US Wellness

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Half Marathon Recap + Results

Well, the half is finally in the books and so is my cheat meal of Monical's pizza! :)  I gotta say that I'm glad it's over, but that I'm really glad that we signed up for it.  I'll get to the more boring details, but first let me get to the part that you really want to know.  My unofficial time was 2:19:30.  In my opinion that is a better than average time, but nothing fantastic.  For my first long race and a lackluster training schedule leading up to it, I'll take it.  

So now, the details.  I didn't get a chance/feel like another run since my last 12 miler.  I would not recommend that as a training schedule at all.  The week I ran the long run I was very sore afterwards and took a few days off, then the weekend came, and then the following week I was just unmotivated because I knew I could do the race distance. Friday morning I woke up feeling like a I had a cold.  I went to Walgreens to get some airborne and some sinus meds and hoped for the best.  The cold never seemed to materialize into anything major, but breathing was a bit more difficult this morning and I had to spit to clear my throat several times.  

We got up around 6:00 am today and as I was getting ready I decided to wrap my foot with some bandage for extra support in the arch and around the ankle.  I'm not sure if this helped or not.  Usually it's not until mile 6 or 8 that I start to get pain, however, today it started in my ankle on mile 2.  Mile 2!  It's really hard to get into a groove when that starts happening when you're still trying to get comfortable and find your pace.    The pain was pretty tolerable until about mile 10 and then it was like a knife stabbing me in the arch whenever I struck the ground.  Physically, I felt pretty good...not too winded....not that tired...but it was really hard to get any speed with that happening.  I never was able to get the kick I usually get for the last few miles.  Post race, I felt good until we got home and I sat down.  Since then I have been extremely sore.  As in.....I can hardly walk and when I do it's incredibly slowly.  This is the most sore I've been post-run ever.  

To celebrate the race we went to Monicals, which I have been dying to since I discovered that Springfield had one.  I couldn't go all out but I did have a gf pizza...and it was amazing! In case you were wondering what other cheats I've engaged in this weekend, they include: apple cider donut, french fries, gf pumpkin brownies, and tons of cheese.  :) 

The Bucket Blog

There are 47 days until my 31st birthday.  As I am no stranger to all things cliche, I made a bucket list last year.  Thirty is a magical age (aka a slap in the face) where you realize that you're finally an adult, even if you've been at the grown up table at holidays for a while. You need to make sure you've done some of things you wanted to do because there might be other adventures like families and babies on the horizon.  Also, you've found a few gray hairs and maybe you have an ache and/or pain here or there.  

The Official Bucket list didn't have to all be accomplished this year, but I wanted to get a good jump start.  I clearly remember waking up one morning in February with the then-crazy idea that I wanted to run a 5k.  Why did I want to do this?  I have no idea.  I hated...I mean hated running.  Who was going to run with me?  When would I do this? Would I actually do this?  I decided that I would call a friend who would probably be excited to do this with me and who would make me accountable for this decision.  I literally dialed Josh's number probably 30 seconds later while lying in bed after finding a groupon deal for the Rave Run at the end of April.  He agreed, and I immediately started "training."  

Interestingly enough, the 5k didn't make the life-long Bucket list.....a half marathon did.  However, I had never considered that this would be a possibility for 2013.  But then, after a few 5ks....a 10k....and some longer 8, 9, 10 mile runs it became a real possibility.  The summer and my running became a real roller coaster of emotions for me.  Even now, with the half completed I can't look back and say it was a smooth path.  It absolutely wasn't.  Training was f#cking hard....finding time was hard....dealing with an injury was hard.....and my own mental battles with my abilities and performance were hard.  Lots of tears were shed, that's for sure.

I'm not sure I ran my best race and I still struggle with that a bit, but I did it.  I knocked something off my list - something that seemed completely impossible this year.  As much as I look at my time (official chip time: 2:17:50) and wish it was 3 minutes faster.....I look at my time and think that that's really freakin' incredible for a girl who worried that she wouldn't finish her first 5k not 6 months prior. 

Oh, and my friend....he's no longer just my friend....he's my boyfriend and that pretty much ices my running cake. I wouldn't be writing this post if it wasn't for him....agreeing to run....constantly running faster than me....and listening to me whine and complain about running 24/7.  He's awesome and I'm so proud of him for all of the running accomplishments he had this year, too.  :) 

It's my plan to switch my focus a little bit back to Crossfit right now, but running isn't over.  Running has turned out to be one of the most rewarding decisions I've ever made and I'll continue to do it for the next 47 days and beyond.