Lessons learned...

...from the Savannah Rock 'n roll 1/2 marathon:

1. If in doubt (or pain), race anyway. Whether it's your hips, your back, your knees, just go. You may not PR like you did on the training run three weeks earlier, but you will still run a respectable time (1:57:35), assuming you get a massage earlier in the week and take plenty of ibuprofen.

2. Getting anywhere early is a really good thing. Especially if there are approximately 17000 runners who all need to get from the Savannah mall to the start line in about 100 buses, there are no signs pointing you to said buses, and the mall parking lot is about the size of a small country.

3. Always bring a map. Even if you're taking said bus to the start line. Your busdriver may be from Jacksonville, Florida, have arrived just a few hours earlier, and have no clue where she's going, thus taking you on an interesting, yet nerve-wracking, hour-long tour of downtown Savannah. A map could have solved a lot of people a lot of heartache.

4. A line in front of a port-a-pottie always takes longer than you think. So don't pick a port-a-pottie at corral 20 when you need to start from corral 5. You may have time to "go" one last time, but this will also entail a mile-long warm-up run during which you will need to remove your warm-up pants, warm-up shirt, and get your ITB straps on, in order to make it into your corral on time.

5. In spite of all the logistical headaches involved in a huge race, the adrenaline rush you get from tens of thousands of spectators lining the streets is totally worth it.

6. Railroad tracks are The Devil.

7. In spite of what everyone said, 60F and 12mph winds are cold. Very cold. Wearing your thermoshirt under your bright-pink running jersey was possibly the best decision of your life. Or at least on a par with marrying husband-dear. 

7. Middle school cheerleading squads rock. The. World. Yes, you might be running 13.1/26.2 miles, but they're out there before you are, in the cold, in tiny skirts and tops, cheering for people they don't even know. And they don't get a medal at the end either.

8. Mile 10, 11, and 12 suck. Always. Be prepared.

9. Running the last mile to Eminem's "lose yourself" is the Best Thing Ever. Nothing like someone telling you you get one shot, and you better not miss that chance, to push your mile pace up to a 6:53.

10. When you finish, you raise your hands in the air and you thank your respective God(s) for helping you survive without gut-wrenching pain

11. Always, always, always pack a lot more after-race clothes in your drop bag than you think you will need. Those rocking-awesome "space blankets" that they tie around you at the end of the race do nothing for your hands, legs, neck, and face. You may look awesome, but you will be cold.

12. Whenever there's an hour-long line, curling around the entire park and the famous Savannah fountain, for the shuttles to get back to the mall parking lot, totally believe your friend when he calls you to tell you there is another set of buses waiting two blocks over. Walk over there in complete innocence, join the people standing by the buses, get on the next bus that pulls around the corner, all the while wondering why on earth not more people from that hellishly-long line know about this. Then, as you drive down the street, and you see the same hellishly long line feeding on to the street you just walked over to, don't feel bad when you realize you just cut in line. You did just run a really long way, after all.

13. Eats lots of greasy food afterwards. You earned it.

14. Plan your next race.