I have been to purgatory

Yesterday I finished my second half marathon during the hottest day of the year in Seattle. It also happened to be the hilliest course I have ever run.

We'll start with the good part... like the first 5 miles were no problem. It was a little warm, but we ran across the 520 Bridge (photo to the left) and had the benefit of a nice cool breeze coming off the water. I couldn't even believe we had been running for an hour already!

Everything was going fine until I saw the 7 mile marker...

half way up a hill.

Wait a second... this course was supposed to be flat! I had checked the course elevation map and the biggest hill should be coming between mile 11 and mile 12 (coincidentally the hardest mile in a half marathon, right?) Here's the course map provided by the race (to the right), which shows some rolling hills, but for the most part, a fairly manageable course.

Chris and I are able to get through the first two hills. There are some wonderful spectators on their lawns wetting us down with their hose and sprinklers. It feels great for a moment before all the water evaporates off my skin...

Damn, it's hot.

We get the satisfaction of running down hill, only to turn the corner and see...

another incline?!?!

I started running up it, but I was going so slow I knew I had to walk... it was too much. My heart was pounding and I could not cool off. I checked my heart rate monitor... 178! And I'm walking... partially in the shade!

As a reference for me, here's how the heart rates break down:

165- Nice, easy 11 minute-mile
175 - Pushing for a 10+ minute-mile
180- Running uphill in cool weather
189- Heart is about to pound out of my chest, incredibly uncomfortable

I realize I need to to take it easy, especially if I want to have anything left for those last dreaded miles. I stopped at every water station and walked while I downed glucose and water.

I'm able to keep chugging along, but this part of the race was definitely challenging. I knew Deb would be at mile 10.5, so I had to at least make it that far!

Deb was actually a little past mile 11, which actually made all of mile 10 go by much more quickly! She asked how it was going, all I could say was, "this sucks!"

I knew I only had two miles to go, but I started to feel all sorts of strange sensations in my body. My hands had swollen to the point where it was painful to try to close my fingers. My feet were swollen and my shoes felt so tight. My left ankle shot pain up my leg with each step, meanwhile my right hamstring felt like it was on the verge of cramping.

And I had the chills! I could feel the goosebumps showing up on my arms, and I felt cold, yet feverish. I even starting getting a tingling sensation on my face.

Then Chris and I hit the even larger hill. I knew I had to walk it. We both decided to walk to the top and see how we felt about running the downhill afterward. As we were walking Chris saw this gal we had started with. Her shirt said, " I thought this was supposed to be a beer run!" She really wanted to beat her, so she picked up the pace.

I did not.

I felt like I was lucky to be walking at this point.

I came to the mile 12 marker, only a mile to go... slightly downhill. I started to run again. I was sooooo slow. I just could not muster enough strength to pick up the pace. I could see Chris off in the distance. But she was too far. I couldn't catch up. I just had to take it at my own, very slow, pace.

Before I knew it, I turned the corner and I was in the shoot and could see the finish line. It's funny, at this point during Vancouver I started choking up because I was so proud of my accomplishment. This time, they were literally tears of joy. I knew not to let myself totally cry because I can't breathe, but I didn't care, I was sooooo excited for this to be over!

Then some dude started coming up on my left... No way Jose! I somehow found some strength to pick up the pace and finish before him!

And then there was watermelon! Woo hoo! I could not think of a better post-race treat! My face was covered in watermelon by the time I met up with Deb, Chris, and Chris' family.

I don't even care about my time, or the fact that I had to walk more than I would have liked. I am so ecstatic that experience is over. I was so nervous the night before and it turns out, the race was even more terrible than I had imagined it would be. But I survived!

Chris later emailed me the actual course elevation and map:













Yeah, that's more what it felt like. Every agonizing step... But I couldn't be more happy that I did it. I probably won't put myself through that again... but now I really know that even when things seem terrible, if I just put my head down and take one step at a time, I'll get through it.

I'm too stubborn not to.

Portland, here I come!