OKC Memorial Relay

          So Courtney roped me into running on her Relay team for the Oklahoma Memorial Marathon. I joined Courtney who was running the first leg since she was also competing in the Half marathon. The other team members were Diane, Rhea and Tenika, the relay leg breakdowns are: 10K, 5K, 12K, 5K and a 10K. Courtney did the first 10K, then Diane with a 5K, then me with the 12K, then Rhea for a 5K and Tenika finishing with a 10K.

     Saturday night we meet for dinner at a restaurant downtown. We had a good food, conversation and some laughs. We did not get our bib's or race t-shirts because Courtney forgot to bring them to dinner. So we made plans to meet at 0550 at the Memorial to get our bibs and the t-shirts we would get post race. 

     I woke up at 0400 to get ready for the meet up and race day. So the usual happened mostly: bathroom, coffee, bathroom, get dressed then downstairs for breakfast in the hotel dining room. Only difference was sharing space with 2 roommates both getting ready for their races. Heather is running her first Half and Mona is running her first Full. So exciting. 

     So I have not ever ran a relay. I thought I would get bused out to my relay exchange, run my 12K, hand off the whatever, bus back to the start line to cheer on my friends that were running. So naive and optimistic. 

     Mona, Heather and I walked down to the Oklahoma City Memorial for the pre-race service and 168 seconds of silence to honor those days that died in the bombing on that April Day. We gathered together under the survivor tree, remembering, honoring and praying. 

     Mona and Heather left to find their corrals at the start line. I waited for my team so we could get our bibs and make our way to the buses. At 0600 still no teammates. So I text them they text back they are on their way.  I see some Lifetime Rum members, so I chat with them and take some pics. At 0615 still no teammates. At 0630 finally Rhea and Diane show up, I get my bib and we start walking to the buses. Whew, made me nervous! Courtney is at the race starting line and Tenika is supposed to meet Rhea at the buses. Talk about cutting it close.

     Board my bus at about 0645, sit next to a lady who has done this relay for the last several years. We chat about our run experiences and where we are from. We arrive at the relay exchange station, which is in the middle of nowhere. Just open fields on the side of the road, with a aide station, port-a-john's, and a bus.

     It is 0700, cloudy, cool at 45 degrees with wind blowing constantly at 25 mph. No place to get away from the wind. I am freezing.  I pace the side of the road. I see John from Lifetime Run. We chat for a while to pass the time. We listen to the Brit, informing everyone of the relay etiquette.  His sarcasm is on point. I am laughing my freezing tail off at his quips with the British soaked accent. 

      At 0835 my runner Diane comes in. I get the ankle timing chip off of her and put it on me and take off.  My Heart rate monitor shows I am beating around 185 bpm which is utter nonsense.  I am not moving that fast. I slow down anyway because I am still probably going to fast to start off.  I find a pace that is manageably hard.

     I run through neighborhoods, commercial and business areas lined with people and kids.  The crowd support is good. The sun is coming out but the wind is still roaring across me. This does not feel like a race. It feels like a long slow run day with a lot of other runners. Nobody is running hard. Some are walking intervals.
    
     I try to focus on Rhea waiting on me and wanting a good time for my section of the relay. I don't think I am doing very well at it though.  It still just feels like a training run.  The route takes us across the overpass and I am fairly certain the wind is going to blow me down. Good grief!

     After the overpass it is down to the Lake Hefner running trails.  We first go north on the trail which puts the wind at our back, Yay! Then we turn and go back south which is 20 mph wind in my face. Boo! I really do not like wind. I really do not like wind that is trying to push me backwards. It is requiring a lot of effort just to maintain a sub 12 pace.

     I am over the wind. I am getting hungry. I am thirsty. I am tired. I am ready to be done with this race that does not feel like a race. I keep moving and pushing forward.  Then here comes John from the relay station. He says something and passes me. Now I thought John was way ahead of me. I do not know why he was behind me but I know he just passed me.

     Now it is a foot race because, Oh hell No, you are not passing me this close to the exchange station! So now, it is no problem to maintain those sub 12's. The wind? What wind? I keep John in sight. I just keep a pace that keeps John about 50 feet ahead of me.

      I run up on a group of 5 all dressed in camouflage pants and desert brown t-shirts. The group consists of 3 guys and 2 girls. One of the guys is my age, good-looking and is obviously the leader. I run past the 2 younger guys and the leader guy turns around to run backwards while encouraging the 2 I just passed. He is telling them to "Come on! Run to Daddy!" Oh My Goodness the thoughts that passed through my mind but thankfully did not come past my lips! Mercy!

     I see John walking through an aide station that is half a mile from the relay exchange area. So I pick up the pace and run by John and tell him to "Come on John-Boy it is time to finish this!" He catches me and we run past the photographers posing ridiculously and into the exchange area together.  He hands off to Rana and I hand off to Rhea.

     Grab some water and a banana and make my way to the bus line. I got to get to the finish to find out how my friends fared.

     Get back downtown and find my crew to wait for our last runner to come in. Michelle completed her half in 3:04. Checked in with Heather to find out how she did and how she is feeling. Heather finished her first half marathon in 3:41. Woot Woot! Mona finished her first marathon in 6:29 after her hip popping out of place. Ouch! Great job on finishing!

      Tenika comes in and we all join her to run across the finish line together. The official time of our relay was 5:59. My time was 1:21 about a 11:18 average pace.

     I think I should have pushed harder. I think my inability to get into race mode definitely affected my performance. Yeah the wind sucked but it didn't hinder me when I wanted to keep John in sight. Competition makes me better. It makes the suffering worth it. 

     Take a way's: Run the first or last leg of a relay, work on maintaining race focus when not racing, find someone to complete with in a race that I don't know to help keep my focus and enjoy the suffer fest. Most importantly remember how blessed I am to be able to run, race, compete and suffer even.

Live Epic!
Michelle