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Monday, December 7, 2009

CIM - December 6th 2009

I did it. I'm still alive. I didn't break anything.

Sunday was amazing! I woke up at 5am, left the house a little before 6am, and got stuck in traffic by the runner drop off point at 6:20am. The mister dropped me off and had to turn around because they weren't letting people be dropped off too close to the starting line. We then had to pile into buses and be shuttled the rest of the way. By the time we were let off the bus, I had about 15 minutes until the race started. I was soooo nervous and I had to pee like a race horse! I stood in line FOREVER for a portapotty and then finally made it to the starting lines with about 4 minutes to spare. When I say I made it to the starting lines, I mean that I was jammed like sardines next to other excited/nervous runners and I could see the starting line waaaaaaaay up there. Haha!

Then the gun went off and I started my watch. Then I just stood there. Yea.... I didn't end up moving for a while and I didn't even cross the stating lines until 4 minutes after the gun went off. Haha! It was so crazy! There were over 8000 runners there! I was closer to the back of course, but it was so much fun! Maybe I was drunk on the excitement. Lol.

Then we hit Mile marker 1. They have a huge banner up that says Mile 1. It was so cool. I didn't know they would do that. I loved it because I could keep track of my progress better. I made pretty good time for the first 5 miles. Then I came to the 1st relay exchange. It was so crowded. I had to fight my way through. Once I made it I could feel my body start to slow down. Haha. The wind picked up and blew against me which didn't help either. And did I mention there were some CRAZY hills I had to conquer? It was out of control! I didn't realize it would be soooo hilly.

The next however many miles I ran were not pleasant. I had a goal to not stop or walk at all so I had to keep jogging. It was not easy. Those hills were killer. Guaranteed that I could have walked faster than I was "jogging" but I was determined to accomplish my goal.

I didn't see anyone I knew the whole race until I was just finishing up. One of my coworkers was helping to scout us out as we came in to exchange at the relay. He was so happy and energized and ran with me to meet my relay partner. I was on the verge of tears. It wasn't just because I saw someone; I was just so happy to be done. Lol. When running I could see the Mile 13 marker then I had to run a little father because a half marathon is 13.1 miles. I crossed over the half marathon split chip timer thingy and almost cried because I realized I had to go FURTHER to reach the relay exchange point. :( My half was technically 13.5 miles. Then right as I was getting there, I saw my coworker. He was the first familiar face I saw all day, and he'll hold a special place in my heart because of it.

I finished 13.5 hilly miles in 2 hours and 39 minutes. I was expecting 3 hours so this was awesome!

Anyways, I finished. I'm proud. I got a medal. I can now mark this off my bucket list. :)



By the way, check out the awesome arm warmer thingies I made out of knee high socks. :) I love them.

5 comments:

Robyn

I'm soooooooooooooo crazy proud of you. You are a rock star and should wear that medal for a month. Incredible, girl!!! Way to go. Hang that medal near your front door so you can always leave the house reminded of the awesome thing you did yesterday. :o)

Jackie

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

I sooo love you Robyn.

Brittany Stoker

YAAYY!! Go Jackie!! Your amazing!!

dland0201

Congrats!! I wish I could do something like that!!

Stefanie K.

I heard you guys met! That's crazy...what a small world! :) Congrats on the CIM, btw. That's AWESOME!!