Hello New World!!!!!!
It's been awhile since my last post... but I've had good reasons! It's the last month of school, we had a BIG 80th birthday bash for Nan (my super sassy grandma), I've been tryin to squeeze in as much time as I can with Heffe who has been furiously studying (hims a smarty pants and just started classes for his MBA).... oh yeah... and I was busy rack-rack-racking up the miles on my running shoes!!
Cap City whhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut!!!
Running a half marathon in under 2 hours was a New Year's resolution for me. This race means a lot me. The night week before the race, I'm trying to not freak out. Failing a little... but mostly holding it together. I, like most people I know, don't handle failure very well... not breaking 2 hours would mean I didn't keep a New Year's resolution... Like I said... this race means a lot to me.
Friday night: Thanks Amish and Heffe for coming with me to the expo to pick up my packet!!!
Pretty sweet that I get my name on my bib! Not that ANYONE can pronounce it... that's another ball of wax. :)
So, Heffe and Amish also get up at the CRACK of dawn with me on Race Day to drive me downtown. Mama and Papa Sciato came to town to watch me run... yeah!!! Here we are all pre-race... very attractively standing inside their hotel lobby... out of the chilly May merning.
Aaaaah, a little grainy... probs for the best. Mornings aren't the Sciato's best looks.
Hokay. So. I finally get out of the port-o-potty line and am ready to get my run on!!! It's super awkward waiting in the corral by myself... so I put on some tunes and JAMMED... by myself. :) Until I heard the Star Spangled Banner playing by a saxophonist. [Perhaps this is a posting that needs to be separate... but have you ever stopped to consider what a GREAT country we live in?! Honestly... We are so blessed and fortunate and we take it for granted almost everyday. We have a LOT to be thankful for, New World. God Bless America.] So I got all choked up by the Star Spangled Banner and realized that I've never participated in an event where they play the National Anthem before the start. I'm feeling pretty freaking righteous and unstoppable at this point. Let me outta the gate already!!!!
I don't know these people... this is from the corral. Whatever, I held up my phone as high as I could... girlfriend's short arms didn't get very high. This is the moment I like to refer to as the Running of the Wildebeests... as in the infamous scene from The Lion King when Scar lures Simba into the gorge and the hyenas scare the wildebeests into a frenzy of running and fleeing all because Scar knew Mufasa would come to rescue Simba and then ultimately Scar kills Mufasa. My goal at the beginning of every race is to not be Mufasa.
FINALLY.... I get to start!
Mile .5- My GPS fails. I use the Nike+ Running app religiously. It works EVERY time. I don't know what happened, or if just being downtown gave me a weak signal, but after 4 minutes, the app told me I had run 1 mile. Um.... not. Whatever... it's still timing me, I can still monitor my pace with the time against the marked miles on the course... I can still break 2 hours. I can still break 2 hours. I can still break 2 hours. (that's my inner voice pushing down the panic of something not going exactly perfectly on race day.)
By Mile 2, people are already stopping to pee and puke... Seriously? Okay, peeing I get.. but for real, did you not train? Why are you puking at mile 2?! You've got 11.1 more to go, pumpkin!!!
Mile 4- I stop for a shot of water. I was hoping that by this point the bobbing and weaving of said "Running of the Wildebeests" would be over. It was not. There were 14,000 people running this race... on 1 side of the road. I get it, but man, it was really tough. I was bobbing and weaving until ... mile 13.
Mile 8- I see Heffe, Amish, Mama, and Papa Sciato!!!!! Yeah!!!!!! I'm keeping a good pace, just under 9min/mi, and I'm feeling great.
Miles 9-10- I hit the dreaded "wall". The bobbing and weaving had caught up with me. I was getting pooped. I'm kicking myself, too... Amish had Clif Shot Blocks waiting for me at Mile 8, which I declined because I was feeling so great. Idiot Sciato. Never again. This ain't my first rodeo! I shoulda known better.
Miles 10-12- All I can think is WHERE THE HELL IS MILE 11?!!! Sneaky race people have a habit of leaving out the last mile marker or 2... I've noticed this at every half marathon I've ran, and also at the full Heffe and I ran. Well, I was still trying to break through the "wall", and I forgot about this evil evil trick. I stopped at a water stop for about 30 seconds to stretch. I thought to myself, man, I knew I was slowing down, but I didn't realize my pace was slowed to over a 10 min/mi, I'm never going to break 2 hours. I threw down my water cup and mentally shouted, GET BACK UP SCIATO, and got back up. Shortly after... I past mile marker 12. Evil. Tricks.
Last Mile.1- I'm literally giving everything I have. I'm singing in my head, and running with all I have left. Of course, this is the point in the course that is the most steady and steep incline. Way to plan!!!! Enough with the evil tricks! Right before I hit the peak, I'm thinking I might throw up, I might trip... DON'T TRIP! DON'T TRIP! I see the flags marking the finish line, and just completely lose my cool and start sprinting with all the energy I can muster. I looked frantically for my entourage, but could barely keep my head up and I was hoping just a little that they didn't see me hitting this breaking point, but I kept running as fast as I could (which seriously couldn't have been that fast at that point, hahaha I was tired!)
Crossed the finish line... almost fell over... checked my phone/app.... 14.1 miles (damn wildebeests)... 1:59:52.
AAAAAAALLELUIA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLELUIA!
I'm finished running... and I'm praying to GOD that I really did break 2 hours...
Well..... :) :) :)
At brunch with my entourage... we checked the race stats.... I officially finished in 1:59:45. :) :) :) :)
I don't even care that I snuck in under 2 hours by the skin of my teeth.
I DID IT. :) :) :) :)
AND......
Just yesterday, Heffe and I ran a 5k in 23:53. Heffe is a dude with strong legs and a long stride and has been running for a LONG time... WHO AM I?!?!?!
The best part about this 5k is that it was for the American Cancer Society... yes, we had a rockstar time, but the thought of being a part of something as huge as finding a cure for cancer... brings me back to Earth real quick.
Pain is temporary. A cure is forever.
So. With breaking 2 hours on a half marathon... with setting a new PR for a 5k... with supporting the American Cancer Society....
Bring it on, Cbus. The Columbus Marathon. October 20, 2013.
Come watch me cheat death. :) Like my good friend Walt Disney says... If you can dream it, you can do it.
:)
Until next time....
This is me. Bein me.
Cheers. :)
