2 epic races

I certainly feel a lot better than I did last week, but I still have that little nagging cough and cold going on. It just keeps hanging around and pulling me in. I felt better on Friday, but of course Friday night I did end up having a difficult time sleeping which left me very weary for an early Saturday morning half.  I woke up about 5 AM, and we were out the door by about 6 for an hour drive. I wish I could say I am fully awake at this time and ready to go, but that is never the case. Some mornings you just feel better than others.  At least I have time to wake up before I have to run. This run didn’t start until 7:45 AM. But I have to admit I was scared because of my generalized exhaustion and of course I was afraid I was going to hack up a lung on course. I had this irrational fear that I would go into a coughing fit and everyone around me would be horrified and ask me if I was alright and then for some reason they’d call medic over and I’d be embarrassed. Luckily none of this happened.

Shockingly I felt pretty good while running. Better than I thought I was going to feel given my state of being. As I ran I mostly kept saying I am proud of myself for even attempting to do this being sick and all. And I just kept running. I kept asking myself I wonder when and if I’m going to hit some wall where exhaustion just kicks in and I can’t go anymore. I wonder if the sleep deprivation and the fighting off of this infection is just going to stop me dead in my tracks at some point. Fortunately it never really happened.

Right around mile 4 we were running thru a residential neighborhood and I saw something very cute that put a big old smile on my face. These 3 little kids, ages 10-6 approximately had made their own water station at the end of their driveway. The little boy was carrying a picture of water from the house and this little girl was spreading out little water cups. It was truly heart melting. This kind of stuff for some reason just touches me in a special way. I just think that perhaps this will leave some impression on their little hearts and minds, showing them that anything is possible. I almost cried. It’s been a very long time since I’ve cried during a race. But for some reason that exact moment hit me in a really severe way.

Overall I only had a couple moments where I started coughing on course and became terrified people would move away from me and fear I would infect them with my sickness. I am pretty consistent and predictable with my pace. I just start running and pretty much don’t stop until I’m done. I may walk for a couple seconds here and there at water stations or up massive hills but for the most part I just keep running.

Pretty much as soon as I crossed the finish line I felt relief that this one was done and proud that I could do it. It was excessively hot, it was sunny. (Really wish I had sunglasses while I was running) and it was kind of windy too. It was a nice course and it was my 20^th half for the year so that was kind of cool. I walked over to Chris (he always finishes before me, stupid longer legs!) and then it hit me. That horrific coughing/choking attack. I sat at the finish line area hacking up a lunge. It was honestly pretty awful for a good 5-10 minutes. I couldn’t get the crap out of my lungs. It was like I had suppressed it for 2 hours 20 something minutes while running and suddenly it was time to get it all out, but I couldn’t. It was slightly embarrassing. I was a train wreck overall.

I felt pretty exhausted afterwards. But I really am never able to nap in the afternoon. It’s just kind of something that I am not that accustomed to. I watched a bunch of TV and was sort of zoning out for the rest of the afternoon. Eventually, like about 8 PM we both decided we were hungry and should probably eat something. We ended up at Applebee’s and I had an awesome Thai chicken salad. Delicious.

Then we had to go to bed because we were waking up at 5 AM yesterday to pretty much do it all over again. Except only a 10k this time.  I was scared because exhaustion, and lack of sleep and of course running a half the previous day I was pretty unsure of how my body was going to handle this. I was tired and scared to death when that horn sounded for the start of the race. But something very funny happened when I started to run. I felt great. I was not setting any speed records but I was running consistent and I felt good and comfortable with everything. It was quite awesome actually. I didn’t ever really tire and my heart rate remained good and comfortable for most of the race. I finished my 10k, 6.2 miles in a very respectable for me 1 hour 6 minutes. I thought this was awesome considering I had run a half the day before. And it barely felt like work. That was the interesting thing. So I don’t know if running the day before actually helped the race or not. But I was shocked.

At the end of the race, once again I had a mini-coughing attack. My body and lunges just seem to have to catch up after I quit running. Embarrassing, but it passed relatively quickly. This race was Pints to Pasta in downtown Portland. And that meant at the end of it we got an actually quite delicious plate of pasta and salad and rolls from a local pasta restaurant, The Old Spaghetti Factory. Plus beer. The thing is, I don’t actually like beer. Chris loves beer. This typically works out great because you ususally get a free beer at the end, and Chris gets mine. 2 beers is pretty much the right amount. This race however, as we were getting the beer they were like everyone gets 2 beers. So we each grabbed our 2 free beers. 4 beers for one person on a dehydrated stomach after running 6.2 miles are enough to make you drunk. Yup, Sunday morning at 10 AM and Chris is drunk. Oops. Needless to say I drove home!

But this race was fun. I loved the run, the course, the mood. It was a really great race. It was on the larger side so that probably helped contribute to my warm fuzzy feelings. It had over 2,000 participants and it ran thru the city of Portland. It was crazy excellent. I had a moment towards the end of the race, right around mile 5 or 5.5, right in downtown Portland, where unfortunately there was a runner lying on the ground and paramedics were at this side, he was all hooked up to machines and clearly was in a bad place. It made me sad. It made me grateful that I can do what I do. Any and all of this can be taken away at a moment’s notice. Don’t take your health for granted. I am capable of running a half one day and then 6.2 miles the next day. This is a gift from God. Thank you body for the years of torturous yo-yo abuse I’ve put you thru and you are still ticking stronger than ever, fighting, and thriving. You are a beautiful thing.

I felt ridiculous relief that I am capable of what I am. Truly an awesome weekend, despite the not feeling 100%, I had an amazing time as I thought I would. Life is sometimes epic. Cool and epic. What a year. What a freaking amazing year!