First off, let me apologize for being absent for so long. It’s been an interesting and stressful few months. From our oldest dog passing away in January to my grandpa passing in March and then an episode with my husband, it’s been quite a ride so far for 2017. But that’s all for another blog. This one’s about racing!!
Here it goes!
Over the Memorial Day weekend I ran my first 2 official races of the season.
Once again I decided to challenge myself and run the Conquer the Capital 45.5 challenge. That’s the Twilight 10k/Half Marathon May 27-28, and then the Madison Marathon November 12. I really must be crazy!
Anyway, my family and I drove up to Madison on Saturday to head to packet pick-up at Monona Terrace. We should have left earlier as traffic was a little crazy due to Brat Fest being the same weekend! Oh well! We made it in time and Maddie and I quickly ran inside to get my packet. We had hooked up the new DVD players in the back of the car for the kids so EJ was content to sit and wait for us. Mad and I looked around the expo very briefly after getting my packet. We grabbed a free tote bag and poster but that was it. I’m not big into buying things I really don’t need. And it’s a good thing I waited on looking at T-shirts. More on that later though!
After jumping back in the car, we headed to a gas station to fill up since we were low and then headed to dinner since it was already after 5. We decided to head over to Ella’s Deli because the kids and I have never been there. It was quite an experience. There are so many moving objects to look at. It was so cool, but so hard to focus on eating my dinner. I think that is part of the reason I overate a bit. I was too busy looking at everything and ate more of my French Dip and the kids fries than I should have. This had its effects later on.
After dinner the kids rode on the carousel several times which was so much fun to watch. Despite their ages, Mad and EJ really like to ride on these simple rides. I was surprised. But their smiles say it all!!
I was starting to panic about the weather as a dark cloud kept coming closer and closer and it was getting dangerously close to race time. Luckily it ended up not raining until later that night. I always worry too much about these little things.
Anyway, after dinner and rides, we headed to the capital for the race start. We had plenty of time since we decided not to check into our hotel room until after the race this year. We hit up the port-a-potties and then hung out on the capitol lawn. Luckily, EJ brought one of his many footballs with so he played catch with Jay while we waited. It was nice to be there early and to just relax before having to race. Maddie had a blast doing cartwheels which is her new obsession.
Race time was finally here and I was ready to go. I was feeling pretty great to start with. I was pumped up and ready to push my hardest through these 6.2 miles. The first few miles were really good. I felt strong and powerful. I powered up some big hills and coasted down the backsides. I was jamming to my music and having a really great time. It wasn’t until about the halfway mark that my stomach started acting up and I was starting to get overheated. I wore my visor because I thought it was going to rain; and I wore a black top with a metallic print because I thought it would look cool in the dark, but I started questioning both of those choices at this point. I finally peeled off my visor at about mile 4.5. That helped a little bit. At least I was able to feel the wind in my hair a bit. Plus by that time the sun had set completely and the coolness of night was creeping in. It was still warm and I had not had enough water throughout the day and my stomach was now revolting from my delicious sandwich.
I don’t know if the meat was too rich or that my body is simply not used to running full force after eating a bigger meal, but there were a few times that I thought I was going to puke! I really have never had a race where I felt like that. The feeling would come and go so I slowed down a bit and then I would be alright for awhile. It was a struggle to finish, but I am so glad I did and that I pushed myself to not quit! I wanted to so many times!
Again the best part was seeing my husband and kids cheering for me at the finish line. They always get so excited and I love it!!
Anyway, I finished with a very decent time of 1:02:38. I was hoping to break an hour but it wasn’t in the cards with my stomach. I wasn’t very hungry afterwards so I let my kids eat my pizza slice and we walked to get my results and hubby’s free beer since I won’t drink it. We had to wander around for awhile since Jay was drinking his beer and couldn’t leave the race area with it. So we looked at the t-shirts. They were having a sale of buy one, get one free so Jay said I could get some. I picked out a tank and a nice tech shirt with a map of the course on the back. Very nice quality stuff actually.
After all this fun, we headed to our hotel. We always stay at the Hilton Garden Inn located in Middleton. The kids were super excited to be able to go swimming. They are such water bugs. So we checked in and got our suits on to head right there. The kids jumped right in the pool, but I was freezing for some reason, so I jumped in the hot tub. I let the jets hit my calves, thighs, and lower back. Boy did that feel great. I only went one round in the hot tub, I actually started to feel like I was overheating again so when the timer ran out, I gradually eased myself up the stairs to acclimate myself to the cooler temps.
I eased myself into the pool and played some volleyball with the fam. It was super fun, but I was getting exhausted. I mean I did sleep in that morning but this run took a lot out of me and I was ready for bed. As it reached midnight, the kids begrudgingly got out of the pool, but not before hitting up the snack area since they were starving.
We took our snacks up to the room and munched before heading to bed. I think I may have fallen asleep around 12:45.
I has my alarm set for 5:00 to make sure that I had plenty of time to get ready. I made sure everyone else was up by 5:30 so we could leave right around 6:00. The race started at 7:00 and we had to drive across town and find parking, so I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. Of course, it was raining this morning, but at least it was letting up by the time the race started.
We walked to the start line with our umbrella and a very nice lady who was also racing gave Maddie her rain poncho once it was closer to the starting time.
I lined up and was ready to go. I was feeling a little off this morning but figured it was just nerves that I always get. I was feeling better from the night before at least. I had eaten something and was feeling pretty positive. At least it wouldn’t be too hot since it was overcast and I was thankful for that.
I can tell you that this race was overall pretty decent. I started out decent and was running along at a comfortable pace with times in the 10 minute range. At the beginning of the race, I was even thinking that I might break my PR, no such luck though. I got to about the 10k mark and I was feeling the fatigue from running so hard the night before and not getting enough sleep. It was frustrating to say the least but I knew I was going to push myself to at least finish the race.
The last half of the race was hard! We had to run up the HUGE hill next to Edgewood and I knew I couldn’t. I walked halfway and ran part of it. I just didn’t have it in me. I was disappointed in that but I really just wanted to finish. I was feeling a little bit better as I saw the capitol building come into view. I knew I was close. I knew I could make it to the finish line. I ran and took some breaks but finished with a respectable time of 2:24:59.
I saw my hubby and kiddos cheering me on once again! I was running like crazy to get to the finish line. To be done and to see them and to EAT! I was hungry by this point. My one gel at mile 7 had worn off a long time ago.
We hung around the race for a bit so I could cool down, then headed to our hotel to have brunch. We had a lovely meal and great time with family.
It was a whirlwind of a weekend like usual, but I am proud of myself for getting it done, plus I get to spend the weekend with my always supportive family!
Now we’re off on vacation! Trust me that will be a long, multiple blog session when I get home! I am so excited!!!!
Until then, RUN ON!!
Laura
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