Robie Run

Saturday dawned early - my excitement made it difficult to stay in bed - and a weather check was necessary. My race outfit was chosen, but weather can always change my mind - and so can a pink shirt that is just not right...

Had my 'power' breakfast and felt fantastic. Met Kay and Jo at Moxie Java and spent a prerace hour laughing. These women and their bathroom antics are pretty inspiring. They talk about bodily functions more than most boys I know:)...

Then to pick up Jesse - who was talking before he got in the car. He'd brought us gift sacks to commemorate previous races and all the funny memories from them. We had to stop for him to pick up a support for his knee - since he'd left it at home. The Rite-Aid we stopped at had one for him, but did not have any servicable watches for me (I'd left my Garmin at home, and was feeling distraught over not having the ability to monitor my pace). I didn't think ghetto gold was the best way to track my running.

After about 30 more minutes of running in and out of the bathroom and picking up our packets, I finally saw Val, but only briefly - as we were walking in opposite directions - her on a mission to get her packet and me on a mission to ReGlide.

I love the start of Robie - the noise, the performance, the ambiance. I was bummed to not get a 'tatoo' this year. I love how hard core people look as the sweat begins to make the ink run.

As we started - slowly, it always takes so long for everyone to start running, we ran right by Kaylee and Moses from the Biggest Loser - definitely a celebrity sighting. But no Val. I decided that I just had to run- that we would find each other or not - but I so wanted to find her.

About 1/2 mile down the road, Pat (Val's amazingly fast husband) passed me. He let me know she was just back a bit and in purple. So I slowed just a tad and within another five minutes she'd found me. which was awesome and made the next 7 more miles so much better! Especially because she had a watch and could clue me in regarding our pace. I was pleased at mile 2 and 3 to be under my target pace. I was also pretty amazed because Kay, Jo, and Jesse were nowhere to be seen. I was planning on Kay having a PR - and her quick start proved anything was possible for her.

Unfortunately I realized about mile 1.5 that my wonderful playlist I'd stayed up late to create wasn't wroking the way i'd thought it would. Somehow I'd put my phone on loop, so the same song was playing over and over and over. Not that I didn't like the song, but I didn't think I could stomach Ice Cube's "You Can Do It, Put Your Back into It" for a whole 13 miles. About mile 4 I remembered I could skip songs using the wire thing - so I felt liberated. Each song got about 2 plays before I couldn't tolerate it any longer - and Destiny's Child got 3 - about mile 11.5 - because they were asking me if I could keep up and I knew that I could. Giggling, I let that song play an extra loop. I always wonder what people think when I giggle:).

One of the highlights of the race was being next to Kaylee from Biggest Loser for a few minutes. We talked about her running - and that Robie wasn't an easy first half-marathon. Pretty cool to see someone really making a change.

I summitted at 1:59 - what a painful 8.5 miles. I'm always shocked at how long it takes me to do that - and always a little disappointed in how much I've ended up walking. But seriously, some parts of the road are so steep I can walk as fast as I can run. Shout out to Val who everytime the pitch lessened even slightly would say, "Let's go" and start running.

The start of the descent was actually pretty painful - a sharp pain in my left shin. I decided the best plan was to ignore - and if it still hurt at mile 10 to walk. But within a few minutes the pain was gone and I was feeling pretty amazing. I was able to pass the man dressed as a pirate with boobs, the bushy pony tail with great legs, and the profuse sweater. I always have to have one or two people to pick off - since I'll never be at the front, it somehow feels like winning.

I reached mile post 12 and felt fantastic, so upped my pace just a bit - and picked off the pretty girl running with her hair loose. Seriously - her hair was blond and mesmerizing - it was all swishy and didn't seem to be adversely affected by the heat, the sprinklers, or the previous 12 miles.

At mile post 13 I was able to full on sprint - and finally get the guy in the blue shirt - I'd been trying for at least 1.5 miles. As I crossed the finish, I desparately looked for the time clock, but it was nowhere to be seen. Seriously? Without my watch, I had to know my time - I was trying for a PR... But apparently my Iphone wasn't the only thing having technical difficulties.

Val came across within just a couple minutes and shared her time with me - 2:44 - reassuring me that my time would have been faster. I was thrilled since my time last year was 2:49 and I'd wanted to beat it, badly. Found Jesse, my bag, and the cookies - then Kay and Jo. We beat it out of there pretty quickly to get in the bus line - and no one passed out or puked. Pretty uneventful.

Overall highlights:
1. Jo and Jesse and their mustard - which leads to a new favorite race quote, "Do you have your mustard?"
2. Kay and Jo and their bathroom needs
3. The pirates
4. Running with Val
5. A PR!! 6:30 off of last year's pace!
6. Kay had an amazing PR - took off 30 minutes. Yes, I'm jealous, but also just uber proud of her!
7. Finishing something that is insanely hard - such a feeling.
8. My sunburn - seriously? 32 years and I still forget my sunscreen?
9. The realization that if I can do this - I can do my marathon in one month.