My husband has literally been on me to do a "final" blog post recapping the race and wrapping up this blog on my end. I think he is either 1. REALLY excited to hear what I have to say or 2. tired of pretending to be interested in my running and needs me to be done writing about it. Probably both actually, but I have held off on my recap on purpose. I had decided before the 1/2, that I would wait at least a week to give myself time to digest and not write when I still felt "on top of the world" after the race was over. Then this funny thing happened...
1. The most important thing first, I RAN A HALF MARATHON! Yes, that is 13.1 miles.
2. I did NOT feel "on top of the world" after the race...and that shocked me.
I expected to finish the race on so much positive adrenaline and really be pumped and happy and peppy. I did not. I felt like I had to drag myself across the finish line and felt like I was going to pass out directly after I did cross it. In fact, I must have looked fairly bad because AJ gave me his (or whoever's water he was holding) and then kept telling me I was pale and I would not like the way I looked in the pictures because I was so pale. I did feel better after walking around a little, drinking some Gatorade, and then finally getting a meal.
So...here are the things that went wrong with the race.
1. Left my iPhone arm band at home - had to stop in Rolla at AT&T store to buy a new one (that wasn't the same as my tried and true arm band) so that I had something to carry with me.
2. I didn't eat enough the night before. BAD idea...but sue me. I was nervous and I was afraid of having a stomach ache or bad digestive issues on race day. Mostly nerves, but 7-8 bites of eggplant/noodles was not good enough.
3. Overslept on race day. I had never used my phone alarm before and I set it for pm instead of am. Thankfully Erin set hers, but it was enough to rattle me.
4. Bought oatmeal and a banana at QT the night before. Didn't have a microwave in the hotel room. Couldn't eat the oatmeal...only the banana. Not enough food.
5. Switched my go to attire from a tank top to a long sleeved shirt at the last minute. Got hot at mile three. I missed my tank top.
6. AJ & Megan blasted off about mile three as well (with my Skittles in AJ's pocket). That's about the time my stomach realized I had not eaten enough the past two days and I was HUN-GRY. I needed a Skittles snack.
7. Hit a wall at mile 6/7 until 9. And then again at 11 until the end. Those few interspersed miles were torturous.
That seems like a lot to go wrong. It wasn't all that bad, but it was all that bad. I turned the last corner around the 13 mile marker thinking I had it made...I mean...only 0.1 miles to go, right? And not only did the heavy breathing lady that I had been passing back and forth for the previous 5-6 miles stop running (and consequently cause me to stop running or run her over), but the last little bit was on an INCLINE. Seriously? I think I said, "Seriously?" out loud when I saw it. Ugh...!!!
I felt like I had been hit by a bus after I was done and my calves cramped a lot which has never happened to me before. But, I made it and I immediately said I would NEVER run another 1/2 marathon again as AJ & Megan staked claim on the date of their next 1/2 and loosely threw around the word "marathon" as well. Oh, not I! The next day, my quads and toes hurt. I lost both of my second toe nails by the next day. I did not expect all of this.
So, here I am, 8 days later. I honestly don't know if I will run another 1/2, but I probably will. Maybe not for another year or so, but I do know I will not quit running. I love it too much. The race was on Sunday. I took Monday off and then planned to run Tuesday until the rain changed my plans. I knew when I was disappointed that I missed running 2 days in a row that I sure wasn't ready to quit running. I am enjoying running for fun for now, whatever that means. I will attempt to run a longer run Friday (9 miles) with my friend Carol who is only a few weeks away from her 1/2.
So, on to the shout outs!
Shout out to:
-My wonderfully supportive husband who has put up with me and my running obsession over the past 9 months. He is awesome and also aspires to be a runner too someday! :)
-My running club friends - Carol, Sheri, Doug, Carol, Ken, AJ & Megan. I honestly would have never been motivated enough to do this or would have logged enough to miles to do this without you. Cheers to accountability!!
-EG - you rock! I loved getting to spend the weekend with you and run 13.1 miles with you.
-My fellow halfers - Natalie, Aj, Megan, and EG (again) - Glad we could all rock StL together Salem-style as half-marathon first timers!
- Everybody that anxiously waits for me to start running at 5am so they can "like" my fb status, and also to those who roll their eyes and scroll on by when they see my facebook running status. I know it's annoying, but again...it helps me stay accountable so thanks for indulging me.
-All my other family & friends who have been so wonderful to ask how I'm doing and keep up with my training and listen to me whine when I felt bad or just wanted to complain. You're the best!!!
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