Photo finishes and other things I learned about racing

So I ran the P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll Half Marathon on Sunday. I finished! I am not a very fast runner and never will be. I came in under my goal of three hours, at 2:53. Considering I wasted about 25 minutes waiting to use every port-a-john on the course between miles 1 and 7 (too much coffee at the start?), I am very happy with my time. And hey, I got the same exact medal as the guy that came in first.

After crossing the finish line, there was a runner-secure area. Someone handed me a medal, someone else water and then I was shuffled here and there to get an official finish line photo taken. Everything was all a little blurred through the euphoria of finishing the run and the anxiety of searching the crowd for my friends and family. I was a somewhat dazed, to say the least. Anyway, the finish photos were posed in front of a logo'd backdrop right before exiting the racers-only area. Apparently, the race number must show in the pics so that they can identify the runners and market them online later. I had my number pinned on my back. The photog asked me to turn around and strike a pose. I thought he would just snap the number and then take a real shot, so that my picture could later be identified because it would be next in the cue to the one with my number. That made sense to me. So I turned around with my backside to the camera and I heard, "Click. Next, please." But wait, that's not my real photo, is it? You're gonna let me do it again, aren't you? "Nope, next please." Needless to say, I will not be purchasing my finish line photos! Next time, I guess I will pin my number to the front of my shirt. I may never purchase the official race sanctioned photos, but at least I won't make a complete ass of myself in the photo area.

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I discovered why live blogging by runners during events will never really catch on. Here is a sampling of the texts I was sending during my run:

mile 1 have stopps to pee

peing agaan

again

stopps to pi agin

jsut passed h alfway peeng againslc.

at galvin and priestf (in response to the question where was I? There is no such intersection!)

less tladjfna 2 lflsdkjft

And now my cell phone seems to be shorting out. I wonder if the dried, salty sweat stains all over it have anything to do with that.

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My kids were darn cute rockin' out and cheering me on between miles 11 and 12.

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The race was four days ago now and it still hurts to stand up. But I ran 13.1 miles. Yes I did! And next year I'm going for the full 26.2.