Bib: 925
28:05: Final Time
Chiptime: 27:27
J.T., Me, Yi, Thie
I started the race with J.T. thinking I could maybe keep up with him (what a joke). As soon as we crossed the start line, J.T. yelled "35!" and then he vanished into thin air. I knew what "35" meant, though. We crossed the start line when the clock was at 35 seconds. So, I knew whatever the clocks said on the course, I had to subtract 35 seconds from it. I hit my baby wall around 1/2 a mile. Not sure why I do this but my body acts like it is going to shut down about a 1/2 mile into any race or actually into any run of mine. I pretend like it isn't happening and push through it. It lasts about a minute and then, I'm usually a running machine.
The weather was beautiful...and hot...and windy. We ran behind the captial and at one point, we ran past the Michigan Historical Museum. I suddenly remembered being 12 or 13 and working a water station for the Run For Shelter race. It was an awesome memory and propelled me through another 1/4 mile.We went up and down the streets behind the capital and at one point, the wind was so strong, I was running in place. But the song "Stand" by Rascal Flatts was on my MP3 player and the lyrics really pushed me on.
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you’re made of
You might bend ‘til you break
Cause it’s all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand
No walky for me. The other thing that kept pushing me on was hearing Todd Thie's voice before I left, "You will break 28 minutes today. Push hard after that 2nd mile." Well, after that 2nd mile, I was dead tired. I would try to step it up a bit but quickly, I moved back to a slower pace. It was around this time I started thinking about the Breast Cancer survivors, the ones who have it now and the ones who didn't survive. I saw the sign "In memory of Barb Farmer" on the back of someone's shirt and it inspired me to keep going.
I rounded the 2nd to last curb. This was where the good-looking police officer was standing. I admit to going out of my way just to high five him but it really encouraged me to step it up again. So did all of the people cheering us on from the sidelines. I knew MY people were on the corner of Capital street, though. Soon enough, I saw them...but there was a surprise there, too.
Joey had made it from Riverview to cheer me on. I saw him and then saw Todd sitting on the ground. He was yelling at me hard while taking pictures. Joey was holding up 2 fingers signaling how many blocks I had. Apparently, J.T. was there, too but there was so much going on. I turned that last corner and I tried to light it up. Problem was that I was running up a steady, small slope. The finish line looked a hundred years away. I could hear Joey yelling at me and running with me on the sidewalk. J.T. was right there, too. I tried...I really tried to push it but I was out of steam. Just before crossing the finish line, I saw my step-mom yelling for me. I gave her a half hearted wave, all I could muster, and then I crossed the finish line. 28 minutes. But after subtracting the 35 seconds, my actual time was 27:27. My personal best and I blasted my goal by 30 seconds.
After the race, someone handed me some sort of orange drink. I took a huge swig and almost threw up. It had fake sugar in it which makes me just sick. I wandered over to a building, calmed myself down, thanked God for getting me through it, and then found my step-mom. It was an awesome race. As we walked around looking for Joey, Todd, J.T., and Yi, people handed me a flower and then someone else put a medal around my neck. It was an awesome feeling. The best feeling, though, was seeing the survivor's faces...smiling through streaming tears, happy to just be there. Way cool.
