Seattle Half

The Seattle Half Marathon that is. Some of you know that I have been training for this for a few months (some of you may not). Today was the auspicious day of the big event. I had been anticipating this day with a certain amount of excitement and dread. What if I couldn't finish? What if I was so pathetic I finished last? These top two photos where taken at the finish at Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center and as you can see from the photo on the left, I didn't finish last. In fact I did quite respectable for myself. My goal was to finish in two hours and thirty minutes. My actual time was 2:27:37:9! It was an amazing thing to participate in. There are over 14000 participants in all the different races. You can either walk or run the Half or walk or run the whole Marathon. The runners of the Half Marathon started from the Seattle Center at 7:30am. My friend Peg and I were somewhere in the middle of the pack (I think) when the horn sounded. It was kind of anti-climatic because we didn't move for a minute or two. It was exciting when we started off though. You run down 5th Avenue which is a major street in downtown Seattle until you come to the I-90 Express Lanes. At one point 5th Ave starts to rise and it was incredible to see just how many people were in front of us. You run on I-90 until just before it starts to cross Lake Washington. (The Marathoners actually run all the way across the Lake and back as part of their route.) You get off and start running on Lake Washington Boulevard which is right along the lake and home to amazing houses (not that you really notice them). I was still running with Peg which was pretty amazing considering how much taller she is than me. That all changed though when we were confronted with the first slight hill. Peg "loves hills" and I really didn't do much pre-training on them. That is where I started to fall behind her. Not that I minded. I really didn't think we would be together as long as we were. Just to digress for a moment to tell you about Peg, she was my elementary school auction co-chair two years ago. After a series of "escapades", we decided that we were a bit like Lucy & Ethel. It varied who was Lucy and who was Ethel (it depended on who had the hair-brained idea.) She is fun, full of life, caring, kind, and many other wonderful things AND she loves to play Scrabble! How can you not love a person who loves to play Scrabble! She is the one who when she found out that running a marathon was on my "list" said "Maybe you should try running a half-marathon first" and then said she would do one with me. That's the kind of friend she is. We even purchased matching tops when we picked up our packets before the race. The picture on the right is just after I finished the race (that's why my mouth is hanging open I guess). She was waiting there to give me a big hug!

Back to the race. Once you reach the end of Lake Washington Boulevard the course starts to climb. Which seems rather unfair because at this point you are somewhere between 5 to 8 miles into the race. At one point there is this long uphill stretch. I had to walk. It was just too tiring to run. Once I got to the top though I started running again and managed to run most of the rest of the way. You run through the Arboretum which is a beautiful natural area and then onto this road that is winds along the side of a hill. Then it's pretty much a downhill 3 mile jaunt from there. But right about that time I thought I wasn't going to make it because I could feel myself running out of gas and my feet hurt. Thank goodness for jelly bellies made from power drinks! They kind of tasted like aspirin to me but they got me through. Just when you think you have seen your last hill, they throw you a last one about 2/10s of a mile before the finish! I had to walk that one too. But again once I got to the top I was able to run the last bit into Memorial Stadium (adrenaline I think). You can see from the top picture that there are people along the side and sitting the stadium cheering on (as they are all along the course). I almost cried I was so excited! It is an amazing thing to think you did something like this especially at the age of 45! There was Peg to greet me and right behind her came Dennis. This last picture is one Dennis took at home. He took another one first which I will save but not publish. It's not particularly attractive but it really captures how I felt at that point--tired.

Not too tired to do it again though. Peg and I (and maybe Dennis this time) will be running the Whidbey Island half-marathon in April. This time I get to be Ethel because I promised Peg if she ran the Seattle with me that I would run the Whidbey with her. Lucy & Ethel all over again!

Do two half-marathons in the course of 6 months equal a full marathon?? I think so and I will get to cross another thing off my "list"!