My bags are packed!

My bags are packed.  They are full, actually, and I am already on my Guilt Trip.

Charlotte RaceFest Half Marathon/10K was Saturday.  I had registered for the Half Marathon.  I can run a half marathon.  But, the week leading up to the race was miserable (see previous post).  The night before the race, I felt awful, with my allergies kicked into high gear.

I texted my Fitness Guru (spin teacher Mon/Weds/Fri), looking for a little advice/motivation to handle this funk.  She - of the "throw out your scale" advice, called back, and shared some pearls of wisdom.

Step back.

Easier said than done, and she acknowledged this.  The hardest part for me, would be mentally dealing with the decision to not run the half.  She's right.  My guilt bags got packed.

At the race, I waffled back and forth.  Stuffed full of meds (and I mean seriously hopped up on allergy meds), I arrived at the race feeling pretty good.  "I can do this!" I was thinking.  But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about the conversation with my Fitness Guru. . .

It would be better to run less miles, and remain functioning, than to push myself, and have to take a week off to recover.

Both races (10K and Half) started at the same time.  I was with a friend of mine, but she was running with someone else. . .so I felt comfortable to run ahead.  As I approached the 3 mile marker, I could see that the 10K runners were to turn right, and the Half Marathon runners were to continue straight.

I turned right.

Throw another bag of guilt onto my pile of guilt luggage.  As I plowed ahead (on one of the few downhills of the course), I made the decision that if I was going to do fewer miles, I was going to make them fast. . .So, I kicked it up a notch. . .Brilliant decision timing on my part, as I was passing someone mowing his front yard.  Hello grass, meet my allergies, you two are old friends.  My eyes watered, my throat and tongue started itching.  I popped a cough drop and kept running.

At this point I am about 4.5 miles into the race.  A woman next me, says, "I am using you to pace myself."  I elegantly snorted, coughed and hacked, and told her, "I'm not sure you want to use me as a pacer."
We ended up running together.  Big hills at this point, another person out mowing their lawn (am I the only allergy sufferer in this town??).  I am huffing and puffing, but keeping up with this woman, who, as it turns out, just gave birth to her third child 2 months ago.  She can do this?  I can do this!

One mile to go - I can see we are approaching the finish.  I see a 6 year old running ahead of me.  Really?  I can definitely do this.  I take it up another notch.  I've been needing to - uh - use the restroom since mile 2, so I have extra motivation to get to the finish.

I leave my new running friend behind, and sprint (yes, sprint) to the finish. 
I couldn't get my watch to work at the very beginning of the race, and I forgot to shut it off for about five minutes after I finished - so I don't have my official time yet, but I came in at under 1 hour.

I'm still feeling terribly guilty, even as I type this blog.  I am not sure how to let go of that disappointment in myself - feeling "less than" for not completing the half, even though I do feel I made the right decision.  Instead of bumming about not doing the Half, I should be celebrating that I ran a great 10K.  How do I unload this luggage?

At least I packed my Ruffle Skirt - it definitely helped!

The story behind the picture, is that this is our runner friend's car.

This car also happens to be my husband's dream car.

So, I sent him the pic, and asked, "Which would you rather have?"

He chose "Ruffles".  Good choice, honey.