Day Twenty Nine and THE BIG DAY

First... Thursday's run.

I wasn't able to blog cause of how busy I've been until now. Since it's anti-climatic, I'll just say that I did 35 minutes on the treadmill just over a 12 min/mile pace. Felt great.

Next... THE BIG DAY.

I had the DHS Interview Day on Saturday which I had to get up early for. It went great. I went to go pick up my race packet from Carissa and Jeff (Thanks guys!). I did try on my race shirt... fits alright. It's a white Adidas tech shirt. The Chip Timer came on a velcro thing you put around your ankle. My bib didn't come with any safety pins. I watched the last two episodes of season one of Rome and went to bed.

So knowing these things... I had nightmares. I checked my clocks and alarms a good 50 times before I went to bed. It was Daylight Savings which already stresses me out regardless of a schedule the next day. I laid everything out and basically all I needed to do was wake up and get dressed and eat. I had a dream that Carissa and I forgot our bibs and chip timers. I had a dream that my ankle was rubbed raw from the velcro. I had a dream that it was a giant race in the summer through Rome. For someone that doesn't remember her dreams very often, it was a bit ridiculous. Needless to say, I didn't have the greatest nights sleep ever.

While laying in bed in the morning I realized that it was going to be colder than I thought. I decided to do some more layers and ended up wearing some black tights under my capris and I threw on my BHS "Be Brave" green shirt. I love that shirt. I've had it since I was 15 and I like to wear it for anything sporty. It was perfect because it was green. I just realized I should have worn it over my black track jacket so it showed... oh well.

I must have carried around 20 Kleenexes along with my nutrigrain bar, my chapstick, my id, credit card, a $20 bill, my iPhone and the holder. I got to the MAX stop and it was still very dark outside. There was already two families and some other runners milling about waiting. Carissa got on at the next stop and we were off!

The train was packed by the Sunset stop... we were pretty happy at that point that we lived in Hillsboro and had seats! I ate my nutrigrain bar just before we got to the race stop. We exited and I looked out to a sea of people. All in green, white and black. There was some guy talking over a microphone directing people and the lines for the portapotties were at least 50 people each. Carissa had to go so we waited. It was so exciting to see everyone so geared up! There were adorable kids in fleece, groups of girls in green tights and tutus, guys with "here for the beer" shirts and hard core running couples. All of a sudden "Born in the USA" started blaring out of the speakers and it hit me. I teared up. It was just so exciting it was ridiculous.

They started asking people to line up by pace. I started walking towards the "Over 10 mins" sign at the same time as Carissa started walking towards the "9-10 min" line. We had to split up :(. I'll be honest I was a little nervous at that point and slightly lonely even though we were surrounded by at least 10,000 people. And then the guy behind me kept touching my ass and my hatred of crowds came rushing back.

The waves started going past the start line and we slowly but surely crept forward. They stopped us and started making us jump up and down and doing the "wave" all the way back. I sort of got in to it, but let's be real, let's just start!

And off we went. The sides were lined with people cheering which was pretty exciting. I had read too much about the importance of keeping pace and knew today was not a day to let my emotions make me go fast. As a result people rushed by me. I tried not to focus on it and just do what I had been doing. In about a 1/2 mile most of those same people started walking, take that!

It was amazing to be in the midst of a wall of people travelling through downtown Portland. Every time we passed an intersection there were police with the cars all stopped and even the MAX and trolleys were stopped. I thought it would thin out much more than it did, but it was pretty much solid people all the way. I didn't get spit on or snotted on as I had feared. I didn't even really use my own Kleenexes for the first time running outside. I looked like a kangaroo with all of them stuffed in there but the adrenaline must have kept the snot in.

I tried to stay out of people's way on the edge but since there were so many it ended up that people were going up on the sidewalks to get around. No matter what I did I was in the way, so I just went with it. Some girl in front of me ran straight in to a side mirror of a car. Pretty sure we all went "OHH" but she just laughed it off.

What I felt was about half way, there suddenly was something in the road that everyone was dodging around. Just as I was cursing in my head about the idiot that put a sign in the middle of the course, I read that it was the one mile marker. Are you kidding?! Whoa... just keep breathing.

There was a high school band playing on the side... which is where the second time I teared up happened. Everyone was yelling back at them and cheering and pep bands make me cry anyways. We turned on to Broadway and I knew the dreaded hill was approaching. I was feeling pretty good so I tried not to think about walking as an option.

I saw the mass of people rise above me and then appear to drop off like lemmings. I heard a dad tell a kid to "alright son press in to the hill" and we started our way up. It was over pretty fast but it was rough and slowed me down. Luckily not to the walking state, but it was a bit rough there. All of a sudden I looked up and the mass of people were again rising. What the hell?! Two hills?! All I could think about was "ok you can do this" and up the second hill I went.

Second one was surprisingly easier and we quickly started the downhill slope to the finish. We ran along Naito Parkway and I could start hearing the crowd at the finish line. And number three tears started. I was going to do it! I was going to finish running! I actually started sprinting at that point I was so excited.

Suddenly the sides were lined with people again. There wasn't a lot of focus on the finish as the 8K people were lining up and the 5K people had been crossing the finish line in hoards for about 30 mins at that point. I saw the finish sign at the top and I'd like to be able to write about this glorious finish with my arms raised and tears streaming. Unfortunately some ding dong stopped in running right in front of me and in the middle of the pads I was supposed to run over for the chip timer to stop. Are you kidding me?!

Most normal people jog through, so I dodged around the non-veteran runner ;) and sprinted over the finish line. We had to continue walking for a good block where they then collected our chip timers. Embarrassingly enough I almost fell over trying to get it off my ankle. I continued walking and finally found a break in the fence so I could make it over to Carissa and I's meeting point. I rounded the corner to meet her and started crying for the fourth and last time.

We decided to not go back to fight the 21,000+ people for our free chowder and free beer. We went straight to Kell's/Thirsty Lion. Kell's wasn't the best yet so since we were meeting everyone at Thirsty Lion we decided to go there and get a table.

The rest of the day until about 2pm was full of fun. So many people in running gear and bibs and out to have a good time. Kell's even had a giant tent in their parking lot... and I mean giant. I made the mistake of drinking way too much, but hey! I wasn't driving and I just ran a 5K people. If I ever deserved to drink, this was one of the days.

We successfully made it back on to the MAX and I walked up to my apartment. I had done it! Holy cow! For the last 2 1/2 months I had been walking up those stairs after my runs with a variety of emotions. This time it was with a big grin.

I have since been asked if this means my blog is over. I will say that I have enjoyed this immensely. However, the title of the blog implies that this will be my last post. If I start another blog, I'll let my loyal readers know.

How does this make me feel about running? I'm sold. I was right in my first post about this being a legitimate way to gain a real sense of accomplishment. The day was so fun and full of energy that I can't help but want to do it again. I wouldn't mind if it started an hour or two later though. I do have ambitions to continue running and within the next year plan to do a 10K.

Thank you for all of the support. Everyone was so positive and excited for me. It meant a lot and pushed me past the finish line. You are all wonderful and I am lucky to have you in my life.

For the record: 3.1 miles in 38 minutes.

Best Wishes,
RL/LP