OK, let's put it out there.... First of all, I was just more than willing to let this race and the fact I did it fly under the radar - obviously by my activity feed I had a half marathon scheduled for Sunday (that & whole team thing too...) but still, I don't blog nearly enough so just figured I could get away with a "no comment" kind of a day....
But on the bus on the way home Jen said to me "I feel a blog coming on...you know you have to blog about this..." And of course there's usually a funny side to everything - this unfortunately is more along the lines of potty humor!! Nothing like a good "potty joke" to bring out the nine year old in all of this! And by the end of the trip home, despite still feeling queasy, we had pretty much covered every line/joke possible to describe my race - and definitely crossed a line for too much information!! But at least I was laughing....
Obviously now you get the picture... I don't know what I ate differently - had tried to be very careful all week - maybe it was nerves, but whatever it was it hit me!! And hit me hard!! Tummy troubles like you would not believe (how's that for a delicate way of putting it?)
Now, when I went into this whole half-marathon training program my intention was to just finish - I thought surely to goodness I can do this in less than 3 hours (max time)!! And as the training progressed although I am by no means the fastest I tended to be somewhat in the middle of the pack - good days & not so good days but overall happy with my progress. I was never about the pace/speed just the fact that I was out there all winter running distances that most days I felt surreal about...
As race day approached our coach advised us that we had done the training - we would be ok and there was no reason we wouldn't be able to do this (barring injury of course) so just enjoy the day.... But she (& other experienced runners in the group) also reinforced the fact that you just never know... something could come up, you could have a bad day, a bad run - could be the weather, could be anything but just remember it's only one day, one race - there will be others!
So, I kinda had a goal time in mind but still overall I was just focusing on the fact that we made it through the winter, we were on our way to a HALF MARATHON - this in itself was huge - what started out as "at the back of my mind, some day..." kind of a thing was now in my face - we were actually on a bus to a different city to run 21 friggin km - WTH - and on purpose..... Anyway, my holy cow I would be so thrilled time was 2 1/2 hours - doable although I was worried as my shoes were showing signs of wear & tear and the last few weeks of speed training brought out some new aches & pains - but again, I was here, that in itself was good.
I ran with a friend I met through the group - we had been pretty consistent with our times together & each of us had good & bad days so the intention was to start out together but of course not hold each other back...
We were passed by the 2:15 pace bunny early on and our intention became not to let the 2:30 pace bunny get past us and that became our incentive. My stomach was in knots prior to the race but again, I was more concerned about my shoes & my calves/shins not hurting. We hit the 8km mark & were both feeling good - I was gurgling a bit but still, the sun was shining, it was a great route with lots to look at (big, gorgeous homes overlooking the lake) and the crowds were enough of a distraction that we were both positive about our times so far.... Unfortunately, my tummy decided to ruin the party.... Almost at the half way point I told Julie to go ahead I needed to stop at one of the stations... It went downhill from there.... By the time I hit the 5km left marker I was in agony - I literally couldn't run, kept trying but the fear of all hell breaking loose kept slowing me down!! (I know, too much information, but you know what I mean?) I tell you, I kept looking at the police at every intersection wondering which one of them would consider this an emergency situation and get me back to the finish line - to heck with completing the race!! The power walkers kept passing me and although I told myself it wasn't about the time I was frustrated that I couldn't run (insert potty humor here!!) and my stupid body was not cooperating! I was still smiling at the crowd of well wishers & appreciating the fact that they were there and trying to tell myself to just finish strong- the mind was willing, the body not so much....
I crossed the finish line and it was all I could do to hang on... I started to feel dizzy and nauseous and was thinking "great, let's just pass out now to top this whole thing off!" Needless to say I couldn't bask in the glow of "finishing" I felt crappy and I just wanted to go sit in a quiet corner!!
But, when you run with a group like that...how can you be standoffish? There was concern expressed & they knew it wasn't a good finish but still, I did finish (didn't really have a choice did I?) and there were others that had a great time - not fair to deny them their kudos because I felt lousy.... Julie did finish at the 2:30 mark and Jen - she did 2:08 - an amazing time & how can you not be happy when your friends have done so well??? Celebrations need to be had - I may have been more subdued about it but proud & happy for them all the same. We headed off to the chili area - needless to say, I did not have any but it was good to be part of the camadre of race completed... There were some good times & there were others too that were disappointed in there times, but again, there was satisfaction in having completed it whether it was pretty or not!
Eventually on the ride home the humor of the situation did become clear and of course we had all kinds of lines/descriptions for my race - and as in any thing someone else always has a similar story to tell...and bottom line it could have been a lot worse....
My official chip time was 2:42:09 so really, considering I was aiming for 2:30 that's not bad - it just felt like a much longer time when I was still out there. I did it, I completed a half-marathon - woo hoo - and I know what it feels like to push through...

As Jen put it so well sh*t happens! (such a good friend!)

So, two days later, still feeling a little off so apparently it was a little more than nerves but our wind up party is tonight and I'm looking forward to sharing everyone else's experience (I think I have had enough discussion of my own!!) and making future plans... And considering the fact that we've already signed up for Around the Bay (30km) the end of March and a Full Marathon in May I guess I'm in this for the long haul...figuratively & literally so what the heck... And next time.... Imodium....



***I apologize for any visuals this may have caused, but really, it is funny (now) & yes, it did need a blog!