My Half Marathon Experience
I wanted to write a post about my experience running my first, and last, half-marathon.
The race started at 7:20 a.m. I was running late because I got lost (typical). I had to walk over half a mile to get to the starting line from my car, but I made it with about 5 minutes to spare. 7:30 and the starting gun went off. I must say, I get very emotional when I start a race. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's the adrenaline, perhaps it's the overwhelming gratitude of being able to run and be apart of, perhaps it's a combination of both. The first three miles weren't too bad. I pass the quarter-marathon marker and thought to myself, "Oh dear lord, I'm only a quarter of the way done." At mile 5, I started feeling a few pains. My toes were blistering slightly and my knees were a little sore, but nothing too bad. I had eaten some GU (an energy gel for athletes) and felt okay. I kept running. My goal was to get to 6.5 miles without really stopping (except for water when needed). At mile 6, I started to listen to my head. I didn't think I couldn't finish this, that I wasn't even halfway done and I felt exhausted and discouraged. I ignored my head, and kept running, but it was incredibly difficult.
Once I passed the halfway mark (6.5 miles) I felt more determined. I knew that I was over halfway done and just had 6.5 miles left, but that didn't last long. At mile 8, I realized that my ITB was hurting pretty bad. Though I kept running, the pain started radiating from my foot all the way up to my hip. I was hurting, but I knew I had just 5 miles left and that I could do it. At mile 9, I was fully aware that I could no longer walk, and had to keep running. The amount of pain when I slowed down to walking was so immense, that I literally could. not. walk. It was excruciating. So I kept running. There were a few people around me, and we kept up with each other, but I mostly ran alone. By mile 11, I was hurting so bad that even running was excruciating, I walked (read:limped) about half a mile, then decided to run the remaining distance. Once I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I started crying. I was hurting so bad and I was so grateful I was finishing that I couldn't control my emotions. I passed the censors that marked my time and just sat down and burst into tears. I didn't want to move and couldn't. The medical personnel rushed over and started working on my ITB and icing me down. Honestly my first thought was to feel embarrassed but I was in so much pain I didn't care. I have to give mad props to the medical team that was there helping everyone. They were so nice and patient, and knew exactly what they needed to do. They had ice, gatorade, water, and fruit ready for those who, like me, pushed themselves to the extreme.
Once I calmed down and the medical person had worked on my ITB for a bit, they told me I needed to move or my muscles would start cramping. So a few of the people helped me stand up and I hobbled over to the medical tent where I rested for about 30 minutes. I drank a ton of gatorade and ate a banana to help with the cramping, and a couple of the women helped work on my ITB some more. Once I was feeling more alert, I was ready to go home. Unfortunately, once I stood up, I realized I couldn't walk, so they had to golf cart me back to my car. Fortunately, driving was not painful, so I was able to make it back to my in-law's house just fine. I was able to spend most of the evening resting, icing my foot, elevating my legs, and noshing on some comfort foods.
It's Monday morning (the next day) and my foot still hurts pretty bad. I've been icing it and elevating when I can at work, and when I get home I will do the same.
Overall, I am incredibly proud of myself. I set a goal and I completed it. My goal was to finish in less than 3 hours, and I completed the half marathon in 2 hours and 41 minutes.
I think I am officially retired from running, but I look forward to the new adventures in staying healthy and active.
*10/5/2017 - UPDATE: It looks like I may have sustained a stress fracture in my right foot. It would definitely explain the never-ending pain over the last 4 days. I will be wearing a boot for the next few weeks when I'm walking and will go back for a follow up visit to my orthopaedic doctor in a few weeks to see what's up.*
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| Later in the evening, once I had somewhat recovered. |
October 1, 2017
Lawton, OK
Spirit of Survival Half-Marathon
13.1 miles
The race started at 7:20 a.m. I was running late because I got lost (typical). I had to walk over half a mile to get to the starting line from my car, but I made it with about 5 minutes to spare. 7:30 and the starting gun went off. I must say, I get very emotional when I start a race. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's the adrenaline, perhaps it's the overwhelming gratitude of being able to run and be apart of, perhaps it's a combination of both. The first three miles weren't too bad. I pass the quarter-marathon marker and thought to myself, "Oh dear lord, I'm only a quarter of the way done." At mile 5, I started feeling a few pains. My toes were blistering slightly and my knees were a little sore, but nothing too bad. I had eaten some GU (an energy gel for athletes) and felt okay. I kept running. My goal was to get to 6.5 miles without really stopping (except for water when needed). At mile 6, I started to listen to my head. I didn't think I couldn't finish this, that I wasn't even halfway done and I felt exhausted and discouraged. I ignored my head, and kept running, but it was incredibly difficult.
 |
| This was where we were running, in the middle of nowhere. Lots of fields and cows! |
Once I passed the halfway mark (6.5 miles) I felt more determined. I knew that I was over halfway done and just had 6.5 miles left, but that didn't last long. At mile 8, I realized that my ITB was hurting pretty bad. Though I kept running, the pain started radiating from my foot all the way up to my hip. I was hurting, but I knew I had just 5 miles left and that I could do it. At mile 9, I was fully aware that I could no longer walk, and had to keep running. The amount of pain when I slowed down to walking was so immense, that I literally could. not. walk. It was excruciating. So I kept running. There were a few people around me, and we kept up with each other, but I mostly ran alone. By mile 11, I was hurting so bad that even running was excruciating, I walked (read:limped) about half a mile, then decided to run the remaining distance. Once I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I started crying. I was hurting so bad and I was so grateful I was finishing that I couldn't control my emotions. I passed the censors that marked my time and just sat down and burst into tears. I didn't want to move and couldn't. The medical personnel rushed over and started working on my ITB and icing me down. Honestly my first thought was to feel embarrassed but I was in so much pain I didn't care. I have to give mad props to the medical team that was there helping everyone. They were so nice and patient, and knew exactly what they needed to do. They had ice, gatorade, water, and fruit ready for those who, like me, pushed themselves to the extreme.
 |
| Post-run celebration in the medical tent. |
Once I calmed down and the medical person had worked on my ITB for a bit, they told me I needed to move or my muscles would start cramping. So a few of the people helped me stand up and I hobbled over to the medical tent where I rested for about 30 minutes. I drank a ton of gatorade and ate a banana to help with the cramping, and a couple of the women helped work on my ITB some more. Once I was feeling more alert, I was ready to go home. Unfortunately, once I stood up, I realized I couldn't walk, so they had to golf cart me back to my car. Fortunately, driving was not painful, so I was able to make it back to my in-law's house just fine. I was able to spend most of the evening resting, icing my foot, elevating my legs, and noshing on some comfort foods.
It's Monday morning (the next day) and my foot still hurts pretty bad. I've been icing it and elevating when I can at work, and when I get home I will do the same.
Overall, I am incredibly proud of myself. I set a goal and I completed it. My goal was to finish in less than 3 hours, and I completed the half marathon in 2 hours and 41 minutes.
I think I am officially retired from running, but I look forward to the new adventures in staying healthy and active.
*10/5/2017 - UPDATE: It looks like I may have sustained a stress fracture in my right foot. It would definitely explain the never-ending pain over the last 4 days. I will be wearing a boot for the next few weeks when I'm walking and will go back for a follow up visit to my orthopaedic doctor in a few weeks to see what's up.*
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