I’ve got a different kind of community post for you today! As I’m sure many of you knew from my previous posts, I was training for a half marathon and finally completed my race last Saturday. I used to run half marathons pretty regularly, but it had been quite some time since my last half so I joined a training team for three and a half months to help with my preparation (especially since my endurance was totally shot from that month-long gnarly sinus infection I had at the beginning of the year).
I had an absolute blast getting pushed outside of my comfort zone! I made new friends and rolled deep with my running posse every weekend. I learned that certain flavors of Gu taste just like frosting when you’re desperate for calories (mmm vanilla and chocolate). I discovered a newfound affinity for Body Glide and Aquaphor (chafing isn’t cute). I developed three black toenails (truly not cute). I was finally running faster paces and beat my expected goal time more than once during training. So naturally, I revised my goal time and was on track to finish much faster than my original predictions. And then the weather laughed at me and said, “nah.”
The temperature on race day morning was about 30-40 degrees warmer than what I’d experienced in the past month and a half of training. With high humidity and dew point to match (wink wink). I knew I was going to have to pull back the pace at a certain point and just see what happened. Below is a mile-by-mile snapshot of my musings and happenings during the race:
-Before Start: “It’s hot. I’m hot. Wonder if anyone else is hot? I’d like a burger and fries.” (Coolest moment of the start? A member from the FB community recognized me! Hi Jacqueline!)
-Starting Line: “Am I just feeling the hot breath of a bajillion strangers or is it really this hot? Don’t stand so close to me. Says Sting.”
-Mile 1: “Ok ok, I’m creating some wind with my body. This isn’t so bad. But why are we running this fast? And what kind of fries should I have with the burger?”
-Mile 2: (First water stop) “Hmm, it’s raining with no clouds in the sky and with such a bright sun. Oh wait – it’s my sweat ricocheting off my elbows and hitting my legs. The profuse sweating has begun. Noted. Is that a tingle in my left foot?” (It was indeed a tingle) “Oooh water, thank goodness! I can keep moving while I drink this.” (Lies) “Most of that went down my shirt but I caught a few drops. Should be ok.” (Was not ok)
-Mile 3: (Ascended and descended the first notable hill) “This can stop. Where’s the DNF trolley? Wonder if my posse will notice I’m missing if I just veer off-path a bit back to my car? Hmm. The left foot tingle is kind of annoying.” (Because you can’t feel your foot)
-Mile 4: (More water) “This is bananas! My shirt is stuck to my back. I’m losing more fluids than I can take in – let’s pull back the pace. Way back. Ok, I guess we’re walking.”
-Mile 5: (The park with all the stupid hills) “Still can’t feel this left foot. Must get to a safe spot to loosen laces. Footfall and form are still on point so I think it’s fine. I just can’t feel it but it’s still there. Right?” (Looks down to see if foot is still there. It is – relieved)
-Mile 6: (A coach jumps in to run with me for encouragement and is concerned I’m still running so well with a sleeping foot) “Should I still be running? Time for another body scan. The sleeping foot is kind of a problem but it’s doing the job. Still sweating so that’s good. Heart rate is ok. This feels like misery trapped in my soul. Did I block out all these hills during training? Let’s retie this shoe.” (Accidentally spends one whole minute retying shoe)
-Mile 7: (Somehow there are more hills) “Omg was that a small glimmer of feeling in my foot? (Maybe) “Oh look, one more hill. But when I round the corner that should be it.” (It wasn’t) “Oh that hill just led to another hill.” (Angrily walks the hill with several equally angry strangers)
-Mile 8: (Vanilla frosting time) “This Gu tastes so amazing! Might spread some on my fries later. How are there five miles left? Wait…it is five, right?” (Counts fingers three times confirm) “Sadly yes, five…oh look, more water! I think that’s probably for the marathoners…they can’t stop me.” (Crosses street to take the marathoners’ water…two cups to be exact)
-Mile 8.5: (Lots of germs) “Am I really seeing ice cold, wet towels? Coming out of a random bucket? And that person is dunking their whole hand in there? Give it to me!” (Squeezes towel from mystery bucket with mystery germs all over face and feels temporarily reborn)
-Mile 9: (The foot makes a comeback) “Whoa! Whoa now. Is that the full return of feeling in my left foot? I might just make it! Let’s speed up just a bit!” (Moves no faster)
-Mile 10: “Just a 5k left. I can do this. Regular fries. That’s what I want with my burger. A 5k is still 3.1 miles. That’s just sad rubbish.”
