Detroit Recap

It has been way too long since I last wrote and even longer since the Detroit Half. Not too good considering I still want to write a recap for that event. It's hard to just think about that and not everything else that has happened in the past month since I last posted, but maybe that will be motivation for me to be more present. So let's rewind five six weeks...

Ryan and I stayed downtown the night before the half, which was a great choice. In the morning, we just had to walk a few blocks to meet some friends, and then just another block to get into our corral. It made it much less stressful than I imagine it would have been had we driven in from Ann Arbor, had to find parking, etc. Nevertheless, my nerves were still out of control. It was frustrating and unsettling, especially since they blew a horn every time another wave crossed the starting line. It made my stomach jump!

It was still dark when we finally started, just about 20 minutes after 7AM. Once the sun started to rise, I started to feel a little lighter and more at ease, and I hoped the fact that I had to pee was just nerves and would go away (it wasn't and it didn't - ugh!). We saw Colleen just before we started up the ramp to cross the Ambassador Bridge into Canada, which was awesome - I greatly appreciated her coming out. It was a huge help.  Crossing the bridge was beautiful. It was PERFECT timing, as the sun was just started to come up over Windsor.  There were a ton of people out in Canada and we ran right along the water, with an awesome view of Detroit. Honestly, the weather could not have been more perfect! 

I tried to hold off, but I just couldn't, and when I saw what I thought would be a short line at the portapotties just before Mile 5, I decided to stop (which is only worth noting because it's never happened to me before). It was frustrating and hard, because Ryan and I were running together and we had wanted to run at least half of the race together, so he had to stop and wait for me.

The whole course was really cool. We ran through the (HOT!) tunnel back to the US and looped through some neat neighborhoods with lots of people out cheering. 

Ryan and I split up at Mile 10, which was bittersweet. I wanted him to go on and push himself, but I was oddly emotional. I spend so much time and effort encouraging those around me to simply try and to focus on the journey - it's not about where you end up, but about where you started, and then ended up. Nevertheless, I couldn't take my own advice. Knowing I was going to come in over all other halfs I'd done, I was frustrated and upset. Instead of celebrating that I was running another half-marathon and enjoying the accomplishment, I found myself fighting back tears.

When my always-supportive friends and family called and texted to ask about the race, it was hard to hide my feelings. It wasn't until later that night that I realized how much I was letting 2 miles of feelings overshadow the ENTIRE day, race, and training. Instead of acknowledging and accepting the facts (I did the best I could with training; I was aware of the fact that the lack of cross-training put me at a disadvantage; my knees had been bothering me on every long training run I had done leading up to the half), I was allowing myself to ignore the big picture - I had run a half-marathon...and I had done it with my best friend, a first for us. 

More than any other race I've run, this one certainly proved to me the most emotional. For whatever reason, it challenged me in a new way and with some distance now, I can say for sure that this too serves a purpose. Things aren't always what we want them to be, and that's okay, but even with the best support systems in the world, if we don't believe in ourselves, we won't get very far. 

Marathon Crasher

This morning was the first Ann Arbor Marathon. I had originally wanted to volunteer/check it out in some capacity, but with this past week being so crazy, it just wasn't feasible. I had forgotten about it until last night, and when I set out on my run this morning, I wondered if I would cross paths with the course at any point. A favorite run of mine is through the Arboretum, which is just .5 miles from my apartment, and I learned quickly after I set out that it served as the first leg of the second half of the marathon. WOOF.

Now, this totals THREE races that I have crashed, but the other two were more intentional. Two years ago, I happened to run the course of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which was amazing (and not obvious - there were thousands of runners jammed into those streets!). Several months later, I had the honor of running one of the last miles of the NYC Marathon with Sindy. It was so many things, but one of them was guilt ridden. Knowing what I look like after 13 miles, I can't even imagine what mile 24 would look like (think uncanny side-by-side between me and the crypt keeper?), so I felt terrible when sideliners were telling me to "keep it up!" and that I "look great!" (because yes, I take those things very personally when I am running a race and people say them to me!). It was such a cool experience to run with my running guru, especially on such a milestone run for her, but I felt deceitful that these people thought I had run 24 miles!

Anyway, today was quite a challenge (I use that word verrryyyy generously). I just couldn't win! When I gave encouragement to another runner actually running in the marathon, I felt like a jerk for breezing past them. When I ran past the water stations because it wasn't for me, I looked cocky for not needing water on a hot and humid day (I was saved a teeny bit on this one because I had my own water bottle - phew!). At the top of a hill, three volunteers were cheering me on and I finally had to come clean to someone, because I felt like a fake! Yes I did look good...I had been running for 10 minutes. Yes I could keep it up, because 1.5 miles = halfway.

