Race Weekend: The B's participate in LB marathon events

A few months ago, I was looking at signing up JT for the Aquarium Kids run. While checking it out I mentioned the 26.2 mile Bike Tour to Mr. B. We've been talking with the guys at our shop about doing a biggest loser challenge. Everyone wants to get into better shape. Everyone wants to be healthier, everyone is tired of feeling like junk, competition is healthy. I told our guys that Rock Steady would cover the entrance fees if they agreed to ride in the bike tour. So they started riding.  Each of them covering 10-20 miles a day. Mr B got a heart rate monitor and made adjustments to his bike to get his productivity up. We made up some awesome jerseys and they looked awesome.




In the excitement of sending my hubs off in the morning on his bike as I juggled los kiddos, I decided that I wanted to join that high. I wasn't going to buy a bike too and get to pedaling but I did decide to get my feet moving. I signed myself up for the LB 1/2 marathon with 27 days to get it in gear.

Last year I completed my first 1/2 marathon. Last year I took myself from being an "I'd rather die" non-runner to "I love running... when I'm done" 1/2 marathon completer. My goal was to finish in 3:30 and I came across the line at 2:59.50. I trained all year. I did a program called C25K which was nine weeks long and through intervals, I went from only being able to run for one minute to being able to run for thirty minutes without stopping. I participated in two 5K runs and a mud run before doing the 13.1 miles last October. I figured I could do it again.

HeaBug works out twice a week at her gym. One day for ninety minutes and the other day for two hours. Instead of sitting on my computer (catching up on blogging) I laced up my shoes and took my first run "back". The first day, I managed 4.11 miles in an hour. I felt great. I continued these longer training runs up and around signal hill. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster but I wasn't experiencing any shin pain (last year I had a small stress fracture in my tibia that caused terrible pain. I ran the 1/2 marathon through it and when I visited the Dr. a week later and x-ray showed the fracture). I upped my runs to 5 and 6 and even 7 miles. I got several good runs in and felt pretty prepared even with just a month of training.

We kicked off the weekend with the first event. The Aquarium Kid's 1 Mile Run. JT participated last year and ran an 8min 12sec mile. We were impressed. Our other Booth Fam was participating too. The Twins ran with the nine year old wave and did great! JT took off with the other seven year olds and AMAZED us by coming in 3rd! He's so fast and between baseball and gymnastics, is just so conditioned! I'm incredibly impressed.

We spent the afternoon downtown and went to the fitness expo to pick up race packets for Mr. B and myself. We picked up some gear from vendors and tried lots of samples. JT and HeaBug probably got more than their daily doses of protein and energy with all the bars, blocks, drinks and gels they sampled. We had a great time though. We headed home to rest up before our early morning ahead. Maga came over to spend the night with the kids so we weren't dragging them along.

Rock Steady guys were super pumped and excited to ride the tour. A few of us met up to take the train downtown. The bike event started at 6am so we needed to be down there before 5:30. We caught the 4:51 blue line... Yes. A M . I KNOW. That meant Mr. B was up at 3:15. And chatty. I am not chatty that early/late/whatever. He was excited but I was just trying to conserve my energy since my run didn't start until 7:30. They were infectious though. With their giddy excitement. You couldn't help but smile along with them. Breeze came along for support. She was the cheering squad of the Rock Steady Racers/Riders/Runner. She handled that like a boss.

The fellas got off to their start and later told of the crashes they saw and how difficult it was to maneuver between the 4000 riders along the 26.2 mile course. All in all they enjoyed the riding though.

My wave started at 7:30 and my goal was to beat my previous time. For the first few mile markers I stopped to take pictures of myself by the signs. After the 4th though, I was just committed to finishing. I spotted a friend around mile 5 and waved. I did a run/walking combo and felt ok. Admittedly I kept searching for Mr. B. He met me at mile 11 last year, right at the time I could no longer feel my feet. He had company at the end though so I wasn't expecting to see him but still hoping.  Crazy awesome sign holders cheered on the runners. I high-fived a lot of people. A lot.

There's a big sign one mile from the end that says "You're almost there". I started to tear up. Coming down the hill to the finish line, Katy Perry's Firework came on in my ear and I KNEW I could do it. I did a little jump over the finish. Got my foil blanket and my medal, took my picture, took out my earphones, and went in search of my blue bag with my banana and pretzels and my coconut water. Coming through the post race area I heard some serious Woot Woots and cowbell clangs... My posse was cheering for me from the other side of the chain link. At that moment, I felt quite on top of the world.

 Rock Steady Riders and Runner. Ride Hard, Run Fast. Don't Die.

In the post race high, I signed up to run the Surf City 1/2 Marathon and the OC 1/2 Marathon. If you run all three, it accomplishes the Beach Cities Challenge and you get a special medal. Next year, when we do LB again, I'll be a Beach Bum... 3 consecutive years.

I love running... when I'm done. No really. I think I don't hate it anymore.