Worst Race Ever and Hashing Pre Name

First, has anyone tried the new Diet Dr. Pepper?? I saw a commercial for cherry chocolate Dr. Pepper, but I can't find it anywhere!

Last Tuesday I was supposed to run 2 miles before pilates, but instead I went to the comedy club with the girls. It was a lot of fun, and I really needed a good laugh. I did run two miles on Wednesday, at just under a 9 minute per mile pace. It felt really, really good, and my knee was only a little sore the next day.

Thursday night the roommate and I made spaghetti, then we ate some of the left-overs for lunch the next day. Friday night Chris and I went out to eat, and I ate more pasta. I drank plenty of water as well. Friday night Chris also bought his new Nikon D300. It is freaking fantastic!!!! His knees have been bothering him since our last half marathon, so instead of running he said he'd come out to the race to cheer us on and take pictures (He's the best!!). That night I only ended up sleeping for about 4.5 hours after watching him play with the camera.

In the morning I felt really good. I ate breakfast and had my caffeinated strawberry drink. Both the roommate and I were excited about the race. Chris drove us out to this little town where the race was held. The race was actually in part of the wetlands. After getting our transponders, we headed to the start. Now at this race there was a marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K. Each had a different starting point, and all of the races started at the same time. In order to get to our starting point, the roommate and I literally had to walk a mile! There were maybe only 20-30 other people running the half marathon.

The entire trail was off-road and circled a beautiful lake. For the half-marathon, we had to lap the trail twice.

The bad points of the race included:
*Lack of support - There was only one very small stretch of road (less than half a mile) where friends/family could stand an d cheer. There weren't many people racing that day, so there wasn't a big crowd support of runners (although there were some nice people who shout out encouraging words as they passed me, and my friends and boyfriend). There also was not a single person yelling out times during the race (Thank goodness Chris convinced me to wear Garmy!!)

*Buzzards!!! - I am not exaggerating when I say that there were a minimum of 50 buzzards! I swear, they were just waiting for one of the runners to fall!
*Heat - The race was not very shaded, and by the end of the race it must have been 80F outside. At mile 10 I wanted to just fall over. I made sure to drink extra Gatorade at the water stop, which did help a little. The last three miles were dreadful for me. I felt dizzy.
*Time - 2:16. I added 10 freaking minutes to my half marathon time! This was my first race where I didn't get a PR. Yes yes, I know I expected it, but I was still very disappointed! (I did rank 5th out of the females in the 25-29 age group... but remember there were not many!)
*Crying - This is the first race that I have ever cried after finishing. I felt like crap and thought I was going to pass out. When Chris walked over, I leaned on him and just started crying and my legs were shaking like crazy. I felt like such an idiot!!! After sitting down, drinking water (they ran out of Gatorade at the finish line), eating a banana, and having great friends tell me I did good... I did feel better.

The good points about the race included:
*Lots of grass - so my knees were happy
*Beautiful scenery - I really wish I had a camera with me!
*Amazing friends and boyfriend - Diane and Kelly drove alllll the way out to the middle of no where to cheer for us! Between their cheering and Chris cheering and taking pictures, that really is the only reason I made it through the race.
*The roommate's finish - Since my race went so terrible, I was worried about my roommate. I was afraid she'd swear off racing forever. Just under the three hour mark she came jogging along. By that time I was feeling better, so I jogged out to meet her. I was anticipating her being as miserable as I was, but she looked great! She was smiling and said she felt good (tired of course, but good). She finished in just under three hours. I am soooo proud!

Note: The first marathon finisher came in at 3:16.

Conclusion: I will never run this particular race again, unless I run the 5K or 10K. I am reminding myself that my first race just happened to be an extremely great running day for me. Not to mention there was a lot more crowd support, I had trained more, and I had more adrenaline since it was my first half marathon. I am very grateful for Chris, Diane, Kelly, and my roommate!

After the race, Chris, Diane, Kelly and I went out to breakfast. I was sooooo hungry! Then Chris and I went to his pool tournament (unfortunately they lost). Then I took a power nap before going off to hash.

Saturday was Diane's virgin hash. Lucky for me, the girls were kind enough to walk/jog the hash with me. The trail was excellent. It had a lot of shiggy, and very little water. lol. There was even a rum/beer/water stop, but we somehow missed it. Since this was my fourth hash with this particular group, I was pre-named. They wanted to give me a name that took into account my forensic science background, but I don't think they quite understood what I do. lol. I ended up being pre-named "I Do Dead People". Yeah... hopefully it won't stick, and I'll get a better name at my next hash.

Today I am sore, but not feeling too bad. My knees hurt this morning, but seems okay now. I am mostly stiff in my back, thighs, and calves. The foam roller hurts, but is helping. I told myself that I wouldn't run for the next two weeks. Instead I'll go to spinning and try to fit in swimming as well. Next weekend Diane and Kelly are running a 5K, and as much as I'd love to try and get a new PR, I'm going to put it off. I've decided to cut back on my long distance runs for a while. I want to give my knees a break. That doesn't mean I won't even run another half marathon, just not for a little while.

Here are some pictures from the race:

The first lap, when I was feeling good


The end, when I wanted to die


The roomate


The roommate and I


So happy it's over!!



My amazing cheerleaders!!!