Sing, drive, run (in that order) [caution... L O N G blog]

It's no "Eat, Pray, Love," but it did feel like a labor of Love. My name is Sara Hanson, and I'm a runner. I have successfully completed my first half-marathon, and might even run another one.

My two goals this Fall were to be in a group to sing, that would fit into my crazy schedule, and run the girlfriends half-marathon in Vancouver, WA. Of course, they had to land within one day of each other. The concert Saturday night went well, and best of all, went short. It was so great to sing with a bunch of wonderful singers and do a quality performance. I had to time to chat with several people after the concert, and still get home before 10 PM, and in bed before 11 PM. I made sure to have everything ready to go by the door, so I could just wake, throw it all in the car, and be on my way to Vancouver, WA at 5:15 AM.

The early morning went according to plan, and my lovely friend MHB, who came with to help drive down so I could rest, headed out in the dark. It was nice to drive through downtown Seattle when there was no traffic at all along the highway. Just shortly after passing the Tacoma Mall, MHB told me that she brought me some socks to change into after the run, just in case I needed to get out of the ones I had run the 13.1 miles in. It was then I realized that I somehow managed to forget my running shoes at home. (The one thing that was not placed by the door.) Yelling out some explicative, I immediately pulled off the freeway and turned around to return home to get my shoes. We had seen several police cars out, and I owned no radar, so I new speeding was not an option.

Arriving BACK in Seattle, we left at 6:40. I knew that 2 hours would not be enough time to get to Vancouver for the start time. I turned over the wheel to MHB to try and sleep and rid myself of any negative inner voices to talk me out of it. I dozed through Olympia (purposely, since I didn't want to re-view the places that we had already driven by) and woke thinking I would run my own run no matter what. I would either start late for the "girlfriends" or just run the route without any bib or t-shirt. At 8 am I contacted my friend Sue McCurry who was already in Vancouver ready to run. I told her to tell the race officials I would be late, and I knew I would be lucky to start running before 9:30. Never did NOT running enter my mind, thanks to all the support and training I had in the last 10 weeks. (Here is where being a 3 on the Enneagram has its benefits!)


A quick pit stop at the rest area outside of Kelso, I changed into my running clothes and planned to be ready to jump out of the car and start running. We arrived in Vancouver at 7:25, I pulled right up to the start line in my car, adrenaline running, and ran into the registration to get going. No surprise that I was the last to check in to run. They pointed me in the direction, and I started to just bust out running. Obviously there were no runners or even walkers in view, and I was a bit confused where my route was to go. Luckily, the night before I was discussing with my sister, Lori, in Portland about meeting up along the run, so I was looking at the route online, and had a vague idea I had to get to the water, and had a good enough sense of direction of which way that would be. I might have added a block to the run, but I eventually found the signs for the race. It was then I felt at least I was on the right path, and would finish this race.



Mile marker 1 flew by, and I thought for a minute that I skipped a few extra blocks, but I couldn't worry about that and kept moving. There were people along the road to cheer, and they gave me a hard time about sleeping in (at least they didn't think I was actually that much slower than the rest of the group). Just before mile 2, I found the people who were designated to be the "last" people in the race. A little sigh of relief as I knew that I would not be the last person to cross the finish line.



The route along the water was actually very nice. The weather was overcast (the kind that burns off later) and chilly. To me, perfect running weather. I had my favorite running skirt and IPOD with me, so feeling strong, I kept the stride up. My podcast of choice was Phedippidations, and they had just celebrated a "Worldwide festival of races." The podcast had all these inspirational stories of people running their first race (5k, 10k or half marathon) and motivational moments. The perfect thing to listen as I forged.

Mile 3 flew by, and at mile 4 I saw coming back the other way (the course had 2 out and back treks) I saw my friend Sue. I calculated that she was 2 miles ahead of me, and I wondered if I would ever catch up with her. Mile 5 we turned out and ran along this little spit out to the edge of the water. There were constant positive motivating signs along the whole route, and all the volunteers handing out water and pointing out the route just happened to be men. (A nice bonus, I have to admit!) At mile 6 I knew how much further Sue was, and figured I probably wouldn't catch her, but I still felt good and kept my stride. It was then I reached for my first "shot block" to keep the electrolytes at a good level for the long race.



It was just after the 6 mile I found myself, again, running with no one else around me. I passed 2 women just after mile 7 and we were all excited knowing that we are over half way there. Mile 8 brought another water 'stop' (well, I walked through so I could drink the water and not just throw it all over my face). They handed out some Chocolate Power Gel, but remembering the cardinal rule of not trying anything new along the race, I shoved it in my pocket, and reached for another shot block. We were now heading into the 2nd out and back part of the route. There was a little elevation climb through the mile 9 marker, but after running some of the hills in Seattle, it was nothing... I pushed on, still feeling pretty good. Every time I passed women (and I passed quite a few), we all shouted out words of encouragement, just happy to be able to even be physically capable to be out on this event.




Just before mile 10, MHB found me and cheered me on, and offered me some water as well. She said I was ahead in my time, and since I was doing my best not to watch my girlie Iron Mas watch, I didn't really have any idea. I felt my stride was strong, and I still felt good. Mile 11 also had a little hill climb where the marker was posted, and I now knew that I have run farther in one time than I ever had. The goal of running the whole way seemed like it could be a reality. My podcast buddies kept cheering me on, and motivating me to push further, even though my legs were feeling a lot heavier. No real pain yet, just tired feet and my hands a little cold. Sister Lori called a couple of times to find out where I was on the route, and I kept up the pace, even though I was attempting to talk to her on the phone. She and Rob were hoping to meet somewhere either in the last mile or close to the finish line. She too, like MHB, was surprised that I was as far along as appeared to be.




Right after the mile 12 marker, we turned up a hill for a slow climb. Realizing I was so close to finishing I pushed, but my pace was that of a power walker (and if you have ever tried to keep up with a power walker, it's pretty intense). At the top of the hill, I knew it was only about 1/2 mile left to finish, and knew I could run in. A bit in awe that I was about to complete my first half Marathon running, I was emotionally overwhelmed. Crossing the freeway and into the Vancouver proper, I saw Lori and Rob and they said the finish line was in blocks. Lori ran with me, and I found tears springing to my eyes knowing I was there. We kicked it and I actually was almost at sprint to cross the finish line. The clock read 3:03, but I started at 9:32, so my time - 2 hours 31 minutes. A shock! I had expected to run between 2:45 - 2:55. That extra adrenaline of starting a race 30 minutes late and having the idea that I needed to play catch up knocked off at least 15 minutes of my race time!



They read my name out loud as I came across the line, and I raised my arms in triumph, not to mention crying as the handsome firefighter placed the silver bracelet on my arm (better than a medal, girls - I will actually wear this!). Afterwards, they had trainers to stretch you out, and I could shower there. You know that women were in charge of this race, since there was all these pampering opportunities.


I know now that I can achieve anything. And so can you. Despite conflict in schedules, arriving late (not to mention some chaffing issues that I learned a hard lesson from), sticking to your goals, you can achieve anything. Now I just have to figure out my next goal... I doubt I'll ever be up for a full marathon - but I'm content to be a Half-lete. There are more opportunities out there for all of us. What do you want to do - go for it. Anything is possible.