Unfortunately this race will always be eclipsed by the awful 7 car accident that I was involved in on the way home from the race. We had ran/walked, celebrated, cheered with beer and was heading home when, 30 minutes later we were involved in a pretty bad accident. It was my girls first race and they as well as I was thrilled for them! They even had a finishers medal to prove it! Haha!!
At any rate, I did the 10 miler and was able to set a PR for my 10 mile run. I was not pleased with my time. Yes, even though I set a Personal Record! I was on course to finish my race in 1 hr and about 48, 49 minutes. At 1 hr and 27 minutes I was already well into the 8th mile(lately, my time for 8 miles has been 1.32). Then....cramped legs and toes hit me! It was God awful! My feet and toes normally goes numb at about mile 9 but I've never experience this and I couldn't figure out what was going on with me. I started to feel them going numb at mile 7 which was odd. This guy said to me 'what are you doing? you're motivating me lets go!". Then again at mile 9 when I was just barely making it I stopped to stretch my calves in hopes that they would release the death grip that my toes were in so that I could run across the finish line, when this woman said, "come on, you're motivating me, I am pacing with you and I need you to bring me home!". Wow! I told her you're the second person to tell me that today. I actually felt like a failure because they both finished the race ahead of me and, I was hobbling to the finish. I don't know what it is but I've been told that many times during a race when I would start to struggle..."come on, you're motivating me or come on I'm pacing with you". I figured I must look very confident and strong during my races or, they like looking at my ass. Either way, works for me! :-)
In the end, I finished strong sprinting across the finish line! It took me 1 hour and 53 minutes. I'm literally shaking my head in frustration just thinking about it! I actually wanted to cry and not from the obvious pain I was in but because I was feeling sorry for myself. Thinking why does this always happen to me?! Who knew that a little over an hour later I would really have something to cry about? The trip home from hell! That car accident really put things in perspective. I was laying in the back asleep without my seat belt and anybody that knows me knows that I don't play around when it comes to safety. I don't care how old you are or where you sit in my car a seat belt is mandatory. In fact, I constantly get teased about my strict ways! It was scary thinking my sister and bff were crushed then scary when I remembered I wasn't buckled-up. Thank goodness we all were okay. Including the passengers and drivers of the other 6 vehicles! That 1 hours and 53 minute time finish seemed like heaven compared to that! Today I am really sore, have a really bad headache and have a car that may or may not be totaled 200 miles away! But, I got the coolest medal ever! A medal that goes from a medal to a key chain to a bottle opener and not just any bottle...beer! Which I could use lots of after the trip I had!
The Good:
1. I finished the race with a 10 mile PR (personal record)
2. My sister and bff walked their first 5k...so damn proud of those ladies!
3. Great post race celebration that included great stew, a great band and beer and plenty of funny costumes to laugh at!
The Bad:
1. Numb, cramped, deformed toes and legs for the last 2 miles
2. Feeling like I let myself down
The Ugly:
1. Car ride home from hell!
2. Very briefly feeling like my toes would be deformed for life(dramatic much?)
3. Being told by the ER doctor that I have a heart murmur (all I could think was, what does this mean for my running). I'm always thinking like a runner!
No comments:
Post a Comment