Colfax 13.1

Have I mentioned I like running?

This past Sunday I ran the Colfax half marathon.  

5:15am!

It was great.  I got the SAME exact time as I did when I ran the half in Minneapolis back in August. 

Well, I technically ran 9 seconds slower this time.  Both races I ran 8:33 min/miles, and ran them in 1:51:50 and 1:51:59 respectively.  I felt like I trained better this time...so I'm gunna chalk that 9 seconds up to the altitude.  I feel like that's fair.  And I followed all of my pre-determined race Do's and Don'ts that you can read here, if you really want to.

I will say, though, that the 13.1 in Minneapolis was waaaayyyy prettier.  We ran along the Mississippi for the majority of that race.  This time? About 6 miles were along Colfax Ave.  I counted 8 Marijuana Dispensaries, and 4 strip clubs in the 6 miles we were on it.  There were probably more, but I was distracted by the spectators' signs along the side of the road.  My favorite, "Morgue Ahead, Look Alive!!!".  

After we finished running on Colfax Ave, we got to run THROUGH a fire station.  Best part was that it was lined with firefighters who gave us all high-fives.  I kinda felt like a celebrity.  Or like a runner in the Colfax half marathon.  

Then on the way back we ran down 17th ave which is lined with beautiful houses, mature trees, and beautiful yards.  We also started and ended at City Park, which is a huge park with a little lake and a sweet fountain close to downtown Denver. 

I honestly felt good the whole time, all things considered.  

Mile 1: No thoughts really, just focusing really hard on not tripping on other runners. 

Mile 2-3: I should have warmed up and stretched better before.  

Mile 4-5: I found and ran next to two guys also wearing Team World Vision shirts.  We small talked, but not too much.  Just enough for me to tell them I was a WV staff here in Denver, and for them to tell me to stop by the World Vision tent after the race. Which I did.  

Mile 6: Thankful I didn't drink too much water before the race, port-a-potty lines were about 6 runners deep. See ya, over-drinkers!

Mile 7: This was when I realized I had trained well and was running at a good pace. Lots of people around me started walking a bit and I began passing more people than were passing me.  

Mile 8: Took my second GU Energy Gel (ate a pack of the GU gummies before the race).  

Mile 9: The GU hit me, and I picked my pace up a notch.  As my high school cross country coach would always say, it was time to start picking people off.  This meant looking at the person directly in front of you, and slowly passing them, one by one.  Obviously people were passing me too, but this method worked for helping me pick up my pace a bit.

Mile 10: Okay,  only a 5K left.  People run 5K's all the time. 

Mile 11: Just keep running. 

Mile 12-13.1: Ok, I'm dying.  The whole last mile, I was just praying.  "Lord, I've pushed it as hard as I could and I'm literally running out of energy here, you're gunna hafta fully take it from here".  Yanno how on trains, the wheels are turned by those arm things?  Well, I was just imagining God being those arm things moving my legs for me.  Okay, that was a really hard mental image to explain, but I hope you get it. In other words, I was just praying for my legs to not just collapse beneath me.  Because they sure felt like they were about to.  But God showed up, and helped me to actually manage taking it up a notch further, and ran as hard as I literally could for the last half mile, and then sprinted (as best I could) through the finish line...with no injuries, yay! 

The absolute WORST part of a half marathon, in my opinion, isn't the run itself, and it isn't even mile 12.  It's after you cross the finish line.  You're forced to immediately stop because of the bottleneck of runners who are being handed medals, water bottles, bananas, bagels, Pepsi (yeah...seriously), sample sports beans, and reusable bags.  I felt like I was back in a Guatemala market, where everyone is invading your personal bubble while trying to sell you things. Except this time they were just shoving them at you.  All the while, the lactic acid in my muscles instantly descended and made it feel like my legs were being filled with cement.  Ouch. People, seriously, grab your bagel and keep moving.  (But to be fair, I was very appreciative of my free water, food, and goody bag at the end.)

And you gotta love that post-race high.  

Once I finally got out of that chaos, I wandered towards the World Vision tent, talked to them for a bit, then decided to go get my free BBQ Pulled pork sandwich.  Keep in mind I got to this stand probably ten minutes after I crossed the finish line, when my brain wasn't fully functioning yet, and food still sounded good.  I ate the whole thing, pickle and all.  Once I found my friend Alex (who blew her last 13.1 time out of the water!!!),  I was deeply regretting eating that whole sandwich.  

My stomach kept cramping up, I never got sick but I was pretty miserable for the next few hours.  BBQ Pork at 8am after a 13.1 mile run.  Great idea.

Well, we hung around for awhile, then walked back to my car.  When we got back to the car, I had texts from my mom, some friends, and even one from Josh that he had sent around 4:30am his time knowing that it was 5:30am here and I would be almost ready to start the race :)  So although I didn't see them until after the race, I loved seeing all the encouragements! 

Post 13.1

So Alex and I really wanted to go to church, but realized we didn't have time to go all the way back to our apartments to shower and change...so what did we do? We went right to church.  God looks at the heart, right? Well, we actually went to a coffee shop first, and I got some water and some more food (I felt so sick, but SO hungry at the same time...bizarre phenomenon).  We got a lot of strange looks at church, but we were courteous and made sure to sit in the back by ourselves.  Sitting down and standing up during the service was brutal.  Everytime we did we looked at each other with that pain-filled/half laugh "Owwwww" look. We could hardly walk back down the stairs afterwards.  Is this what getting old is going to be like? 

It's now day three, and I still wince when I have to go up or down my apartment stairs.  But its such a good sore.  Addicting.  Now...I want to attempt the full 26.2. 

I mean, I don't.  

But I do.  

Train picture from: edward-weston.com