This post is about the amazing TULSA RUN!! This was on Saturday, and I've been ultra busy since then, so I haven't had time to post this until right now. Halloween was yesterday, so I was super busy taking my kids all around town, all day!!
Here's the good stuff. I woke up in a not so great mood Saturday, mostly because I had a horrible nightmare about the race. I tossed and turned all night, so I was extremely tired that morning. That dream was so stupid, but it scared me because everything that happened in it was possible. I went the wrong way. Something went wrong with my timing chip. I twisted my ankle. All possibilities for an actual race, and I knew if it could happen to anyone, it would be me. Luckily that stuff didn't happen, though.
I started off the race at a good pace. My friend, Monique, has a faster pace than I do, so I told myself that I would always keep her in my sight. This would give me something to strive for. As long as I could see Monique, I knew I was doing well. There was a point, though, where it became clear to me that I might be able to catch up to her and run with her for a little bit. So I did! And we ran together for about 5K of the total 15K. Running with her pushed me harder than I thought was possible for me. I am so glad I did, though, because it paid off in the end.
I don't normally run with music anymore because I run alone and I need to be aware of my surroundings. However, on race day, I don't tend to worry about that so much. So I wore my iPod. I used a new running band, and it rubbed my arm raw, to the point of bleeding and now it hurts pretty badly. I'm dealing with it. One great thing happened during the race, though, that involved my iPod. I was listening to the ever-so-fascinating shuffle my iPod was giving me, and the song "Linus and Lucy" came on. I have it on there to lighten the mood up a bit when I'm running. It gives a light-hearted feel to races. Well, when this song came on, I was at a spot in the race where I was at the top of one hill and could see the mass of runners before me as they were cresting another hill. Everyone was bobbing up and down, seemingly to the tune of the music, and I literally laughed out loud. It was AWESOME! I couldn't stop laughing. It was like I was in on this joke that no one else got. The joke was that this was a movie and the soundtrack to the race was "Linus and Lucy" but no one was watching this movie but me. I loved it!
I tried Gu for the first time on this run. It was not my favorite thing in the world. And I gagged while taking it. I don't quite have the hang of it yet, but hopefully I'll get it down before the half-marathon. :-\
So, all of this is to say that my Tulsa Run was an amazing experience! The highlight being that my husband got to see me finish. He works all the time, and usually has to work on Saturdays when most of the races are. So he never gets to see me race. This time, he had told me months ago that if I did the Tulsa Run, he would do whatever it took to see me finish. And he lived up to that deal. He took a long lunch (at 10:30 in the morning, mind you) just to come see me cross that finish line. It was one of the best days of my life, definitely my best race day ever. I cried when I hugged him, and I know he got emotional, too. I just can't even tell you how awesome it was to see him there cheering me on!
Here are my stats:
Total distance = 9.3 miles: ALL RUNNING!!!!
Total time = 1:39:43 (my chip time), which made my pace 10:42 min/mile
-Kristin
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