Woke up to pouring rain on Sunday morning. BUMMER! Came wide awake at 4:30 on the dot and got up to immediately start getting ready. I opted for my cotton/dry wick mix tank because
i can't handle dry wick in the humidity. I know it works for some people, but it just ends up irritating me and making me feel like a big fat cow.
Jenny was kind enough to drive to the race. I would have probably wrecked because I was so nervous. After waiting forever for the bathrooms, we ran to the start just as they were getting underway.
Miles 1-3
SUCKED. We didn't get a chance to stretch and I thought my ankle was going to snap in half. Jenny had problems, I had problems, it was a train wreck of a beginning of the race. Jenny waved me on and I continued on - trying to sort out why my ankle was killing me. I knew once I got in a couple of miles my body would warm up and I'd be okay. Thankfully, the Advil I took before the race really really helped. What didn't help was the constant stream of hills. I swear to you I believe that miles 2-7 was a constant stream of hills and inclines. While I had trained on some hills- these kicked my ass in the worst way. My pace fell from 9:30- 9:50 per mile to something like 12minute miles. LAME.
Miles 4-7
I saw the 4 mile marker around 47 minutes (so much for finishing well) and looked up and saw the lead male runner sprinting towards mile 8-9. Holy mother of pearl! This was also up a hill, so i just gritted my teeth and probably cussed so much that there is zero chance of me ever getting into heaven. Mile 5 started the transition from road to the WOD trail and honestly it was nice to be fully covered by the trees because at this point it was pouring. Honestly, I loved it when it was raining, it cooled me off and I could actually breathe. Miles 6 and 7 brought out the ipod and I was jamming to some Glee. By this point I had reached the run around portion and knew that i was going to have to start run/walking. I was tired, but honestly it was so humid at this point that it hurt to breathe. So I started running a mile and then walking for 5-6 minutes and this worked well.
Miles 7-10
I thought these were going to be the miles that destroyed my will to live. I had only trained up to 8 miles so I knew that this was going to be tough to push through. It was so humid that i wanted to die but I held up really really well. My pace did slow at this point to 10:30-10:45 per mile but I kept chugging on. Once I passed mile marker 8, everything beyond that was a PDR for me and I think that adrenaline helped fuel me for the rest of the run. At this point I was relying only on signs because I had stupidly hit my Garmin which stopped it for over a mile. I could use it to keep my pace but I had no idea how long it had been off. Bummer.
Miles 11-12.5
I completely missed the mile 11 marker. I never saw it (it was apparently on the ground) and was getting so frustrated. I was passing over one of the roads when the officer shouted at me that I had less than 1 KM to go and to keep my head up. WTF? Talk about being taken by surprise. I fell into pace with one of the runners who looked like they were struggling to keep it together and we both shouted encouragement to each other (Runners are awesome like that) and decided that I was going to run the rest of the course come hell or high water. It was a slow run, but I did it! YES.
Then came the crash. The adrenaline got me home. I showered, took my ice bath, and then napped for 5 hrs straight. I haven't slept that hard in forever. Got up- ate some cereal for dinner and then went right back to sleep. No shame here. I was tired!
I woke up this morning a little sore but nothing like I was expecting. EXCEPT FOR MY TOENAILS.
Oh dear god. The pain. I'm terrified of losing my toenails. The thought of that makes me dry heave so i'm hoping and praying that I won't lose them. There are only two that I am really concerned about but there is nothing I can do at this point. I fully realize i'm being a huge baby about this. BUT UGH. Completely revolting. FML
Any of my fellow runners have any tips on running sans toenails? The very thought makes me woozy but i'm mentally preparing myself for it. WAAAA!
Edit: Got home and got up the courage to take off my nail polish. So much for pretty feet- both 2nd toenails are black as can be. :(I'm gonna miss pedicures.
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