Waiting in the corral: So for all of you non-marathon runners the corral is the vague place you are assigned to go depending on the race you are running. I was in corral C for half marathoners. I arrived about 30 minutes before the start time. While waiting for the start I was incredibly nervous to begin this journey, I mean so nervous I was on the brink of crying. My stomach was in so many knots that I even refused the free pancake breakfast offered by a local church, and if you know me I love food. Anywho, I spent most of my time in the wrong corral, but I had no idea until some other kindly half marathoners ushered me towards corral C. I reached the back of the corral just as the starting gun banged. Keep in mind while I am in the corral I had a plan for this half marathon, I would run 3 miles then walk one so that way I would be in shape to run the last mile with power. I also spent a good portion of the night before preparing an epic playlist most had words like strong, run, and other inspirational things about being tough. However, there were a select few songs that were about rain, which came in handy because as I predicted it rained all over the marathon!
Mile 1 (run): So first things first, there were 27,000 runners in the Oklahoma Memorial Marathon!
27,000!!!!! That being said, it took me 20 minutes to just break out of the starting line! It took some time for the faster paced runners to get out in front and even more time for the slower paced people (like me) to fall behind. It is utterly baffling to see thousands of people all bobbing up and down finding their perfect pace and embarking on a journey that some have prepared years for! It's just indescribable! I was so mesmerized by this sight that I barely even notice the first mile, actually, I didn't notice it. It wasn't until mile 2 that I realized how much I had ran. There was a pretty nasty hill on that first mile that I decided to walk up because I hadn't done much incline training seeing that OK is pretty flat. After that nasty hill my motto was pick your battles, and that motto took me the whole way through 13.1!
Mile 2 (run): This is where the first site of water stations appeared and another hill. I had never run in any sort of race or distance running so I had no idea how these things worked, but it's not too hard. Basically, the volunteers (more on them later) held out dixie cups of water for you to chug and then you just throw the cup on the ground to get trampled! It felt against the grain to throw the cup on the ground, but I turned around and saw people were literally raking the cups of the ground. After that water station, there was yet another steep hill to run and this one I did. I wasn't long and I knew I could do it! As soon as I climbed the hill and turned the corner there it was the State Capital! This route took me right by Arete's apartment actually! At this point I was completely elated and taking in my surroundings! I have a hard time focusing on one thing at a time so I started examining everyone's clothing. Some of women wore tutus to be more noticeable, but here were my favorite, most noteworthy clothing quotes. "Half marathon, we're only have crazy," "It's that freaking .1 that's the hardest," and my personal favorite "Please God let there be someone behind me to read this!"
Mile 3 (run): Once again there was another water station and this is where we neared the Capital and the volunteers kicked it into high gear. Let me say this now,
without the volunteers I don't think I could have finished the half marathon! There were always cheering on strangers and being incredibly supportive! Also, during mile three there was a band set up and a company printed out all of these funny signs that really helped keep up my motivation. Here are a few quotes from them: "In our minds you're all Kenyans," "your feet hurt because you're kicking so much butt," "your legs will forgive you... eventually," "Don't stop... people are watching," "Chafe now, brag later," "worst parade ever," "mortuary ahead, look alive," "Don't worry, toenails are overrated." These were just a few and there were freaking hilarious, especially at mile 3 when there were 10 more miles to go!
Mile 4 (walk): Honestly, I could have kept going I was energized from all the water stations, those signs had pumped me up, but the only thing that was nagging me was my bladder. They had porta-potties set up about every mile so I used this time to relieve myself. I also stuck to the plan, I knew I could probably keep going, but I came in with a plan and I was sticking to it! Once again the volunteers were absolutely amazing and I definitely enjoyed this mile. Little did I know that this was the beginning of the end....
Mile 5 (run): This portion of the marathon took place in a neighborhood and a surprising number of neighbors came out on their front lawn to show their support. A lot of the people were incredibly nice and cheerful, but here's the funny part! So I was jogging along at my nice slow pace and I look over and these people are holding up a sign that says vodka shots for runners! I look at the bottle he's holding up and it looks fake, like a homemade bottle with vodka hand written on the label. So these two women in front of me think he's joking and decide to get a shot of water. One of the women takes a cup and takes a big gulp and proceeds to spit it out everywhere! It was so damn funny! She dropped the cup and started laughing and just kept running with her partner!
Mile 6 (run... supposedly): This mile was loaded with hills! In retrospect I should have done some more incline training... Anywho, I decided to revisit my mile one motto of pick your battle! So I did way to much walking on this leg of the race. Also, on this leg is the infamous Gorilla Hill! It is the steepest and longest hill of the whole marathon and it is placed directly in the middle of the half marathon. Luckily, there is a huge group of awesome neighbors to cheer you on the whole way up the hill! And conveniently after you turn the corner after gorilla hill there is another station of neighbors with donuts and more alcohol! Once again, I laughed at the offer, but yea I took a donut... I was hungry! Don't judge me! Little did I know I chose the wrong item....
Mile 7 (run): Mile 7 is when the rain began draining all of my will power with each drop. Also, the longer stint of walking let my muscles settle into soreness. The rain however, boosted my spirits a little because I was getting overheated and the rain felt nice and cool! This mile was a little bit of a blur because not much happened, but I did notice that at this point they brought out the powerade! Woot! I really needed the electrolyte boost.
Mile 8 (walk): The longest worst time of my life, my muscles were done and spent. End of story one of the flattest most boring part of the race where my muscles started stopped wanting to work and my knees started hurting. Never having knee problems I was really disgruntled with this fact. And it was still raining.
Mile 9 (run... haha yea right!): This mile my body decided to quit and couldn't run any further, however, my walking abilities were intact! I decided on this mile that I would run based on the song playing on my iPod, if it was fast paced I would run as best as I could and slow paced songs I would walk. I made a deal with myself I would run mile 10 then proceed with my plan off walking mile 11 and run the last mile with a strong finish. The refreshments were also getting better they started handing out oranges and bananas which were really helpful.
Mile 10 (run... more like hobble): At this point I just kept telling myself, CHARGE which surprisingly kept my feet moving forward, one simple word kept one foot in front of the other. Also, when I felt like my knee caps were going to give out the saying Pain is Weakness leaving the body and it was these little chants that kept my body moving.
Mile 11 (walk... thank the Lord): I was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel but it was blockaded by a wall of knee pain, hip pain, stomach cramps, blisters from my wet shoes, arch pains and mental pain. Yes, mental pain because it was a mental struggle to keep going!
Mile 12 (run... nope once again hobble): At this point I was so ready to go home that I was on the brink of tears again that I can't even remember, I once again made a deal with myself that I would run again once I could see downtown. Downtown appeared not soon enough! I began running again (well as best I could.
Mile 13 (finally): There is no way to describe seeing the finish line after 13.1 miles. Suddenly all the power that you ever had in your body resurges and I could run again! I saw my parents and ran through that finish line like I owned it and I completed 13.1 miles in 3 hours!
Sorry to be long-winded everyone I just thought I would share my bucket list dream in depth for all the understand!
