Since today is the 13^th and the day after I ran 13 miles, I will give you, dear readers, 13 thoughts on my Richmond Half Marathon experience.

1.       3:30am  I get up, make coffee, get dressed, double check the gear bag, and make peanut butter toast for the drive. I’m on the road by 4:07am. I actually felt very fresh and alert. I was enjoying BBC World News while I drove by the light of a full moon. That moon was a lovely reminder of why I was running.

2.       I was in my parking spot by 5:38. That meant I had plenty of time to chillax and get in the “zone” – except I really had to pee. Fortunately I was only a block from a bank of port-a-potties, so I zipped over there to take care of business. If you’ve never been in a port-a-potty at night (or pre-dawn, as the case may be), it is very, very dark in there. On the plus side, I was probably the first person to use this one, so it was clean. I was able to time my bathroom business perfectly, which is not always under one’s control. Normally I wouldn’t mention such indelicacies, but for a runner, this is a big issue.

3.       I had about an hour to relax in the car before I headed for the start line. I ate my yogurt around 6am and did a little reading.  About 7am I made my way to the start and found several of my training buddies to line up with. After the national anthem, I downed my little pouch of Sport Beans and moved with my wave towards the start. At 7:46 we were off.

4.       It was a very, very cold start – right around freezing with downtown wind tunnels. I was shivering, teeth chattering, and toes numb. I warmed up pretty quickly, but the toes were seriously numb. It was a good mile and a half before they started to regain feeling, and it was just like when your foot falls asleep and returns to normal only after passing through that uncomfortable prickly feeling. My feet felt lumpy, but that soon passed and by mile three I was feeling really good.

5.       The course was pleasant and the weather  – clear, cool autumn perfection. Bright blue skies and golden foliage made me glad to be alive and outside with my heart and lungs pumping.

6.       Around mile 4 I first noticed the power walking granny that I kept pace with most of the way. It’s a challenge to keep up morale when you are running strong behind a walker. Sigh. Even more disconcerting, she was the queen of snot rockets.  I know you have to do what you have to do – but gah-ross! Her partner offered her some tissue, but she explained how that just didn’t work for her.

7.       Mile 5-7 took us through Bryan Park. I heard many bemoan that this was the hardest part of the course, but it was my favorite. A long rolling loop through quiet woods, it was very peaceful. There were hills, but nothing compared to the hill country of Lake Monticello where I train. I love a hill. It is the one place I really shine, picking off lesser competitors – at least until we get to the flat stretches where they all pass me up again.

8.       I watered at mile 7, 9, and 11.

9.       I took advantage of a lone, line-free port-a-potty at mile 8. If the finish line had been here, I would have felt like a rock star. I held my pace up to this point. I popped a few more Sport Beans and waited for my next burst of energy. It never came.

10.   I passed on the Coke and Gummy Bears near mile 9, but found water and a thimbleful of cold beer at the next station. Best tasting thing I had all day.

11.   Somewhere around mile 10 I saw this sign that made me laugh out loud: This is the worst parade ever. I suppose a bunch of shuffling and grimacing stragglers aren’t very exciting, but coming up on mile 11 the marathoners (who started 30 minutes after the half marathoners) were coming up on mile 24. The motorcade of police motorcycles and pace cars escorting the front runners passed and I felt a thrill at running side by side with some the world’s most elite runners – even if it was only for a few seconds. The winner of the marathon completed his course in 2 hours and 13 minutes. I would complete half that distance a little more half an hour later. Oddly enough, I didn’t find this at all discouraging. I was simply in awe.

12.   Mile 11 is when I really started hurting. I wasn’t opposed to taking walk breaks, but at this point there seemed to be no benefit. I was going to have to keep my legs rhythmically moving forward or risk losing control of my muscles completely. I did not start grunting and whimpering audibly until mile 12.

13.   That last mile was sheer grit and determination, and thus imparted a little romance to the struggle. The race bibs had our first names printed conspicuously, and I have to say it was nice to hear lots of people shout my name with kind encouragement. I have a great running community/family, but I run alone. On race day I really do depend on the kindness of strangers. Training for this race was hard, and I did more than my fair share of belly-aching about it all along the way, but my reward for sticking with it was a truly great run. I didn’t get the time I was hoping for, but I really can’t find one thing to complain about – that may be a bigger miracle than finishing!

If you would like to celebrate my accomplishment with cash, I am still collecting for Legs for Liberia trade scholarships through the month of November. Thanks for so much support!