This half marathon morphed from my intensions of months prior. I will be 40 this month, and this particular event had the perfect timing for me to attempt my goal of qualifying for the Boston 26.2 by the time I turn 40. However, with three boys, a husband, an active church life, and being an elementary science teacher, I decided in early January to drop back to the half. It was the right call, as my limitations in time and fueling and digestion (more on that in a minute) started to affect one of my feet. As soon as I felt more than a tweak, I chose not to push to a goal that would result in an injury that would cost me months of running. I have done that several times, and it is not worth it. I took off a few days and did some trouble shooting. Running 13.1 this time means I will have many more miles in the long run than if I pushed to 26.2 at an inopportune time and then had to take time off for healing. I have learned this the hard way too many times. Will there every be a phase of life where I can make another full marathon work? I sure hope so. At some point most of my competition passes away and the expectations lower a bit, if nothing else... so I think I will run Boston at some point. Instead of making great expectations for meaningful outcomes, I am just going to be grateful for the strength, wellness, support, and experience to do one thing well at a time.
This race was the least excited I have ever been for an event. It meant a lot less to me when it was no longer a qualifier before my big 4-0, and then one of our boys got sick, which changed it from a fun family road trip to a solo trip. Don't get me wrong. I LOVED the alone time. LOVED it. However, I actually dreaded the race, and right up until I crossed the finish line I was hoping I could get out of it. Because of this, I want to record some of the things I learned to keep in mind for the future:
DIGESTION. This issue has become a nerve-wracking one for me. It has been an issue throughout my running journey, but it seems to get worse with each race. It is tangled up in the teenage eating disorder I had. I am so much healthier in mindset now, but my routine adult diet includes a lot of high-fiber and healthy fats that are helpful to a healthy, energetic body... but not helpful to predictable bowel movements on long runs. When I am training at home, near the bathroom, this is okay. However, when I am in the middle of a crowded race that may or may not have port-a-potties, it causes me so much dread. Also, in a race, I don't want to add minutes to my time in the port-a-potty. Sigh. If I did poop on myself, at least I know every runner understands this problem. Right? The tangled-up-in-the-eating-disorder-parts comes in when I have to tweak my diet for long training runs and the race for a few days prior. One, I like my typical foods because I have chosen them knowing they won't cause weight gain, which provides me with peace. So if I have to trade my whole grains and broccoli for white pasta and bagels, I get really worried about gaining weight. And then I usually don't eat enough... and an empty tank is not helpful before running long distances at race pace. Some of you are blessed not to understand why this becomes so big in some of our heads... but it does. What if I eat a ton of carbs... and then I get sick and can't race? Obviously, the world would not be over, but as a neurotic person who feels very aware of every fat cell's behavior on my body, it makes me miserable. And if I can just run at home, why go to this mental distress? BECAUSE I have goals. I do want to run faster and farther, and I must train my mind to fuel properly for my digestive system to pull this off. I am glad we live in a time when women are encouraged to be strong and well, instead of skinny. May the young women of today not torture themselves the way so many in my generation and my mother's and grandmother's have. It is a ridiculous and impactful evil for a woman to think it is better to feel weak and empty than to eat and feel energetic enough to enjoy life.
This has really become the biggest obstacle for me. If I can figure out how to be flexible with my diet at the appropriate times, without the exhausting obsessive worries about my weight, then I would have more energy for the actual race. I ate Dave's whole grain bagels, instead of white ones, this time... and it did almost backfire. Bah.
CLOTHING: In my imagination, this race was going to be in the 50s, which would have had me in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. However, when I walked to the start line, it was 37 degrees, and within my less-than-2-hour finish time, it was only going to be 43 degrees. I wore long pants, and I layered my torso with sleeveless shirt, long-sleeved dry-fit shirt, and sweat shirt. I also wore my gloves and my two gaiters, one for ear covering and the other for my mouth/nose. Not knowing if there will be wind or not makes a huge difference at those temperatures. Several runners were bundled like I was, but even more were wearing short shorts and barely-there shirts. The whole race, I kept worrying I would get too hot. I did remove my gloves before the halfway, as well as one of my gaiters. But I was not miserable. Two problems: I was wearing my gear vest to carry my water and my gel AND I had my race bib pinned to my sweatshirt. I overthought this beforehand, and I made my decision. Had it not been a race, I would have stopped to take off both long sleeves, but it wasn't too bad that I left them on to avoid the extra time it would take to adjust everything during a race. Just little annoyances you have to decide to deal with one way or another.
The COURSE: I honestly really liked this course. It was hilly, but every uphill had a downhill that more than made up for it. Miles 10-12 had the most uphills, and I took them slower than usual because my digestion was on the brink of explosion. I had to stop and stand still for 5 seconds. That's it. And then the Good Lord had mercy on me, and the last mile was downhill and my digestive system did not cause me public disgrace.
The people working hard to make this race a success deserve a lot of gratitude. It was so well-organized, fans were pretty much on every corner, and it would definitely be a fun course to do with buddies. My oldest son made us a high-energy playlist for morning rides to school, and it mostly includes Imagine Dragons, with three King George songs from Hamilton, and I added some Switchfoot. I don't usually listen to music when I run, but sometimes it is a welcome companion, as it was this day.
Before the race, I was working hard to focus without overthinking. Sigh. So many people were doing their warmup drills 45 minutes before go-time in the expo-arena-turned-athlete's-village, and I just sat and closed my eyes and prayed. I needed to save my energy until about 15 minutes before the race, and I had no energy for drilling about like a peacock. I kept reminding myself my training went well, and that I have so many people who love and support me no matter what. The biggest help with any of my race nerves always come down to how much I like a good workout. No matter the outcome, I will feel satisfied on any day my body does good work like that. The Lord is good to me, and He is faithful. I am struggling with trying to keep my encouragement in spirit practical and realistic. I don't want to be a pessimist, but I also don't want to be fantastical. The world is weird right now. And it makes every heart ache in one way or another. Peace and grace, dear ones.
The best sign I saw said "Smile if you aren't wearing underwear." It cracked me up how hard I tried not to smile. Underwear are helpful in a race. I was wearing mine.