For the past two weekends, I have had some lovely adventures that involved lots of mile. The one from last weekend shall be the focus of today’s thoughts. I was able to travel out of state for my first traveling mini break run vacation.
It all began many months ago, I would say at least 6 or so months ago. I was browsing through Facebook and I saw a friend of mine had posted photos from a half marathon relay. I loved this idea and I asked her about it. Now, being friends with people I served with, runs the chance of them being friends with my little sister and her husband, due to the nature of the military. It was the case with this friend, and within an hour, I got a message from my little sister asking if would be interested in doing a half relay with her in San Diego on June 2nd? Not really believing my eyes, and thinking it was too good to be true, I answered emphatically yes!! We worked it out and decieded that we would do this. So, after many days of training for this race, and many days that sister was still on deployment, we made it to the weekend of fun times.
Now, bear in mind my little sister has a small child, who, until the end of this year, is living with my mom, about a mile from my house. With two parents in the military, sometimes you have to do things that totally suck, and having to leave my niece with my parents, was not an easy choice for them, but, it’s how it’s working now. So, when it came time to go, my mom, sister and niece and I flew to San Diego on the last day of May. The baby and I get along swimmingly. We have so much fun playing together and making messes and getting into trouble. That’s what Aunts are for.
We got to the San Diego Convention Center around 11 am. Our goal for today, Friday, was to pick up the race stuff for my 5k the following morning, as well as our stuff for the relay on Sunday. We found our bib numbers rather quickly and then it was off to look for neat stuff from the vendors. The first time I got to do packet pickup, I felt hurried and unsure of what to do, but, as I run more and more of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Series races, the more I get to see what kind of fun things they sell there. We managed to pick up some sweet socks, headbands and belts to use for running on Sunday. It was around this time that my sweet neice was starting to fade. It was nearly lunch time, and being up so early in the morning was hard on all of us. Nap time would have to come around very soon.
Once we got to my sisters house, we brought our stuff in and put it in the correct rooms, and ate our lunch. Nap time, as I had predicted was next, but, I couldn’t sleep for some reason. I got up slowly, as to not wake up my mom, who was already awake. She suggested we go to the beach, it was a short walk away. I am all for this. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the ocean, think I should.
As it turns out, the ocean is less than a mile from sister’s house. Hooray!!! We walk along the beach, looking at the different shells, they looked like butterfly wings in the sand, so many different colors and sizes. It was nothing short of spiritual to be at the ocean, standing on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, watching the waves crash onto the sand. I stood mezmorizied for a long while.
Needless to say, I finally came back to reality and we went back to the house. It was time to think about food preparations for the upcoming races.
Fast forward to the next day. The race starts at 7, I have to be there about 30 minutes prior so I can go poop and try to not be so nervous. My sister gets up and drives me to the race area. It was good to spend so much time with her. I have missed her more than I let on. I have missed her being my best friend. We get up to the starting line, sort of, and I see one of my former shipmates. I give her a hug and she knows my sister as well. Oddly both are known to me as Lexi. We spent almost 30 minutes talking before the race and I am in a good mood now. It was a most unexpected wonderful surprise. I just wanted to finish this race and get a feel for how the next day should go.
We start the race, I’m in corral 3. I get going and I feel like I’m doing a good pace, but, wow, I had forgotten my inhaler, so there was that and i have to be honest, the hills were not a pleasant surprise. I wanted to have a good show on this day. I wanted to run the whole time. I nearly did too. Around the last mile, Lexi caught up to me and as I was walking, she linked her arm with mine and off we went. Even passed Barefoot Elvis. He was pretty rad in his get up and bare feet. Bare feet on pavement. I don’t go barefoot out of my house, there are too many things that could hurt my delicate feet. In the last half mile of the course, I couldn’t breathe. I slowed to a walk and watched as my friend disappeared into the crowd ahead of me. I kept pushing and wanted to finish strong. It’s not an easy task with they put the finish line at the top of a long slow hill. I think they hated us runners and wanted us to suffer for being crazy people out running for the fun of it. Once I crossed the finish line, sister was already there waiting for me. I got my medal and went to the beer garden for the victory beer. It was gross and I could only drink about half of it. But, none of the kids who passed me get to drink it, so, I do because I love knowing that.
On the way back to sisters house, we laugh and talked. It was so nice to get to spend some time with her. I have missed her a great deal. We had plans for some good food for lunch, and I was starting to get hungry. By the time we got back to her place, it was late morning. I showered, changed and made my way downstairs. after evaluating food, we decided to go to the beach for a walk. I get my shoes back on and away we go. I love the ocean. I love being near the ocean, I wish I could live close enough to hear the sound of the waves crashing down every night. It’s the most amazing sleep ever. I sat and stared out at the waves. It was a wonderful time and I played with the baby. She’s pretty funny. I kept wanting to take off my shoes, but, I hated the idea of getting sand in my running shoes, so, they stayed on my feet.
