And now for all my detailed mish-mosh of thoughts before, during and after the race.
This race will forever be defined by the saga of the Muscle cramp at Mile 6! Why, why, why? I was sooo, so pissed. I knew as soon as we sprinted. Yeah, now I realize that sprinting in the middle of a long distance race is not such a smart thing to do! I felt the cramp. I felt the siezing up like I have before. Dehydrated? I don't think so. Nope. Potasium? Maybe. Elecrolite imbalance? Maybe. Sprinting on tired muscles? Yeah, that's the ticket. So, If I hadn't done that stupid, stupid sprint, how might we have done? I figured based on previous training runs and races that we'd come in between 2:30 (a stretch but possible) and 3:00 (including a do-able buffer). So coming in 3:13 considering that Miles 1-6 were averaging 11-ish; Mile 7 and 8 were 24 and 17 respectively; and Miles 9-13 were 13-ish, I think we (fully gated by me and my injured calf) did very good.
But I'm getting ahead of myself... because as boring as it might seem to others ... well, who knows, maybe not, I do want to capture what I felt along the way. It's really amazing looking back that it did not seem like 3 hours...
So very glad that Katie came along with us and did the 5K. It was an overnighter in South Portland with a special carbo-loading dinner and then a trip to LL Bean before turning in relatively early to a practically sleepless night before the race.
It was a terrific learning experience! Had someone told me not to sprint in a long distance race, I may have ignored them or forgotten that piece of advice, but that is something I'll now always remember. The nutrition, thanks to my Isa regimen was spot on. I had enough energy the entire time.... even with that completely crappy night of sleep the previous night. A shake and banana before the race. Carrying water with me; Sipping Gatorade at the water stops after the cramp (hoping for some electrolyte help). Didn't do any Gu or blocks. Instead brought Peanut MnM's (Melissa's suggestion) for the burst of energy via chocolate and sugar and the protein from the peanut... Although Scott argues that the fat will hinder the absorption of the immediately needed sugar. Well, even I don't analyze in that detail. But with the carbo loading pasta the night before, the shake/ banana breakfast, the MnM's and Isabar bites along the course, I was feeling like I had enough energy. Hydration wise... I visiting the on course accommodations ! TMI? along the way, so I think I was good there.
Two days later and the left side feels terrific... yeah a little sore, but I was expecting much worse. The lingering effects of the cramp in the right calf is the worst and still painful, but much, much better. My lunch time workouts were done with much caution and the movement seemed to actually help. Was most concerned with today's kickboxing (and the fact that it was the 48 hour point - the worst for me) but that went very, very well...
Sometimes things just don't go as planned and you learn to adapt, adjust and deal with it. This muscle cramp overshadowed the rest of the race, but made it through. Special thanks to this kind stranger who gave me my mid race massage!
By the time we got up to mile 7. I was considering a very, very light jog and was able to sustain that for a short period. At mile 8 my entire knee hip almost gave out without any warning so I walked some more. At this point we just happened to be going by an ambulance. Carol asked if I wanted to stop. Realizing that we were more than half way, and that I could still walk, I did not want to stop. I figured going to the ambulance meant stopping. I don't know why... It could have meant getting evaluated, getting taped up or something. but for me at the time, the only thing I thought that it meant was stopping.... so I didn't go to the ambulance, I kept going. The ground was very uneven when the knee hip almost gave way... so moving on, if the ground looked questionable in anyway, I'd walk.
Then somehow we got past mile 9 and were closing in on mile 10. MILE 10!!! I had never, ever gone that far. We only had a 5K to go. We were at 2:30 for time and knew we had an hour to go before they closed the course.... An hour to do a 5K. We could do a 5K in an hour walking..... That was a great feeling to know that we would probably complete within the allotted time. So we kept going... now running about 3/4 of a mile and walking 1/4 and still taking it one mile at a time. By know I was texting Katie at each mile (during our walking periods) so she would have an idea where we were.
The only course candy stop was at mile 11.... Grabbed a pic with the elves and kept going. The only cookie stop was at mile 12 and even pulling up the rear, they still had cookies for us. We rounded the corner at mile 13 and I had to tell Carol to slow down. And then during that last one-tenth of a mile, we held hands the entire way across the finish line. We had done it! I don't think I could have finished without Carol's help and support for more than half of the race. I think that although I did something stupid that caused the cramp, that I ran/walked the rest of the race as smart as possible. After the race, I stretched, I walked, I stretched, I changed into some fresh compression knee socks to help the calf., I took advil. On the 2 hour drive home, I stopped twice to get out and move. I put in cruise control whenever possible and moved the calf and stretched along the drive.
Today 2 days later, It still really hasn't sunken in yet. When I did a 7.3M race in September, I was exhilarated. I ran the entire time, and my time was better than expected. This race was a planned run-walk... but due to that muscle cramp I walked more than planned... So for some unknown reason I almost feel like I didn't really do it. Everyone says it doesn't matter how you get there, if you cross that finish line, you did it. And I **DID CROSS THAT FINISH LINE**!! Carol and I crossed it together in 3:13 with a full 17 minutes to spare before the course deadline. We were not even the last ones.
So I still have to keep telling myself... I DID IT! My VERY FIRST Half Marathon!!!!!!!