Chafing, tears, family, and friends

It's two days after completion of my first 10K, and I have finally decompressed.

The day didn't start out so well.  My stomach was hella upset, and I was sure I'd have to use a port-a-potty (the very idea of which makes me nauseous).  I'm still so new at this, so I don't know about pre-race nutrition.  I'm also on steroids for the plantar fasciitis, and the orthopedist told me to drink lots of fluids so as not to dehydrate.  But, due to my p-a-p phobia, I did the exact opposite.  I had a miniature coffee cake, a banana, and three sips of Gatorade before the race.  This probably wasn't enough, but oh well.

We left the hotel late (tough getting four females ready before 7 a.m.), and things went downhill from there.  They closed the highways down at some ungodly hour, so we couldn't find the damn race.  I was so angry that I took off my BGR Bondi band and my little hot pink headband/feathers, and said "Fuck this!  Take me the fuck home" to my ever-patient Kelsey.  My cousin Djeni was following us, so I called her and told her I was going home.

Djeni gently explained to me, as if I were someone just on the edge of sanity, that she would use her GPS to find a way around things.  Well, what looked like several illegal maneuvers later (including driving THROUGH some barricades), we arrived at the parking lot.  Then, we couldn't find the shuttle.  When we finally found it, some over-hyped Beckys on-board made me want to karate kick them in the throat.  After texting my violent thoughts to Djeni, and finding out that she concurred, I was able to calm down and get my smile back.

When we arrived at the race, I knew that I'd missed not only the BGR group shot, but also #DemBeauties.  Both of those things made me sad, since this was our first BGR big race.  Oh well, it really isn't about the photos.  Who am I kidding?!  Of COURSE it's about the photos!!!  I'm still pissed about that. :)

As we got to the corral area, the excitement was palpable.  It was really nice having Djeni and Amaya see exactly why I get so hyped about BGR!  They were able to see the friendships that are developing, and also the different shapes and sizes of women going out there and doing the damn thing.

We found most of #DemBeauties and got to take pics of some suspiciously matchy matchy shirts.  No clue how that happened.

Then, it was time to go.  We went over to the area where people would be running past, and captured a few cute shots:

The always fab KMC

One of the many Crystals, but my personal favorite diva sunglasses wearer extraordinaire

Ms. Tenikka

The little 5-year-old bastard who did the HALF MARATHON in a record-setting time

Can't even remember whom I was taking a pic of, but I know she had on a Running Pretty shirt

Once the half marathon folks were gone, it was our turn.  Even as I type this, I have so many butterflies in my stomach.  You know, it's tough when you doubt yourself.  Even when you have other people around you telling you that you CAN do something, if you don't believe it, it's harder to do it.  I've had so many health issues (really bad asthma, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendinitis, arthritis in both knees, and carrying around this extra 100 pounds of weight), that it truly seemed impossible that I could walk 6 miles. At once.  In the cold.

As we went to the corral, Djeni and Amaya went somewhere to cheer.  I saw MJB and some other Laurel Ladies, and they gave some encouraging smiles.  We heard the drum and fife, and then the cannon (musket?).  I started off slowly, just as planned.  I wanted to pace myself.  I had my whole playlist planned out.  The first song: the theme from "Rocky."  That seemed fitting, especially since the first bit of it was up a highway ramp.  People began passing me on my right, which made me want to push them off the ramp.  I though the rule was stay to the right if you're slow, and pass on the left.  Anyway, after being jostled one too many times, I began swinging my arms fairly wildly as I walked.  That took care of the problem.

As we came back down from the ramp, going through a tunnel, I saw what any urban woman is very familiar with:

Tumbleweave

I didn't really care about my finishing time, so I stepped away from the throng of walkers, runners, woggers, etc. and took a pic.

As I came out of the tunnel, and got to the first corner, I was so happy to see Djeni and Amaya.  Djeni looked a little concerned.  Maybe she was worried because she'd probably seen Kelsey come out way before me, and didn't know when I'd be there.  

Approximately 17 minutes later, I saw the most beautiful sight in the world: 

Yup, 1 mile done.  I followed through with my playlist, stopped the song that was playing, and played "Another One Bites the Dust."  My plan was to play that every time I came up to a mile marker.  Fitting, no?

The time between miles 1 and 2 was pretty uneventful, aside from the chafing.  Oh yeah...and the fact that I had a 13:31 split.  Mahfuckin' RIGHT!  So, my next happy moment came:

I don't remember much between miles 2 and 3 either.  So, I happily pushed play on my mile marker theme song once again.

It was shortly after this that the race changed for me.  I'd been happily going along, minding my own business, when a sole sister came alongside me.  She thought she was lost (I kinda did too), and so I took out my headphones to talk to her.  She talked about her church and her kids and stuff.  That was all fine.  Though I'm agnostic, I don't mind bible thumpers as long as they don't try to convert me.  All was well, fine, and good.  We passed a water and Gatorade station (have you ever noticed that it's the BEST TASTING GATORADE EVER?!?!?!).

