Third Half Marathon...this one HURT, but I still finished :-)

Hello my Lovelies and Gents,

Once again, I hadn't meant for there to be so many days since the last post. Thursday night I went to the gym for a light walk and hydro-massage. Then I just sort of crashed while watching my Thursday night tv shows.  It was okay though, because I had Friday off.

Originally I was going to get up and go down to the beach early. I was going to hole up in Starbucks and study before I could pick up my registration packet.  Then Heather decided that she wanted to come down for the weekend. If I waited until the afternoon we would ride together. Sure. So I used my morning to take care of some Christmas stuff. It's coming soon you know!

So we got on the road with the plan to stop halfway down there for some lunch and a quick stop at Target. I needed to pick up some tape for my ankle. When Heather and I road trip it to the beach we like to stop at Sonic. It was time to carb up. OMG I got french toast sticks and tater tots. I heart french toast sticks. There were only four, but I could have easily eaten a dozen.

When we got to Target I started thinking about what I would wear for the race. I wasn't sure how the weather would be so I packed both shorts and pants and short sleeves and long sleeves.  But, I started to look around and see if they had anything I might want to wear. In the clearance section I found a cute blue running jacket. They only had a medium and an XL. The medium looked small.  I took them both in to the dressing room (ugh). The medium felt tight. I wasn't sure. I asked Heather and she said it looked great. To compare, I put on the XL and that so unbelievably big. Medium it is.

We got down to the beach and picked up my packet and Kristin's. Love the shirts this year. It's the same design as last year, but they are neon yellow and long sleeve. I had also planned on buying a sweatshirt. Last year they were selling the previous year's sweatshirts for $20 less than the new ones. So I figured I would wait until this year to get last year's. By the time we got there they had two left from last year. One pink in a medium and one red in an XL. I loved that the lady selling them said "You would fit in medium." And I did :-)  So I got it.

And then it was off to Ms. Cheryl's for dinner. Whole wheat pasta. Salad. Garlic bread. Green bean salad. I heart carb loading day!  It was Delicious!  We couldn't stay long though, because we had to get up early.

I was getting nervous. My foot has been bothering me and I did not get my training in like I had hoped. The move and that stupid virus held me back.  I just was not as excited as I should have been. As I was laying on the couch (I was not staying upstairs because of the steps) and I was checking my email. I saw a comment on a previous post from Bobbi calling me "inspiring". Bobbi, if you are reading this, you have no idea how much I needed that :-)  Thank you.  Also, I'm totally routing for you.

When my alarm went off in the morning I jumped off of the couch. I had slept with my foot elevated and it was feeling a little better. I had bigger problems. I had no idea what I was going to wear. It was warm. So I opted for shorts, short sleeved shirt, new jacket, and knee socks. Once that decided I had to decide on the shoes.

The knee socks served two purposes. They would keep my calves warm, but they are also thin and would help when my foot swelled in my sneakers. The downside is that I would probably get blisters from the friction.  I had the sneakers down to my nice neon ones or the older blue pair that matched my outfit. I went old school.

When we got there it was actually nice. I even handed my gloves to Heather because I didn't need them. When it was time to start once again I got caught up in the runners. So we ran for part of the first mile. And then my foot hurt. so we dropped down to the walking that I needed. The problem is that I didn't get my warm up in before I ran so I always take a little while to recover to my walking pace after a run.

While we were walking I noticed that mile 3 took us a little further to the turn around than we had last year.  I wondered where they would make an adjustment later. I was feeling good and we were holding good pace. My foot felt okay. The shoe wasn't feeling tight at all. Of course that meant that my other foot was sliding all over the place. I felt like my right foot was ice skating inside the sneaker. 

It was still fairly warm. It was cloudy though with a wet mist. This was nice though. I actually took my jacket off and wrapped it around my waist. It is December and I was wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Gotta love it.

On mile 5 we were coming up on a water stop and there was an action photographer. Quick! We have to run for the picture! We ran all of ten feet and then stopped to pick up water. That was when I noticed something. My legs were numb. I didn't feel the cold as long as I was moving. Oops.

Soon we were on mile 6 and that took us through the trail for about 6 miles. It got us off of the wet asphalt, but put us in the mud. UGH. There were some puddles as wide as the trail. That meant you had to slow down and trudge through the mud. So glad I did not wear the new sneakers.

Okay so things started to change around mile 8. Up until then we were on pace to best my Philly Rock'N'Roll time by at least 15 minutes. But, things changed drastically. My legs started to tighten up. What? This has not happened before. We made the turn around on mile 9 and we were heading towards the finish line now. But, the tightening got worse. I could feel blisters on my feet, my ankle was sore and my legs felt like I had just ridden a bike to North Carolina and back. Kristin went ahead to run the last 3 miles and I resigned myself to just hoping to finish standing. I could feel my time slowing down. My short legs were shortening their stride even more. Mile 10 sucked!  But, I remembered that it was my toughest mile last year too. Mentally it was hard. My legs were tight and my butt felt like someone was giving it a mammogram.

