B Team of BG: 6.55 Baybeeeee

up early
actually up earlier cuz Lu fell out of bed.
had put out my clothes last night
put together my playlist...album of Boston Pops plus album of Sara Berrielas
list totalled 2 hours and some minutes....
was afraid my music would stop b4 i would.

drank a diet pepsi on the way up to the start.
had hydrated all day yesterday so was thinking the diet pepsi would help me Retain THAT water.

easy to find the start
parked
tied my key onto my shoe
pinned on my number
committed to the race

walked up toward the throngs of people
figured i'd best go find the bathrooms
there had to be at least 35 port o pots lined up
and then about 6 lines feeding into ques

this may be gross...but i swear everyone was pooping....
i could HEAR them....
after i took care of my own business
i saw coffee being distributed...
i passed...

my cousin kept telling me that i shouldn't do anything NEW
what ever i have been doing to train is what i should do today
i never drink coffee b4 a run so..i offered it up!
i listened to the overhead announcer begin to list out the Pace Groups
that sounded like a great plan...follow a Pace Leader....
of course..my hopes were quickly dashed when the Slowest pace was an 11 minute mile.
i thought for sure they would have a 15 minute mile group...seeing as that was the disqualifiying time.

I offered Thanks to Catharine O for encouraging me to take my ipod and walked toward the start line.
then i headed to the End of the start line
looking specifically for women who...
ya know...
looked as Fit as i do :):)
which of course
was THE end
no kidding..i was a the end...

Count down
the mass of sneaker clad people being to move forward
i had a strange thought that the crowed looked like a scene from Pink Floyd's movie
as you get closer to the actual start line people begin to bob up and down
cameras begin to flash
Good Luck shouts are heard
the pace pics up to a trot
and accross the start line you find yourself staring at the people ahead of you
they pull away pretty quickly and you can all of sudden see the pavement in front of you.

and then within minutes you can really really see tons of pavement between you and the folks ahead of you.

i willed myself to set my pace
'don't start fast' was the advice my running coach gave and i wanted to heed her advice.
i very quickly found some people to pace myself with

a pair of WALKERS!!!!!!!!!
i swear...they were walking just as quickly (or slowly) as i was running.
but...it was about my pace i told myself...not about how much time my feet spent on the ground.

the first mile went pretty quick as i was trying to maintain my pace
the first mile usually sucks pretty bad for me.
not today.
the route was mostly shady and wound through some pretty awsome homes
a few folks were out sitting in their lawn chairs

i kept willing them to stay right there in their chairs
i didn't want them to pack up and walk away b4 i had passed
remember...i was at the end
i was passing the Cone picker upper people
i was passing the police officers who had lines of traffic held up

mile 2 came round pretty quickly
there was water at the mile
i toyed with getting something
but didn't
i don't ever hydrate at mile 2

mile 3 came right on the bridge
right as the sun was blazing down
it was a hydration stop
but it wasn't water
it was tepid lemon flavored sports drink
it was gross
it splashed up on my face and on my glasses
shortly after came the 5k sign
pretty cool as i had seen one of those b4
and today i was passin' it!!

mile 4 was cool i was feeling kind of cocky
i passed a few people
there was this younger than me guy at about my pace
i stayed with him for a while
there was an older woman just ahead of us
i look over at him to get his eye
i point to her
and mouth 'lets take her'
he smiles
which of course i took as an OK
i speed up
i pass the ol' girl
i go a few strides
realize
he is NOT next to me..
SCAREDY CAT !!

mile 5 was not as cool

the route had taken us off the main road and put us through a local metro park
the path was nicely paved
but woody and a bit lonely

the mile 5 to 6 was the toughest for me
i had a battle of wits going on
keep running
walk for a bit
no
keep running
ok, run up to that bush and then rethink
pass the bush
ok, now run to the break of trees where the sun is shining through
and then walk
ok, now there is a cool song on my ipod
run until it is over

hot DAMN there is the mile 6 marker
POINT FIVE FIVE to go.
i pick up my pace
i can't wait to see Denny
i don't want her to be the last one waiting at the relay exchange

i see the exchange arch ahead
i start waving like a crazy woman
i see her smile at me
i run through the arch
we hug
she hands me a bag with an apple in it
and away she ran!!

GO DENNY i shout!!

i then walk back the path a ways to look for the bus to take me to the finish line
i find the bus
i get on and there is only one other person on the bus
we wait for a while and chat with the driver
several more runners/walkers pass us by but no one wants a ride
so we head on to the finish line.

i scream and pound on the bus window as we pass Denny
she looked good
the bus took the race route so we got to see all the folks that had gone on ahead to finish the half.

The finish line was hosting a HUGE party.
The music was loud
The drinks a plenty
The tshirt pick up line was already long so i quickly got in it and got my goodies.
I got myself a penut butter sandwich and a banana
Then i went to wait for Denny.

I watched the finishers come through the large Finish Line Arch
the announcer would yell out a runners name as they came through.
It was neat
The crowd continued to grow
As i started to see some of the people i had been running near
i began to watch for Denny.

soon i saw her...
YEAH Denny!!!!

she came through
the announcer said Team Crusin' Cousins
and we were done!!!!!!!

just as quickly as the crowd and grown
it shrunk
it seemed like all of a sudden there were only a few folks around
the vendors were closing up their booths
the nutrition/hydration stations were being cleaned up

we got ourselves ready to go.

on our way out i ran up to the Nesle Quick booth to try and get an extra to take home.

tip to the wise
being close to the end can be a good thing

instead of getting just one extra Nesle....