-Mile 11: (Not incoherent, just angry)“Are we serious with the two miles left? Who measured the distance? I can’t wait to sit down. These spectators are amazing though. Would have quit eons ago if it weren’t for them. Is this lady following me?” (She is indeed following you because you’re in the same race)
-Mile 12: “Might regret this but I need this to end. We’re gonna sprint for the rest of this.” (Passes everyone within eyesight looking enraged…so much so that folks commented on the speed and what we’ll call “focus” at the finish line…all comments began with “I don’t know who you are but…”)
-Mile 13/Finish Line: “That was sadness personified. Oh awesome! Beat my original goal again. You’re amazing! This medal is heavy. Where’s my blankie? My quads are on fire. Glutes on fire. Calves on fire. Body on fire. But I can still feel my left foot.”
-Post-Race: (Devours an entire pizza and giant slice of salted caramel chocolate cake) “Still want that burger.”
Not mentioned above throughout all my musings was the fact that I kept repeating the phrase “you got this” out loud to myself and constantly giving myself permission to stop if I needed to – no harm no foul.
Moral of the story? Enjoy the journey! Every training session won’t feel amazing but if you stay consistent in your pursuit of movement, you’ll have more positive experiences than negative ones. Even though I struggled through this half marathon, I never said anything demeaning or negative about myself! You’re allowed to fully feel your tough experiences without beating yourself up.
Thanks for reading such a looooong post! I know many of you have had similarly tough workout/running experiences. Feel free to share your own musings below. How do you navigate your tough experiences?
On to training for even more speed for a few 10k’s now! And by that, I mean I have a benchmark 10k next week.
Half Marathon Recap! Where’s My Burger?
Hello FB Family!
I’ve got a different kind of community post for you today! As I’m sure many of you knew from my previous posts, I was training for a half marathon and finally completed my race last Saturday. I used to run half marathons pretty regularly, but it had been quite some time since my last half so I joined a training team for three and a half months to help with my preparation (especially since my endurance was totally shot from that month-long gnarly sinus infection I had at the beginning of the year).
I had an absolute blast getting pushed outside of my comfort zone! I made new friends and rolled deep with my running posse every weekend. I learned that certain flavors of Gu taste just like frosting when you’re desperate for calories (mmm vanilla and chocolate). I discovered a newfound affinity for Body Glide and Aquaphor (chafing isn’t cute). I developed three black toenails (truly not cute). I was finally running faster paces and beat my expected goal time more than once during training. So naturally, I revised my goal time and was on track to finish much faster than my original predictions. And then the weather laughed at me and said, “nah.”
The temperature on race day morning was about 30-40 degrees warmer than what I’d experienced in the past month and a half of training. With high humidity and dew point to match (wink wink). I knew I was going to have to pull back the pace at a certain point and just see what happened. Below is a mile-by-mile snapshot of my musings and happenings during the race:
-Before Start: “It’s hot. I’m hot. Wonder if anyone else is hot? I’d like a burger and fries.” (Coolest moment of the start? A member from the FB community recognized me! Hi Jacqueline!)
-Starting Line: “Am I just feeling the hot breath of a bajillion strangers or is it really this hot? Don’t stand so close to me. Says Sting.”
-Mile 1: “Ok ok, I’m creating some wind with my body. This isn’t so bad. But why are we running this fast? And what kind of fries should I have with the burger?”
