The forecast for this weekend was stormy and cold. Awesome conditions (enter sarcasm). The night before the race, I couldn't sleep. It was an hour and half to Huntsville from our place. I was super worried about driving in the dark and in the rain. I hardly got any sleep. I was so stressed.
I woke up at 4:30am and got ready. We were out of the house by 5:30am with our 3 children. Thankfully, it was not raining. The construction we knew we would hit, wasn't so bad. There was hardly any traffic, which was awesome.
We pulled into Huntsville around 7am. I was early, but I was just glad that we made it there. I did a few things with my husband and kids and then said goodbye. I got on the bus and started my trek up the canyon.
I was so stoked and nervous. I was tired, but full of adrenaline and ready for this race. We got to the start and there was a ton of stuff going on. But I also had like 45 minutes before start time.
Seriously? So since I was tired, I just laid down in their big huge tent and listened to Peter Bradley Adams and tried to rest before go time.
Once time got close, I decided to use the bathroom. 3 seems to be my magic number. After having babies, your bladder just isn't the same. Then everyone started lining up.
Again, this was all new to me, I just jumped in wherever.
And then the race started. It was downhill, and I spotted the 1:55 pacer. I thought, sure, why not?! So I stayed with them. I felt great. I was letting gravity take me. I looked down and saw I was doing an 8:10 mile pace. Awesome! I felt great!
I was wearing a pair of running pants that I had bought back when I was super fit (pre-pregnancy) and they kept sliding down. Not because they were too big, because they kept rolling down my big hips. It was quite uncomfortable for the first 2 miles.
The next 4 miles were great. The downhill I expected was not there. It was more like rolling hills. My mile times had slowed down. I was now around 9 minute miles. When I hit mile 8-9, I began to get tired. Really tired. I almost felt exhausted. My mile mile times were tanking. I was around the 10 minute mile pace. I took a gu and tried to push myself. This is where I had to start to talk to myself. I knew the rest of the race was going to have be all mental. Physically, my body was stopping.
at mile 10, I got that runners high. I felt great. for about half a mile. Then I tanked again. I kept screaming at myself! Where was my energy?! I began cursing my speed at the beginning of the race. I wasn't sure why I didn't pace myself better instead of going all out.
I began to walk. My legs felt so heavy. I would walk, then jog and repeat. I really struggled the last 2 miles.
When I hit mile 12, I knew I just had 1 more mile. I knew that I could do it. So, I mustered up whatever energy I had left, and tried to run. That mile ended up being a 10:40.
Once I saw that finish line, I sprinted. I knew my husband was there and I gave it everything I had, and crossing it felt amazing! I kind of wanted to throw up and jug water at the same time. They handed me my medal and I kept walking to go find my husband.
They had blocked off the tennis court and they had a ton of food for the runners. Nothing really looked good, but the grapes were calling my names. I grabbed a few handfuls. I got a water and a creamie ice cream.
Things I wish I would have done different and things out of my control.
- paced myself better at the beginning of the race
- had a better nights sleep (but is that possible the night before a race)
- not worn that particular pair of running pants
- better music, or ditched the music
The course was beautiful! I will definitely do it again!
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