26.2 Things About the Hilton Head Marathon...

26.2 Things about Hilton Head Marathon…

1.  When your shakeout run the day before feels harder than life itself, you get in your head a little and decide the race is not going to go as well as you anticipated.  When you check your bank account and the check you wrote to register for the race never cleared the bank, the pit in your stomach begins to grow.  When everything you touch seems to go wrong on marathon-eve, you decide running a marathon the next day is going to be a huge waste of time. When you drive 20 minutes to buy the sport beans you like for marathon fuel, and the store you usually get them at doesn’t have them, you further contend the odds are stacked against you and wonder if you should even bother to go.

2.When you go to get your ratched nails done on marathon-eve and a color you normally wouldn’t choose jumps out at you because it’s called “Boston University Red,” you decide it’s a sign/omen/good luck and are now sporting BUR on your fingertips.

3. When the weather you’ve stalked for weeks shows a break in the rain for your race, you become hopeful – but not too much.  Based on the weather, you pack a tank and skirt with pockets, foregoing the capris you bought specifically for the race.

4.  It begins to monsoon on the ride down there.  In your quest to pack efficiently, you’re wearing your running shoes.  You regret that decision because wet running shoes are no bueno.

5.  When you arrive at packet pick up and type your name into the computer, and you see your bib number, you begin to relax…just a little.  When your running buddy reminds you that you need fuel and the only vendor at the “expo” has your flavor sport beans, you get a little excited.

6. When you arrive at Mellow Mushroom and see the craft beer list is a mile long, you get excited…and sad because you know you can’t drink them all.  You’re running a marathon tomorrow!  When you order your calzone with tofu and vegan cheese, and your server brings it out to you saying, “I told them no parmesan or butter since you asked for tofu and vegan cheese,” you are appreciative. Your server rocks.  When you ask the server if they do half pours, because you’ve already consumed 2 beers, but want to try one last one, and he hooks you up with a what appears to be ¼ pour, you feel the universe starting to align for positive things.

7. When your friend hits a raccoon on the way to the hotel, laughing because, “You just ordered all of your food vegan-style and we killed a raccoon,” you start to get nervous about what the dead raccoon could possibly symbolize.  Ying and yang, you guess, but you’ve never eaten a raccoon, so there’s that…

8..  When your throat starts to hurt, and you’re sure it’s all in your head, but the flu is going around, so…..

9.  Hotel arrival.  Bed is comfy. Sleep like a rock.  Coffee works like a charm.  Nerves are, well, being neurotic.

10.  Arrive at start of race and lines for porta-potty are a mile long.  Make friends with a fellow runner also waiting in line.  8 porta-potties for 1000 runners is NOT enough. Become annoyed because lack of porta-potty facilities was one of the reasons you hesitated to sign up.  Become even more aggravated when the Race Director rides by on a moped and says, “Plenty of trees over there, folks!”  You. Must. Be. Kidding.  Stars are no longer aligned; in fact, they have now begun to spin wildly out of control like a centrifuge.

11.  You make it to the start line after a speed-record-breaking porta-potty visit, just in time to hear the airhorn signaling you’re starting.  You wish your new friend good luck and off you go!

12.  Your watch chirps – mile 1 – 8:03.  Mile 2 – 8:03.  In your mind, you feel it’s too fast.  You remember Richmond and how you started out too fast.  But this feels different.  You’re not injured.  You know those bridges are coming up.  You decide to do what every running coach tells you not to do – run at this speed as long as you can.

13.  You run up the first pass of the bridge and then down.  You run through a parking lot into a park and then onto an unpaved trail –that’s uphill.  You wonder, “What happened to flat and fast?’

14.  The split at mile 8. The full course becomes a ghost town.  Several times you wonder if you’re going the right way.  Many of the intersections in the neighborhoods aren’t manned and some of those that are manned are by nonchalant volunteers.  You have to ask several times which way to go.  You’re running well and all you can think about is that you’re going to go the wrong way and blow the whole thing.

15.  You run up the 2^nd pass of the bridge and you decide you’re going to smile.  Negative self-talk can’t get in if you’re smiling, right?

16. You turn a corner around mile 15 and there’s a field.  The course goes through a freaking grassy field.  You cuss – “Whose f-ing idea is this?”  You know you’re trashing your legs and are pissed.  The field is about ½ mile long.  There are horses.  At least the universe has jokes and you get a quick chuckle.

17.  Mile 16.  This is where you crashed and burned in Richmond.  You feel a little twinge of something - almost like PTSD. You get water, Gatorade, fuel and move on.  You made sure that water stop was super fast!  You’re still feeling good.  You look at your watch, do some quick running math and tell yourself that you’re less than a weekend long-run during the off-season from being done. 

18.  Time to head back up the bridge…again.  You see your friend and he’s struggling.  You chat for a minute and he tells you he feels ill.  You want to stay with him and help him through, but you’re running the race of your life.  You tell him, “Feel better, friend,” and off you go, feeling guilty and selfish.

19.  It’s time for the final pass of the bridge.  You have 4 miles to go and you’re just over 3:00 into the race.  Your music dies.  You pull your phone out, but your hands are too sweaty and your phone is too sweaty. Siri won’t listen, either.  You want to stop, but in your head, you hear your friend Emily saying, “If you stop to mess with music and you miss Boston by seconds, how pissed are you gonna be?”  You keep it moving.  And began to count to 1800 to pass the time.  Three of your slowest miles, but you kept moving.

20.  One foot in front of the other.  You’re counting. You’re delirious.  You want music. You see the cut through back to the park and know you’re almost done.  You look down at your watch and can’t believe your eyes.  You see the finish line festival and you hear your friend Skylar yell, “Go, Erica!” from across the lake.  You fist pump at hearing your name. At that instant, you’re glad your music died.

21. You hit the finish line chute…and there are 2 girls walking, taking up almost the whole thing.  Thankfully Skylar was there because she told them to move; you were too tired to communicate verbally at that instant and it was going to be a game of “Red Rover, Red Rover, send Erica right over.”

22.  You finish the race, grab your medal and begin frantically looking for water.  100% humidity and 70 degrees and there is no water to be found.  Skylar saves the day again by going to the Gatorade cooler and getting water. 

23.  Your newfound friend you met in line for the porta-potty sees you and asks you how you did.  When you tell him, he’s genuinely excited for you.  Runners are pretty great people!

24.  It’s beer time. You chat with one of the Rusty Bull proprietors and he gives you a super cool glass and selfies with you. It’s great to see a local face and have some great beer, even though the event guide says there would be a Craft Beer Garden with over 30 varieties. I saw RB only – which I’m ok with because I do love some RB.

25.  Inadequate porta-potties at the start, inadequate porta-potties on the course, trail/field running on a “fast and flat” ROAD course, no free beer, 4 passes over that bridge, running on roads not closed to traffic, "Where's Waldo" with the finish-line water and less than pleasant interactions with some of the staff makes Hilton Head one of my LEAST favorite races.  

26. Having your husband believe in you more than you believe in yourself, missing your son’s baseball practice to drive down to watch you finish your goal race because he knows you’d accomplish what you set out to do – even if you didn’t believe it - makes it worth it.

…and of course…

.2  Finishing almost 16 minutes faster than your PR…. Coming in 2^nd in your Age Group… And qualifying for Boston?  These are the things runners live for. I’m still in shock, but grateful and humbled that my body carried me 26.2 miles and allowed me to achieve these goals!

It still hasn’t sunk in.

I QUALIFIED FOR BOSTON.💙💛😱💛💙