13.1 Miles, And Then Some.

Last Sunday, October 11 2009 was a day I had been dreading since about two months previous…

…it started at 3:30 in the morning; my body woke me up from a very short sleep after getting home late the night before. I lay in bed for half an hour before I knew I needed to get up. I grabbed my runners, two bottles of water, and a Gatorade; put on my shorts, T-shirt, sweatpants and hoodie. I slipped on my sandals, tied up my hair, double checked that I had everything, and proceeded to the first floor lobby where I met up with my brother. After a quick nod of the head to signal we were ready we walked out the door and over to my cousin’s apartment. While my cousin and her roommate prepared in a very similar fashion, we all grabbed a banana, downed a bottle of water and drove out to meet up with my other cousin and his wife, and a friend, before making our way to Long Beach California…I am sorry if you are reading this and so far have no idea what I am talking about, I must ask you to be patient, these things can not be hurried…after finding a spot to part, lacing up the runners and stowing our things neatly in the car we walked through the dark morning as more and more people began to gather; we walked past tents and booths and a giant truck that turned out to be a mobile hospital of sorts…on we walked to a line of portapotties that stretched on and on. By now it was nearly 6 in the morning and we had another hour to wait, so we sat and talked and stretched in preparation for the task ahead. We watched as a sea of cyclers took off, then another endless wave of humanity walked on…finally it was our turn, one more trip to the endless line of toilets was the last thing we did before getting ourselves situated in the proportionately biblical flood of bodies behind the starting line…if you haven’t guessed by now that I am speaking of a race of sorts I will tell you, this was the Sunday we ran the Long Beach Half Marathon.



Two months before this day my cousin sent my brother and I a message saying that she and her brother were going to be running in a half marathon and wanted to know if we would like to join in. of course we were not going to be the Tiede’s who backed out, so we said yes. After training a good full two weeks at home it was time to leave for California…where training came to a stand still…

Back to the race. As we stood in line, waiting for the mark to sound…the speaker started talking about a guy who ran this very race one time and died…heart attack I think it was…then the race began! And we stood at a standstill for another couple of minutes due to the sheer number of people ahead of us who had yet to make there way to/past the starting line! Hahaha it made for a good laugh, and then we were off! Dodging through people, gaining speed, more people, more speed…still more speed, I thought to myself, ‘I did not train nearly enough to be going this fast so soon in the 13.1 mile run that was ahead.’ I slowed and my cousins and brother disappeared in the stampede of people before me. Needless to say that was the last I saw of them before the finish line. By now the sun had come up a little. The first two miles were a mix of moving past some and being passed by others, men going to the side of the road to take a pee, spectators cheering us on, a water station/potty pit stop, and music being played along the way. By mile three I had found my rhythm, running a constant pace and breathing well. I simply loved the different views around every corner, all the different people running along side me. Let me tell you, there are some very in shape elderly people! It was fantastic! On and on we ran; over bridges, under overpasses, along boardwalks, along the beach and amidst the city buildings. At mile four God graced me with a verse: “They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31). Mile five came with a word of encouragement in the way of a young girl holding up a sign that read “find your happy place!” it brought me a smile and energy to keep going. By mile six I had reached the longest I had ever run…and I kept running. Miles 7, 8, and 9 were along the shoreline. It was beautiful…and boring all at the same time, I love the beach don’t get me wrong, but when you are running it does not hurt to see something new every couple of miles. The sand went on forever and by the time the turn-around point came and we left the running/biking beach path I was ready for the road! Mile 10 was the hardest for me, my knees started to hurt, sharp pains with each step forcing me to walk…I knew there were only three miles left, I wanted to run! After just under half a mile of walking there was another sign, this one read “What will you say on Monday? Keep going!” I was not about to have come so far to walk over the finish line. So I ran. And my knees felt better. More and more people lined the side of the road as we came closer and closer to the finish line. The last mile seemed the longest and the shortest all at the same time. But when the last corner had been turned and the end was in sight there was energy to up the pace even more. Crossing that line was amazing!....until five seconds later you are in a gridlock of humanity at a complete standstill as everyone is trying to get to the food and water to refuel our bodies. It took concentration just to keep my legs from going into complete muscle lockdown. After what seemed like forever I had eaten some food, drank some chocolate milk and water and received the finishers’ medal for everyone who crossed the line. There was a woman who did the whole 13.1 miles with “a baby on board” how cool is that?! It was so great to see so many people. And to finish something I was not sure I would be able to do, something I had been dreading before it began. It was funny to be nervous at the starting line even knowing I was not there to compete for first place. And if felt great to be able to do it in just over 2.5 hours which is at least an hour less than I thought it would take me.

When we were finally able to regroup with everyone we left for breakfast…after running for what seemed like all day it was only 10:30! Hahaha we went for food at Denny’s (saw a pretty cool car that belonged to a pretty creepy clown) had some delicious food and headed back home…feeling totally satisfied and as worn out as if I had just done the whole India trekking trip all over again. It really was a great feeling!



All that to say, I loved it, and even though my legs were stiff as boards the next two days I cant wait to do it again!! (This time with a lot more training/being able to keep up to my speedy family!) Who wants to join me?!?

“let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (we) press on toward the goal to win the prize” “do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

What will you say in the end? Keep going!!