First 1/2 Marathon

February 14th was a day of meals. Of meeting new people over Kitten Mitten's on nitro in schooner, of thrifting, book sifting, watching the final episode of GOT. Of no over-indulgence. Of purposefulness. Of hip-openings & early sleep. At 5 am I scooped Ber & we met the girls, grabbed coffees & entered BC heavy in fog.

Bib p/u was smooth; we warmed up together watching the moon rise above the harbor smoke. Met Lydia at the start, who was using the 1/2 as a tuneup leading into the LA marathon. The first 2 miles felt great, which they do. And then, surprisingly, the rest felt on the better end of consistent, and mentally positive. I feel as though it was solid. I'm excited for breaking the 6-minute per barrier, and there are more positives than negatives, but, I still feel a little underwhelmed. I might be a little discouraged with the life span of the pube quake, but in all, I should be thankful that it has the capacity to withstand a 1/2 right now.

Post race we ran a few miles, sat on sunny concrete steps, talked shop until the awards ceremony, where I was fortunate to receive a 3rd place finish & age group prize, looking like a giant among the top finishers.

Maurice, with the Pacific Road Runners & First Half race committee was my go-to for the race; a wonderful point of contact - efficient, accommodating, warm, appreciative. The experience was top notch, and though my run-rez might not elicit elite bennies, my experience with the First 1/2 made me feel like I was worth something, and that I should continue to fight for whatever it is I'm fighting for.

My 3 (+) Takeaway's
1. I worked on pacing
2. I worked on positive thinking & visualization
3. I used my arms & they liked it (thanks Rad Bones)

What was most important about the First 1/2 was the support. Red made me meals all week, held me back from the teet of the wine bottle, cooed me into drinking water, gave massage; Aly drove from Seattle & Nikki from Lynden to meet us; Ber worked till midnight the night before, Al drove us all to the race, Aly treated us to coffees, Nikki baked delicious bread to eat in the car, Ber fed the meter, Al & Aly took a ton of images, we all talked & talked in a hot car waiting in line for the border, all the texts, messages, posts, and it wouldn't have mattered how I did, that he set aside so much of what he could have done for himself just to make me feel an abundance of love & support, how much sleep each one got, that they skipped church to come - all of it, has got to be why any of us do this - push.

Back in town Red and Scott the Fox had set out a lovely spread of crackers, cheese, pear, homemade bread, stuffed olives, meats, Kulshan IPA, Kitten Mittens, Champagne, Rose, and oysters grilled from the sunny deck of the Morrison's new home, with large hunks of garlic & melted butter. Sitting on the deck, still with my stink, with people I love, celebrating, with oyster meat swirling amidst the best pink...