I Took a Tumble . . .

Today is the day I finally get to blog about the ING Half-Marathon. There is good and there is bad.

I woke up at 5:00 a.m., wide awake and excited. I took MARTA from the Lindbergh Station to Underground for the start of the race. I was one of many runners stuck on MARTA for about 15 minutes. We never did figure out why we were stopped and other trains, with runners, were passing us. (We did hear something about an item being on the tracks, blocking us, but I'm not sure.) So, we get to the Five Points station a few minutes before 7:00 a.m. I decided to use the bathroom there, and of course, there was a line. I wasn't too worried about the time since I knew there wasn't a corralled or wave start. It would take 20 minutes for all the runners to cross anyway. I officially crossed at 7:17 a.m. My Garmin was unable to locate a satellite for the first mile due to the buildings downtown. I checked my time at Mile 1 and noticed that I had a satellite signal.

The first couple of miles went great. I felt energized and was keeping a steady pace. (Most of you who read this blog know that I'm a slow runner, that's just me. I have to really push to break a 10 minute mile.) Just before Mile 3, I was cut off by another runner (not intentionally) and as I tried to keep from hitting them I tripped over a round speed disc in the road. I scratched up my knees and hands really good, and put quite a bruise on my left knee. See pictorial evidence below:

During the fall, I also busted up my pretty Garmin GPS watch. It would turn on and keep time, but wouldn't locate satellites. I stopped at the first medical tent to let them swab my hands and knees with alcohol. I even had an Atlanta Police officer stop me to make sure I knew I was bleeding. I'm telling you, I was wearing the blood, scrapes and bruise like a badge of honor, because I kept going.

The runner who won the marathon passed me just after the marathon Mile 18. That was very cool! I was also able to cheer for the lead women marathoners while I stood in line at a porta-potty. (Hey! I was having fun with my run, I wasn't trying to break any kind of record. Besides, I stopped my watch, so I know what my actual time was.) The potty break was at Mile 7 (I never saw a sign, but the volunteers around that area had shirts that said "You only have a 10K left!"

I stopped again at the medical tent around mile 21 (I think?), it was the tent right off the turn at Ponce De Leon. I wanted to have my hands swabbed again since I had been inside a nasty porta-potty. Unfortunately, the guy in the tent spotted the knot and swelling around my left knee and had me ice it. He was very sweet about it though, because he could tell I didn't want to stop. One thing he said made me feel good. He told me I looked good and fresh compared to some of the runners they'd had come in. After icing my knee for about 10 minutes, he cleared me to go with instructions to stop running if my knee started to swell again or I felt any sharp twinges of pain. So, off again I went a runnin'!

The hill up 14th Street was a killer, which I have no shame in admitting that I walked up. This was around Mile 11-12. By this time, I realized I had lots of blisters on my feet, in all the places that the Body Glide didn't get, and they were so painful! I also walked the longer hills on Peachtree, part from the blisters and part from wearing down in the heat. It was 80 degrees at my finish. Once I saw the finish line, I was amazed at the burst of energy that I felt. I had always heard that you get a rush when you see the finish line, but didn't expect it. It was so neat to run across the finish line and then get my medal!

The cheering zones that were set up around the course were great. I loved that our first names were on the bib numbers because going through those zones you'd have random people yelling your name and cheering you on. That was great for me! I was also excited to see a friend of mine cheering the runners on around Mile 3-4. I ran over and hugged her! I think my only complaints as far as race set-up were the mile markers and water stops. I would have rather seen mile markers every 3 miles, and I really only saw two medical tents (but could've missed some). Only the very first water stop had Powerade, this was somewhere around Little Five Points b/c I had both Powerade and water around there. All the rest were just water. Thankfully, I had a big bottle of Gatorade in my fuel belt, along with two bags of Sport Beans. I will swear by Sports Beans for every long run -- they worked great!

After the finish, I felt completely exhausted! My feet were killing me and honestly, the only thought in my head was, "Why did I sign up to do another one of these next month?" I got some water and food and made my way to the chip removal spot. I wanted to meet up with the TrainStrong group, but my feet hurt so bad that I just walked to MARTA and went back to my car.

Once I got home, I was so afraid to take off my shoes! I was worried about what they'd look like. I knew they'd be blistered, but I was really hoping they wouldn't be blue! I counted 12 blisters, total, 6 on each foot. Here they are as of last night:

Honestly, this is the funniest picture to me! I can't look at it and not start giggling. Today, the blisters are covered in gel band-aids made especially for blisters, which are wonderful! They're feeling much better today!

So, today, I'm kinda itching to run! How funny is that? All in all, I'm happy that I did it. I'm very proud of myself for finishing the race. This time last year, I couldn't run a full mile, and I just did a half-marathon! How cool is that?