Then, the hills started.  It's not that they were super long, or even so very steep.  But still, they were hills.  About halfway up one of them, she was like "I can't make it.  I need a push."  I thought she was joking, so I was all "Come on, you can do it!"  She said "No really.  I need you to push me up the hill."  So I did.  I put my hands on her back and literally pushed her up the hill.  I was feeling like such a bad ass at that point, the chafing almost didn't matter.

She would periodically jog ahead, and then walk again. I'm a fairly fast walker, so I'd always catch up to her.  We passed mile 4, and some semi-rednecky men along the road.  They were cool though, playing some country rock stuff and drinking beer...at 10:00 a.m.  Who am I to judge?  It's 5:00 somewhere, right?

Then, we went to cross the bridge for the second time.  I was a tiny bit nervous, but not nearly as much as she was.  Seeing that she was struggling, I started asking her questions about her kids and her job and stuff to keep her mind off of things.  This bridge isn't solid, so you could actually see through the metal grating.  It's a little disconcerting to be able to see where you'd fall to your death.

Then, the unthinkable happened: she asked me to "Run on ahead of me and get a picture of me running."  Now, a) I'm nobody's bitch (well, maybe Kelsey's, but that's about it); b) I was tired, I'd just pushed this heffa up a hill, and I didn't feel like running.  But, being a nice person, I obliged.  Here's the first pic:

She didn't like that one because it was too far away and the people were in her shot.  So she asked me to jog ahead again and get a better photo.  Again, I obliged, but my patience was wearing thin.  I don't even KNOW this chick.  She's from BGR Philly.  She never gave me her name or anything.

After the "photo shoot," during which she offered to take exactly ZERO photos of me, she asked me to find her on Facebook.  I was like, "Yeah, girl, I'll do that."  You know...without knowing your name or anything.  At that point, I just wanted her to leave me the hell alone.  If you know her, sorry I'm not sorry for offending you.  She was annoying as hell.

We came up on another ramp, and an ambulance went by.  I was really hoping no one was seriously injured.  I slowed down a little because by then the chafing could no longer be ignored.  At that point, she saw a fellow BGR Philly girl whom she considered her nemesis because the woman walked the entire time, but was still ahead of her (even with the pushy woman alternating walking and jogging).  So she wanted us to make a pact to pass the woman before the finish line.  Again, I was all, "Okaaaaay."

I slowed down enough to let her jog ahead again, and told her that I thought MY WIFE would be coming back for me soon.  Luckily, I don't think her Christian sensibilities liked that, because I didn't see her much longer after that.  And sure enough, approximately 2 minutes after I said that, a vision came to me.

KELSEY CAME BACK TO FINISH THE RACE WITH ME!!!!!

I wasn't sure she was actually going to do that, and I'm pretty sure I told her NOT to, but she did it anyway.  I was so grateful because there was no mile 5 marker, so I thought I still had much farther to go than I really did.  Since she had already finished, she was able to guide me on how much longer we had.  As we approached the stadium, I started jogging again, and was able to give some little kids high fives as we passed through a chute.  Then, it was stadium time.  I was so glad Kelsey could tell me that you had to basically run around the bases to get to the finish line.  I have a much greater appreciation of baseball players' stamina now.

I jogged a tiny bit when we got into the stadium, but then I went back to walking and tried to take it all in.  There was a jumbotron showing people as they cross the finish line.  There were lights, people cheering, and just a festive atmosphere.  When we got maybe 20 yards from the finish, I ran again.  This is me at the end of the race:

Note how happy I look, and how it looks like I'm actually beating Kelsey (she actually just gave me a chance to have my own moment to shine).  I passed Djeni and Amaya, who were screaming their heads off (more Djeni than Amaya, but what do you expect?  Teenagers can't be TOO enthusiastic. LOL)

After collecting my medal, I broke down.  I was just so overwhelmed by the experience, and knowing that I DID THAT.  Me, Ayanna Nikiah Vest, who wouldn't even walk more than 3 blocks a few months ago.  I finished a 6.2 mile race...in a respectable time.  I didn't come in last.  When the hills got tough, I repeated, ALOUD, "My race, my pace.  My race, my pace."  It helped so much.

Kelsey held me as I cried, and got a little choked up too.  She told me how proud she was of me.  Now, it was time to go upstairs, get those cool metal/foil blankets, and obtain my SECOND piece of bling (from BGR).  I saw MJB, Nicole, and Sylvia (beautiful Laurel Ladies).  We had a good time laughing with them.  They made fun of our lack of directional awareness, and asked about my shirt.

The aftermath of the race is: I ended up chafing.  Badly.  I'm not even sure that these photos do it justice.  No one told me not to wear fleece-lined "fashion" tights under my running pants.  I could feel the chafing by mile 1 or so, but had to keep going.  I wouldn't stop; couldn't stop.  Yeah, I should've stopped.  This hurts like you wouldn't believe, and walking like a cowboy is NOT cute.  Every time Kelsey puts the peroxide on them, it burns so much.  Ignore the ashy thighs. LOL

Left leg chafing

Right leg chafing and swelling

I couldn't have done this without Kelsey, Djeni, Amaya, and the countless BGR friends who encouraged me throughout this process.

Now, I'm tired of typing now, so I'll end this VERY LONG post.  Suffice it to say, I ultimately had a fantastic time at my first 10K, and look forward to more races in the future. :)