Running in the Central Mountains of Puerto Rico is quite a transition from running in the flat lands of northern Indiana. The first 1.5 miles outside the field station is the steepest part of the road and takes me about twenty minutes to run. If I thought running in 20 degree weather was tough, mentally prepping myself to run up that hill was a challenge. I only ran about twice a week, but hiking in and out of Grid everyday was added conditioning in itself! Luckily, the race course would be on flat land near the coast.
After a month of anticipation, race weekend finally came. On Saturday, Jose, Alejandro, Aaron, and I went to San Juan for check-in, and Greg came along for the ride. We picked up our race packets including wristbands for the fitness festival in the stadium. Greg was able to walk past the lax security with us, and we all stocked up on free Advil packets, oatmeal cookies, Advil packets, energy drink samples, and a few more Advil packets for good measure.
Sunday was race day. We left for San Juan around noon and met my boss Chris and his family at the UPR campus before heading to the course. Greg and Courtenay came with us to fill out cheering section with Chris's wife and little boy. From campus we took the subway to the race grounds. The cars were packed with other runners, and my excitement began to build. Nearly 12,000 runner registered for the race including a group of Kenyans. What have I gotten myself into?!
Our group made it to the race grounds and warmed up at a near-by track. I ran a few laps and started to psych myself up. But the nerves crept up too. Was I ready for this? Did I train enough? I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. Even though I had only run the full distance a couple of times while training, I was only racing myself. Soon we parted from our cheering squad and headed to the starting line. We were packed in a sea of runners, and still had an hour before the start! My heart was pounding, but at least my brain was calm. Just another run.
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| Runners making their way to the starting line (Photo Credit: Greg Larsen) |
The starting horn sounded, and pushed Play on my iPod. This is it!! I let the guys take off ahead of me and found my rhythm. The course started heading east (in the westbound lanes) of the highway, the bridge over a bay, around a cloverleaf at the 3k, back across the bridge and down the highway in the eastbound lanes, around another cloverleaf at the 8k and to the finish line for almost a full loop. I hit the 1k mark and stayed my pace as I ran across the long bridge, making sure to take in the view of the ocean. The 2k mark was also the 4k mark for the return lanes. I had only reached this point when the Kenyans already ran past me. I couldn't believe how fast they are!
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| The bridge over the San Jose Lagoon (www.wb10k.com) |
When I reached the 3k mark and the first checkpoint at the cloverleaf, I glanced at the clock. I set a goal to finish under 1:15:24 (registration asked for a seed time through seconds... I'm 24... so I picked 24 seconds :) ). The clock only read 20 minutes. I was ahead of my time, but kept my pace. I felt good. Around the cloverleaf and back over the bridge. I passed the 4k and approached the 5k marker. On my playlist I had positioned "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World at 45 minutes... or halfway to my goal time. When I finished the first 5k, I still hadn't heard my song. I was still ahead.
The song played near the 6k mark which was opposite the finish line. I heard the crowd cheer as the fastest runners were already finishing, and I felt re-energized. But somewhere between 7k and 8k, I hit my wall. "I don't want to do this anymore," I thought to myself. But I was so close to finishing. I pushed my mind to keep my body strong. At 8k I crossed the second check point just under an hour and turned for the final stretch. That last 2k was the longest part of the entire race. My body began screaming at me. Everything from my fingertips to my toes ached. 9k... only 1k to go... I could see the finish line in the distance. If there was a time to burn the last traces of fuel, it was now. My legs felt like they might fall off, but I kept turing my wheels. I closed in and realized I was still under 1:15. How fast could I finish?! I sprinted as fast as I could until I crossed the line. Official finish time: 1:11:16. Well under my goal!
I walked through the finishers gauntlet to get my medal, Gatorade, oatmeal cookies, and of course more Advil packets then tried to find the rest of the group. Greg saw me first. We waited for Jose and met up with Aaron and Alejandro. But Chris was nowhere to be found. And he was only a little behind Aaron the whole race. Eventually we found him in the medical tent. While pushing himself to a level of bad-ass that only Chris Nytch can achieve, he passed out somewhere near the 9k mark. In true Chris fashion, he still had a smile on his face. We love you, Nytch man!
To cap of an incredible day, the group of us stopped in Old San Juan for pizza and beers. I was exhausted, but the pizza was delicious, and the beer? Absolutely heavenly. It was a great way to wind down. Sharing the run with some of my El Verde crew was amazing. You guys are the best. And I'm so appreciative of Greg and Courtenay for coming to support us. It meant the world to me.
I finally understand the meaning of "runner's high". An intense feeling of accomplishment washed over me when I crossed the finish line. I never though I would complete a 10k. But then again, when I first started running, a 5k seemed like a dream too. Who knows... maybe the Chicago marathon is in my future after all ;)
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| The El Verde Crew: Jose, Alejandro, Aaron, me, and Courtenay with Don Abuelo from Rio Piedras (Photo Credit: Greg Larsen) |
A notable part of the story is you "took time to view the ocean." One of the best things about running distance is the view, and the opportunity to push the physical and mental envelope. Sounds like you covered all the essential bases for a runner. And F^%$ that hill! that hill is your B#$%^!!
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