If nothing else, it reminded me of how fun and exciting races are and that I don't need to just wait for 13.1 miles to run them.

Lansing Half Recap (finally!)

It has been a long time - too long. I started a new job just before the Lansing Half, so things have been busy/I have been on a mission to spend most unoccupied hours in my bed, sleeping. Nevertheless, I have been thinking a lot about this recap and have been wanting to finally get it together. Luckily, I had my own personal photographer on route, so we got a bunch of great pictures/well worth sharing, which is good. They give a pretty good recap of the day!

Just after crossing the start line! 

Just after mile 8

Just waiting for me...

The last two miles were a struggle, but I'm proud that I still gave it my all at the end (which came at a price- ugly (professional) finish line photos)

Toodles Orange

 

And done!

 A few seconds after finishing!

Enough strength to hold all my freebies 

 Sitting and stretching in front of the Capitol Building/what I would look like as a superhero

Finish line done right - Rege finishing his second marathon! 

Wooooo!

love letter to DC

Dear Bo Obama,

While I'm disappointed that I didn't see you this weekend at the half-marathon, I wanted to take a moment to write you a note. I would've thought a lover of running would have been out there on the sidelines barking us on, but that's another issue...

Before I get to the meat and beans of how MY run went, I wanted to tell you how utterly glad I was to run my second half-marathon in DC! It happened by "accident," in that I didn't intentionally set out to run DC specifically, but I'm so glad it happened. The course itself was fun (and I feel fair saying that because it was still a challenge for me....many little slopes up, which is not typically my scene), and the perfect weather/sunshine didn't hurt! But what perhaps made it so enjoyable for me was all the love and support from the sidelines! There were a bunch of crowded cheering sections that had me laughing, dancing, and smiling a tonnn! Fun signs included: Chuck Norris never ran a marathon/Naked cheerleaders one mile ahead! HOW FUNNY! There were two sections when we ran through Howard University that were just going nuts and perhaps, for me, the love from the city was summed up when I saw what I'm pretty sure were workers from Safeway standing outside literally just handing out full bottles of water from the store...like they saw all these people running by and thought, "They need and deserve water! Let's just literally give them water!!" I was just so happy and impressed and glad to be a part of such a well-received group of runners!

Some mid-run shots!

Now Bo, although you weren't there to show your love and support, I know you care...so let me quickly tell you how it went. My ankle had been really bothering me for about two weeks. It was fine when I ran last weekend, but I felt it constantly when I walked and being on my feet all day at work didn't help. Also, to lay it completely out there: I was completely freaked out. Running a half-marathon will always be a huge task for me, and I certainly didn't attack this one like my first. Instead of focusing on what I HAD been doing over the past few months, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I hadn't been doing. Well, once the race started, I blocked all those thoughts out and just ran! The entire race went well and I managed to hop right over that mile 10/11 wall I was terrified of. I kept a good pace the whole time and when those hi...I mean, slopes appeared before me, I imagined AJG behind me cheering me on (my mental images got a little more creative than that, and may have included Kevin Little AND Kevin Bacon on a motorcycle...with bagpipes) and kept me LAUGHING!), a shout out to a MISERABLE run last June! For that, I'm forever thankful! I was SO ELATED to finish in 2 hours, 6 minutes - 6 minutes faster than my time in September!! wow! I actually, literally wanted to cry the moment I crossed the finish line, but I was breathing hard and thought that, along with crying, would escalate things quickly...and I didn't want the people around me to think I was having a panic attack, rather than just being really, really happy!!

As always, I never would've been able to have such a great day without all the love and support of those around me, both here in DC and from afar. All the texts and facebook posts warmed my heart and if nothing else, pressured me into doing my best! It was SO wonderful to be with Dave before the race, so I didn't psych myself completely out (he, by the way, did completely awesome on his FIRST half-marathon and raised a ton of money for LLS!). Beckerman, Terri, and my ever supportive boyfriend, Ryan, the love of my life who is always rooting me on - thank you all for being along the course, for fighting the cold and the blocked roads and supporting me all along the course :O)!

So Bo, I thank you and your city for a great run, for an awesome time, and for an overall plain 'ol fabulous weekend! Write back soon and stay out of the trash can.

With Love,

Darian

Waiting with Dave for the race to begin!

Action shot...!

I made it!

got 13.1 miles?

