Rock'N'Roll DC Half Marathon - Part 1 Anxiety and Carb Loading
Hello Beautiful People,
It's been almost a month since the Rock'n'Roll DC Half Marathon and I'm finally catching my breath haha. I have been wanting to tell you all about it, but I wanted to make sure I had some time to sit and talk about everything that happened that weekend. I'm on Spring Break and I'm dog sitting until tomorrow so it feels like a good time to hanker down and get started. So grab a coffee, kick off your shoes, put your feet up, and relax. We're going to be here a while. :-)
My anxiety for this race was unlike any other. Even though this was going to be my 11th race, it was the one that I was the least prepared for and the first one without Dad cheering me on. It was not pleasant to spend time in my brain during the week leading up to the race. My OCD had me fixating on certain things.
A little more than two weeks before the race I pulled out my earbuds to find one of the earbud covers was missing. This is my favorite pair of earbuds. Heather gave them to me a couple of years ago and they are the best ones that I have ever had. I spent 3 days searching everywhere for it. I felt defeated. I could get a new pair, but they wouldn't be the same kind and I wouldn't have a lot of time to break them in. I pouted all of the way to the store. I reluctantly found a pair that might do the trick. The pair I picked didn't have covers that would fall off, but they were the kind that wrapped around your ears and it would take a little getting used to. I had a pair like them before and I liked them. I still didn't open them for a couple of days because I kept tearing apart every place that I thought that I could have dropped the other cover. I finally sucked it up and broke them in on my 8 mile training day two weeks before the race. I was fine with them. And then I found the cover in the preschool classroom behind the door. Crisis averted (after I lost my mind).
The week before the race brought two new anxiety fixations. The first came when I started to worry about what to wear. The temperature seemed to be dropping and for the life of me, I couldn't find my green tutu. The tutu is like a security blanket for me. I have worn tutus for many 5ks, but I have also worn the green one for the DC race before. I like it and it helps cover some of my not so flattering spots. But, most importantly it keeps my booty warm. My plan for the race was to not run at all and to just walk it. My goal was to finish and to finish without injury. Therefore, my body temperature would not get as high as it would if I was running. I needed the extra warmth. I searched and searched and searched for the green tutu, but all I could find was the pink one. It would have to do, but I was holding out hope that maybe I left the green one at mom's. Good news! I did. I found it as soon as I got to mom's. I felt like I could start to breathe.
That last week before the race I went in to print up my confirmation form to take to registration. It was the first time that I had really looked at the race information. The start location was still on Constitution Avenue, which I love, but I noticed something else. The start time changed. It moved to 8:30. Well that was great, until I realized that the full marathon start time was 7am. What???? Ms. Brittney and I wouldn't be starting at the same time. What would I do? Then I saw that the metro didn't start running until 7. So I couldn't even go in to see her start. But, I was having a fit anyway. Even if I wanted to see her start, I would be standing around for 90 minutes before my race started and my body would just be getting colder and colder. It would be hard to start the race with cold muscles. Yeah, that anxiety didn't go away.
The plan was to leave right after preschool on Thursday and head up to mom's. I needed to go into DC on Friday to get my race packet. I had been sick the week before and I was really behind so I opted to skip out on the Wednesday night Lenten service so that I could pack. The problem was that I was so physically tired by then that I would pack one thing and then sit down for 30 minutes. Ugh. I needed to make sure I got sleep too.
While I was driving to preschool on Thursday I realized that I forgot to pack my fitbit charger. DOH! I couldn't remember the last time that I charged it. It would probably run out of battery soon. And it did. It ran out on Friday. Grr....there was no rational reason to be upset, but dang it, I was going to be hitting the mother load of steps and I wanted it recorded.
I was anxious to get on the road, but I made a quick stop first. I needed a massage. So I stopped at the gym before I hit the highway. I got a nice 10 minute hydro massage. Ahhh.
The drive up was pretty uneventful, except for the snow. WHAT??? I was doing just fine until I was driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains and out of no where the snow started. I mean there had been rumors that it had started to snow that morning in Charlotte, but I didn't see it and thought people were crazy. At first the snow was just a little, but then I couldn't see at one point. I was having an internal meltdown. Snow???? WTH! It promptly disappeared once I was through the mountains, but the damage was done. I was unhinged. It took a little while for my brain to calm down. The weekend before, DC was shut down because of the high winds. Snow wasn't in the forecast until Sunday night. Just how cold was it going to get on Saturday?
As I got closer to mom's I started thinking about the Carb Loading that would begin the next day. I might start a little early. Over Christmas I had been given a Wawa giftcard. We don't have Wawas in Charlotte so I hadn't used the whole thing yet. I could get Philly Soft Pretzels at Wawa. So I stopped and got some. That cheered me up.
Mom offered to drive me to the Metro Friday morning. Yay. She had taken the day off, but we are patiently awaiting a brand new hip so unnecessary walking is being avoided. The plan was to try and meet Ms. Brittney at the expo. We were running a little behind schedule. There was a train just getting ready to leave, but I wanted to make sure that I put enough money on my card so that it wouldn't be a problem for the rest of the weekend. I had a little bit of a wait for the next train, but it was one of the new ones so it was worth it. It was a 45 minute ride in and just as I got there I was texting Ms. Brittney and she was texting me. She was getting ready to leave, but we wanted to at least see each other and hug.
Wow it was cold and windy. Um...starting to freak out. We talked for a few minutes, but the wind was a bit much. Sadly we wouldn't be carb loading together and since we wouldn't see each other before the race started, we would see each other when it was over.
After I picked up my packet, I walked through the Rock'n'Roll merchandise. I wasn't planning on getting a shirt, but I saw the shirts with our names on it and I got excited. They had split the races up so that they were broken up by distance and the half was also broken up by gender. I quickly got out my magnifying glass to find my name. I found it!
I'm right at the top of the star, like a Rock Star! Crap. I want a shirt. I really liked the long sleeve version. It's charcoal grey with a hood. First, I wanted go look for Ms. Brittney's name. I found it. When I turned around I grabbed a shirt off of the rack and headed to the register. On my way I picked up a shot glass, and what I thought was a magnet for mom.
After I made my purchase, I went over to the St. Jude area. I got my wristband for the post race tent and was able to exchange my jersey for a larger size. I was starting to panic at how many layers I would need to wear under it.
There weren't as many vendors as there have been in the past so I got out of there pretty quick. I stopped to take my usual pictures before I got back on the metro.
The Cherry Blossoms were beautiful.
And the port-o-potties were a plenty.
While I was on the metro going home, I looked through my pictures. Something had been bothering me. Why was my name so far down on the shirt? It starts with H. And that's when I saw it.
There were two shirts for the women's Half Marathon. My brain quickly tried to remember where I grabbed the shirt from and did I actually look at it to see my name before I left? Nope. I did not. I bought the shirt from the L-Z side. Dang it! I was so annoyed. I was already on the way home. I had to fight the tears away.
I'm telling you, my anxiety was high. The littlest thing could set me off.
Luckily it was time to start carb loading. Dinner would be at 5:30 at Aunt Carol's. Mom and I said we would bring dessert. So we went to our new favorite place for lunch: Paris Baguette. Ms. Brittney and I had talked that morning about staying away from caffeine for the day so that we could go to bed easily. The problem is that I love the caramel latte at Paris Baguette. I got one anyway.
Okay so when we were there the last time I was DROOLING over the blueberry chiffon. I didn't get it and said I would wait until race weekend. It was WORTH the wait. I'm still drooling just looking at the picture.
On the way over to Aunt Carol's I mentioned to mom that I forgot to ask for Friday Spaghetti. That's what dad would make for my Carb Loading meals. It's okay though, it would probably make me cry. And it did.
It was soooooo good. As were the homemade pierogies.
I Love Carb Loading day!
In all of my anxiety, I forgot that Aunt Carol would be available to go in with me to start the race. YAY. We are very much alike. She planned on bringing a book and hanging out while I hit the streets of DC.
She recruited cousin Corey to drive us to the metro in his new car. He asked me what I wanted to listen to in the car. I said Pitbull always gets me race ready.
Before I went to bed I had one more thing to do. I had to lay out Flat Jennie and take a picture. Now the important thing to remember is that I was going for warmth not cuteness.
I had totally forgotten that I could put my name on my bib. I liked that at the Cleveland race. It was great to have strangers yell my name in support. I chose to go a different way this time.
I was going ALL IN for this race.
Alright, I need to go train some clients so this feels like a good time for an intermission. Everyone get up and walk around. Get the blood flowing. I'll see you in a little bit.
