Picking up from yesterday –
One thing that was fun about this race was that there was some random music along the way. There was a sort of low-key jamboree thing going one and a drum circle type thing at one point. It was the most interesting, eclectic collection of bands I’d seen yet.
The volunteers hanging out at mile nine were awesome. Once I made it there, they said in unison, “Welcome to Mile 9!” They made it seem really cool to be there.
One interesting thing about this race was that there were a lot of runners who planned on doing the ING NYC marathon. I saw people wearing their NYC bibs on their back, their NYC gear, etc.
We could talk forever about this year’s ING NYC marathon. (In case someone is reading this way in the future and doesn’t remember what happened this year – there was a huge hurricane in New York that hit Monday of race week. Mayor Bloomberg said the race would go on all the way until Friday of race weekend. Then he/NYRR pulled the plug. Everyone was up in arms. (Some were mad about the race being cancelled so last minute. Some were mad that it took so longer – no matter what people were mad about, very few people were happy about it.)
There have been many debates over everything about this year’s ING NYC marathon. I joined some of them (but haven’t opened one up on my blog). I may or may not do a post about it. I was going to while the race was still happening, then everything changed. So, I don’t know. I think we’re all done talking about it. Therefore, I most likely will not do a post. But you never know.)
The point is, I was happy to see the NYC runners doing a race – even if it wasn’t the one they’d been planning on. (Many races offered discounts to runners who’d been denied the race. This race offered 300 steeply discounted entries.)
Moving on… to my feet – I’m sure a riveting topic you’re all on the edge of your seats about – I got a new pair of Brooks Dyads. I broke them in a bit, but really not enough to do an entire race in them. I went back and forth for a bit, arguing with myself – “They’re really just not broken in enough. You will regret this.” “But they’re so comfy and new! I’ll be fine.” Sure enough, they, in fact, were not broken in enough – just as the rational part of me knew.
I was having a rough time in the last few miles, getting blisters and all that jazz. (Ew.)
One thing that was different about this race that I may have forgotten to mention earlier – they didn’t give any bags (for bag check). Environmentally conscious? Nuisance? I don’t know how to feel about it… All I know was I didn’t have a bag and I didn’t bring one for bag check. That’s why I’m holding keys and water in my photos.
Going toward the finish line was hilarious. I kept waiting and waiting to be done. (My feet were hurting (which was completely my own fault, but didn’t make it any less true).) I finally got to a point where speakers blared out “Welcome to the Jungle.” Home stretch!
Psych.
Usually when you’ve been going for a while and you hear the blaring music, you’re almost done. But here, the music faded and there was more quiet before I hit the actual end music. There was also this little maze toward the end that I was pretty sure was going to last forever. However, alas, eventually I hit the finish line.
Not only did I get my half marathon medal, I got a large medal for the end of the Southern California Half Marathon Series. I know I was back and forth on whether I was going to do that series. But I will say, that medal is pretty dope – and a lot nicer (and larger) than I thought it would be.
I hopped on a shuttle, went back to the car, and started to drive toward Malibu. I realized I was incredibly tired, parked in a shaded parking lot, napped for an hour or so – then off to Malibu I went!
I’ll tell you about that race next!