Thirteen point one (Round deux)

Rock and Roll!! I ran the rock and roll half marathon in San Diego on June 5th. It was an amazing course! First, they started us in Balboa park. The amount of people that were gathered in the park was complete mayhem. There were 35,000 people that ran this thing! I was in the lucky number 13 corral, so I started like 20 minutes after the first horn blew. Normally I run with an ipod, but I figured this was the rock and roll marathon, and bands were playing every mile so I didn't need it. BIG mistake. Next year, I will know better.

We ran a big loop around the park, and then (this is the best part), we entered the freeway! They shut down the 163 freeway which goes through the park and the zoo. I love driving on this freeway because it is so pretty, running on it was even better. Except for the hill. Most of the course was flat except for a little 2 mile incline on the freeway. That part sucked but I still managed to keep on pace to finish below 2 hours (that was my goal). The only crappy part about the freeway run was that when you entered the freeway on the ramp, and exited the freeway after mile 7ish the road was uneven. (point of this to come later). Despite these two short falls, this was still my favorite part of the run.

Once you left the freeway, we ran on friars road, which is a very busy intersection normally. But of course, it was shut down as well. We passed fashion valley mall, and headed toward the ocean. The music finally started to get good at this point, because there was some local band playing a little Britney. It gave me a spring to my step! Plus, there were people cheering on the runners everywhere on this road! The best sign that I saw was, "Run faster, I just farted". I seriously busted out laughing when I saw that sign.

Everything was going splendedly up until this point. However, things were about to drastically change. I hit mile 10. I knew that I was going to have problems when I got to this point. The past three weeks I had a small hip injury, and finals so I hadn't ran for 3 weeks. I was not about to forfeit the race, so I decided to run anyway. But, being out of commission for three weeks prior to the race definitely took a toll on me when I reached mile 10. I started to feel some pain in my hip and my foot. Also, i've had back and neck problems for a while. I've been working on fixing my posture so as to not hold my head forward (this has caused my spine to shift forward). I've noticed I still had been holding my head forward when I ran, but it's hard to change something that you have done your whole life. I noticed at mile 10, that I started to get this numbness feeling shooting up my back towards my neck. Within a mile, my entire head was numb. Despite all of this loveliness I kept pushing through. Although a little slower than I had been. In fact, I had ran the entire way up until this point. When the pain got a little too bad, I stopped and walked twice for a minute a piece. This was more of a mental pep talk. I allowed myself to be weak, but only for a minute, and only twice.

We ended the race at Sea World. I was so excited to see that I was getting closer to the finish line. Once you passed mile 13, there were thousands of people watching all of the runners come in and cross the finish line. It definitely helped me push through that last .1 of a mile. I have never been happier to finish a race! I didn't make my 2 hour mark. I finished in 2:10. But, I am determined to finish the next one below 2 hours. I'll get there. Jake and Ana Banana met me at the finish line and we celebrated for about 10 minutes before hopping in the car to head to church and teach primary. The funniest part was when I got in the car, I took of my shoes and my right foot, specifically all the toes, were all bloody! haha.

The next day was a little torturous. That pain I felt in my foot had not gone away. I continued to walk on it and stretch for the next week but it was only getting worse. Jake finally talked me into going to the doctor a week later. Turns out, I pulled a muscle and have been on crutches for a week and half! That's exactly why I was avoiding going to the doctor. This is my first time on crutches, and I swear when I am done with them, I am going to burn them. I would not wish these stupid things on my worst enemy. Thinking back to the race, I believe where I pulled my muscle had to have been the stupid freeway entrance or exit where the ground was uneven. I've never had a problem with straight hills up or down before, so this had to of been it. Ironically, my lucky number 13 corral wasn't so lucky, and my favorite part of the race is what injured me. Yet, I loved it and I will probably run it again next year!