For the race on Sunday, we had to be at the starting line to begin the race at 6. That was super early for me, but, it’s all good. I was a bit chilled, but, again, knowing that I was about to run a 10k, I knew I would warm up soon enough. What was strange was I was in a very foward corral. Number six corral to be exact. I was stunned. Upon getting to the starting line, we again see Lexi. I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see her again. Especially if you consider how many people are running from that spot that day. There were close to 20,000 people participating, so to find a friend in those people, made me super excited. We again talked for nearly 20 minutes and then sister had to catch her shuttle to our relay point and I had to get to my corral. It was interesting starting so close to the front. I was out within the first 10 minutes of the race! Usually, I’m in the back, so this was super exciting for me. Most of the time in a race, I feel like I do well for the first mile or three or so and then from there my splits are slower getting further and further apart. Today, I had feared was going to be no different.
I can’t say that I remember a lot of that first part of the race for me. The support and love shown by the communities of Hillcrest, North Park, and Normal Heights was some of the best showing I have ever seen. So many wonderful people dressed up and sang and cheered for people they didn’t know doing something none of them have likely done, though, it’s possible they are just not running this particular morning in this race. I do remember when we started through the neighborhood though. There were houses where no one was outside watching, there were lots of folks sitting in their front yards waving and cheering. And then there were the spectators who did things for the runners. I must have passed so many people giving out shots and drinks, fruit and waters. It was so cool to see so many people who loved the show. I of course, had to stop at the bar that was serving mini shot servings of mimosas. I grabbed an orange slice from somewhere else. And then around mile 4.5 I came to the spot I had been somewhat dreading since I heard about it.
When I first joined the Facebook group, You vs. The Year sponsored by UA and MapMyRun, I had seen a video of a spot on the San Diego RNR marathon called the mile to remember. The person who shared the video has slipped my mind for now, but, I thought to myself as I was coming into this mile, I won’t stop, I won’t walk, I will run for these men and women who are lining the streets. This mile is dedicated to the men and women who have lost their lives serving this country. Some killed in action, some didn’t say, but the vast majority of them were young kids. Many of them not even old enough to have a drink in a bar in our country, and here is their photograph with a dates and their age when they died. I was hard pressed to not cry but I knew I was on the cusp of tears as I passed. And then once you come out of that section of the mile, the streets were heavily lined with people holding flags. Some were kids, some were parents, all were kind strangers cheering for us all. But in my heart, I cheered them and their effort to keep the memories of those men and women alive. They deserved more from us, and they died protecting the rights of the citizens of my country. I made sure to high five as many as of them as I could, of the ones that offered it at least. It was a powerful spot and I loved it!
From there it was a short distance to the relay exchange. In fact, the exchange came up quicker than I had imagined. I was asked my team name and pretty soon, within a few feet, I could see sister standing there, still wearing her jacket. For a brief moment, we were able to run together and giggle about things for no reason. She matched my slow lopping pace and then she was off and I was done with my part of the running.
Once I stopped and got my medal, and some gatorade, I made my way to the shuttles where I would be taken to the finish line so I could see my partner finish the race and we could celebrate together. This is where I started to have some issues. Our tracking never showed Lexi as starting her part of the race. It never showed me as stopping. I wasn’t able to see where she was so I had to guess and hope to find a spot by the rails so I could cheer for her as she came closer to the finish line. The crowd was massive downtown! It was nearly impossible to get through at certain spots. I was impressed by how many people came out to cheer for the runners. I was near a woman who had a sign that said Black Girls Run and I loved that, and that she cheered so loudly for her sisters. I couldn’t help but smile at some of the other people who were out supporting so many strangers.
Once my sister crossed the finish line, I had to somehow go find her now. This wasn’t an easy task but we managed to catch up with each other by the medical tent on the way out of the runners chute. We walked and talked down to the area where they did all of the other fun things like the merchandise sellers and beer garden. We found a spot on the grass and talked and stretched and relaxed for a few.
Overall, I loved doing this run with my sister. My parents have both expressed interest in doing this relay with us next year if possible. I am hopeful to see that happen. I loved seeing the ocean on this trip and I loved how much fun I had with my mom and sister and my niece. As for me and sister, well, she is sore and can’t understand why I would run for the fun of it. My friend Lexi however, has signed up for the race again next year. For me, I would love to do so, but, I don’t make plans that far in advance. There are far too many variables that I have to take into account. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!
The Morning High Runner 