Broke Man's Winter Warm Up

I love the hashtag on our race "medals." It's exactly how I felt after not being able to finish my intended distance.

I wrote this amazing race report only to turn around and have it disappear. To be honest, I'm in no mood to give another recap with the same level of awesomeness. In my best Arkansas voice, "I ain't got time for that crap." So, you get the suckier, not as entertaining version of my experience.

 

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Pre-race with some of my favorites. [Me and my crazy a$$ hair, Emily, Megan, Tracey]

• Race: You had the option of 3.5 miles, 7 miles, or half marathon. Rumor has it that the 7 miler was closer to 7.4-something. The half course started with the 3.5 mile loop then took most of that loop again before splitting off for the extra mileage. It was mostly paved trail but had it's fair share of frozen goose poop-sicles by the river. It also had rolling inclines which is always a love of mine.
• Goal: On a good day (meaning no first trimester nausea and fatigue), I wanted to get 1:50 for the half. It's 10 minutes slower than my PR but I thought it was doable based on how I've been running lately. As many of you may already know, I didn't finish the half on this day.
• Mile 1 [8:35]: The most exciting mile mostly because of the obstacles mentioned above. I ask myself several times per week, "What is the point in a goose?!" I was fortunate to be running my first few miles with my friend Megan. Tamara K. was right there with us too! A lot of my friends who ran are in the middle of marathon training so they actually ran more miles before the race. Hard core.
• Miles 2-3 [8:31, 8:39]: At this point, I was still trying to warm up. It was probably low to mid 20s with a light wind. I didn't feel awesome but didn't expect to because I know it takes me a while to warm up into race mode.
• Miles 4-5 [8:40, 8:39]: Megan and I rounded out the first loop, dodged the poop-sicles again, and headed into what would be our first half marathon of the year. I knew at this point I wasn't going to meet my goal. I think I told Megan after mile 5 that I wasn't sure if I could do this. My nausea was kicking in and I just wasn't feeling it. 
• Mile 6 [8:43]: I knew the split was coming up. I could choose to finish with the 7 milers or go on to attempt the half. Despite how I was feeling, my stubborn self decided to attempt what I set out to accomplish.
• Mile 7 [9:28]: As you can see by my split time, this was when I broke down. Sometime during this mile, I had to stop for a little dry heaving action. I didn't stop my watch because I wanted my true half marathon time if, in fact, I ended up finishing the race. After a few seconds of drying heaving, I started running again. I'm not sure how far I made it, but I had to stop again to actually vomit. I felt my egg making its way up and knew I couldn't stop it. At that point, I knew I wasn't going to force myself to do this. What in the world was I trying to prove anyway?! I stopped my watch and just stood there for a few seconds. I thanked God for guiding me to make the right decision for my growing baby (even if I didn't like the decision!). I thanked Him for giving me legs to run. I thanked Him for the joy that running brings to me. Then I swallowed my pride and headed towards the finish.
• Mile 8 [8:14]: When I turned around in the previous mile (I think it was sometime in the beginning of the mile), I wasn't sure how far I would have to run. I was hoping it would only be a mile. I just wanted to be done! It was probably closer to 2 miles because my finishing distance was 8.12 miles. I just spent the rest of the race trying to get to the finish line and cheer on my fellow runners as I passed them.
• I did a short cool down with my friend, Tamara C., to give myself 9 miles for the day.
  

  

  Tamara and me after our cool down. She showed up at the right time for me. I would have just walked to my car and felt sorry for myself but her presence lifted my spirit.

 

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I'm going to have to give this race another shot. I think I would have enjoyed it if I wasn't in my current situation. As I was thinking about this race, I also thought about all of the other races I'm registered for this year. I look at them and think, "What was I thinking when I committed to these?" Then I remembered that I wouldn't feel this way forever. I'm smack dab in the middle of the awful trimester of pregnancy. This will not last! I will slow down but I'll be able to finish these races! I only have two other half marathons on my schedule right now. The rest are smaller races. Hopefully this awful crap will go away soon and I'll feel like myself again.

 

Congrats to all of my friends who had successful races and training runs!! I'm so proud of all of you!!!