Have a Blessed Night,
Jennie
xoxo
If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you! Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week. The journey is so much easier if you have support.
jhendersonfit@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/ConfessionsOfAFormerFatGir
yeah, sorry, I messed up and the "l" is missing....I need an assistant :-)
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter: hugsnsmile
Instagram: Jennie5973
Snapchat: jhendersonfit
It's been almost a month since the Rock'n'Roll DC Half Marathon and I'm finally catching my breath haha. I have been wanting to tell you all about it, but I wanted to make sure I had some time to sit and talk about everything that happened that weekend. I'm on Spring Break and I'm dog sitting until tomorrow so it feels like a good time to hanker down and get started. So grab a coffee, kick off your shoes, put your feet up, and relax. We're going to be here a while. :-)
My anxiety for this race was unlike any other. Even though this was going to be my 11th race, it was the one that I was the least prepared for and the first one without Dad cheering me on. It was not pleasant to spend time in my brain during the week leading up to the race. My OCD had me fixating on certain things.
A little more than two weeks before the race I pulled out my earbuds to find one of the earbud covers was missing. This is my favorite pair of earbuds. Heather gave them to me a couple of years ago and they are the best ones that I have ever had. I spent 3 days searching everywhere for it. I felt defeated. I could get a new pair, but they wouldn't be the same kind and I wouldn't have a lot of time to break them in. I pouted all of the way to the store. I reluctantly found a pair that might do the trick. The pair I picked didn't have covers that would fall off, but they were the kind that wrapped around your ears and it would take a little getting used to. I had a pair like them before and I liked them. I still didn't open them for a couple of days because I kept tearing apart every place that I thought that I could have dropped the other cover. I finally sucked it up and broke them in on my 8 mile training day two weeks before the race. I was fine with them. And then I found the cover in the preschool classroom behind the door. Crisis averted (after I lost my mind).
The week before the race brought two new anxiety fixations. The first came when I started to worry about what to wear. The temperature seemed to be dropping and for the life of me, I couldn't find my green tutu. The tutu is like a security blanket for me. I have worn tutus for many 5ks, but I have also worn the green one for the DC race before. I like it and it helps cover some of my not so flattering spots. But, most importantly it keeps my booty warm. My plan for the race was to not run at all and to just walk it. My goal was to finish and to finish without injury. Therefore, my body temperature would not get as high as it would if I was running. I needed the extra warmth. I searched and searched and searched for the green tutu, but all I could find was the pink one. It would have to do, but I was holding out hope that maybe I left the green one at mom's. Good news! I did. I found it as soon as I got to mom's. I felt like I could start to breathe.
That last week before the race I went in to print up my confirmation form to take to registration. It was the first time that I had really looked at the race information. The start location was still on Constitution Avenue, which I love, but I noticed something else. The start time changed. It moved to 8:30. Well that was great, until I realized that the full marathon start time was 7am. What???? Ms. Brittney and I wouldn't be starting at the same time. What would I do? Then I saw that the metro didn't start running until 7. So I couldn't even go in to see her start. But, I was having a fit anyway. Even if I wanted to see her start, I would be standing around for 90 minutes before my race started and my body would just be getting colder and colder. It would be hard to start the race with cold muscles. Yeah, that anxiety didn't go away.
The plan was to leave right after preschool on Thursday and head up to mom's. I needed to go into DC on Friday to get my race packet. I had been sick the week before and I was really behind so I opted to skip out on the Wednesday night Lenten service so that I could pack. The problem was that I was so physically tired by then that I would pack one thing and then sit down for 30 minutes. Ugh. I needed to make sure I got sleep too.
While I was driving to preschool on Thursday I realized that I forgot to pack my fitbit charger. DOH! I couldn't remember the last time that I charged it. It would probably run out of battery soon. And it did. It ran out on Friday. Grr....there was no rational reason to be upset, but dang it, I was going to be hitting the mother load of steps and I wanted it recorded.
I was anxious to get on the road, but I made a quick stop first. I needed a massage. So I stopped at the gym before I hit the highway. I got a nice 10 minute hydro massage. Ahhh.
The drive up was pretty uneventful, except for the snow. WHAT??? I was doing just fine until I was driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains and out of no where the snow started. I mean there had been rumors that it had started to snow that morning in Charlotte, but I didn't see it and thought people were crazy. At first the snow was just a little, but then I couldn't see at one point. I was having an internal meltdown. Snow???? WTH! It promptly disappeared once I was through the mountains, but the damage was done. I was unhinged. It took a little while for my brain to calm down. The weekend before, DC was shut down because of the high winds. Snow wasn't in the forecast until Sunday night. Just how cold was it going to get on Saturday?
