My Big Race

I am so behind on my blog!  I actually wrote this post the day I ran the race.  I figured it would be like having a baby…over time I would forget how hard it was.  So here is the unedited version…

The runners (Amy, Sandi, me, my Dad and Jason) and our families getting ready for the big race

 

The morning started with a kids race with superheroes! 

Even Holden got in on the action.

Awards for all!

Getting ready for the race – looking bright eyed and ready to run.

 

    

And we are off…eventually…and via a marching band.

The kids were plenty busy while we were racing.

   

 

Well, I started out this race thinking it was just another run. I trained for 15 weeks for this half marathon (13.1 miles) with a pretty tough training schedule. Our longest run was 12 miles and I felt pretty good doing it, so I thought this race would be fine – not easy, not hard – just fine. Boy, was I wrong! On Friday, I carbo loaded and hydrated topping it off with a group pre-run dinner at Olive Garden. Saturday morning, I felt great and Amy and I started running the race with lots of energy - fast and strong.  We were passing people and jockeying for position (which is required when there are 3,500 runners).  But, about the 4.5 mile mark something went very wrong. I got an intense stomach ache that eventually wrapped around to my lower back as well and made me feel like throwing up. I was working hard to keep up with Amy, but by 8.5 miles, I just couldn’t do it anymore and Amy was feeling great.  So, I told her to take off so I could slow my pace realizing that at this point my goal had changed from getting a good time to just finishing the race without walking. I cranked my music up and tried to focus on anything but the pain. About 11 miles, I started to tear up just thinking about finishing the race. It was hot, my legs were jello, I was shivering feeling like throwing up, my stomach and back hurt and I was by myself pushing through. I felt thoroughly hardcore.  Jason said I should have stopped and walked it out…but I always said my goal was to run the entire race without walking, so I just couldn’t walk. When I did finish the race, I had a good cry…I am not sure if it was joy or relief – probably a combination of both. For me, this was a huge accomplishment. I have never run in my life. I only started briefly late last year and then had to take a break due to an injury. So, I really started running to train for this race. When I started training, I really questioned if I could do this…it was hard to get through 4-5 miles, I could not imagine running 13. But, I did it! I really did it! And by the way, I did throw up afterwards. I was weak and couldn’t eat and the pain was still there. I could only get down some strawberries (bad idea in retrospect). Those came up shortly later and I actually started feeling much better afterwards! So, will I do this again? Not anytime soon, but yes. I would like to run some 10K’s (6.2 miles) and then run this half marathon again next year and see if I can improve on my time. What would I do different next time? Not run so fast in the beginning, bring my own zipfizz drink and drink a LOT more. I think a lot of my problems were dehydration. It was hotter than I was used to and I needed more to drink, the aid stations didn’t cut it., especially since they ran out of cups I really think the zipfizz drink helps me a lot with electrolytes and vitamins that I could have used. But, who knows….maybe it was just a bad day. Anyone who runs knows that you can run the same mileage one day and feel great and do it again a week later and feel miserable. I am happy to say that I can join the club of those people who have run a half marathon and I did it even with huge physical obstacles. Yay!

  

We recovered this afternoon and then celebrated tonight with mom and dad with a great dinner followed by my favorite cake with ice cream to...two pieces...I can afford the calories today!