I have been back into running for nearly two years now. Until this past May I trained and raced alone. Now I can't imagine it without my new 'running family'! A young boy at church was diagnosed with Leukemia this past spring. In my desire to make some type of fundraising effort, I found the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training and signed up to train with The Woodlands team. I will never forget our first practice heading out from the library and running down The Woodlands waterway. It wasn't a particularly spectacular or memorable run (although it was beautiful!) but it was cool enough to wear a jacket and kicked off a season of training through the HOTTEST summer on record!!! We slowly built up our mileage on our early morning Saturday runs and alternated Wednesday evening practices between the track and hills. I don't know which was more torturous but I loved every minute of it.
I had originally signed up to train for the Nike Women's marathon in San Francisco but roughly mid season had to change events due to a scheduling conflict. Two weeks ago was the Hills and Heels and Him Half Marathon in Irving, Texas. It was my third half marathon. It was a lovely weekend kicked off with an Inspiration dinner with all of the Team in Training participants from both the Dallas and Texas gulf coast teams.
We trained through the heat and had to race through it too. It was terribly hot during the race and there wasn't much shade. I tried to start out slow and hold my pace to 13 minute miles or slower and it was tough because my legs wanted to go faster. After two miles I tried to follow my legs and ran a little faster at roughly 12 minute miles. Boy was that a mistake!!! After mile 5 I knew I wasn't going to get a personal record and was regretting not running with my team mates and just enjoying the event we had trained for together. Around mile six, I caught up to Lexie and a couple of girls from the Dallas area and hung with them until around mile 7. That is when it really started going down hill for me. My pace slowed and I was slowing down into the 14 minute mile range at times. I had been doing run/walk intervals of 5:1 and that five minutes kept getting longer and longer. I was ready to walk around three minutes and I was on my own again. Around mile ten I started cramping. My calves were tying up in knots and it felt like my feet were curling up into balls in my shoes. It was pretty miserable. I stopped to stretch, ran on my tip toes, and walked on my heels- anything that would give me some relief. There were many times when there was no choice but to walk. I tried to eat the pretzels I had in my fuel belt but I couldn't swallow them. I was really regretting not carrying my own water belt. I will never make that mistake again!! It was shortly after all this started that my team mate Teresa caught up to me. I was so happy to see her. She gave me some gatorade to help with the cramping and some much needed moral support. That last mile was the worst. I walked most of it and had to stop to stretch several times. It was when I made the final turn into the finishing area that I realized how it is possible for people to not finish a race. Ordinarily when the finish line is in sight all fatigue and pain are surmountable and I am able to kick it into gear and get myself over that line. As I tried to do that the pain in my legs wouldn't allow me to run. Thank goodness for the Team in Training coach at the finish line area who was able to rub out the cramp in my calf and I was able to run. It was pretty heart breaking to have the finish line in view and not be able to run to it. It was nice to have my team mates there to cheer me into the finish. It really helped me through those last few steps.
I am so glad that I joined this team and made these wonderful friends. We had two great coaches: Steve and Kelly, two awesome mentors: Doug and Crystal and some really neat ladies and running buddies: Kittie, Kim, Lexie, Marta, Tara, and Teresa. Thanks to you all for sharing with me this summer of fun and fatigue.
Thank you to my friends and family who supported me through this journey.
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