It was a local race, right here in Santa Clarita. And much of the route followed trails and streets that I've run, before, so I was pretty familiar. That helped a lot, I think. It was nice to run a local race. I woke up at about 5:20, got dressed, ate, relaxed and tried (unsuccessfully) not to be so anxious, went to the bathroom, and drove over to the starting point at around 6. I walked around, did a little pre-race warm-up that the race provided, watched the kids fun run, went potty one more time, totally missed the starting time, and started my race about half a minute behind everyone else.
The first couple of miles are kind of hard, and very interesting. It sort of weeds out the people who are more serious about the race, and those that are walking/running at their leisure. I was passing a bunch of people those first few miles. It was a pretty cool morning, at first, and the sun wasn't too high yet, so I had plenty of shade. I had a pretty good playlist of music going, and I stopped at every aid station for water (I didn't bring any of my own, though, I think I should have).
After those first few miles, my body was completely loosened up and warm, the adrenaline and endorphins were rushing and things felt really good for the next several miles. The race followed a "there and back" route, so all the way out was pretty good. There were some tougher hills towards the end, before turning around. But they were little, and I just told myself that I have run harder hills than that. Which is entirely true. At about this point, I was passing a bunch of racers that had already turned about, and it was pretty fun saying hi and yelling words of encouragement to each other.
I turned and ran down all of those lovely hills, and still felt really good. At about the 9 mile point, I could see some familiar faces in the distance. Daniel and the girls were waiting for me just off of the trail, and they were certainly a welcome sight! Daniel got Brooke all geared up with her bike, and Brooke jumped on and rode with me for a little while. And then Daniel pushed Camille in the stroller and ran a few minutes with me to the next aid station. At the same point, Heather jumped on the trail with me to run the last few miles to the end. I was so glad to have her running with me, because after we parted with my family, I was tired, and my body was getting sore and tired. She helped me get those last few miles without walking.
It was rough, especially the last 2 miles. My knees and hips were really hurting, but I was determined to keep running. I finished 62nd (of 138, haha!) in the race at 2 hours 18 minutes 2 and a half seconds.
The girls and Daniel were waiting for me at the finish, and once I was done, I chatted with them, grabbed some food and water, got some ice cream, and then we went home, and I took Heather home. It was so leisurely, just sleeping in before the race and then, when it was done, driving the 10 minutes home to shower and rest. Local races are just the thing!
*Millie, eating my cookie after the race. :) *
After showering and stretching and hanging out with my family all the rest of the morning, Heather and I went to Happy Foot for some massages. It was both heavenly and very painful. The guy working on me did some things that felt SOO good, especially when working on my feet and legs. But there were other parts that he was fairly rough on. And I'm pretty sure he bruised me substantially. I do bruise like a peach, however, so it's not entirely his fault. But my body did feel a lot better after this race because of the massage.
It was a great day, and I'm really glad I ran this race. Now, my next marathon will be pushing a baby out of me! ... Hopefully...
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