I did it! I ran 12.4k!
Really, I could make a post that's just that, because really, that's all that I care about. But since I have not been keeping up on the ol' blog like I promised to, I feel like I owe everyone a real post.
I started training for Dam to Dam in January -- and at the time, I was fully convinced that I couldn't do it. I didn't think I was so much capable of running at that point. But then, one day shortly before spring break, I decided that instead of running the prescripted intervals of running and walking I had planned, I was going to try and run for as long as I could. And when I finished 3 miles, I was convinced that maybe -- just MAYBE -- I could actually make it to a marathon. Or at least a couple dams.
I ran a slightly modified version of Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon training schedule, theoretically combined with the official Dam to Dam training schedule (which was a little on the super-intense side for me). My ability to actually stick to the plan varied by the week, and was definitely influenced by my travels to Minnesota and Missouri, but I did manage to log 207 miles in the ten weeks leading up to the big day, including a couple of my now-official "signature run": from Slater to Huxley and back on the Heart of Iowa nature trail.
As per Dam to Dam training suggestion, I did run the Drake Relays On-the-Roads 8k and did AWESOME. To be fair, awesome for me is really slow for most, but as a person who had never run a 10-minute-mile less than six months before, running five of them is quite a feat. However, my training indicated that I wouldn't running anywhere near that fast for more than twice as long. I was totally OK with that -- until the day before the race, at which time I was completely torn: I both was terribly concerned about not being able to beat my 10k pace and not being able to finish at all. Thankfully, a lovely trip to packet pick-up with my dear, dear friend Brecka, a seasoned distance runner, reminded me that there was a lot in between finishing in less than two hours and not finishing at all -- and all of that was just fine. So I decided to go time-free for race day -- no watch, no cell phone, no cheating and looking at the time on my iPod. By the time I finally went to sleep at 1 a.m. on Saturday (falling asleep was certainly not easy), I was feeling ready.
Funny how fast morning comes when you're only going to get like 3 and a half hours of sleep, and even funner how rested you feel when you're so full of adrenaline that the fact you slept at all is something of a miracle. I was INCREDIBLY lucky to have Brecka to accompany me on the bus out to the dam (it's a half hour trip from downtown Des Moines) -- she calmed my nerves so much with her constantly entertaining bubbliness, and she kept me excited -- which wasn't hard. It's hard not to be excited in a crowd of 7,000 runners. A walk up the gigantic slope of the dam and a trip to the ever-popular bathroom and we were set to go!
The start of the race was PERFECT. Saylorville Dam is gorgeous, and there was just enough cloud cover to make beautiful angelic beams of light for a magical begining. The first few miles were ubelievably gorgeous, and I had to make a very active effort to keep from sprinting. Especially on asphalt -- because I live on a gravel road, I do all of my training on gravel, so the second I hit a harder surface, I feel like the Flash. But everything I've read cautions against going too hard too early, so I kept it casual and enjoyed the scenery.
The first five miles of the race were easy because they were so beautiful, and mile five brought me an extra boost (which probably makes me a bad person, but I'm telling you anyway). The hilarious thing about races is that you realize how many people have bad tattoos. In normal every day, you don't see that many people so unclothed. But when you gather them all together, you very quickly realize that there are more people than one would expect who either are really into their "Irish herritage" and feel the need to express it in some sort of Celtic cross, or drank WAY too much in college and will bear the permanent marks of those decisions on their skin as well as their livers. So back to mile 5: I was at the point in the ever-disapating crowd where the people who were walking more than running were falling out and the people who were running, just running slowly (like me!) were pulling ahead a little. I had jogged past a couple people and was feeling ok about it when I realized that one of the people I totally blew past (meaning that she had to be essentially crawling, considering how slow I go) seemed familiar. And then it registered: the tattoo I briefly noticed and thought nothing of was one that had annoyed me for YEARS. Not because of the actual ink, but because of the incredibly annoying person to which it was attached. And that annoying person just so happens to be very proud of her athleticism. And me, slow little old me, had just left her in my dust. I couldn't think of a better first surprise in a race.
The first seven or so miles of the race are incredibly gorgeous, and the next two are ok -- a bridge across Interstate 80, sort of boring residential areas, and the water stop that had run out of cups -- but mile 9 is absolute brutality. In the middle of mile 8 you catch your first glimpse of the Des Moines skyline and you feel like you're actually getting somewhere, and then it immediately drops out of view as you go downhill into a totally sketchy industrial area that has a weird smell and just so happens to put you running on concrete -- which, especially for someone who trains on gravel, really feels its 10 times harder than asphalt. However, if you can make it (which I did, booyah), you get to go into a beautiful park. And if you're me, you get to have a snack!
Because I haven't thought/planned ahead enough for my long runs, I hadn't been encorporating nutrition into my long runs, so having a snack of blueberry Luna Sport Moons just before mile 10 was my second awesome surprise. I am well aware of the fact that I'm a child, but the excitement about a snack really sealed the deal for this race. As most people know, I am heartily opposed to all products intentionally marketed to women for no real reason, hence should not be supporting Luna, but these things are so delicious that I'm making an exception here (don't judge me, I'm running a marathon for siblings of kids with cancer!). Eating while running was a lot easier than I though it would be, so it's official -- I'm going to need a bigger fanny pack in October because I'm gonna need a lot of snacks. I'm glad I ate just before mile 10, because right at mile 10 was a BIG hill -- on which I passed someone I knew AGAIN. I've never passed anyone in my life, and at mile 10 I'd passed two people. So I was money from there on out.
As you get out of the park, you're at mile 11 and you're so close! Seeing that mile 11 sign, I felt like a million bucks. The million bucks became a billion when, at 11.4 they had celebratory champagne! This year was the 30th running of Dam to Dam, so they had champagne at one mile out, which totally sealed the deal for me. Booze while running? AWESOME. Plus, accordian duet as you ran behind the Botanical Center. Best mile 11 ever.
After the champagne, I realized that I had tons of energy left and only a mile left to go, so I tried to kick it into high gear -- but I had spent 11 miles running at such a rote pace that I couldn't do it. And then I started crying a little, not because I wasn't running fast, but because I realized then that I was actually going to do it -- I was going to finish, and finish well: I hadn't stopped to walk at all, I wasn't actively vomiting, and I wasn't bleeding. More importantly, for the first time in my life near the end of a sporting event, I could breathe! I was inhaling and exhaling like a normal person. So even though I managed to keep my giant running smile on my face, I was also tearing up a little.
As soon as I heard the Isiserettes (who are AWESOME, btw) at the begining of the last block, I was on fire. The last .4 mile was just a blur -- and then, all of a sudden, I was across the finish line. And then the chip was off my foot and I was wearing a medal. And then I had water in my hand. And then I was laughing really hard because there were a ton of people vomiting all sorts of different colors of gatorade. Which was awesome. And I did it! I really did it!
I finished in time to watch the 5k race finish (with the winner coming in at 15:03!) and another girl vomit and still manage to win her age division in the 5k, and I got to cheer for Brecka as she crossed the finish line. Have I mentioned how impressed I am with that girl? Not only did she finish Dam to Dam, but she did it on a killer case of plantar fasciaitis, brand new orthotics, AND after having run a half marathon last weekend!
After the race, Brecka and I enjoyed a wide variety of more snacks (I ate 3 bananas and some apples and oranges, because that's how I roll) and played in the fountain at Nollen Plaza with several hundred children (who we decided were competing in the world's tiniest triathalon, which would be awesome). And it was awesome. Moral of the story: I can't wait to run more more more! Good thing I'm running a marathon. In four short months.
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