I was able to take a half-day on Friday, so Tom and I struck out for Jackson about 1pm. We went straight to the runner's expo at the Jackson Convention Complex to get my number and my race pack. My bib number was #2295. I was thrilled with this because it is a multiple of 5...just like my birthday....10/25. So anyway, the minute you walked into the complex you could feel the buzz and energy of all the athletes preparing for a big fun day on Saturday. They had lots of awesome vendors set up...one of which was a $9.99 section with TONS of running gear all for only $9.99. So of course unable to refuse I bargain I partook in a little pre-race shopping to get my adrenaline going. For those of you planning to run in a big race, I would suggest carving out enough time the day before to take advantage of the runners expo. Most races expecting over 1,500 people have them.
After the Expo we had a DELICIOUS pasta, carbo-loaded dinner with some of our greatest friends in Jackson, Andy and Raina. I had a garden salad with lite vinengarette, a penne pasta dish with plenty of fresh tomatoes, grilled chicken, and goat cheese. And of course two glasses of red wine. They say it's a good idea to have a glass or two (two at the most, probably) before the race because red wine is good for the heart. I don't know who 'they' are but I like them. So after dinner it was off to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
When we woke up it was 5:30 and about 13 degrees outside. I woke up like a kid at Christmas! I felt like it was the first day of Senior Year! I felt like it was my wedding day. Okay maybe not quite that excited, but I was pumped and energized to say the least. After taking a moment to wake up, I began the Getting Dressed Process. And what a process it was....
Layer #1: Under Armour Compression Gear mock-turtleneck top and Under Armour Frosty Tights. And my new favorite....SwiftWick ankle socks (and, um, hello sleepy eyes).
Layer #2: Under Armour fleece-lined sweat pants and Under Armour Cold-Weater top. Feeling like Xena Warrior Princess already.
Last but not least: The Bib. It's official. Go time.
I also brought along a good bit of loot to get me through the race comfortably.
- iPod Nano locked and loaded with Running Mix #1. Beyonce, Whitney, Katie, Kelly, Miley, Britney, Fergie....all the good stuff.
- Awesome pink ear buds I got off amazon.com. They are my FAVE.
- Garmin Forerunner 205 to keep up with my distance, time, and pace.
- Beezwax Chapstick
- HammerGel - Tropical flavor.
- Gum...helps me from getting thirsty and distracted.
- Everybody's favorite....Emergen-C. I put two in about 8 ounces of water on the way to the Start Line.
- Luna Bar in Nutz Over Chocolate. I at 1 1/2 before the race and took the other half in my pocket in case I got hungry. I didn't.
Whew! And that's it!
So we met Bex and Mr. Bex at the start line and waited eagerly with hundreds of others to get this party started! Once we were all lined up, the First Lady of Mississippi, Marsha Barbour said a few words and then an electric guitar played the National Anthem. It was amazingly quiet in downtown Jackson as the Anthem played. I closed my eyes as I listened to the notes and felt the cold air on my face. It made me so thankful to be right in that very place at that very moment. Before the 10-second countdown started, an announcer turned our attention to huge screen just on the other side of the Start Line. The screen was filled with a live feed of thousands of American soldiers in Iraq. They were running in a half-marathon, too! All the soldiers were hooping and hollering, arms waving in the air. We listened as the soldiers counted us down...."Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!...." and then the gun went off...
It sounds crazy, but the first 7 miles went by amazingly fast. We ran out of downtown Jackson, out towards Jackson State University. Until mile 5 the course was pleasantly flat. Around then we began to see a few rolling hills. The hills weren't bad. Yet. After the third one I thought, 'Okay, maybe this is the last one. Let's just get it over with.' No such luck. I'm pretty sure that third hill was the third of ONE THOUSAND. From mile 5 on it was nothin' but hills, girls. Nothin. But. HILLS I TELL YOU!! These Flatland Girls had no idea what we had gotten into. I was thankful, however, that we were ignorant to the hills because with each one we thought, 'surely this is the last hill, the faster we finish it, the faster it's over.'
Prior to the race, Bex and I had decided we would get Gatorade and a HammerGel at mile 7. Then one more break at mile 10. We only walked about 1/2 mile (total) at those to points, and ran the rest of the way. When we started the acend of the final hill I looked at my GPS and it read 12.57 miles. Seriously, the FINISH LINE was on top of a hill. Crazy. But despite the cold and the fact that we had been training all this time in the flat lands of Tunica, the hills came surprisingly easy to me. This just proves the theory that your adreneline really will take over at some point. I was so thrilled with the way I felt the whole time. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the crowd, maybe it was my music, or maybe it was something bigger than me. But the whole time I was so thankful to be healthy enough to run 13.1 miles. I felt accomplished, strong, able.
When the finish line did come I cannot explain the feeling. You can see the finish. You can hear the people at the finish. You can TASTE the finish. Best feeling ever. I glaced to my left onto the sidelines and first person I saw was a heavily bearded man in a black tobaggan. You guessed it. Tom. I loved seeing him, grinning from ear to ear, camara in hand, yelling my name. 
Yall might remember that I was really hoping to finish this half in less time than I did my first half. When I ran the Music City in 2007, I finished in 2:37:15. Not too terribly shabby for a first timer. Today I finally checked the official times for Saturday's race and my finish this time was 2:30:37!!! I was thrilled. I had taken :30/mile off of my previous time, even with the hills and the cold. Now it was time to CELEBRATE!
After our finish we went back to the hotel to get freshened up and changed for lunch. And let me tell you that Heaven Is A Place On Earth and I'm pretty sure it was the shower at the downtown Jackson Hilton. Best shower ever. We wrapped up our time in Jackson with a huge meal of fried mushrooms, cheesburgers, french fries and beer. Again, heaven on earth.
So I'm sure everyone also wants to hear how my in-home massage was!!!!!!!!! It was amazing!!!! If you live in the Memphis/North Mississippi area and ever want to try this please call me and get this girl's number. Shenika is an angel from heaven and gave me the best 90 minute massage this Runner Girl could ask for. I'm talkin' hot stones, warm blankets, BioFreeze for these wobbly muscles...the works. She is the best. Her full-time job is at Mid-South Chiropratic if anyone is looking for an awesome massage therapist.
Okay, so enought with the race re-cap...
You might remember from a previous post I mentioned I had one last big 'resolution' to share with you. The whole reason I started this blog was simply to document and share a process with some friends and family. Now that I have completed the process, what ever shall I blog about? Well, it's time to turn it up a notch. Now that I have completed two half-marathons I have decided I'd like to take it to the next level. A full marathon you say? Well, while that's a lovely idea, I have so enjoyed running 13.1 miles that I'm afraid if I push it too much I'll fall out of love with running. So after careful consideration and some inspirational talks with Bex, we've decided we'd like to TRI something new altogether....can you guess what it is???!?!?!
On May 23, 2010 Bex and I are going to do the Memphis in May Olympic Distance Triathlon. There. I said it. You read it. Now I have to do it. So stayed tuned to my silly little blog as we continue Running in the Delta...and swimming in the Delta...and biking in the Delta.
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