*****So, I know that I am horrible at blogging at the time things happen but I figured better late than never, right? That is pretty much the story of my life. Anyway, here are my tales of the rest of my San Diego trip....only a few weeks later, but who cares, right?*****
So, it’s the crack of dawn and I actually got up on time! I even have proof:
Everything is laid out, so it’s just a matter of putting clothes on and gathering the necessary items and heading down to the lobby in order to catch the first shuttle to the start of the race. Funny that now, after the shuttle issues yesterday for the Inspiration Lunch, there were two busses waiting to take us to the start of the race. We all got on the bus and took the obligatory bus pictures to prove that we were up this early and then headed to the Start Line.
Of course, the first stop, per Hank’s advice is to get in line for the “bathroom” and take care of business. This is the only time these lovely port-a-potties will actually have toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Once this was taken care of, we headed to find our team so we could hang out for a few hours and stretch and kill time. What was funny as we sat in our circle, most of us were updating Facebook on our phones. Then, we would laugh and talk about how the only people updating their statues at this ridiculous hour were the people sitting in our circle. Hey, it was early and funny at the time….
Then, it was time to head to our corral - #39. This is where all the fun takes place….the last corral.
After another stop at the pretend bathroom, we were all off to our respective corrals.
We waited for almost an hour before we were told by John Bingham, the “Penguin,” to just go! He lumped corrals 38 and 39 together and just sent us on our way out onto the streets of San Diego. And we were off…..
ROUTE PICS – I will be posting a slide show here eventually.
So, there is no way I could blog everything that took place over the next 4+ hours. One story I will tell happened at about mile 4. Even though Coach Hank said to use the “bathroom” (and I use that term loosely) several times before the race started, I didn’t have to. My theory when it comes to nasty Porta John is that if I am going to get in that nasty closet of doom, I had better have to go and go fast. I didn’t have to, so I decided to wait….and so did Mary. Rita and Sarah had used it right before we went to our corral, so they were good to go. Mary ended up being the first to go at the first set of Porta Potties. We were on our way and were all good until we headed out of Balboa Park and I had to go. So, we stopped at the next set of Port-o-Lets and I proceeded to use the facilities. I was just “sitting down” when someone started banging on my “house” and said, “Please Hurry.” What the? I thought it was one of the girls giving me crap (pun totally intended) but I didn’t recognize the voice. I said, “I am hurrying as fast as I can.” I then heard, “If you don’t hurry up, we will have to take you to the end.” Again, WTF. We were at mile 4, not mile 10, not even mile 12. There is no reason why the Sag Wagon should have been giving us a hard time this early on in the race. Oh, for those of you who are not familiar with race lingo, a Sag Wagon (or SAD wagon per Mary) is a vehicle that drives after the last participant has started the race. It is their job to make sure everyone finishes in the 4 hours allotted for the half marathon so that they can open the streets back up. They are supposed to pick people up and take them to the finish line if they aren’t keeping up the appropriate pace. I am perfectly fine with you harassing me at mile 12 if I am falling behind but give me a chance to start for the love of my sanity!! When I got out of the Port-O-Loo, my teammates had started walking a bit and had grabbed my fuel belt as they were told they couldn’t wait for me. Geez already….give me a break! So, this was the funny story heard throughout the rest of the weekend.
So, to make 4+ hours short, we laughed and complained and Rita tried bribing officers of the law to give us rides to the finish line. Sarah race lifted a flag from “her mile” and carried it as long as she could without it bothering her. Rita and I took pictures of everything under the sun. She looked like she was talking a walk in the park…..rightfully so, since she is a serious marathon walking veteran. Mile 12 was the most interesting as our newbies (Mary and Sarah) developed a bad case of “I hurt, are we there yet, I can’t believe they are walking back with their medals” syndrome. There were other words inserted here that I cannot repeat as my mother reads this blog as well as other people that may shrivel up and die if they read what was being said during that that last 1.1 mile of the race. I believe that was my favorite leg of the race next to being told to hurry my pee break. This was not my first half marathon either but it was the first time I had people to walk with the entire time. In Seattle, I was by myself most of the race as my teammates were quite a bit faster than me. In Phoenix, my friends were a lot faster than me and both times, we all started together and then went at our own pace. The four of us in San Diego have relatively the same pace…..Rita is probably faster but slowed down to enjoy the entertainment that we were all providing. When one of us needed a pit stop, we all stopped and either took one too or stretched. So, I had my walking peeps with me the entire race and we all crossed together, which I would not change for the world. This is the first race where I didn’t turn my I-pod on once, which is unusual for me. I like my music, but the company of these people was far more than a little device could have given me for over 4 hours. I may not have had the fastest time in the world, but that was not the goal this time around. What I do have are memories that will last a lifetime and lifelong friends……and a story that prompts people to tell me to hurry up and pee on a regular basis now. I cannot wait to do the Vegas half marathon and Phoenix again with these amazing people. Not only do we all have a passion in common….raising money and awareness about leukemia and lymphoma, we have a damn good time in the process. I can only imagine the new words I will learn at the end of each race and I can’t wait!
We finished and headed through the line for pictures. We got a group picture and then our individual picture and then we headed to find the TNT tent. After seeing where the UPS trucks were with our gear and where the TNT tent was, Mary made an excellent suggestion to go and get our gear first and then hike to the TNT tent, which was probably another mile away. Okay, maybe not a whole mile but it sure felt like it. We found some of our team in the tent and hung out there for a bit……had some food, obtained some much needed ice, and then headed to the busses back to the hotel. Kudos to whoever had those busses right behind the tent because in Seattle, they were nowhere near where we were.
We headed back to the room and rested for a bit before heading to the Victory Party. The funny thing about this is how we all said we were going to party and live it up and we were all so tired, we just hung out and walked around a bit to see what was going on. We got Mary’s feet temporarily taken care of and then we headed back to the hotel. At that point, I was out. Probably the best night’s sleep ever though.
So, this is a little late but that was race day in a nutshell. I wish I had the time to write it closer to when it actually took place but oh well, that’s how I roll. Keep checking back for updates on the pictures here since I am still gathering pictures from my teammates.
Go TEAM!!
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