1) 90210 (the original, not the CW) -- tea kettle on David's stove 2) Friends -- Monica has the cookware set 3) Seinfeld -- Jerry has the tea kettle 4) Home Improvement -- Jill has the set 5) Gilmore Girls -- tea kettle on Lorelai's stove 6) Everybody Loves Raymond -- tea kettle at Ray & Debra's (Deborah?) house.
On Sunday, we woke up at 4:15 am at Scott's brother and sister in law's house in Newport News, VA. We all left the house by 4:50 am.
We got to Virginia Beach by 6am, parked, and took the shuttle to the start line. We finally got there around 6:15, and stood in the portapotty line forever, until 7am, which is when the race officially started. One of Scott's friends found us while we were in line, and she gave us big hugs before leaving to get in her corral. That was so nice.
There were 25,000 runners, so the place was packed. Everyone was organized into corrals, depending on their estimated finish time. Scott guessed 2 hours, so he was in corral 10. His corral started around 7:20. The Kenyans started exactly at 7 am. Anyway, I was in corral 22, so I started at 7:45. I predicted 3 hours and 15 minutes when I registered, but I honestly prayed to finish before the 4 hour time limit. The only reason I know the time is because I glanced at the official clock as I crossed the start line. It was a little intimidating, honestly. While I was waiting for my corral to move up to the starting line, I spent a lot of time looking around and seeing just how big the race was. I wasn't expecting THAT many people to show up. Because I was standing by myself, I was a little nervous.
The course loops around Virginia Beach and ends on the boardwalk. As I was nearly into mile 2, I had a good view of the last stretch of the race before the boardwalk...and wouldn't you know, the guy who won ran right by. I swear, he looked like he sprinted the entire race.
Since I didn't want to overdo it and collapse halfway through, I jogged the first 2 miles and then booked it by speedwalking. Every mile or mile and a half, there was a water station with cups of Cytomax and water. Cytomax is this disgusting Gatorade-like drink. To be on the safe side, I drank a cup of Cytomax at every stop and 2 cups of water -- one to dump over my head and one to sip as I speed walked on. I'm so glad I did that, because it seriously helped. I've felt sick to my stomach during 5k races, so I was surprised that I felt fine during this race. Whenever I felt good enough, I jogged for a little bit and then broke into a speed walk.
6 miles in, I got to talking to a lady walking next to me, and I joined her group of friends. They were so nice! I didn't have anyone to walk with, since Scott, his brother, sister in law, friend and her mother were way on up ahead. It was great to have someone to keep the pace with.
All along the course, there were bands playing, and high school cheerleading squads. I'm serious -- there were cheerleaders. Also, parts of the course went past homes and apartment complexes. Some people sat in their driveways, with their stereos blasting and signs to cheer everyone on.
Oh, and because the race was so long, I actually had to stop off at a portapotty about 4 miles in. I couldn't hold it! There were actually lots of portapotties on the race course.
Anyway, around 10 miles in, my hips and thighs started to get sore, and whenever I jogged for a bit, I could feel the blisters on my toes. I don't remember the exact time I finished, because it had to have been sometime after 11am, but my official time on my chip was 3 hours and 19 minutes. Scott had finished at 1 hour and 53 minutes, and walked over to the finish to wait for me. He said that as soon as he got there, I crossed the finish line and that's when I heard him shout my name. It was an amazing feeling to finish and then the first person I saw was him. I picked it up and ran as hard as I could for the last tenth of a mile, just so that I could run across the line.
A full marathon, however, is twice that.......and that would take far more training that I've ever done in my life. Yikes.
Scott, my dad and myself are all signed up for a 10k later this month. I'm pretty excited.
