, where I crossed the line at 4:07:34. I finished, on my own two feet and injury free.

Helping me along the way were coaches form Boise RunWalk. On bicycles, along the route, they were looking for anybody in distress and BRW runners to offer encouragement. Coach Steve and Coach Raul were the recipients of evil thoughts courtesy of moi, but they kept me going when it was getting ugly.

And then, come to find out the course was actually 13.6 miles long! I had figured out the miles had been mismarked back around mile five or so, but didn't know how much. Keith said they announced the true course at the award ceremony and where they had miscounted.

And then, to add insult to injury, young David came home sporting a first place trophy in his age division. The story is this: there were only three kids in his age division. David was firmly in second place, the kid ahead of him was ahead by five minutes. However, when this kid got close to the finish, he didn't cross the line. He actually jumped some small bushes about 30 feet from the line to get to his parents who were waiting for him on the grass. Well, leaving the course is an automatic DQ -- he couldn't jump back over, run the 30 feet, and be OK. So, David, five minutes later, ran across the line, got his chip turned in, and won.

Maybe it will inspire him to start walking with me. Maybe it will motivate me to not get run over by my unathletic son!