I have been wanting to write this blog for a week now, but I have so much to say and didn't want to throw together some uncomposed jumble of words, thoughts and exclamations. That may still happen though. So this past weekend was the Boilermaker 15K Road Race in Utica, New York. I have been signed up for the race since January. Now for those of you who don't know, 8.5 miles was where my knee gave out and I had to walk in the Disney Half Marathon, so I was nervous that I would meet the same fate, if not sooner thanks to the hills in upstate New York.
This was, without a doubt, the most heart I have seen/felt in a race. Ever. From the runners, the staff, the volunteers, the spectators. It gives me chills just thinking about it, and a feeling of homesickness because I want to go back and do it all over again and I know that it is a whole year away. My tale begins Friday night at the Fort Lauderdale airport...
So after a shaky night of travel (lightening delays), my mom and I arrived in Syracuse, NY at around 1am, rented a car and drove the 45 minutes to Utica. My aunt ushered us down to her...cozy...basement and we hopped into bed to the sounds of her saying, "So you guys are getting up at 6am to come to the Kid's Run, right?" Well of course, why wouldn't we be?!?
SO four short hours later, alarms buzzing, we hopped up, got dressed and grabbed some coffee. Now I was running on little sleep, no dinner the night before, a stomach full of wine, and a wicked sore throat. Naturally when my aunt asked me if I would run with my little cousin, Megan, I changed into my running shoes and headed out the door. The kids race was adorable. Sponge Bob was there. Meat and Patty (yes, the race seems to have been sponsored by beef) were there. The kids got free breakfast (no perks for the adults that ran...boo), and we picked up our race packets. It's a little intimidating to be bib number 13733. It was a litte more intimidating to hear that there is a 2 hours time limit for this race and that after that they open the roads back up. The last runner gets a police escort. Please don't let me be the last runner.
We spent the rest of Saturday relaxing in the backyard, playing and eating. My awesome aunt and cousin kept the sausage separate from the sauce just for me. And then the runners (me, Adam and Erin) headed off to bed early. Alarms were buzzing again at 5:45, when we got dressed, had a quick bagel and headed off to the race (2 hours early). It was a little chilly before the sun came up (55 degrees set a new low record for a Boilermaker morning), but we were excited and 2 hours flew by. I had my sunglasses, water bottle and a Cliff gel ready as the first racers, the Elites as they are called, got the go ahead and ran. From there, all of the corrals melded together as we inched towards the start. It only took 9 minutes for us to cross the line, not too bad with 11,000 runners.
I waved goodbye to Adam and Erin, pressed play on my iPod and started to run. The first indicator that this race was going to be a little different was the first row of houses we came to. At house number one there were two signs in the yard. One read ".1 Mile Marker" and the next one said "My wife already finished the 5K and is drinking beer." Oh Utica. I love you.
I won't bore you with 9 miles of commentary (that's a lie), but I must say that Uticans are awesome. There was not one mile of this race where the roads weren't lined with people screaming and cheering, toasting the runners and reminding us that our free beer is just up ahead. Into mile 2 we hit the first hill, one that my cousin Kim has warned us about. Everyone fears Valley View, but this little beauty sneaks up on your right before it. A warm up, maybe? At the base of "the Hill" were encouraging volunteers letting us know, that we only had one more mile and then we are "mostly" downhill to the finish. Sweet, just one more mile uphill, after the hill we just conquered and then we can coast, for about 5 miles. Geez, easy for you to say as you 'Cheers' us with your third beer of the morning!
But you can't even be salty about it. It's amazing, The race is one huge party, that deadends into an even bigger party. You can't help but smile at the crowds and before you realize it, you're having a blast trekking up "the Hill." Now I have to say, it's bad. The hill sucks. But the view at the top is amazing and the way down is great. Once we passed that it was smooth sailing. We passed even more spectators, Kelly's Popsicle Stand (1 and 2), and around mile 4.5, my amazing family cheering me on and giving me the boost I needed as I hit the mile 5 sign and downed another gel.
