In a tired state, after a long drive home yesterday, I realized that just like my first half on foot and my first ultra marathon, I was surrounded by people I've been training/running with for quite a few months. So thank you to the small army of Brazen friends, running friends, and my new CAF/wheelchair racing friends (also all my friends cheering for me from afar!) for making my feelings of being excited and terrified lean more towards the excited side!
On a side note: I still haven't received my new racer, so Phil had to come to the big event after all these months of torture/training I've put him through... I'm pretty sure he hates me now.
Saturday Morning, the 10K: For the first time in a wheelchair, I got to start with other people.. two to be exact. All the 5Ks and the 10K that I have done this year, I have started on my own (except one where I started in the mass of people), so it was nice to be on the line talking to someone other than the race director or the timing guy. For a little extra fun, we started by going downhill (an underpass) where I reached speeds of 21 miles an hour for that short stretch and soon met up with my bike escort, whom I had ended up meeting the day before as we left the expo. He was really great staying with me for the first mile, cheering me on and even getting a rouge car off the course... I lost him to the crowd not too long after that when the first runners caught up to me (we only had a 1 minute head start). After that, I was consistently cheered on by the runners and other bikes coming through, and the spectators, volunteers, and cast members I passed by. Other than the first two miles, we wove through the parks and the backstage areas, which either was a lot of new places or just looked very different from my new view point.
My only real goal for this 10K was to finish and beat my previous 10K time... you remember that one right? The one I did just a week after picking up Phil. This would be a good gauge at how far I've come since April. I went from 58 minutes down to 49 minutes!
I ended up getting 1st place by default.. the other two wheelchairs were the two gentlemen in one of the pictures below. To my surprise, that meant I got to finish by going through the winner's ribbon, with my own confetti. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun that was!
A picture with my bike escort, and some post finish pictures.
Due to some miscommunication, we had been sent the wrong way to the ADA tent for the 10K start and were told to be adamant for the half, but we ran into a blockade and cast members that wouldn't let us through the way we were told to go. Instead of being a bit early and having some prep time, we spent about 10 minutes convincing a cast member to let us through, then waiting for an escort, and by the time we made it to the tent I had to go straight from Saber to Phil, then into the line of chairs to get to the start. This time, there were seven of us at the start; 3 racers, 2 hand cycles, 1 day chair, and 1 cane (who started a little later when he deemed it safer). We had the same downhill start as the day before, and I was left in the dust by everyone. Poor Phil just can't get up to those speeds, especially since I can't push correctly due to some sizing issues. I did almost make it 2 miles before runners came upon me this time though. Once again, I was cheered on by runners (one asked me to warn him when I was coming on the next downhill), bikes (one told me he was trying to get his nephew into a racer), volunteers, and cast members.
I made quick work of the next few miles to make it out onto the streets. My parents were on the first corner outside the park to cheer for me, then I headed up the overpass (the first long uphill I had been worried about) to the very enthusiastic yells of the high school cheerleaders stationed there. As I crested the overpass, it was the first time it really hit me what a difference this race was from previous years. On foot, I may have just been starting or even still waiting to start, and usually when I hit that point in the race, the sunrise is just becoming a glaring sun in warning of what I'd be walking in later; this time the sun was still very low in the sky and was making no effort to glare in any way. I happily sped downhill and headed farther into Anaheim.
Just before the 10K point, my Rabbit friend came cheering from behind me. I was suffering from an incline and un-smooth road (Phil hates both) so she passed me easily, but called back at me to stay with her, that she'd pace me... when I didn't catch up, she yelled at me to kick her ass. Phil and I eventually came to an understanding and the road evened out, and we played leap frog with the Rabbit for a couple miles. I even made her laugh as we headed through the bumpy parking lot of the Honda Center, before I finally pulled ahead to go onto the dirt trail that would take us to Angel Stadium. There's a turn to get on this dirt.... I impressively slid (drifted) onto it and happily headed down one of my favorite parts of this course. The trails had other ideas though; they had put down a thick layer of sand/gravel that I got stuck in. Another runner ended up pushing me through and back onto a smooth section of downhill, where I had to call out to get other runners out of my way until we hit the other long uphill I had worried about. Two men behind me apparently made a pact and decided to push me up this hill ("Yeah, we got ya! It's all about runners, you're doing great!"), then gave me a good push when the trail headed back down. I was once again calling out to get runners out of my way; I even got one woman hit by another runner because she was plugged in and not paying attention (I will admit to giggling at that).
The trail takes us to the Angel Stadium parking lot, down a ramp to go around the outfield (I had gravel kicking up at me from every wheel.. after we finished, I had to ask my Rabbit friend to wipe down my back because it was still covered in it), and then a sharp turn to get out of the stadium. This is where my inner trail runner decided to come out a bit more. My wheels were covered in the gravel, so instead of sliding gracefully through the turn as I had done earlier, I just slid. Into a padded wall. Which took my right wheel up high enough to dump me over. Into the gravel. A few runners were quick to jump in and help me; I pulled my legs away from Phil and a woman righted him while two others helped me stand and get back in the chair. My Rabbit friend caught up during all this and made sure I was okay and moving, before leading me up the ramp to get out of the stadium. With no running start and gravel still covering my wheels, the ramp was going to be hard, but one of the runners that helped me up ended up also helping me to push up the ramp.
Outside the stadium, we get to the 10 mile marker and the second time I had a big moment of realizing the differences. Usually when I hit 10 miles, I have to take stock of my legs and figure out if I can do a fast 5K to finish or if it's not going to work so well; this time, I just kept going. It ended up being the last time I saw my Rabbit friend until the finish... I guess I smelled that finish line and was happy I could actually speed towards it for once. I passed/talked to another friend around mile 11 and was able to head off again with a smile. And finally saw the Tower of Terror, which means there's just over a mile left and I usually see as a bright spot in my death march; it was still a bright spot, but there was no death march this time... I happily pushed through the last backstage section into Downtown Disney, where there's all kinds of spectators, around Paradise Pier Hotel, and into the finish chute lined with more people.
I collected my finisher medal, Dumbo medal, aaand Coast-to-Coast medal, then moved off to the side because I figured there was a Rabbit right behind me. Many other runners I had shared the trail with had stopped to congratulate me, tell me how tough I was (the ones that saw or helped me after the crash), thank me for giving them a pacer to chase, and so much more. Just like my first race in a wheelchair back in January, I felt on top of the world and happy that I could inspire such good feelings in others... and I still hope that me being out there will get at least one more person to sign up next year.
Group pictures after the half!
Once again, I got first by default. There was a woman in one of the hand cycles (she was much faster than me, so she got the ribbon and confetti this time!), but since hand cycles aren't eligible for awards, all I really had to do was finish.. although we did see another chair in the finishing crowd as we headed back to the hotel and later saw that she got 2nd place! This time, there was an awards ceremony, so I got to go up and get my award then take a picture with the race director and Mickey. While I usually shy away from things like that, it was really fun to experience, but I did like it better when the three guys that won the male wheelchair division came back over to take a picture with me as well.
My award in front of me and my Rabbit pacer behind me.. and feeling pretty privileged to have both!
And then, of course, random shenanigans with our Brazen friends!
My travel companions; the Rabbit and the Turtle =)
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