10 MINUTE MILE: More pics and thoughts from Vancouver

Well, the race was only a week ago and it feels like I haven't run in 6 months. I took a well needed break this week to rest my body and contemplate what's next for me. It's hard to articulate into words what this race was like without sounding totally cliche. It was amazing from start to finish.

We started promptly at 7am, with perfect weather. I was well rested from the night before, and at the last minute changed into my lightweight Patagonia technical shirt, which ended up being too hot after about 4 miles. I also wore my cute blue gloves that came in my race pack. Yeah, took those off at mile 2, and held onto them throughout the whole race! Didn't want to lose them.

We ran through some really cool parts of Vancouver: Chinatown, through some sketchy parts of downtown, along the water, and about 6 miles of Stanley Park before heading along Beach Avenue back to the Expo finish. I was pacing ahead of schedule up until mile 7, when I briefly stopped to stretch out my back and legs. Headphones were banned from this race, and this was the first time I had run any significant distance without music. Without this sensory distraction I was much more aware of my other senses - sights and sounds, and of course pain. So after my quick stretch, I was running again, crossing the 7 mile sign at exactly 77 minutes. At around mile 8 I hit the big 200' hill that I had been anticipating. My race strategy for conquering hills is simple - walk it! So I power walked the whole thing. I figured it was good to conserve energy here, I would need it over the next 5 miles. After about 3/4 of a mile, I finally cleared the top of the hill and then headed down, down, down! I think that downhill mile was the single greatest moment of my life! Or at least it felt that way at the time. I picked up some speed here and crossed mile 9 only 3 minutes behind schedule at 102 minutes.

I knew at this moment that I would achieve my goal of finishing in under 2 hours 30 minutes, and that was a great feeling and relief. Right around mile 10, however, I started getting side cramps I'm assuming from drinking Gatorade along the course. I walked for about a minute and worked out the cramps, and started running again. The last 2.5-3 miles were truly difficult; at mile 11 I started speaking out loud to myself - swearing over and over and coaching myself to keep going. The crowd was really supportive here and I really appreciated their words and shouts of encouragement, some even calling out to me by name (which was on my race bib), which totally choked me up.

When I passed the 12 mile mark I really, really wanted to stop. A few yards later I saw the "1 mile to go!" sign and checked my watch - 2:17. Crap! Too close to slack now! Somehow I finished that last mile; honestly, I don't know how. Once the finish line was in sight I got a sudden boost of energy and began to sprint! I was so happy and was fighting back the tears as I crossed the finish line. We were given our medals and blue plastic blankets as we were ushered through the crowd and this is when I really started getting choked up. The damn medal! That's what I wanted!

This whole experience has been awesome and has changed my life in so many ways. It's taught me to really let go of my perfectionist tendencies and be willing to fail at something. I've learned that just "doing it" is good enough. I've felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment for setting my sights on a huge goal that took a lot of time and effort to achieve. And I've come to appreciate my body for it's strength and physical ability rather than judging it for its shortcomings. I feel lighter and happier and more appreciative for everything that I have, and I can't wait to discover what is next on the horizon for me....

A few more pics from Vancouver, 5/4/08:

Here I am at the race start - light blue shirt, arms in the air waving my cool blue gloves. We anxiously awaited the start gun amid dozens of red and white Canadian beach balls being tossed through the air. Very festive.

I have to say, my race photos taken out on the course are absolutely atrocious. I can't even post them here... anyway, here's me at the finish line, 2 and 1/2 hours later. What a race! The last 2 miles were agonizing. Nicole snapped this pic just as I crossed; my chip time was 2:28:13. I was trying not to cry.