No. A 'Runners' Fanny Pack is NOT a Bandit

Yesterday, January 7th, 2012. This was the day that I ran the farthest distance on a single run in my entire life. Slightly over 5 miles on a single run has been the furthest I have distance I have run prior to yesterday. A local running group (Kennekuk Road Runners) hosted an amazing 7.45 mile trail run yesterday that I bravely made the decision to participate in. Over 500 runners ran in the event and it was AWESOME! Being a new runner, "running lingo" is still very new to me. The flier for the race I ran in yesterday stated: "No headsets. No bandits. No dogs. No wimps." When I first saw this, I thought to myself, 'Seriously? No headsets?!?! WTF?'. Ever since I have started running, I have ALWAYS ran with fresh beats jamming in my ears. I am so addicted to my Pandora that I have actually drove to different areas if the area I was in couldn't get a signal. So that tells you just how dependent I am on my music. Anyways....still being new to running and quite intimidated at races, I make sure to follow ALL the rules to reduce the risk of any unnecessary embarrassment. One of the other rules on the flier stated 'No bandits.' I really didn't think too much about this prior to race day, but I was reviewing the flier as I arrived at the event (completely nervous/excited/ready to go back home/etc.) and I started to panic. Oh my God....what if I have a bandit? What if I get to the registration table (no I was not yet registered because I was not sure until the night before that I definitely was going to go through with it) and they turn me away because I have a bandit? I did have a runners fanny pack that I bought on ebay a few weeks ago that I planned on wearing to hold my cell phone, headphones (in case I found I just absolutely could not run without music), Kleenex, and my energy gel. All of the sudden, my pre-race brain (which had turned to mush by this point) started thinking, 'What if this thing is called a bandit?!?!?!'. I asked my friend who was brave enough to attempt the race with me if this fancy fanny pack thing was called a "bandit" in runners lingo. She had no idea. I stopped a man walking by that looked like a "professional runner" and nervously asked, "Excuse me sir, but do you know what a bandit is?" He paused and looked at me a little dumbfounded for a moment and nicely replied, "Um....a runner who runs and doesn't pay". Wow. Talk about feeling like an idiot. I didn't sweat it though. I strapped my fanny pack (or Bandit as I now call it) on and made my way to the registration table. As I was making my way to the starting line (with about 10 minutes until go time), I felt the sudden slight urge to potty. Now I am no dummy when it comes to ALL things about running. I made SURE to use the bathroom right before heading out the door, but considering I drank probably a gallon of water the night before and a few more cups that morning, nature was calling. They had porta-pottys set up and judging by the look of the lines, a LOT of people suddenly had to go as well. I knew I did not want to be on a 7.45 mile run having to go potty, so I risked losing a few minutes from my time to go. There was one hardcore (I'm guessing) running lady in front of me that decided to not risk losing any time and made a beeline for the woods to go . Maybe I'll get there one day, but I'm just not that hardcore yet. With about 2 minutes until race time, I made my way to the starting line. Before I knew it, the race had started. All I could think to myself was, "Holy hell. WTF am I doing? You crazy bitch. I hope I don't hate running again after this; I'm just starting to like it.", but I started slow and just kept reminding myself that my only two goals were the following:

1. Finish (under two hours).
2. Not die.

My thoughts then shifted to, 'You got this. Easy peezy. This is going to be awesome! There are people behind you that are prepared to run you over so you better keep running!'.

The first three miles of course were the worst. Okay.....and maybe the last one too. There was mud. A LOT of mud. There also was wet grass. LOTS of wet grass. I kept dodging from side to side to try and find the driest path. I'm sure the runners behind me thought I was silly, but one thing I discovered while running 7.45 miles is that you start to not care. You don't care what anyone else around you is thinking. The first three miles were tough, but the course itself was fairly easy. The flier indicated the trail was 'easy-difficult'. The difficult part came about half way into the race. I just remember stopping for a second and staring at this HUGE cliff that resembled more of the side of a small mountain. A very muddy mountain. I just stood in awe and said, "Holy SHIT!". I didn't mean to say it out loud, but I did. No response from anyone around me. There were actually a few times on the trail that this happened. Hill after hill after hill....that was mostly UP hill. I think the last big up-hill climb was shortly before the finish line. My body was starting to break down. The hills were killing me. Running the distance wasn't bad, but the up-hill climbs were rough. After the final hill, runners that had already crossed the finish line were starting to run back to encourage people. They clapped and said, "Great job! You're almost done!". I couldn't believe it. I was only at 1:28 and I was almost to the finish line. One of thee best feelings I have ever experienced. The farthest distance I have ever run in my entire life was just a little over 5 miles and I was about to finish a 7.45 mile run full of mud, wet grass, muddy hills, and other obstacles. Sprinting to the finish line was invigorating to say the least. Not even two months ago, right after completing a 5k, I can remember (barely) crossing the finish line and thinking to myself, 'There is NO way I could run any farther than this.' and of course the thought that always comes to mind, 'How can anyone actually ENJOY this?!?!'. Well I think I'm starting to understand how people enjoy this crazy thing they call running. It pushes yourself to limits you thought you never could reach. And once you reach those "limits", it makes you set new "limits". I still think about running a marathon and think "I don't know if I could actually run 26.2 miles". THAT seems unthinkable, but then I remember that only two months ago, 7.45 miles....on an easy-difficult trail anywhere.....would have been IMPOSSIBLE.

A few things helped me survive this 7.45 mile run:

• Have a sense of humor when you're running. 
• Laugh at yourself. 
• Smile. 
• Run like nobody is watching. 
• Good ol' Bandit really did come in handy and he most likely will be accompanying me at my next big race....a 1/2 marathon. ;-)

I also learned a few things from this adventure:

• DON'T wear cotton socks. Wrap your toes. Do what you have to do to prevent blisters. I got them.
• DO arrive on race day earlier than 1/2 an hour before race time.
• DON'T overdress. I wore running tights, a short sleeve t-shirt, and a tank top underneath. It was probably around 40 degrees. I still got hot. There were runners wearing jogging suits and stocking hats. Again...maybe hardcore runners, but I would have died. I actually thought a few times about ditching my t-shirt in the woods.
• A t-shirt with pockets on it (whatever it's called) might be better than Bandit.

Happy Running!