Saturday, October 27th was my first half marathon. It was my second one to train for, but I got a stress fracture during training in January. So, I decided to take another stab at it. My ortho told me he didn't think I was built to be a distance runner (which I still don't understand... my bones I guess??) But, obviously I didn't listen to him! :) My leg where my stress fracture was still got sore regularly during training over the past few months, so I decided to aim at just running 60% of the race. My only goal was to finish. My longest run during training this time was 6 miles, which was fine since I didn't intend to run the full 13.1. After the Komen race last week, my leg was pretty sore. I was only able to get a 3 and 1 mile run in during this past week.
That brings me to yesterday morning. I was flat out terrified. It was pretty darn cold (38 degrees), so I knew that would hamper my breathing (asthma). I basically had two factors working against me, my leg and my asthma. I just reassured myself I needed to just finish and not worry about time. Before the race, my boyfriend was texting me. He's a basketball coach, so he understands my nervousness, but he's not a runner. He just reminded me not to worry about time, just do what I can. I needed to hear that from someone else! Whether I walked, ran or crawled - I was going to finish! I'd rather not crawl, though!
Even putting on my bib, I was shaking. After my b-line to the bag check and porta-potty, I went straight to my corral. My plan was to run for 4 minutes and walk for 1, through out the race. I kept an eye on my pace, so I didn't get too tired early on. I realised during the race, that I seem to run a lot faster outside. At one point I checked my pace and I was sub 9:00 - I wanted to keep it around a 10:00 pace. My leg was doing good and my breathing was fine, despite the cold. I decided I didn't need to run 4, walk 1, like I had originally planned. The course was riddled with hills, and I soon realised that trying to run uphill, taxed my breathing. Around mile 5, I noticed I began to wheeze, so I used my inhaler that I kept on hand. I decided to walk up hill, and run the rest. I kept that plan through out the race and used my inhaler about ever 1.5-2 miles.
Around mile 10, I saw my boyfriend - standing there in his cozy jacket, sipping on Starbucks. Ahh- spectators! HA! Not long after this, I started getting that pain in my side from dehydration. Aid stations were set up every 1.5 miles, and I took advantage of those about every 3 miles, but I apparently I needed some more. The pain was pretty strong, so I walked about a mile to the next aid station and got gatorade and water. After a couple minutes, I was back to running. I hydrated at each station through the remainder of the course.
My favorites:
High 5's from kids along the race course
The beautiful homes with halloween decor and signs to cheer us on
The sorority girls handing out gummy bears
The lady holding a sign, "You thought this was a 5k??"
My boyfriend at mile 10
My bootcamp and Beach Body instructor around mile 6
Seeing folks I knew at the race - I love being in good company
At the last mile, I booked it! I wanted to finish strong, besides the faster I ran, the faster I'd be done! Once across the finish, I thought I was going to throw up! But, I grabbed a snickers and banana. My calves were cramping, so I stretched it out. My boyfriend finally caught up with me, and we just walked around a bit.
I spent the rest of the day laying on the couch, rolling my muscles, and eating. My GOODNESS, I was starving. We rounded out the day with hot wings, fries and spinach-artichoke dip. Gluten free? No, but I was so hungry and frankly didn't care. I felt sick right after, but darn it, I got some hot wings!
 |
| Running socks crack me up - Left and Right! Pre-race pics! Honestly, the full one of me was so my boyfriend knew what I was wearing and what to look for amongst the zillion other runners! |
That brings me to yesterday morning. I was flat out terrified. It was pretty darn cold (38 degrees), so I knew that would hamper my breathing (asthma). I basically had two factors working against me, my leg and my asthma. I just reassured myself I needed to just finish and not worry about time. Before the race, my boyfriend was texting me. He's a basketball coach, so he understands my nervousness, but he's not a runner. He just reminded me not to worry about time, just do what I can. I needed to hear that from someone else! Whether I walked, ran or crawled - I was going to finish! I'd rather not crawl, though!
Even putting on my bib, I was shaking. After my b-line to the bag check and porta-potty, I went straight to my corral. My plan was to run for 4 minutes and walk for 1, through out the race. I kept an eye on my pace, so I didn't get too tired early on. I realised during the race, that I seem to run a lot faster outside. At one point I checked my pace and I was sub 9:00 - I wanted to keep it around a 10:00 pace. My leg was doing good and my breathing was fine, despite the cold. I decided I didn't need to run 4, walk 1, like I had originally planned. The course was riddled with hills, and I soon realised that trying to run uphill, taxed my breathing. Around mile 5, I noticed I began to wheeze, so I used my inhaler that I kept on hand. I decided to walk up hill, and run the rest. I kept that plan through out the race and used my inhaler about ever 1.5-2 miles.
Around mile 10, I saw my boyfriend - standing there in his cozy jacket, sipping on Starbucks. Ahh- spectators! HA! Not long after this, I started getting that pain in my side from dehydration. Aid stations were set up every 1.5 miles, and I took advantage of those about every 3 miles, but I apparently I needed some more. The pain was pretty strong, so I walked about a mile to the next aid station and got gatorade and water. After a couple minutes, I was back to running. I hydrated at each station through the remainder of the course.
My favorites:
High 5's from kids along the race course
The beautiful homes with halloween decor and signs to cheer us on
The sorority girls handing out gummy bears
The lady holding a sign, "You thought this was a 5k??"
My boyfriend at mile 10
My bootcamp and Beach Body instructor around mile 6
Seeing folks I knew at the race - I love being in good company
At the last mile, I booked it! I wanted to finish strong, besides the faster I ran, the faster I'd be done! Once across the finish, I thought I was going to throw up! But, I grabbed a snickers and banana. My calves were cramping, so I stretched it out. My boyfriend finally caught up with me, and we just walked around a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment