I decided to sign up for the Rock Tahoe Half Marathon for several reasons:
1) It's super close to where I live and therefore convenient.
2) A friend convinced me to do it with her.
3) I knew the scenery on the run would be BEAUTIFUL!
4) Not only would it be MY first half, it was also the first year this particular race has been held.
So we started training (off and on) in January, but really picked up the training in April/May. I am so thankful I had friends to train with. They kept me motivated. I'm really not sure I would've gotten through it without them. It was also helpful that I could "poach" the training runs that were organized by the hospital. They mapped out long runs for their "B-fit" program, an exercise/race training program that I used to be a part of when I worked there, so I didn't have to plan out or map out long runs. Therefore, I had no excuses.
Friday night my running buddies came over for a "carb loading" spaghetti dinner. We had salad, spaghetti, garlic bread, and delicious peach flavored tea.
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| Obviously this pic was taken AFTER the race but whatever. |
Saturday morning we planned to meet at 5:45 am. Our sweet friend met us and drove us to the start line. Thanks again Angie & Christian! It was ~48 degrees that morning and we had about 30 minutes to wait at the start line. But, that was great because we got to talk to lots of other runners we knew before the race. I ate my breakfast at the start line and they had great music. So, even though it was pretty "chilly," we had lots of adrenaline pumping and it was definitely tolerable.
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| AMY, NANCY, and ME... LOOKING EAGER AND ENERGIZED AT THE START (in our crazy pants). |
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| "THIS IS WHAT FAST LOOKS LIKE" |
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| "IN SLOW MOTION" |
My awesome friends and I decided to buy "crazy pants" for this race. They were neither flattering nor comfortable. But, I got lots of compliments on them as I was running. Mine were covered in sharks. I bought them back in February? Something like that. But, I found it ironic that there have been so many shark attacks in NC lately. I joked that they were covered in the "North Carolina state fish." Too soon to make jokes???
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| ELECTRIC GUITAR NATIONAL ANTHEM |
After the National Anthem was played, they counted down and the race began.
Here's where I should mention that 2783 people ran in this race. There were 2 waves, 7:00 am for the walkers/runners and 8:00 am for the competitive runners. That's a LOT of people in each wave. So, the start line was crowded. They blocked one lane of the road for us, but that doesn't really offer a lot of space for that many people. I kept waiting for it to "open up" and not be so congested, but it never really did. There were always people around you.
But, the views were awesome:
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| RUNNING SELFIE |
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| RUNNING THROUGH CAVE ROCK TUNNEL |
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| WE HAD TO STOP FOR A PIC WITH THE YETI!!! |
The aid stations were amazing. I was handed a cup of water by an Olympic gold medal skier at the very first aid station. Each aid station was competing to be voted "the best" for a monetary prize. There were DJ's and bands, awesome costumes and funny signs. It was great.
We stopped for a picture with the yeti above. It was a pretty social run. But, the breaks were needed. We were running above 6,000 ft above sea level the entire time. So, although MOST of the race was downhill, it was tough. And there were definitely hills. And we definitely needed breaks.
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| AMY HEADING TOWARD THE FINISH LINE! |
The last mile was the easiest thing I've ever run in my life. It didn't even feel like a mile. I wanted it to be over so badly that I practically sprinted to the finish line. Mike didn't even see me run by him. I was a blur of shark pants. The atmosphere at the finish line was amazing. There were TONS of people cheering and shouting. Everyone seemed so genuinely proud of you. And as soon as you cross the finish line, they put that awesome medal around your neck.
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| THE CRAZINESS AT THE FINISH LINE! |
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| MY RUNNING BUDDIES AND I AT THE FINISH LINE! |
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| MY BIGGEST FAN! |
The absolute best part of the finish line was that all 3 of us had "our men" there to tell us how proud they were... and Amy's man brought ICE cold Bud Light. A Bud Light has never tasted so good (it also went down pretty quick).
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| THE BARTON B-FIT TEAM! THANKS AGAIN FOR LETTING ME POACH YOUR RUNS!!! |
So after the race we were STARVING. We ended up across the street at a place called "The Lucky Beaver." They gave us the most beautiful lei's. We all ordered a cheeseburger with garlic parmesan tater tots. I ate in record time. It was dripping in grease. And it made us feel horrible. Yep, it sounded good at the time. But afterward, we paid the price.
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| THEY DON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE THEY JUST RAN 13.1 MILES! |
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| PURE HAPPINESS TO BE SITTING DOWN |
Arguably, the dumbest thing on my bucket list was running a half marathon. But arguably the smartest thing was getting a hot stone massage (also on the bucket list) which I did a few hours after the race. I got my sore muscles rubbed out. It was genius. And when I woke up this morning, I wasn't very sore in my muscles... my joints, well that's another story. My hips, knees, and ankles are not happy. But my quads, hamstrings, calves, etc. are ok!
After the massage I ran home to shower (not literally "ran"... I drove my car... no more running for me for a while). I loaded up a paddle board and then headed to the beach. One of the other PT's from Barton recently left and this was her slightly belated going away party! A cookout on the beach with hamburgers (ugh... just the sight of them made me wanna get sick after my greasy, way-too-much-food lunch). I absolutely love these people. They are the BEST. And even though I don't see them at work all the time, I love that they still invite me to "Barton events."
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| LOVE THESE PEOPLE. |
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| LOTS OF KIDDOS AND LOTS OF PADDLE BOARDS |
This cookout was the PERFECT end to a truly amazing day.
I watched the sun rise and set over the lake.
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Sunday morning, Mike and I slept in until about 8:30. He rolled over in bed and said, "I wanna go get breakfast somewhere." I love those words. I love breakfast. Without a doubt it's my favorite meal of the day. We tried out a new-ish little coffee shop near us. My sweet friend Amy got us these awesome shirts and I rocked mine at breakfast:
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| "IN TRAINING FOR THE LATEST STUPID RACE THAT MY STUPID FRIENDS MADE ME DO" |
It's SUPER windy here today and there's not much to do besides relax on the beach, so that's what we did. We headed to Kiva with Zater in tow.
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Kiva beach is slightly protected, so the water wasn't very rough in this spot, but farther out in the lake there were white caps.
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| I LOVE WHERE WE LIVE! |
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| BARELY ANY SNOW LEFT ON MT. TALLAC ... AND NOT MANY PEOPLE OUT ON THE BEACH! |
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| EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TODAY! |
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| ZATER'S EARS IN THE WIND! |
After falling asleep in the sun, on my stomach and my back, I am thoroughly sunburned now. We made a quick stop for a chocolate/vanilla twisty cone from Snowflake Drive-In on the way home. A perfect summertime thing to do. We had plans to go to a free outdoor concert tonight but we are both feeling a little exhausted. So, we are opted for showers, laundry, and lounging on the couch blogging and watching tv. There will be lots of other summer concerts around Tahoe.
This has been the most amazing weekend.
Since today is Father's Day, I've got to give a quick shout out to my dad, my father-in-law, and my brother, who are all awesome dads. I love all of you.
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