RunValpo13.1

Us....another half marathon is done and officially in the books.



Chris --showing off his 'tough'


Me....showing off just how tough I am (not!)


Me.....just so you know, putting 20 ounces of Coke on top of a banana and a cream-filled doughnut is NOT the way to properly fuel for a half-marathon :-/

Saturday, November 13, 2010

This was such an emotional day for me. A very best friend of mine (Jody) was having an adoption fundraising dinner this night to raise money to bring her little boy(s) home from Ethiopia, and Chris and I were running another half-marathon in the morning!!!!
I wanna start this race report by griping about how COMPLETELY untrained I was!!!! Chris's job decided that he needed to work Saturdays for a while, so I lost my long run days, and there just isn't time to squeeze it in anywhere else, especially since it gets so dark so quick now :-( I had done a total of *2* long-ish runs, but both of those were back in early September!!!! And, they were only 9 mile runs! I have a good, solid base of about 5-6 miles, but a half-marathon is 13.17 miles, not 5! And, as a side note, Chris had done *1* training run, all of 3 miles, about 3 days before the race.
Saturday morning dawns nice and pleasant. It is fore casted to be in the 50's and overcast, rain is likely to begin at 11am. Race starts at 8:30...if we run fast enough, we can cross the finish line and zoom to the car before the rain hits!!!! Most excellent, that was my plan!!!!
We had a new sitter coming, and she got there early, which was really nice for us!!! After giving the poor girl about 9,685 directions, we headed out the door. We had plenty of time, so we stopped at Wal-Mart for breakfast....I was so busy talking to the sitter, I had forgotten to eat!!!!! So, I got a banana and a doughnut at W/M and was able to 'use' the bathroom too!!!!! After parking and packet pick-up we had a bit of time, so we putzed around and pottied....I was freezing and content to sit in the car till start time, but Chris wanted to stretch and jog, you know, all that stuff you really should do before a run :-)
I was really nervous and not feeling very confident at all....I was terribly untrained, and un-prepared for this magnitude of a run :-(
The race started, and we were off. The first mile, I could tell Chris really wanted to stay with me, to slow himself down, but I pretty much ignored him, I'm not a social runner, and I REALLY needed to focus on Julie for this run, and I did not want the guilt of bringing him down on this run, so after mile 1, he took off! He was trying to break 2 (his last (and only) half was a 2:07, so we were all really pulling for him to break 2) Mile 2 went by pretty quickly, but I could tell I needed to hit a groove and lock into it for about the next 8-9 miles....so I started some labor contraction breathing...the type of breathing where you really focus on filling your lungs and just breathing while counting...as opposed to focusing on the running. It works great for me, but I AM a number nerd, I usually add weird numbers on long runs to pass the time!
Before long, we were at mile 6 and I was definitely in a zone, and pretty happy with my time, I was hitting each mile about 7-12 seconds ahead of schedule, and things were going really well.
BAM.
I realized that I was half-way done, and what kind of time I would get if I kept this pace, what would happen if I added 8 seconds to each successive mile, numbers, numbers, numbers.......and I lost my groove. Completely lost it. I also realized I was thirsty. It's not good to be thirsty on this kind of run......At the 8 mile station, I got a Gatorade and Water, and walked while I drank them.....then, got right back to running. I thought if I could trick myself into believing that I only needed those 4 swallows to finish the whole run, it would work, and I could really hydrate AFTER I crossed the line.......nope.
I made it to 8.8 before I had to walk, and I had to walk b/c there was just nothing left in me. I was drained, my legs felt like rubber, and my hip joints felt like they were just clogged and couldn't actually lift my legs anymore. I walked for about .2 miles, then resumed a slow jog.....I just wanted it to be faster than a walk, and it was...barely. A little while after I started running again, my 2 swallows of Gatorade and my doughnut and my banana decided something needed to leave. So, on the side of some country road behind Route 30 behind the small airport in Valpo, I puked all of that up! Several people asked if I was OK, but at this point in the race, it's every man for himself, and us slow folk at the back of the race are all just trying to find where they put that finish line (cuz, it should be right HERE) Shortly after this, I realize that the insanely chapped lips I have been developing since the run started, well, they are now bleeding. So, I have little splatters of puke all over me, and bleeding lips (which hurt SOOO bad)and, I realize, that no one is FORCING me to do this, I volunteered to do this. Wow. Then, I realize that some people are jealous of me. Some people are jealous that they can't run like me (ohhhh, that really tickles me, why would ANYONE want to run like me??? I am so pathetic at running!!!!) But, for my fans and loyal blog readers(;-)) I decide to run. I ran/walked to the 11 mile mark, and realized I was NOT gonna make my goal of 2:07:59, so I momentarily gave up. Then, I realize, that Chris should be finishing really soon, and that my incredible little sister and her super-fun dog are waiting on me, and I needed to get there fast before it started raining, and Lambeau got cold. So, after the 11.25-ish mark, I started to run again, )and ran all the way to the 12.9 mile mark.....quite a long ways for a not-properly-fueled or hydrated girl to run!!!) I ran for the things in this world bigger than me. I ran for those who believe in me, and can't run, I ran for those who don't even know me, but know that I really wanna run, I ran for Jody's little man/men...those boys may not be able to run, they may be so nutritionally deprived, so exhausted, so limited, I ran for Jody's love of these children -- her unlimited faith in our God to provide those children with what they need until Jody has them, I realized during this 1.65 mile run that I am a very selfish, self-absorbed person....and I really need to try to fix that.
Eventually, I did finally finish the never-ending race, and I was REALLY happy to see my sister and my husband, and I was glad to be done with the race.
I was, however, really disappointed in myself. I should have done better, I could have done better. I should I eaten my steel-cut oats and soy milk, I should have slept better, I should have had more water on Friday, I should have trained harder/better/more.....I am still (2 days later) really un-happy with myself, and I feel like I really let a lot of people down (aside from just me) I hate that I 'messed' up and I hate that it won't stop me from doing it all over again in a few months......I know I'll never run the perfect half-marathon, and I think I am scared of doing a full until I am happy with my half, so.......until then, I suppose I will just dream about the day I can walk away from a half-marathon with a positive feeling about that monster, regardless of my time. This was not that 'perfect' race.

Official Times:
Chris
2:04:59
9:32 mile
15th out of 27 male 30-34
252 out of 447 runners overall

Julie:
2:17:48
10:31 mile
29th out of 35 female 30-34
362 out of 447 runners overall