The good news is that this time around I was still with a bunch of people and the leader for the full marathon didn't pass me before I got to the last turnaround,. He passed me on mile 10. Even as bad as I was feeling, my time was still better than the first one. That's little consolation though when I just wanted to lay down in the mud and let them trample over me. Honestly, the thing that kept me moving was knowing that there was food at the finish line.

So then I got to mile 12 and all I thought was "Hey, you got this. There are only 2 miles left!  I can handle 30 minutes...maybe. Good lord my legs hurt.  The best thing was that right then Ricky Martin started blaring on the playlist. "Do you really want it?" YES I DO! "Go Go Go"  Thanks Ricky!

By mile 13 my pace was unbelievably slow. I was in tears. I had hoped that no matter what I would be able to run the last mile. That was not going to happen. When I came around that last turn and saw the tent in the distance it was full on sobs. I don't understand how my lower body could be numb and yet be in so much pain. Why couldn't I lengthen my stride? Why were the legs sooooo tight?  I have come up with two answers for that. One is that I just plain did not get the long distance training in that I had for the previous races. My time has been short with all that is going on. Two is that maybe it was the shorts. Maybe if I wore pants that would have kept the muscles warmer. The temperature did drop a little and maybe that contributed.

Anyway, I pushed the pain away and ran across the finish line. I saw my time and my face deflated. I got my medal, water, and superwoman cape and went straight into the tent. I wanted pancakes so bad. But, the first thing I saw was the hamburger table. Sadly, they were out of hamburgers. So I got a bun and cheese and just munched on that while I was walking around. At the end of the table was BBQ pulled pork sliders. Only my most favorite! However, my hands were swollen and I couldn't hold the tongs long enough to move the pork to the bun. It took me 5 minutes for 2. No time to waste I spotted the pancakes and went over. I filled my plate. When I left the tent I was trying to find Heather. We eventually met up and found a bench by the tent. It was time to sit down.

Um so I ate my pancakes with my hands...because I couldn't hold a fork. I really was a mess. BUT I FINISHED! I did go back in to the tent for more food. I picked us up some Mac'n'Cheese and hamburgers. I ate one burger and started on the mac'n'cheese and then my belly screamed at me "ENOUGH". I had crossed the line. So I was done.

Somehow I managed to walk to the car. I let Heather drive. We needed to go to the grocery store to pick up dessert to take to Ms. Cheryl's and hit up Starbucks. I started to panic walking into the store. The desserts were so far away. I joked around that maybe I would need to ride one of the motorized carts. And I really did stand there and look at it for a little while. I hobbled over and we found cream cheese frosted brownies. YUM. My rule for race weekend is that after the race I can eat what I want. For the weekend only.

When we got back to the house I immediately filled the jacuzzi tub and hopped in. I pruned. And then I got out and took a hot shower because I had stayed in so long that the water had gotten cold.

The rest of the afternoon I sat on the chair with my feet up. The swelling went down and I was quite happy. I still hobbled over to Ms. Cheryl's. She was making Mexican! 

When we got there she had appetizers and I sat myself on the bar stool and had at it. Summer sausage and cheese. Chips and bean dip. Yum. She even made Hungry Girl margaritas. Oh holy heck that was delicious (gonna need the recipe). When it came time for dinner I had two tacos and a side of rice and beans. I thought for sure I would have seconds, but I seemed fine. And then I inhaled 3 brownies. ARGH.

A couple of hours later my legs and feet were screaming. Having them dangle on the bar stools was NOT a good idea. I was in pain. It was time to go.  Falling asleep was not hard. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

So today we had planned on stopping at Arby's on the way home. Heather had a coupon and I wanted a peppermint milkshake. I got my beef and cheddar and felt fine after I finished it. And then I started on the milkshake. And then it got ugly. My belly was starting to freak out. I had over done it. Basically, I had cheerios for dinner tonight.

As I write this I am sitting on a heating pad hoping that my sore sore butt will feel better.  My feet are up and I'm doing well. I finished.  Oh and I got the email that my time was actually a couple of minutes less than what was on the clock when I crossed. And Kristin said that her pedometer and a bunch of other people's were registering that the course was .4 further than it should have been. So if you factor all of that in, my time was equal to the Philly Rock'n'Roll time. So if my legs hadn't tightened up  I would have had an even better time.  That makes me feel better.  But, it's not always about what time I finish. Sometimes it's just about finishing.

Have a Blessed Night my friends.

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