Marathon part 2

Left the house to go and meet Alex at the Rush to carpool to HP. Thank goodness because that is just stressful enough trying to find a parking place in some place you dont know very well. So I hopped into Ron's car with Alex and Ron's friend Josh. Off we went. We got to the race and went to go find Kathy and Mary. After hanging out and getting ready for the event, Alex and Mary went out for a warmup run. I stayed put. We got to the race a hour early but that hour flew by! We took some pics (which I look like death in) and then finished up getting ready. (music on, water in bottle, shoes tied, etc) It wasn't until the national anthem that I felt nervous. GRR why couldnt that have happend some other time. I frankly didnt care at all about even finishing the race at this point. I had already given up on doing the whole marathon due to my tight chest and was secretly cursing the doc I went to for not giving me something for this on Wednesday but what are you going to do?
Alex and I started at the same place but once the race started off she went much faster than me. I knew that was going to happen even if I had done the full marathon. She had trained for a faster time than me because of the shorter distance. I went out with a sour stomach and everything was so crowded. I have gotten used to the crowds though so that was ok with me. All from the start to mile marker 4 I felt horrible. I did go under pace but my stomach. I had to stop for a bit at mile 4 to get my act together and then went on my way again. The whole first 4 miles I kept telling myself, its ok to drop out when you see your family. Its just a race, who cares! Then the compeditor came out of me saying... "dont you want that metal, beer, and pizza??" Well of course I did! So I saw my parents at mile 5 with a cow bell and a home made sign! How nice! I told them at that point I would see them at the end of the half on the finish line. Then I saw Kathy, Mary, Ron, and Josh at mile 6.2 and then at mile 6.5 Daniel was there. He ran with me for about .1 miles and I told him I was just going to do the half. He told me that if I hadnt told him that, he would have insisted that I only do the half. (he was woken up when I got up this morning from my coughing attacks in the hall bath)
Off I went to go finish up my race. When I got to the 7 mile marker the marathoners and half marathonser split. Everyone was telling me I was going the wrong way. I had to tell EVERYONE that I didnt feel good and that I was only going to do the half. I felt really good from mile 7.5-11 and every other mile was a struggle. I kept looking at my watch only to get frustrated at my pace. I felt like I was pushing so hard only to see such a slow number... errrr!
I will say that this Garmin is like THE BEST thing EVER for runners. I knew exactly how much longer I had at the end of the race and just bolted it as hard as I could go the last .2 miles. I knew I could physically give it my all and not hurt myself with the cough, etc. So off I went!
I saw everyone near the end and they were all cheering and that was so wonderful.
After the race, as my day would have it, I was given a wet towel only for it to fall on the ground. O well.... who cares! I then had a nice long coughing fit for about 10 minutes. After conversing with everyone, Alex and I were off to go find the pizza and beer only to find out that there was no pizza this year. WHAT?! That was my motivation. I ended up choosing the wrong beer and it was gross so I gave it to Daniel. We all hung out for a bit more and then left. I met Alex at the gym to hang out in the hot tub. We had fun conversing over the race and what we thought about it, what we saw, out likes and dislikes, etc. We then made more of a plan for later this year of shorter races. (because they are so much fun and we can train shorter in the hotter weather)
Later in the day, I visited with my parents at Val's and then went to Red Robin to have a super late lunch with everyone. From there, I was called by a coworker telling me that she signed me up for a race in April. Its only 3 miles so no big deal and its for a homeowners church. Eastwood Homes is going to sponser me and deck me out with a snazzy tshirt and stuff. Im excited!
As for the remainder of the day, it was spent on the front porch reading a magazine and then spending time with Daniel and telling him of my plans for extending out back deck. Yeah for warm weather!!!