Windermere Half Marathon Race Recap

Hello guys!! This week is flying by so far. I can’t believe I will be in Baltimore in two days for another Fitbloggin Conference! And back to the race…

So, this race was not a good one. In fact, I shouldn’t have run it. Starting from Thursday morning through Friday night, I was hugging and sitting on the toilet like it was my job. I decided to wait and see how I felt Saturday morning to determine whether I should run or not. Saturday, I woke up at 5am feeling energized and ready to go. I think it was just the adrenaline talking since this did not last long.

It was a windy morning. Plus, we got lots of sun showers before the race even started. It was beautiful out. The hubs and I met up with some friends before the race since some were doing the half and some were doing the full. They started at different locations so the hubs and I went our separate ways.

Here I am with my friend, Trina, near the starting line for the half.

The first couple of miles my legs just wanted to GO!!!  I told myself to calm down.  I had 13 miles to go after all.  Nausea started to set in around mile 4.  I guess I still wasn’t feeling better like I thought.  I pulled over to dry heave over on the side of the road.  It was not the highest moment in my life, let me tell you.  So embarrassing!

I really wanted to quit at that point, but since we were on a trail, who would be able to drive me to the finish line?  So, after the dry heaving incident, the goal was to run the speed at which I could keep my breakfast down.  Around the 1 hr mark, I hit 7 miles and also starting getting the chills.  My pace dwindled from there.  I threw up in my mouth a couple of times and just swallowed it down.  I wanted this thing to be over with.

I started making deals with myself that I could walk at the next aid station.  “Just run to the next aid station, then you can walk,” I repeated to myself. My skin was starting to hurt from the never ending goosebumps.

The last 2 miles were pure torture.  I felt dizzy, nauseous, and a spell of diarrhea coming on.  I did not want to walk unless I was at the aid stations, but when the last mile hit, I couldn’t run anymore.  My body was breaking down.  My attempt at drinking massive amounts of water days prior to make up for the severe dehydration that my stomach flu brought on obviously failed.  I kept thinking to myself: WHY the F$%^ did I run this race??  I should be in bed!!!

After a 2 minute walking break, I started running again.  It was pure agony.  I ran over the bridge that felt like it was covered in sand.

I ran through the last part of the park…

When I started to cross this bridge, I was SO FREAKING happy I was almost done.

Just over the water, and the race of hell was done.  I finished under 2 hours, WAY off from my goal of 1:45-1:50. ;(

Then, we had to wait for our gorgeous husbands to finish their marathon…

I DO NOT recommend running a half marathon when you have the stomach flu, but for some reason I’m glad I did it.  I guess I’m a psycho that way.  Of course, because of that race my body was broken for the rest of the weekend but don’t worry!  I’m feeling much better now.  It is amazing how much just a little rest can help with those things!

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Tagged as: races, running