I woke up yesterday morning and ate 3/4 of a bagel with peanut butter along with a glass of water, which is my usual pre-run breakfast. I struggled to finish the bagel (I usually have no problem...) so I could definitely tell I was nervous. My family and I had driven the course on Saturday afternoon and it didn't make me feel very good - it was pretty hilly and seemed to just go on forever! I was definitely feeling the nerves as I left my house to head to my parents.
We arrived at the race location around 8:00 (the race started at 8:30) and found Andrew, my friend from college who I ran the Middlebury Maple Run with. It was his first half as well, so we chatted for a bit and then all walked over to the starting line together. The race director got on the microphone and started making announcements, but we couldn't understand what he was saying so we just chatted about other runners outfits and tried to stretch a bit. Before we knew it, they started the countdown and we were off!
looking good at mile 1!
We started in the parking lot of our high school and had to take a loop around the parking lot before we headed out onto the open road. Both of my parents were there, along with Emily's boyfriend Zach and two of her friends from high school, so we got to see them all as we rounded the parking lot. Zach then jumped on his bike and rode along with us for about the first 4 miles (he would ride for half a mile, then see us go by, then ride again) until we got to the big hill at mile 4.5. Everything was smooth sailing for the first 4.5 miles - it was flat, Emily and I found a groove and felt pretty good. We got passed by what seemed like nearly everyone, but I felt much better not being followed closely by anyone.
As we approached the hill at mile 4.5, I knew it was going to be tough - it wasn't long, but it was really steep and I felt like I wasn't well trained on hills, considering that my runs are primarily on the bikepath which is completely as sea level basically the whole time. We finished the hill and I just couldn't get myself back together - I started to feel the way that I feel when I exercise and haven't eaten enough. I tried to keep going, but felt out of breath, dizzy and downright terrible. I told Emily that I really wanted to walk, but she reminded me that we said that we really didn't want to walk. I kept going for about 30 more seconds, but I really was feeling sick, so I figured the only way that it would be OK to walk would be if I decided to take a Gu. I was feeling so badly that I just threw the plan of taking Gu at mile 6 and 10 out the window and stopped right then and there and took out my Gu. I could tell that Emily was a little concerned considering how much I was struggling, but I knew my only shot of feeling better was taking the Gu.
We walked for about a minute and I drank a bunch of water and had a plain Gu. Literally within two minutes I was feeling a thousand times better. That was definitely my first time REALLY needing a Gu and then feeling it's effects directly - I felt like a million bucks. Emily kept laughing at how I completely turned around after that!
clearly feeling much better after my Gu.
The next several miles went by pretty quickly because the leaders had turned around and started passing us in the opposite direction. Emily and I had fun encouraging the other runners and got to give Andrew high fives as he passed us by. We also were encouraged by the fact that Mom and Dad were going to be at mile 7.5 with frozen water/Gatorade bottles, plus there was going to be a Porta Potty for Emily (even though we peed in the ice rink before we left, she had to go the entire time and nearly had to take a pit stop in the woods...) and frozen sponges being handed out by the chiropractor who was sponsoring the race. After we reached mile 7 it started to get sunny, so it was great to see my parents and know that they had our frozen bottles! We passed then and decided that we would get the bottles on the way back, so we headed up to the turn around.
The frozen sponges were awesome, but I dropped mine about 5 seconds after I grabbed it, so it ended up being covered in dirt and stones so it was kind of like an exfoliation sponge...but it still felt great. While Emily was in the bathroom I grabbed some water from the water stop and stretched my calves (and saw a friend from high school handing out water - it was great to get a few extra cheers!). Emily jumped out of the bathroom and off we went! We saw Mom and Dad a few minutes later, switched the bottles and headed out for the rest of the race!
Now that Emily had gone to the bathroom, we started guzzling the liquids a bit more, which were deliciously cold. We reached a makeshift water stop at about mile 9 at a lady's house, where she handed us cups of Gatorade and water and we refilled the bottles so that they were nice and cold. She was so encouraging and friendly! We ended up passing 2 men who were walk/running before mile 10, hit our second to last water stop where we poured water all over ourselves and then really felt like we were in the homestretch.
My body was feeling pretty good with the exception of my feet feeling pretty sore. Zach was waiting for us at mile 11 and we climbed the last little hill and took some water at the last water stop. As we saw the 12 mile marker, I was really feeling rough - I was tired, hot, a little nauseous and just wanted to stop running! Emily and I just kept chatting about little things and then rounded the corner back into the high school. We were very clearly finishing at the end of the pack, as lots of runners were walking in the opposite direction (i.e. towards their cars...) and not even paying attention to us. I was pretty mad that no one was cheering for us, but I got over it when we rounded the final corner and Andrew came running over yelling for us and saying that we only had 400m left. I couldn't believe that we did it!
Finishers!
When we got to where Zach was standing Emily told me to push it a little so we went over the finish line together just a little faster. They announced our names as we crossed and said "finishing together, number 144 and 145, Carrie Pratt and Emily Pratt!" We got our medals, and Andrew was right there congratulating me and holding me up in a big hug. I was so proud, but the first thing on my mind was having some water. After walking around the field a bit, talking to Andrew's parents and having them take a picture of us, going over and talking to my parents and grabbing half a bagel and a cookie, we made our way up into the bleachers, which was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. They were huge football bleachers so I practically had to crawl up, but it felt great to take my shoes off, stretch, invert my legs up the fence at the top of the bleachers and chat with my family and Andrew. We stayed and watched the awards ceremony and then headed home fore one of the best showers I've ever taken.
Official time - 2:32:49. It was long and hard, but so worth it. I don't think it will be my last half marathon!
Half Marathoners! (Andrew, me, Emily)
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