Crossing the finish line
13.10 miles — 2:50:52
Someone asked me if I had run out of thoughts and stopped posting here after my runs. The answer is that I haven’t run for 6 weeks … but I ran yesterday in the Denver Half Marathon!
I had 3 goals going into the race:
1) Complete the race
Check
2) Finish the race in under 3 hours
Check
3) Run (not walk) the majority of the race
Check (ran 90% of it!)
It was a cold and rainy day, but the excitement of the people around me was awesome! I lined up towards the back of the pack around the 12 minute pacer, had some pleasant conversations, and listened to the spectators. The runners started moving and the excitement built. I was not nervous as I was excited which was very helpful I believe.
Mile 2 – Pepsi Center … the celebrity runners were walking back from their 2 mile donation. Runners had the chance to bid on an auction to run alongside one of the celebrities for the first 2 miles. I only recognized a couple of the names … former Denver Broncos linebacker player Bill Romanowski, Jake Schroeder lead singer of Opie Gone Bad, Miss Colorado, a guy from MTV’s Real World, and a woman from Survivor.
Mile 5 – Turned on iPod. The crowd around me was starting to thin out and I had just passed Coors Field (go Rockies!). Still feeling good at this point with no need to walk.
Mile 7 – Left foot starts to really hurt and right knee having problems. Can’t really stop and walk back 7 miles so walked for about .25 miles and pushed on.
Mile 9 – Heard bagpipes. Okay, it was on my iPod, but it was very cool to hear them and made me think of my grandfather watching over me as there were just a few miles to go.
Last mile – Didn’t feel much of my body and thought that it was because I pushed past the pain point. Really, I was so wet and the 40 degree temperature was just making me numb.
Finish Line – Awesome! Turned the corner, saw the finish line, ran harder, and finished strong.
Couldn’t feel my fingers after the race so couldn’t call anyone. One of my first thoughts though was ‘when can I do this again.’
Good sign.
