OMG THE LUCKY GUY!!!!!!!!!!!
And Eric's finger. Oops..!
I totally demanded to have a pic with the Lucky Guy. "LUCKY GUY" I shouted "CAN WE HAVE A PICTURE???!!!!" Snap, you would have thought he was Robert Downey Jr the way I was all up in his biz...
The race started right on time (big plus) I turned on my ipod (I've been running without it lately so that when I get to a race it's like a big dance party!) And I got down to the business of running.
Mile one went by fine, lots of people faded from the front by the time we reached the one mile mark and by mile 2 people had pretty much set themselves in close to the order that they were going to finish in. I think I passed (maybe) 10 people from that point on.
The other thing that happened at mile 2... My legs checked out.
Legs: Yeah, we're done.
Me: What? Are you serious? You have run 2 miles! This is a Half, did I not mention that?
Legs: Fuck you dude, fuck you.
Me: *genuinely shocked*
I was a bit troubled by this turn of events, as I certainly wasn't laying down any land speed records and there was a hell of a long way to go. My hope was that (as is often the case) between mile 3-6 my legs would go onto auto pilot, I'd zone out and just run like a boss.
No.
Legs: Remember that little bit of Friday speed work? BAD CALL.
Me: Well I certainly am regretting it now!
Legs: As you well should
Stomach: I hurt. I'm going to get in on this fun too! OUCH!!! I HATE YOU!!!!
Me: OMG you guys, knock it off...
I really started talking myself into it at mile 7 when an old dude in his front yard yelled that we (there were maybe 3 of us, 10 or so seconds apart) were in the top 20. My competitive side wanted to hang onto this quite badly. Everything else wanted to sit with the old guy on his front lawn and take a permanent break...
The second half of the race was really, really strange. I'd have a mile of so where I'd feel great- and I'd hope that I was finally hitting my stride when, just as quickly as the energy burst had come on it would leave. I was really, really hurting during those miles. I knew that the brisk pace, the unexpected hills and the moderate headwind were taking a toll on me which was even more noticeable due to my questionable state. I got a terrible case of the fuckits- which is when all my brain can say (despite my attempts to stay positive) is fuckitfuckitfuckit!!!!!
I'm not sure if any final mile, of any race EVER has been so much of a challenge. I was legit exhausted and a bit put out with my situation, drowning in sweat, sad stomach, super sore hip and just feeling like junk. It was a perfect storm of imperfection that led to my partial demise (seriously, it was the polar opposite of MDI when everything just kept going my way!) IT WAS ROUGH.
I crossed the finish in 1:38:47 which is pretty badass.
I immediately sat down and started to cry because
a: I'm a big fat baby
b: I was so so so tired
c: I hated running and decided it was time to retire.
Eric was worried.
Then I stopped crying and RAN to the porta pottie. That was fun.
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I so want to do that race! Next year... Great job!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Speedy McSpeederson!
ReplyDeletewow, I can't imagine that time feeling GOOD, let alone all your road blocks. Way to kick it girl!
ReplyDeleteYou are so cute and speedy! Congrats!!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jen! Cute AND speedy! Also, I'm totally the lucky guy! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWow! Awesome job! I ran a race on that same day and was dressed almost completely opposite of you..even had the wool socks on! Ha, ha...and I only ran 8.5 miles (it was a relay)and we almost had the same finish time. I am very impressed!
ReplyDeleteI am trying to break 2:00. Can't image running 1:38 when every body system is revolting. Great race.
ReplyDelete