After nearly SIX MONTHS of preparing, mentally and physically, today was my half-marathon!!! It's still hard for me to wrap my brain around this fact, even after it's come and gone. Let's take a look back:

I woke up this morning around 6AM, before my alarm even went off! I put on my already laid out outfit, my favorite running short and my Team Hole in the Wall jersey, gunk'ed up my toes, gliding up my body, and packed my bag! I threw on a long sleeve, because it was chilly! My parents came to pick me up EARLY, which is a big deal for them...I can see they got up before their alarm too! They dropped Ryan and I close to the start of the race and parked the car. Ryan walked around the start area with me, which I was so thankful for. Talking to him = less time alone with my thoughts and nerves! We ran into another person running for HITW, which was awesome! She was a nurse at camp and I saw her run by me during the race....kudos to her! At about 7:45, we met up with Meaghan, who dropped back to start the race with me...another huge point of thankfulness! Having her at the start line meant, again, I didn't need to be alone with my nerves. The waves went pretty quickly and the crowd moved fast up to the start line...I didn't have much time to think about. Before I knew it, we were running!!

Meaghan's parents were not too far from the start, so we saw them, and then saw my parents and Ryan shortly after (although they almost missed us...video to come!). The loop in the city went pretty well. I was honestly mildly dreading it, because the one time I ran it with Ryan, it bombed....so luckily it went great! I ran with Meaghan the whole time, and aside from knocking some guy's glasses over, it went well! While I had originally predicted a 10 minute mile, I didn't go into today with expectations of that...I wanted to make sure I'd last the whole time, so I hadn't expected to keep up at that, but running together had me doing it, which was fine! We ran past both sets of our parents again, and headed past the Art Museum up Kelly Drive. After some gu, I encouraged Meaghan to go ahead of me. I wanted to slow down a little bit, and while I was sad to see her go, I was SO incredibly thankful for the pleasant surprise of running almost half of it with a friend!

Just after we split up, I saw Lani on the sidelines...SCREAMING her face off at me, since I apparently didn't hear her! I'm not sure I would've even seen her had I not been going to the side to get water. Kelly Drive went well....I started to play the numbers game in my head, which I've been working all training to stop. How many miles have I gone? How many more left? How far until the next milestone in the course? It was hard to fight it, and I honestly couldn't just go quiet otherwise, which was a little stinky. I crossed the East Falls Bridge, which was definitely a great feeling. It was about half way over that I realized- Holy smokes (that's not really what I said to myself...)! This is actually about to happen!

I crossed the bridge and hit mile 10. Everything after that point was the furthest I had ever run, and I tried to keep reminding myself of that. I knew Rachel and her sister were somewhere along the course, and it was nice that they were further along the way than I had originally expected. It gave me something to look forward to and keep my eyes out for...although word to the wise: be cautious of how much energy you exert showing any supporters how thankful you were. I sorta went crazy and had to catch my breath afterward!

The end was a little hazy. There was a really good band I appreciated, but it came and went fast. Again, I couldn't stop myself, but it was a game. How much longer? How much further? I know that doesn't help, but I was starting to feel the miles and was ready to cross the finish line. Leading up to the end, the sidelines got thick with people and I couldn't believe I had made it. I just kept moving, and to my surprise, was even able to pick up a little bit of speed...honestly, anything to get me over that line that point!

My finish line photo isn't up yet, but as many of you know, it's something I had been looking forward to for a long time now....and fingers are crossed it's a little something I can keep me with (proudly) as a reminder of this incredible journey and amazing day!

There is still so much I want to and need to say about today and everything, but it will come later as I continue to digest it all. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Janny and even two videos!

Video around Mile 1

Video at Mile 4

Notes from the 5K!

After months of planning, Alyssa, Lindsay, and I ran a 5K this morning at Villanova. The event was "Safe from the Sun," which we were...it was raining all morning! I cannot believe how incredibly nervous I was....I can't explain it, but I had knots in my stomach all morning (and it wasn't just from all the laughing!). We got there super early, which was good, but gave me much time to dwell....not good. We signed in, got goodie bags (with a very nice umbrella - perfect to keep me safe from the sun!), and walked around to see other vendors that were there. I entered a drawing to have my registration for my half-marathon in September paid for - wouldn't that be nice! Even NICER though was that I was told that one of the performers at the half-marathon, a Rock 'n Roll event, will be....Miley Cyrus!!

The race started a little after 10, and we were some of the first people out to the start line. I was pretty glad when the race just started - all the standing around was making me nervous! I ran near Lindsay most of the time, which was good, as it was entertaining to watch her try to keep her bottoms up...hmmm... Overall, I think it was good "game day" practice for me. The feeling of running with SO many people was also a good experience....good in that it needed to happen. While my only goal of the event was just to FINISH, I was pleased that I somehow managed to finish under 30 minutes!! All in all, a HUGE success - way to go girls :O)!



Just after we crossed the finish line!