My Victory!!

Today was a great day! I ran the second leg of the Lower Potomac River Marathon on a relay team with my fiancé Marc. Our team was PC Load Letter (a little joke from Office Space) and all of our training really paid off. Marc did a fantastic job, leading our team through the first leg of the race and I brought up the tail and crossed the finish line, as seen in this marvelous picture (seconds before I sort of melted into Marc's open arms.)


I'll tell you how the race went. First of all, it was very stressful waiting for the handoff point. There were a lot of people there, warming up, stretching and looking much more athletic than me. But there was also a greatcamaraderiee, all of these people were so supportive and so positive that I couldn't help but have a great time. Marc came around the bend (in his bright orange t-shirt) and he handed our team baton (actually a ribbon with our name on it) to me and gave me a big sweaty hug and kiss. It was so great to see him and it really bolstered my run.
I ran about two miles without a lot of trouble but it was very hot and very hilly on the course. I checked the weather when I got home and it said it was 75 degrees at noon and that was towards the end of my run and it was definitely hotter before that! It was unseasonably warm and a lot of other runners were also complaining that it was a bit too hot for a long race and the sun beating down on us was really taking its toll on our energy stores.

There were a lot of great volunteers manning the water stops and I have a new love for Ultima Replenisher. There isn't any sugar in it and I could really feel a difference in my energy after the water stops. I ran much more of the race than I expected to, though I wish I had run more because my time was far from fantastic. My portion was really hilly and I made a deal with the devil that if I ran through all the level portions I could briskly walk up the hills, which I did on the second half of my loop. I was also getting plagued with a leg cramp, but I ran through it because I knew every step was one step closer to Marc, the tv, beer and a comfy place to rest my bottom. I also knew that Marc, along with our friends Chris, Josh and Robin, were manning a water station at their home (which is on the route at the very end) so I had to get to them and I had to look good while doing so.

All in all, like I said, I wish that I had done better but I did my best, for once in my life I put in 100% effort and although my time was long (I'm not sure how long, I think my GPS said like 2:35 for about 11.6 miles, but I'm still pleased with myself because it was HOT), I had a lot of obstacles to overcome during our training and I think that I did. As of this Monday I had strep throat and I had to go to the doctor again on Friday for even more antibiotics (that really made me sick as they were in such a high dose) so I still feel successful despite my illness and poor training along the way (as well as the horrible knee pain I currently have). I see this as the first step to my running "career" because I really enjoyed the race atmosphere, the people, and thesatisfactionn I felt upon completion of my goal! I also enjoyed the pizza we got for dinner tonight (I was too hot to be hungry for lunch) and the smile on Marc's face when I crossed the finish line! Without him, I'm not sure I would have even done this!!

Hopefully soon I'll be reporting on more races because I had a great time and I want to make this a part of my life!