I might have forgotten on purpose to write that the big race of the year was coming up. That's because I was feeling very pessimistic and out of shape and fat and lazy and I was trying to pretend that the race was still way off in the distance. Instead, it happened yesterday.
Dumb things:
1. I finished the race at a full sprint.
2. I got COLD during the race.
3. I am extremely sore today.
Discussion:
1. You should finish a 5K at a full sprint. You shouldn't finish a half marathon at a full sprint (unless you're winning). But here's why I did: I sped up for the last mile because I was excited that the stinking race was almost over and I knew if I didn't speed up considerably I wouldn't beat my time from last year. I was running on fumes, passing people, wondering if I was going to fall over, and I finally got to the Higgins bridge and I passed a lady. She did not like this so she sped up. I thought she was probably in my age group and I wanted to beat her so I sped up, which she took issue with so she sped up, which I didn't like so I sped up. So by the time we got to the finish line it was a flat-out sprint and I beat her by a split second. Turns out she wasn't even in my age group. I need to be more dignified in life. Sorry, lady.
2. It wasn't cold yesterday. I've been fine running when it was 8 degrees. I've been almost uncomfortably warm when it was 24 degrees. The low yesterday was 55 degrees = not cold. I got cold and was cold for about the whole last half of the race. Maybe it was because I was dehydrated, although I drank plenty of Gatorade and water on Friday and Saturday (although admittedly I am not the best judge of what I actually do imbibe on any given day - example being that I forgot to eat dinner last night even though I was starving). But normal dehydrated people experience an increase in core body temperature and not a decrease (my internet research skills are to the max) and so I am forced to conclude that I was not dehydrated but instead have body temperature regulation cancer.
3. My quads are killing me. I have not been this sore in a very long time. I was sore after the first half marathon I ran - I felt like I had whiplash - but I've gotten better at it since then. But today I can't go up or down stairs without groaning loudly and grimacing like an old man. This might be because I didn't eat enough after the race and messed up my recovery - I was too busy chatting it up with my homedogs to eat. But also I felt pukey and couldn't force myself to eat much. I kind of still feel pukey. Today a coworker gently suggested that I might be getting sick. I might agree with that.
It was a tough race for me. I didn't have a bad race by any means, but I didn't have a great race. Sometimes you run and feel like you could run forever, you feel light and fast and built for running and it's incredible. Yesterday I felt like I was wading through mud and it was not incredible. It was fine, though, and it was fun, and I did get a PR, so I'm happy.
And thus concludes this year's running season, I guess. There's a race in two weeks, and two half marathons in September, but no more running group and no more discipline. And now that this is over I have to start thinking about the things I've been putting off thinking about. What do I do for escapism now?
And the day before the race I discovered to my great dismay that I had been hoodwinked into reading a book written in the 1970s. Totally threw me off!
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