Wednesday, May 27, 2009

FTW

I really have no business thinking I can do this stuff...

I have even less business saying it out loud...

And I most certainly have no business pulling it off.

And yet... I do.

I had decided to take on the Laguna Hills 1/2 Marathon for the first time. I'd been there cheering for others for three years, and this was my chance. Just because I train nearby, I thought I knew the course. Hell, turns out I didn't even know where the start line was!

I had pulled an all-nighter Saturday night. And had only napped for about an hour on Sunday... And didn't go to bed until about 10 on Sunday night.

On top of that, I hadn't been taking care of myself in the two days prior to the race. I might have forgotten to eat dinner on Saturday night before heading out to the ultra... And I hadn't gotten to eat breakfast other than the Starbucks I'd gotten on my way to the swap meet, and every free sample I could find that morning...

My stomach was not in great shape... I'd had a bit of the gas all day on Sunday and by Sunday night, everything pretty much exploded... My poor little butthole was raw... Stuffing a Tucks pad in there actually made it feel worse. I was not thinking that my race the next day would even happen, much less be a success. I lay down gingerly atop the covers, with my ass feeling like it was on fire and just thought cooling thoughts until I finally fell asleep...

I woke up Monday morning at 4:15 or so, and started getting ready... I didn't dare try to poop.

I had decided to wear the shoes I'd bought the day before. And new socks. And my new sports bra. At the last moment, I changed my mind about the socks and the sports bra. But the shoes were new. And I knew this was against the rules... I'd also stashed some new gels in my hydration pack... Another broken rule...

But I found that I wasn't really looking at this as a race... I was looking at it as a training run... A chance to really kick off my training for the 50-miler I'm doing in the fall... And because I'd hung out with Ultramarathoners just the day before, I decided to really be like them and not take the shuttle back to my car after the race... I could add another 1.5 that way! (Turns out it was actually 2.)

There was so little traffic that I actually began to worry that I had slept the entire day away and it was really Tuesday. No backup at the exit off of the freeway... I was not even two hours before the start and yet it was eerily empty. I knew this race wasn't huge, but I hadn't realized just how small it really would be... And then realized that when there's race day registration, it's a pretty small race. LOL.

I sat in my car, staying warm... Ended up chatting with Zabba and Facebooking for a bit... She helped me finalize my plan for walking back to my car after the race... I ate some Sports Beans and drank some water...

Finally, I went to use the porta-potty and then ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich... I met up with a TNT pal and caught up a bit... He said he was just going out to have fun, since he'd done no more than 2 miles so far this season... I said I was kicking off my training... His jaw dropped and he repeated slowly, "Kicking off training with a half-marathon? Wow." And I'd done about 7 miles the day before in the wee hours of the morning.

We helped a couple of people attach their D-Tags, and then headed into the corral. It was the first time I'd ever not gone out of my way to be at the back of the corral...

We were in the perfect spot for the National Anthem, and I was crying pretty hard, thinking about the people who sacrifice so much for my freedom, and especially missing the Chief...

And then the gun went off and I was off and running...

And running...

And running...

And walking and running...

I ran farther than I'd ever run before. I played little games with myself to get myself to run just a bit farther than I thought I could before allowing myself a walk break. And I never faltered. Well, once I faltered. But I still prevailed.

I was actually inspired to write another mile-by-mile, which I haven't done in ages... (For those of you new to my blogging, I used to post a mile-by-mile blog for every race I did... Just different things I saw and thought during each mile...) I may actually get around to it...

But a few things that stand out in my mind are as follows:

I hit the Mile 5 marker and the volunteer yelled "One-Oh-Three!" And I thought, "Wait. What???!!! 1:03?? I usually hear or see that number at Mile FOUR... Not five... Holy crap, I am on fire..."

And then I finally saw the place where I used to stand and cheer... And I looked down below to the bike path where we would move after we saw our friends at that first spot... And it wasn't until I made a few quick turns before I realized that I had had no clue as to the hell those runners had endured during the four miles in between sightings....

But then I did it. And I came out on the other side... And I tried new gels and fell in LOVE with one of them... And every chance I got, I jumped OFF the bike path to run in the dirt... Hopping over plants and rocks and stuff... It was great fun.

And I kicked ass. And I finished strong. And I crossed that finish line with a new Half-Marathon PR... Nearly six minutes faster than my previous PR, set on a flat, fast course 19 months ago... A lifetime ago...

And then I got my stuff and walked uphill 2 miles back to my car to finish it off...

Every rule I broke on that race course was a risk that worked out in my favor... Recovery, however, has not been sweet... I did the electrode thing for 24 minutes and they made it sound like my muscles would be all better... So, I walked the 2 miles to my car and drove to TF's house...

Where I decided I could afford to skip the ice bath.

That was not a wise choice... CB does awesome BBQ and I enjoyed the meal and the company (and the shower!)...

But when I got up to yoga on Tuesday morning, I found that I could barely touch my toes... And I pretty much hobbled around all day as though I'd done at least a full marathon the day before...

This running stuff is pretty hard when you first get started, apparently...

And I need to have a bit more respect for the distance I ran...

A half-marathon isn't something I'm good enought yet to sneeze at... Especially when I do it in the middle of a 22-mile weekend.

Noted.

2 comments:

  1. Shayna,

    Barely touch your toes? I can only dream about that in a fantasy world.

    Awesome time. PR by 6 minutes, sleep is overrated.

    Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great job! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete