Workout Wednesday: I Completed my First Half-Marathon!

Delicious Vegan Dish of the Day:

Tonight I tried Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction.  The G-man, IP and I loved it!  LP was not a fan.  Go figure.

Money Matter:

Today we spent the following:

  • $39.48 at Whole Foods

Workout Wednesday

Well, I did it.  I completed a half-marathon.  In many ways this event turned out to be an apt metaphor for parenthood.  Nothing really went as planned.  I expected IP to wake up at 5:30 (her usual wake-up time for more than a week).  That gave me just enough time to hop on my bike, catch the subway and get to the race without having to park the car.  So, guess what the baby did?  She didn’t wake up.  In fact, I had to wake her up (oh, waking up a baby is so a cardinal sin in my book).  I woke her up at 5:50, rush-nursed her, passed her over to the G-man and drove the car into the city for the race.

Then, since I was late it took a bit of time to find Sarah, my running friend.  We had planned to run the first six miles together, then she would run ahead (she was aiming for a finish under two hours.  I was aiming for a finish).  We found each other, but once we got to the start line I realized I had to pee.  So, I rushed to the bathroom, but made it back before the starting gun . . . but couldn’t find Sarah.  So, instead of running together, we both spent the first mile looking for the other one in the massive crowd before giving up.  Luckily the course is a loop, so we saw each other (and cheered!) when she passed me on her mile 7 (my mile 5).

The first 6 or so miles were amazing.  It is always such a rush to run with so many people, and emotions were high at this first major Boston race since the Boston Marathon bombings.  Additionally, this was a yearly race that is always run to honor fallen police officers, and this year everyone honored Sean Collier (who was killed by one of the marathon bombers) by wearing a bib with his car number on the back.  He was supposed to run in this race.  There were cops all along the route, and at one point there was a line of them giving the runners high fives. There were spectators everywhere, even though it was crazy early on a cold and drizzly Sunday morning.  Nothing beats that community feeling.

Now, I’ve been fighting some back pain for about a week and a half.  I’ve been trying to rest my back in preparation for this race, since I really hurt it after an 11 mile run.  It was sore when I started out the race, but not too bad.  Then, about mile 6 I started to feel it more.  An occasional twinge, but not too bad.  I really, really hoped it would stay that way until at least mile 10.  Then, at mile 8, I started to hurt.  A lot.  As in, every time my right foot hit the ground pain shot up my back.  I kept running, and even kept up with my 10 minute/mile pace until mile 10.  Then I seriously slowed down.  But I ran the whole thing, and finished at 2 hours and 16 minutes.  I would love to say I crossed the finish line with arms raised victoriously, but really I just made it past line and the hobbled up to the volunteers to get some water.  Then I hobbled to a chair.  Then I hobbled slowly to my car (finding Sarah along the way).  I’ve been consistently hobbling a bit less since then, but still hobbling.

But I did it.  I finished a half-marathon, and ran the whole thing.  While the race wasn’t everything I had hoped for, the journey to get to it was really the point.  The running with Sarah, the early mornings enjoying the river on my own, the satisfaction of a completed run through the snow.  All of that got me to run 13 miles, something I’ve never done before.  And it feels pretty good, even while I hobble around!


2 thoughts on “Workout Wednesday: I Completed my First Half-Marathon!

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