seattle rock n' roll half

This is it!

My long-anticipated trip to Seattle to run the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon with my good friend Rachel. :)

I hadn't had the opportunity to train as thoroughly as I would have liked...but I felt good and mostly excited to run another race, and this time, with a good friend.

 Day 1 in Seattle: Pick up race packets.

Here we are with our packet of goodies!

We had to park kinda far...but grateful for Rachel who offered to drive since it's been so long since I've driven in Downtown Seattle!

 And after picking up our packets, we met up with another great friend, who also happens to be named Rachel!  Look at us girls...reunited after 22 years (give or take)!
Okay, confession, I met up with both these ladies 2 years ago when we visited, but it still amazes me that we've manage to remain in contact after so many years!  We used to be in  Primary and Young Women together!

 Oh, and can't forget our lunch.

Mmm...Panera!

(Rachel's daughter Alice also likes Panera!)

Day 2: 

Since race time was pretty early, we were lucky enough to hitch a ride with Rachel's friend on the way down.  Yay for not having to drive myself!!

I spent the night at Rachel's house and we headed to the Seattle Center early in the morning.

I was a bundle of nerves and excitement!

And then things sort of went downhill from there.

To make a long story short, I didn't properly refuel while running and probably didn't do an adequate job of loading up on my calories pre-race.  I tried to keep up with Rachel in the beginning...but it was obvious that I was holding her back.  I felt SO bad!  At mile 10, I told her to take off and that I'd meet her at the finish.

Those last 3 miles were pretty tough for me.

Here's some pictures I took off the web. 

  I didn't buy the actual prints...so excuse the watermark! Ha!

 This was the 10K mark, I believe.  I still felt pretty good here!

 This was probably around mile 8 or so?

I wasn't feeling spectacular...but was still able to push along...

This was about mile 10.  Right before Rachel left me to sprint ahead.

I felt so bad for keeping her at my snail pace!!  

Next time, I'll just let her go ahead and plan to meet at the end!!

But she was such a great support and cheerleader for me the whole time!

And here I am near the finish line.

I think it would be safe to say that I was pretty delirious here.

My mind was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other...I just wanted to be DONE!

In my mind I kept thinking..."Why am I so tired?! What's wrong with me?!"

Which is when I came to the conclusion that I just didn't prepare myself adequately before the race...and didn't fuel my body enough during the race either.

After finally crossing the finish line and walking to the water and food tables, I started to feel really dizzy.

My legs were a bit sore, but nothing out of the ordinary...however, my mind kept spinning and I couldn't walk straight.  It was pretty scary, actually. And for the first time post race, I had to sit down.

I found a shade nearby (even though it was kind of cold out) and sat down on a curb.  When I tried to stand up to stretch my legs, I found myself ready to collapse so decided to sit down for a while longer.  Which is when I realized that I couldn't even think coherently.  My speech was slow, my movements sluggish, and I couldn't concentrate on anything.  Rachel, bless her heart, took such good care of me by walking to the food tables and bringing me food to eat.  I scarfed a banana, some bites of a bagel, some sport beans, and a few sips of Gatorade.  I don't know how long I sat there on that curb in the shade, but I'm guessing it must have been around a half hour to 45 minutes.  Maybe even longer?  I saw a lot of people walk by and even some people in wheel chairs.  I recall thinking to myself, "Oh my goodness, I might have to get wheeled out of here too!"  Because I still couldn't walk and found my brain unable to even use my phone to make a phone call!

Thankfully, after sitting and eating and resting, I somehow managed to stand up (with the help of Rachel, of course!) and continue walking out of the finish line area, out to the Seattle Center where everyone was gathering.  I still walked like a drunk person, but at least I managed to stay upright and my mind was slowly coming back to me.  

 After an hour or so, I even felt good enough to take a picture of Rachel and I.

She was cold, so was wrapped in the foil blanket...which I borrowed afterward since it really was pretty chilly for June!  Then again, it was technically still around 10AM at this time.

Honestly, this was the most fatigue and exhaustion I've ever felt during a race...including both FULL marathons I've run!

And incredibly, I managed to finish in 1:59.  Not a PR by any means, but just under 2 hours.  

Considering how I felt...it was a success in my book!

Yay for not dying or collapsing on the course!

And after the race, I continued to feel terrible for the next day and a half.

My stomach was in knots and I couldn't eat ANYTHING for almost 24 hours.

Which was such a bummer since I met up with my good friend Sara for dinner the night after the race and found myself unable to eat ANYTHING! And the WORST part of it all was that we walked to a super cute little restaurant in her neighborhood and the food sounded amazing!

I vow to go back with Sara on my next trip and definitely enjoy some yummy food with her in her uber chic neighborhood restaurants.   You'll also note that I have NO pictures of my dear friend Sara. THAT'S how bad my mind was working...I forgot to take a picture!  Darn! Definitely next time!

Day 3: 

 Anyway, around 36 hours after the race, my stomach was semi-normal and I realized that I couldn't leave Seattle without first enjoying some crab.  Granted, I was a bit nervous about my stomach being able to keep up with my appetite...but thankfully, by this point, I was feeling much improved and was able to enjoy some seriously delicious food prepared by my Mom and brother Makoto.

Clam miso soup, Crab (of course!), Spicy tuna (or was it salmon? I can't remember!  Maybe my mind wasn't quite 100% yet...), and karaage (fried chicken) and tempura.

 Me and the crab leg.

Which I ate a LOT of.   

 Here's Makoto's girls face time talking with Kela.

It was so cute seeing them talking face to face with my girls.  I wish they could have come with me to enjoy some time with their cousins here!

 Me and my Mom.  

I love my parents so much! Getting to visit them and spend some time with them was so much fun!

I feel so blessed to have been able to make this trip!

Day 4:

The day before I was scheduled to fly home, Mitch called to tell me that the flights were looking very full and my chances for making it out, slim.  After thinking things through, I decided to stay in Seattle for one more day, rather than risk NOT making it out and getting stuck at the airport without any luggage.

I got to face time with my family that night and I'll admit to feeling pretty home sick.  

Especially after seeing this on my phone screen!  

After 5 days away from home, I made it out of Seattle on Tuesday morning.

Of course, it was raining.  But thankfully, avoided coming until the day I was set to leave!

We were truly blessed with perfect weather during the entire weekend!  Even race day was beautiful and sunny! Which is not always a guarantee for Seattle, even in June.

Even though this race was pretty tough for me, I'm looking forward to running another race in Seattle sometime in the future!  After I recover, of course.  :)