I Ran the Rock

Because school and life have been so hectic lately, I was planning to give my spot in the White Rock Half to a friend who forgot to register. But then she ran in someone else's shoes and got a stress fracture. So, I decided to give it a go anyway.

Though I should have brought gloves and eaten more, it was a great run. It was a chilly 37 degrees at the Start, but I soon warmed up and took off my outer layer despite the fact that my ears and fingers were a little numb.

My legs began to hurt - my joints, specifically - but I knew I had the race in the bag at mile 7 when my legs went numb, too. From that point on it was just a mental decision to keep moving forward. I took quite a few walk breaks in the first half and then found my rhythm and just cruised in the second half.

Apparently this year was a new course. Around mile 3 I heard the guy next to me say, "This is weird. This is normally the Finish."

But like always, the community came out to support. One lady stood outside of her house playing her trumpet and cheering, people brought out their stereos, a local high school orchestra played to runners passing by, and a nice couple even handed out water bottles. The race also had bands set up along the course playing rockin' tunes like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Eye of the Tiger." And I can't forget the creative signs and t-shirts:

• "Run like Hell!"
• "If it were easy, I'd be running with you"
• "If you can see this, I'm not in last place"
• "You just got passed by a mother of 3"
  
• "Run like a Chilean miner!"
• And my favorite poster held by a 7-year-old girl: "Hurry Up! My legs hurt!"

The race went surprisingly well, considering that I had only run 2 miles in the past three weeks since Rockledge. My goal was to finish between 2:30 and 3:00 and I came in - sprinting with a smile, actually - right at 2:30.

I'm definitely not fast; I was passed by a couple in their 70's, someone on stilts and a woman with a prosthetic leg. But in the end, I passed the lady with a wedgie, so overall I felt pretty good about it.