This was a frequent thought of mine over the past several weeks. I had not run a long distance (over 9 miles) since my half marathon in Raleigh in mid-April. Particularly these past three weeks, with the weather so hot and school/work wrapping up, I had to force myself to even run 3 miles at a time.
In the past, I couldn't wait to run. I would start thinking about it in the morning, and look forward to it - my release. These past couple months, I dreaded my scheduled runs. I only kept them up for the calorie burn, but there was absolutely no enjoyment. In fact, I hated every second.
To be fair, I think a lot of it had to do with the temperatures. My only opportunity to run was at noon - smack dab in the middle of the day, and it was terribly hot the past few weeks. That didn't help.
My other theory was that my allergy meds were messing with me. I am on up to three different medications - some two times a day, just to function. But apparently, it was only just to function, because I couldn't run. I was having trouble breathing, my legs felt like each one weighed 100 pounds. I just didn't feel right.
This past weekend, I had a half marathon I had initially been really looking forward to - in the mountains. For the past month though, I was dreading it. I was running 1- 1 1/2 minutes per mile slower than my normal pace. I didn't want to run. I felt like crap. In an effort to not die on the course, I quit my allergy meds three days before the race, hoping it would be out of my system.
Rock and a hard place.
No allergy meds, meant suffering with allergies - but yes, I actually felt better. Luckily, as it was June, the worst of my allergy season was behind me, so I could manage without the meds, for the most part.
The race is called Downhill at Dawn. It starts in Black Mountain, NC and ends in Old Fort, NC. As it's at "Dawn", the race begins at 6:01am.
There were a lot of ladies from my local running group at this race, which made for a more fun environment.
I'm a very "glass is half empty" kind of gal. So I went into the race with NO major goals or expectations - except to not die, and hopefully finish in less than 2 hours 30 minutes.
Because of my total lack of training for this race, I did NOT wear my Garmin. I knew it would mess with my head to have that information - and I just wanted to run the race with no added pressure. It felt like enough to just show up.
The first three miles were hard - both physically and mentally. The race might have been called "Downhill" @ Dawn, but the first 5 miles or so were fairly hilly. My legs did not feel like they each weighed 100 pounds though (no meds?), so that helped. Also, the temps were much cooler so early in the morning, in the mountains. Mentally, I was itching to know my pace. About mile 3, I asked a lady in a blue shirt next to me what our pace was - and she told me a 10 minute mile. Fine. I was not going to break any records, but I felt good. So I figured I would just try and maintain that pace.
I kept blue shirt lady in my sights for the rest of the race. I would pass her on the uphills, and she would pass me on the downhills. We made a joke about it - "tagging" each other each time we went by. At the end of the race, she came up and hugged me, and I got to thank her for being my marker on the course. As we finished, she was just ahead of me, and they called out her name, and bib number: 106. . .I was 107. Seems it was fitting that we motivated one another and finished as we did.
The race was absolutely gorgeous. It reminded me of one of my other favorite scenic races (also in the mountains): The Scream. From mile 5-9 it was predominately downhill, rural, and very beautiful. I used gravity to my advantage. Miles 10-12 were difficult in that I just wanted to be done, but that is normal. I still felt good. Once at mile 12, we were heading into town - and I was actually pretty pumped up.
I did it. I do not recommend not training and then racing, but it worked out for me this time. Most importantly, I felt great about the run. I felt like I had my body back, and it felt good to be out there, and it felt really, really good to disconnect.
After mile 3 I really enjoyed NOT having my watch. I went with how my body felt, and that was the right thing for me at this time.
It was wonderful to disconnect - so I could reconnect with running.
No comments:
Post a Comment