I ran my fourth half marathon a couple weeks ago with my friend, Robyn. I ran this race 4 years ago with my friend, Andrea. It was my first race and she was so nice to drive down from Vegas with me to run it! It was fun to run it again and try to beat my time. My goal was to run it in 2 hours flat (or faster) which would be 9 minutes faster than my previous time. This was a pretty lofty goal seeing as though that Robyn and I just signed up for the race about 4 weeks before and so we didn't have a lot of time to train.
The race started out good. I was making good time and was on track to achieve or beat my goal. And then mile 9 hit. My body was done and I still had 4 miles to go. My prayers suddenly switched from "Please help me to achieve my goal" to "Please help me to finish the race and not die!" My legs were so tired, but I was so close to reaching my goal that I just made myself keep going. It's amazing the tricks your mind plays on you when you are trying to make your body do something it doesn't want to do. Kelly Clarkson's song from when she won American Idol came on my ipod and I started thinking that if she could achieve her dream, so could I! (I have to thank Carrie Underwood for getting me through my full marathon a few years ago!) I was picturing my kids and Jon at the finish line and how proud they would be of me, of how I would always regret coming so close and not pushing myself to the end, etc. etc.
Well, I finished the race in 2 hours, 34 seconds. SO CLOSE! I figure I can still say I finished in 2 hours since it wasn't into the next minute yet! As soon as I finished I started to feel pretty sick. Jon usually meets me at the finish line with a bowl of Crunchy Corn Bran and for whatever reason this usually prevents me from getting sick. I got cocky this time and told him that I didn't need it and boy was I wrong. I ended up throwing up on the way to the car and then I was sick in bed the rest of the day. Throwing up is the worst thing a Type I Diabetic can do, so I was a little worried I was going to have to go to the hospital to get hydrated through an IV. Thankfully around 7:00 that night I finally started to feel better and was able to keep food and water down and by morning I was totally fine. I really think that I just pushed my body too hard. Next time I decide to cut 9 minutes off of my time I am going to train a lot longer than a month! I still don't regret it, though. I'm just so happy that I achieved my goal (almost)!!!
13 comments:
Man..you are an inspiration to me. How often do you run? How long of runs do you go for? Living in California has to help, it's a little hard to run outside in Minnesota about 6 months out of the year!
Way to go Sarah! I think that's awesome you did so well, especially with such a short amount of time to prep for it.
That's awesome! I so wish running was in my 'likes' book. :) You look awesome.
Congrats Sarah. Glad you're still here to tell us about it.
Oh my goodness, you are quite the woman! I am so impressed and so sorry that you got so sick afterwards. A bunch of my friends are traingin to run a half marathon this Saturday and they've been training for over 4 months! Congrats on meeting your goal, forget about those 34 seconds!
Way to go Sarah!! You are sooo inspiring. I really want to find another half to do. Know of any Saturday runs coming up?
I wanted to do that one but it was Anna's birthday and the day was NUTS.
CONGRATULATIONS on hitting your time! That's HUGE.
Wow! Way to go Sarah! Forget "almost" You totally did it, and that is amazing. I'm glad you are okay and thank goodness for that crunchy corn stuff so you don't get sick every time.
i agree about you forgetting the almost. you ROCK! seriously rock. you look so dang skinny and pretty.
sorry about getting sick. bring on the corn crunchies (or whatever they are).
You totally achieved your goal. Way to go!!! sorry felt sick, sounds like no fun. So glad you got better. You and your friend look great!!
Great job! That counts as 2 hours in my book. Sorry you got sick, that is the worst part about running sometimes. You crack me up with your American Idol, I do remember Carrie pulling you through. Your shirts are cute!
IT'S TIME... for a new post my dear sister. we need to talk about the valentine's party too. i need some ideas for questions for our game. any good ideas? i also have a very important cake question. call me some day. love ya!!
IT'S TIME... for a new post my dear sister. we need to talk about the valentine's party too. i need some ideas for questions for our game. any good ideas? i also have a very important cake question. call me some day. love ya!!
I can't believe I haven't commented yet. Thanks for pushing me to do this race. I really didn't want to and I'm so proud of us and our times. You totally met your goal and I'm so proud of you for mentally pushing through the pain. Love our shirts too!
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