Ralston Creek Half: We did it!

Yesterday was a totally awesome day.

Mary and I have been preparing for this half marathon for months now.  Increasing our distance by one mile per week up until 10 miles.  All the advice we got said not to train further than 10 miles--if you can do 10, you can do 13.

Here's our traditional pre-race shot.  When we woke up Sunday morning it was a balmy 40 degrees outside which was double what we expected so we were thrilled.  However, the wind was gusting 30-40 mph which made it freezing cold.  We kind of debated how we would handle the wind, how many layers to wear, what to cover our heads with, etc.  I kid you not, a few minutes before race time the gusts died down to about 10-12 mph.  It was amazing--I'm pretty sure the man upstairs did that for us.

Mary bought us these fancy things to wear.  The name sounds like baklava so that is what I call it.  What I really think they are is something you wear when you're going to rob a bank or if you're a terrorist.  I did wear mine for the first mile or so until I warmed up.

So lets talk about the race.  Mary made me promise not to take any pictures along the way.  We were on a business trip so there was no time to stop and smell the roses along the way.  I abided by that rule until the very end.

The first several miles were on a bicycle path.  Well, we just had a major snowstorm last week so guess what?  Although the streets were plowed, the trail wasn't.  It was packed snow and ice and since it was 40 degrees outside the ice was melting which left a layer of water on top of ice.  This made for a very slow start since we had to constantly look down to find good footing.  Both Mary and I almost took some good spills as we went sliding across the ice.

After about 4 miles we made it out to where the race went onto a street.  I was so grateful for that even it the hills were becoming bigger.  The slow or beginner marathoners started 45 minutes ahead of the rest of the pack--you know, the real runners.  At about five miles the elites caught up with us and I mean they flew by.  The ice didn't seem to bother them.

Back on January 10th I blogged about this "hill" that most people were calling "mountains" in the blogs I read about this  race from previous years.  The first time I did this "hill" I was on fresh legs and it didn't seem like a big deal.  Yesterday, however, I encountered this "mountain" after 7 miles of a gradual uphill climb.  Yes, it is now officially a mountain!  One step at a time was my motto the whole way up in addition to "what goes up must come down".
 

At mile 8 we reached the summit and down we went.  I ran most of the way down except for where there was snow and ice.  I can barely walk on ice so I wasn't even going to attempt to run across it--a disaster waiting to happen.

Up until mile 10 we did really well and that about the time we had to get back on that snow/ice covered path.  By then it had melted even more and the slush was a little easier to maneuver across, but it was still slow going.  About mile 11 my body was angry with me.  I think I pulled a muscle in my thigh on of my slides across the ice and my right leg started aching like crazy.  However, what hurt me the most was the little toe on my left foot.  About this time we passed a couple ladies who had been far in front of us for the majority of the race.  That felt pretty good.  Then we pushed as hard as we could to get some distance on them.

We kept pushing through and when we reached mile 12 I was exhausted.  Mile 12 went on forever.  We kept expecting the sweeper to roll up behind us indicating that we were last, but it never happened!

I have never been to a race where the other participants were so friendly and encouraging.  When the main pack caught up with us you can't imagine how many high fives, pats on the packs, "you got this", "good job", and other words of encouragement we got.  This race race was put on by a local running club in Denver and I would have expected them to be running snobs, but they were the exact opposite.  It was so refreshing.

When we finally got to the 13 mile marker I had to get my camera out and take a shot.  By this time my hands were frozen (yes, I wore gloves, but it was cold) so the picture didn't come out very good.

Then I took a shot of the finish line.  I had never been so happy to reach the finish time in my life.


 

Some very cheerful and fun teenagers were cheering us on at the finish line and awarded us by putting the medals around our neck.  That was so much nicer than just being handed a medal like most races.  Then we asked her to take our picture and when I was looking through my  pictures I found this one that she must have taken of herself.  It made me laugh.

Here we are still standing and smiling after the race.   We had only one question on our minds...where are those breakfast burritos we are supposed to get at the finish line?

We found our burritos and went and sat in the car to warm up a bit and let the muscles start to unwind.
 

When I got in the car and took a good look at my medal, the emotions just came out.  Never in my life would I have thought I would ever complete a half marathon.  I spilled a few tears as I realized what I had just accomplished.  This will be one of my most prized possessions for the rest of my life.  A lot of hard work went into earning this.  There aren't a whole lot of people who can say they've completed a half marathon.

 

Then we needed to go celebrate and get more food into our bodies.  Let me give you a piece of advice.  When the Broncos are in the Super Bowl expect half the city to be shut down to watch the game.  Our favorite restaurant, the Rio, was closed and the one we finally stopped at was almost deserted so closing on Super Bowl day was probably a good idea.

It was so special to do this with my daughter.  She encouraged me throughout the race and never left me behind even though she could have finished much quicker.

 

 

We didn't get the customary t-shirt for this race, we got a black fleece.  I can't wait to wear it somewhere.

Mary got me this 13.1 key chain and I've already got my car fob on it.

Fitbit emailed me a reward too!  To top it all off the Broncos won the Super Bowl!  I'm so happy for Peyton and the team.  How about that Bronco's defense?