Hi guys!! Marathon started at 7AM this morning! I did indeed take a long nap LOL. (I went to bed after 10 and was up at 5:30am.)
Here's the race bling!
I PRed the 5K last night. I decided to run after waking up with a Charley Horse Friday morning, hoping an easy 5K would help stretch it out. I felt good, took it nice and easy.
Woke up in the middle of the night with a foot/leg cramp in the same right leg. My mom has an herbal thing she takes for foot cramps so I got up, took the pill, and stretched some more then went back to bed.
This morning I felt good. I decided to get in the pace group with the 10:18ers which would put me right at 2:15. Kept up nice and easy, no big deal, I thought for sure I would be able to make the time.
Somewhere between mile 6 and 7 I started feeling my leg cramp up, starting with my thighs, then started traveling down my leg to my calf, then my FOOT. I couldn't feel my foot.
I tried to hobble it out but the pace group was getting further and further away... once I couldn't see them anymore I stopped to stretch which HURT HURT HURT. I've never had a cramp get WORSE trying to stretch it out.
So from about mile 7 on I walked the majority. I kept trying to run again but every time I started running I couldn't get very far before my foot cramped up severely again.
No shame, I finished in 2:30 which is not as good as last year but better than my first year, and technically when I signed up I put down 2:30 as my expected finish time.
I'm a little bummed I didn't make my PR for the half, but the thing is, my medal looks exactly the same as everybody else's. All the people I ran my first six miles with have the exact same medal as I do anyway. Most people will never even sign up for a half-marathon let alone finish one.
(Also my 10K time, 1:04, beat all of my friend's times who were just running the 10K. BAM.)
I'm taking a break from half-marathons for a few years. I know I'll go back to it at some point, I just really think I need a mental break as well as a physical one. This was the hardest mentally in the three I've done even though I feel like from a physical standpoint (until Friday morning!!) it has been the best and easiest. I need to surround myself with fit/active people again somehow and get a better support network before I do this again. It's just so difficult to go through this feeling like the people closest to me are apathetic about it. I'll regroup, take it easy for a couple years, then come back at it.
Disney Princess Half-marathon is still on my bucket list.
Back to being a gym rat!