The rest of the race was lined with people handing out ice to the runners, cooling us off with their garden hoses, kids holding out their hands for high fives and some amazing men and women from our military out in the heat, in uniform, cheering us on? All that they do, and they are taking time out of their days at home with their families to support us?! Amazing. I saw army guys dropping to do pushups with racers, yelling encouraging words and saluting the many runners carrying American flags through the course. I will admit, there was a point in the race where I teared up a little. We hit the 5K start point and I realized this is it, I am still running and there is just 3.1 miles between me and accomplishing a goal that I set for myself many months ago. I was going to run this whole race.
To quickly interject, this was also the first time I put this many miles on my New Balance Minimus. I strapped one knee and made sure to pay close attention to what my body was telling me throughout the race. Whenever I noticed that my knees started pulling (both did at various points during the race), I would take stock of my form and readjust. Am I standing up straight? Head up? Arms high and pumping? Landing on my midfoot? With these periodic checks, my knee pains would fade and I'd keep on running.
Mile 7 is where is got tough. 2.3 miles left to go, my knees are hurting, and I was starting to get winded. Thank goodness for mile 8. It was mostly downhill, which I desperately needed. Instead of flying down like a bat out of hell, I had been using my downhills to recover. Once I rounded the 8.3 mile mark and realized I only had a mile to go (thanks to a homemade sign: 1 mile to free beer), I got a burst of energy and felt a smile creeping to my face. Hey, Elvis was running right next to me, how could I be anything other than happy? Until...
I noticed that a lot of the people around me were walking. Who comes all the way to Utica to say, "Well I ran 8 miles and then walked across the finish." Most of the spectators lining the road were screaming for Elvis, who was also walking. It was not encouraging. I felt like I was going to die. I had to pee. I was thirsty. I was gasping for air. I hit the .5 miles to go mark. I didn't think I could do it. I wanted to just walk for a few tenths of a mile and then I was sure I would be able to finish the race. And then I remembered 3 things:
1. If I stop, there is a really good chance that my knees were not going to allow me to start again.
2. I am in toughness training, and I was currently being a wuss.
3. If I cross that finish line and tell Adam that I had to walk towards the end, he would never let me live it down and neither would I. I said from the start that I would run until I phyically could not run one more step.
So I kept going, saw the finish line, and crossed it at 1:55:19. I made it and in under 2 hours. I ran the whole thing, and I felt amazing, so proud of myself. After a quick stop in the medical tent for some preventative ice for my knee (which I knew was going to hurt later), I started the long walk to find my brother and Erin. Our designated meeting point is always the first fruit stand. We grabbed an orange slice, chugged a water and headed over to the beer tent. In a few minutes we were double-fisting some tasty Saranc Lagers and texting our supporters to meet up.
Four snow cones later, the kids were ready to go home for lunch, leaving me, Adam, Erin, Mike and my mom to meet up with my Aune Diane and enjoy this party. Water tents were scarce, beer stands were not. We hung out in the beautiful, sunny weather, laughed, danced, and enjoyed the amazing US Navy Band. At one point they had the entire crowd singing "Proud to be an American," and it brought tears to my eyes. There is a great video, somewhere on Adam's phone, of them closing the show with "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" and all of us jumping and singing at the top of our lungs.
We went home, ate, showered, napped. Capped off a great weekend with a trip to the Auburn, a failed attempt to visit the National Distance Running Hall of Fame (it was closed) and the brewery tour. All the years that I have visited Utica, I have never been on the brewery tour, my family always seems to plan it for the day before I arrive. My weekend was awesome, amazing, lovely, perfect....I could keep going. All that is left to say is that I am ready for next year. You couldn't keep my from Utica that weekend if you tried. My heart and my legs are happy. Oh and my actual finish time (per my chip) was 1:46:34. Pretty tough, huh?
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