-Mile 2: (First water stop) “Hmm, it’s raining with no clouds in the sky and with such a bright sun. Oh wait – it’s my sweat ricocheting off my elbows and hitting my legs. The profuse sweating has begun. Noted. Is that a tingle in my left foot?” (It was indeed a tingle) “Oooh water, thank goodness! I can keep moving while I drink this.” (Lies) “Most of that went down my shirt but I caught a few drops. Should be ok.” (Was not ok)
-Mile 3: (Ascended and descended the first notable hill) “This can stop. Where’s the DNF trolley? Wonder if my posse will notice I’m missing if I just veer off-path a bit back to my car? Hmm. The left foot tingle is kind of annoying.” (Because you can’t feel your foot)
-Mile 4: (More water) “This is bananas! My shirt is stuck to my back. I’m losing more fluids than I can take in – let’s pull back the pace. Way back. Ok, I guess we’re walking.”
-Mile 5: (The park with all the stupid hills) “Still can’t feel this left foot. Must get to a safe spot to loosen laces. Footfall and form are still on point so I think it’s fine. I just can’t feel it but it’s still there. Right?” (Looks down to see if foot is still there. It is – relieved)
-Mile 6: (A coach jumps in to run with me for encouragement and is concerned I’m still running so well with a sleeping foot) “Should I still be running? Time for another body scan. The sleeping foot is kind of a problem but it’s doing the job. Still sweating so that’s good. Heart rate is ok. This feels like misery trapped in my soul. Did I block out all these hills during training? Let’s retie this shoe.” (Accidentally spends one whole minute retying shoe)
-Mile 7: (Somehow there are more hills) “Omg was that a small glimmer of feeling in my foot? (Maybe) “Oh look, one more hill. But when I round the corner that should be it.” (It wasn’t) “Oh that hill just led to another hill.” (Angrily walks the hill with several equally angry strangers)
-Mile 8: (Vanilla frosting time) “This Gu tastes so amazing! Might spread some on my fries later. How are there five miles left? Wait…it is five, right?” (Counts fingers three times confirm) “Sadly yes, five…oh look, more water! I think that’s probably for the marathoners…they can’t stop me.” (Crosses street to take the marathoners’ water…two cups to be exact)
-Mile 8.5: (Lots of germs) “Am I really seeing ice cold, wet towels? Coming out of a random bucket? And that person is dunking their whole hand in there? Give it to me!” (Squeezes towel from mystery bucket with mystery germs all over face and feels temporarily reborn)
-Mile 9: (The foot makes a comeback) “Whoa! Whoa now. Is that the full return of feeling in my left foot? I might just make it! Let’s speed up just a bit!” (Moves no faster)
-Mile 10: “Just a 5k left. I can do this. Regular fries. That’s what I want with my burger. A 5k is still 3.1 miles. That’s just sad rubbish.”
-Mile 11: (Not incoherent, just angry)“Are we serious with the two miles left? Who measured the distance? I can’t wait to sit down. These spectators are amazing though. Would have quit eons ago if it weren’t for them. Is this lady following me?” (She is indeed following you because you’re in the same race)
-Mile 12: “Might regret this but I need this to end. We’re gonna sprint for the rest of this.” (Passes everyone within eyesight looking enraged…so much so that folks commented on the speed and what we’ll call “focus” at the finish line…all comments began with “I don’t know who you are but…”)
-Mile 13/Finish Line: “That was sadness personified. Oh awesome! Beat my original goal again. You’re amazing! This medal is heavy. Where’s my blankie? My quads are on fire. Glutes on fire. Calves on fire. Body on fire. But I can still feel my left foot.”
-Post-Race: (Devours an entire pizza and giant slice of salted caramel chocolate cake) “Still want that burger.”
Not mentioned above throughout all my musings was the fact that I kept repeating the phrase “you got this” out loud to myself and constantly giving myself permission to stop if I needed to – no harm no foul.
Moral of the story? Enjoy the journey! Every training session won’t feel amazing but if you stay consistent in your pursuit of movement, you’ll have more positive experiences than negative ones. Even though I struggled through this half marathon, I never said anything demeaning or negative about myself! You’re allowed to fully feel your tough experiences without beating yourself up.
Thanks for reading such a looooong post! I know many of you have had similarly tough workout/running experiences. Feel free to share your own musings below. How do you navigate your tough experiences?
On to training for even more speed for a few 10k’s now! And by that, I mean I have a benchmark 10k next week.
-Tasha