Heart and Sole -- in under an hour!

A good friend reminded me yesterday that I haven't updated my blog in a while.. and let everyone know about the Heart and Sole.  It was last Saturday and was an awesome experience!  I met up with my friend Amanda before the walk for a good hearty breakfast at IHOP.  Of course, we ordered from the "Under 600 calories" section on the back.  YUMMY!

We made our way to the start line for the walk about 10 minutes before 8:00, and it was packed!  All those people up so early already.  Man.  I'm just not a morning person.  I was doing good to be up and moving.  Anyway.  I talked to all the WIS people I saw there, including my good friend Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield, and met a few new friends along the way.. including Alison.  She was so awesome pushing me throughout the morning.

Before we took off, there were some speeches, Hannah Horne did a beautiful job with the "National Anthem" and Judi Gatson lead us in a cheer.  And I can't forget my good friend Dawndy Mercer who got me to the Heart and Sole in the first place.  She was kind enough to hold my keys while I walked.  Also, I talked to Jack Kuenzie who asked what time I thought I'd finish.  To be honest with you, I hadn't really thought about it that much.  I did calculate up that I usually takes me about 22-24 minutes to walk a mile.  (And that's down from the 30 minutes it took me the first week to walk .9 miles.)  I was going to be doing the 3 mile walk and added it all up and thought it'd take me about 1:30 to finish.  That coupled with the fact that it took me about 1:45 to walk across the Lake Murray dam and back when I did that several weeks back.  That was something like 3.4 miles.  I knew that I was faster now, so that's why I settled on finishing in an hour and a half, although I think I told Jack 1:20.

We stepped off at 8:35.  I was walking with Amanda and Alison, and I decided I wanted to follow the pace walker who was going to do 17 minute miles.  I didn't know there'd be pacers, this being my first walk and all, so I thought trying to keep up with her would be a good goal.  Amanda and Alison were game, which I really appreciated because I'm sure both of them could've done much more.

I made it the first mile.  I hit that first mile marker right at the same time as the pacer.  Then, it's like she sped up or I slowed down.  Whichever it was, she was now ahead of me, and I knew that I wouldn't catch up.  But I could still see here, so that meant I couldn't be that far behind.  As that mile went on, my feet started to burn.  I realized later it was because we were going downhill and they were literally burning from the friction of staying upright.

I rounded mile 2 at 38 minutes and some odd seconds (I know that one day the seconds will matter to me, but not just yet).  That was just 4 minutes behind the 17 min/mile pacer.  I was pretty pleased with that.  Although I felt like I was really holding Amanda and Alison back.  I was REALLY tired at this point.  I had never gone this far this fast before (at least during my current weight loss journey), and now we were starting to go back uphill.  It wasn't anything much, but a steady incline for a LONG while.  We were heading up Gervais Street, from Gadsden Street to Assembly Street.  Ok, now that I look at it on a map, it doesn't look that long, but it sure felt like a LONG way.  And if you've ever walked up Gervais Street, you know about the relentless incline.  Anyway.  Before we'd gone a block, I wanted to slow down.. and I told Amanda and Alison, but they were wonderful.  They knew that I didn't really want to slow down, so I decided I could at least push until we got to Assembly Street once it leveled out.  Once we got there, I felt like I could keep pushing.  I got discouraged because I could no longer see the 17 min/mile pacer, but once we rounded a corner, I saw that she was right there.  I couldn't have been that far behind.  So that motivated me to pick up the pace.  I also decided to look at my clock and realized it was only about 10 minutes to being an hour from the start time.  That's when I decided I wanted to finish in under an hour.  I couldn't have been that far from the finish line, and there were over 10 minutes left.  So we picked up the pace and started passing people, instead people passing me.

Then we got to the point where I could see the finish line.  And it just so happened that there was a very steep hill to go down (the finish line was on Taylor Street in front of Finlay Park in Columbia).  I couldn't see the clock very well, but I could see that it was 50-something minutes.  I didn't know if it was 55 or 58, and then Amanda said it was 58.  Going down that hill was murder on my knees and my feet!  It was all I could do to not run.  Then I thought, "Why not run?!"  It would be easier on the knees and feet, and I may actually make it in under an hour.  So I just picked up the pace.  Wow!  It was easier.  And I was going so fast (at least it felt that way -- and I'm guessing it had something to do with gravity and my large size going down a hill).  Then I saw Dawndy on the side cheering in the runners/walkers, and she was shocked!  She was so excited for me and my time and the fact that I was running.  I was going to make it!  The clock was 59:30.  Then, right before the finish, the dang hill disappeared and we were on flat ground.  I WASN'T going to make it.  AHHH!  I'm sure it was only a few steps that I had to push myself to keep running while on flat ground, but man it felt like forever.  I was SO wanting that hill back.

But I did make it!  I didn't see the exact time, but I know I finished before the clock rolled over to 1:00:00.  I felt so exhilarated!  So accomplished!  So tired!  So sore!  So humbled!  So thankful!  I don't think I could've done it without Amanda and Alison by my side.  Poor Alison, I just met her that morning and most of the conversation during the walk was about me and my weight loss journey.  And she was so amazing and supportive, even though we'd just met.  What a neat lady!  And Amanda is great.  She works with me at WIS on the weekends and walks with me on Saturdays and Sundays, so she already knows how obsessed I am with losing weight and she chose to walk with me that morning.  I am so thankful to have her as a friend!

The one thing I didn't do was take pictures.  I know, I know.  What was I thinking?  Thankfully, there were photographers at the finish line, so I do have those pictures I can order.  Once I get them in, I'll post them here.  But they aren't pretty.  I look DREADFUL!  It's pretty gross.  But next year, when I walk 5 miles, I will cross that finish line looking so much better.  At least I won't be as heavy.  I can't say that I won't still look like I'm about to keel over.