As I got closer to mom's I started thinking about the Carb Loading that would begin the next day. I might start a little early. Over Christmas I had been given a Wawa giftcard. We don't have Wawas in Charlotte so I hadn't used the whole thing yet. I could get Philly Soft Pretzels at Wawa. So I stopped and got some. That cheered me up.
Mom offered to drive me to the Metro Friday morning. Yay. She had taken the day off, but we are patiently awaiting a brand new hip so unnecessary walking is being avoided. The plan was to try and meet Ms. Brittney at the expo. We were running a little behind schedule. There was a train just getting ready to leave, but I wanted to make sure that I put enough money on my card so that it wouldn't be a problem for the rest of the weekend. I had a little bit of a wait for the next train, but it was one of the new ones so it was worth it. It was a 45 minute ride in and just as I got there I was texting Ms. Brittney and she was texting me. She was getting ready to leave, but we wanted to at least see each other and hug.
Wow it was cold and windy. Um...starting to freak out. We talked for a few minutes, but the wind was a bit much. Sadly we wouldn't be carb loading together and since we wouldn't see each other before the race started, we would see each other when it was over.
After I picked up my packet, I walked through the Rock'n'Roll merchandise. I wasn't planning on getting a shirt, but I saw the shirts with our names on it and I got excited. They had split the races up so that they were broken up by distance and the half was also broken up by gender. I quickly got out my magnifying glass to find my name. I found it!
I'm right at the top of the star, like a Rock Star! Crap. I want a shirt. I really liked the long sleeve version. It's charcoal grey with a hood. First, I wanted go look for Ms. Brittney's name. I found it. When I turned around I grabbed a shirt off of the rack and headed to the register. On my way I picked up a shot glass, and what I thought was a magnet for mom.
After I made my purchase, I went over to the St. Jude area. I got my wristband for the post race tent and was able to exchange my jersey for a larger size. I was starting to panic at how many layers I would need to wear under it.
There weren't as many vendors as there have been in the past so I got out of there pretty quick. I stopped to take my usual pictures before I got back on the metro.
The Cherry Blossoms were beautiful.
And the port-o-potties were a plenty.
While I was on the metro going home, I looked through my pictures. Something had been bothering me. Why was my name so far down on the shirt? It starts with H. And that's when I saw it.
There were two shirts for the women's Half Marathon. My brain quickly tried to remember where I grabbed the shirt from and did I actually look at it to see my name before I left? Nope. I did not. I bought the shirt from the L-Z side. Dang it! I was so annoyed. I was already on the way home. I had to fight the tears away.
I'm telling you, my anxiety was high. The littlest thing could set me off.
Luckily it was time to start carb loading. Dinner would be at 5:30 at Aunt Carol's. Mom and I said we would bring dessert. So we went to our new favorite place for lunch: Paris Baguette. Ms. Brittney and I had talked that morning about staying away from caffeine for the day so that we could go to bed easily. The problem is that I love the caramel latte at Paris Baguette. I got one anyway.
Okay so when we were there the last time I was DROOLING over the blueberry chiffon. I didn't get it and said I would wait until race weekend. It was WORTH the wait. I'm still drooling just looking at the picture.
On the way over to Aunt Carol's I mentioned to mom that I forgot to ask for Friday Spaghetti. That's what dad would make for my Carb Loading meals. It's okay though, it would probably make me cry. And it did.
It was soooooo good. As were the homemade pierogies.
I Love Carb Loading day!
In all of my anxiety, I forgot that Aunt Carol would be available to go in with me to start the race. YAY. We are very much alike. She planned on bringing a book and hanging out while I hit the streets of DC.
She recruited cousin Corey to drive us to the metro in his new car. He asked me what I wanted to listen to in the car. I said Pitbull always gets me race ready.
Before I went to bed I had one more thing to do. I had to lay out Flat Jennie and take a picture. Now the important thing to remember is that I was going for warmth not cuteness.
I was going ALL IN for this race.
Alright, I need to go train some clients so this feels like a good time for an intermission. Everyone get up and walk around. Get the blood flowing. I'll see you in a little bit.
Have a Blessed Night,
Jennie
xoxo
****Please note****
If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you! Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week. The journey is so much easier if you have support.
jhendersonfit@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/ConfessionsOfAFormerFatGir
yeah, sorry, I messed up and the "l" is missing....I need an assistant :-)
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter: hugsnsmile
Instagram: Jennie5973
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/jhendersonfit
Snapchat: jhendersonfit
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