Mission Accomplished!

As of April 30, I can officially say that I have achieved all of my 2011 resolutions.

Read through the Bible in 90 days?  Check.

Train for and run a half-marathon?  Check.

I think that it’s time for some new goals.

This weekend was a big one for me.  On Friday, I left for Champaign, Illinois, with my Women 2 Women group from church.  We had been training since January for the Illinois Half-Marathon, and it was finally race weekend!

Upon arrival at our hotel, we were greeted by clerks decked out in race-volunteer t-shirts, who, after ascertaining that we were running the next day, offered us bottles of water, boxes of raisins, and well wishes.  We dropped off our stuff and headed over to the University of Illinois campus to pick up our race packets.

Our timing chips were actually attached to our bibs for this race (a first for me), so we got them activated, grabbed our goody bag, which included a really nice pink tech t-shirt, and then headed into the expo center.  While I’m sure this expo was small compared, say, to the one offered at the Chicago marathon, it was offering some really nice running gear and lots of information about nearby future races.

I stopped at a Spibelt booth and found the running belt that I have been looking for without even knowing it for a very long time:  something that will hold a phone, a key, and perhaps a block of energy gummies, without bouncing around or also holding a water bottle.  For this half-marathon, I also needed the belt to hold my driver license, hotel room key, and credit card.  The Spibelt expands for holding many things and shrinks back for holding few things.

I love it!  Check out the website (www.spibelt.com) if you are in the market.  I think this is one of my favorite running products!  (And, no, they’re not paying me for this free advertisement.  But when I see a product I like, I feel the need to share!)

After the expo, we headed to the Olive Garden for some pre-race carbs for supper.  We ended up with a really bad waiter who thought he was being clever and cute when he basically told us upon seating that things were crazy that night and we shouldn’t have too high of expectations for service.  (Really?)  In spite of that, we had some good food.  And, being the wild and crazy ladies that we all are, we were back at our hotel by 9:00, ready for bed.

We were all up 5:00 the next morning.  Because our hotel was an official marathon partner hotel, it starting serving breakfast at 5:30, instead of the normal 7:00.  I grabbed a bagel and an apple, since I figured the biscuits and gravy might not settle well for the morning ahead, and then we headed back over to campus by 6:00.

The marathon started at 7:00; the 10K at 7:22; and the half-marathon at 7:30.  As soon as the 10kers took off, we moved to the staging area for our race.  We were hoping to finish somewhere between 2:15 and 2:20, so we found the sign for that time and hopped in the pack.

At 7:30, we shuffled forward toward the starting line.  We crossed it about three minutes after the race started, and we were officially on our way!

I couldn’t imagine a nicer day for a long run.  The temperatures were in the mid-fifties, and the skies were overcast for the entire time that we were running.  We ran through shaded neighborhoods lined with well-wishers and a couple of park trails.  Every so often, we passed on-course entertainment, including an Elvis impersonator, a Dixie band of senior citizens who played in front of their retirement village, and an interesting group called Shark Bandit who wore 80’s- style basketball uniforms complete with tight white shorts and knee-high tube socks and were singing “Ice, Ice, Baby” as we ran by.  It was a bit windy, but we only noticed it in the park, which featured Illinois prairie grass rather than wind-breaking trees.

There was a guy who started close to us who was pacing for a 2:18 finish, and we stuck pretty closely to him for about half the race.  But, then, we were all feeling so good that we decided to just press on at a faster pace, figuring that we could always slow down later if necessary.

The race ended at the 50-yard-line in the football stadium, which was really cool!  Cheering crowds lined both sides of the course during the last half mile as we ran from the street into the stadium.  More people were cheering in the stadium as runners came in, and the four of us finished together in 2:13:19, a couple minutes faster than we had hoped!

It was awesome!  And it was even better because I ran this with three friends.

Of course, I don’t have any pictures.  However, if you are on Facebook, I posted a picture that my friend and co-runner Ashley asked somebody to take after we finished the race.  (I’m wearing my nifty Spibelt in the picture.  However, I did NOT run with it on my front for the race!)

We ended our time on campus by grabbing some post-race food of pasta, fruit, and Papa John’s pizza.  Then, it was back to the hotel for quick showers and back home for the rest of our Saturday.  We were gone less than 24 hours, which seems pretty crazy!

And that’s my big race story.

As Sunday, May 1, was my birthday, my weekend was not quite over.  And I’ll tell you about that next time.

Have a good one!