Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Zombification of Jessica - (TO Women's Race Report)

My fourth half marathon has come and gone. I had a good time.  It was hard, but fun! I knew that my ongoing breathing issues were going to prevent me from a Personal Best (PB) so I needed a new goal. It's important to have a goal, don't you think?

Personal Worst (PW) it was!

I was hoping for a 2:10 in this race, and I think that without the health challenges that have plagued me the last four weeks or so, it was attainable. Difficult but attainable.  Sadly, sometimes during allergy season, my breathing is unmanageable, and I went into this race on a pharmaceutical cocktail that included 3 inhalers, Prednisone, and Singulair.  I had my doctor's blessing to run, but was told to take it easy.

On Saturday night, I was having a lot of difficulty breathing.  For me, this means I cough.  A lot, and hard.  It sounds a lot like kids do when they have the croup.  I didn't want to worry anyone, but I started to think that I may not be able to run after all.  Denise didn't say anything to me, but I am pretty sure that she was thinking the same thing.

Sunday morning came, and I was feeling a bit better. I decided I would run, but I would treat it like a leisurely Sunday morning long run.  You know, with 2200 of my closest friends.

I really am glad I ran.  It is a challenging, hilly and beautiful course. The race takes you through Sunnybrook Park, and let me tell you, if I could run there all the time, I would. Fab-u-lous.

Overall, I felt okay through the run. There were a few spots when I needed my inhaler, but nothing too dramatic. I took it easy, enjoyed the scenery, and listened to some great music on my iPod, Radcliffe. (Yes, I named my iPod Radcliffe).  It really was nice to enjoy the run without the pressure of meeting a time goal.

Only two things went wrong for me on this race, and they were pretty minor.  I had to use EVERY. SINGLE. PORT-A-POTTY.  Because I was having some breathing struggles, I used a LOT of water.  I also coughed a lot.  So I had to pee a lot. That wasn't ideal, but no biggie.  At least on the race course, you know there will be washrooms. If more had been stocked with toilet paper, that would have been nice.

I collided with a runner mid-course.  Hard.  The way the course is designed, there are a few locations where the race is run in both directions.  This means that at some points, while us slower people are running one way on the path, the front runners are running the other way.  Sometimes this can cause a bit of a bottle neck.  In this particular instance, we were on a gravel/dirt path, and there was a puddle.  In my mind, not such a big deal.  In the mind of the runner in front of me, the puddle must of been infested with alligators, because she stopped DEAD in her tracks.  Trying to avoid a collision with her, I veered left and ran into a runner coming towards me.  I have a bruise on my shoulder and one on my shin.  I really hope she was okay!

Otherwise, I can't complain.  I ran the entire hill that is placed at 19K.  Its a big hill leading to a shaky bridge and the majority of people around me were walking it.  But not ME! I am SUDBURIAN.  We run our hills.

Coming up to the finish line, I heard my name, looked ahead and saw Denise.  I was feeling pretty done at that point, so it was great to see her.  She met up with me and ran beside me for about 50 meters, then veered off so I could finish.

I was met just passed the finish line by Hayley, the district manager for our Running Room in Sudbury. "Are you okay? How's your breathing? Do you need anything?"  I thanked her, thinking it was nice of her to ask.

This is what I looked like.


BRRRAAAAIIINNNSSS!

Clearly, not my best look. So, it wasn't my best race.  But I really enjoyed it! And really, that's all I can ask for.  I'll get my 2:10 at another race. There's ALWAYS another race.

For now though....Marathon training is starting.  WHOOOO HOOOO!

Here are a few more pictures from the day!

Denise, rocking out after the race.

Jessica, looking MUCH better!
Us, with Dayna Pidhoresky. (She's fast. Like, Top woman at Around the Bay in 2011, fast)

2 comments:

  1. That picture is THE BEST EVER. We need to do a zombie apocalypse run!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
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      http://runforyourlives.com/

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