So that next Saturday we headed down to Hampton, VA for the race on Sunday. We spent the night in a hotel in Hampton since it's about a 3 hour drive from here and it would suck driving on Sunday morning. Saturday was relaxing and we went into Virginia Beach and walked along the boardwalk and found an Italian restaurant to get in our carbs before the half. Ginger and I were not nervous about the race. We basically were going into this with the mindset of just finishing the race. So we both slept really well Saturday night.
On Sunday, I made probably one of the biggest mistakes I could have made on race day...I had been training the entire time with my handheld water bottle and that morning I decided to leave it in the hotel room and drink water on the course. Big..huge...mistake!!!
We get to the race (early...really early... for those who know Ginger and me, this is not a surprise) and we were both in great spirits. We each commented about the heat and humidity, but were still feeling great and excited.
We start off and the first 6 miles..easy and on track to finish at a decent time. Six miles is also the point where I start to get thirsty and I always use my hand held water bottle to sip water or swish and spit out. So the next water station I think I will take a cup and drink it and I chose Gatorade. You know, because it's hot and I need to replace what I am losing. I continue to stop and drink Gatorade at miles 8 and 10.
Then it hits me...or I hit it...you know...THE WALL...HARD! I feel sick, like I want to puke and curl up in a ball and cry! Why, me...why? I had not trained in heat and humidity, and then I did things differently on race day than I did in training. It took Anne Marie and Ginger to convince me I could do it. They were determined to get me over the Finish Line! Seriously, Ginger was behind me pushing me and then beside me pulling my arm! If it had not been for her, I would have stopped and quit!
Well, I made it over the finish line that day with more knowledge and a time of 2 hours and 54 minutes! But what really pissed me off, I was too sick to get my free beer at the end! Boooo!
Since then, I have redeemed myself and learned to NEVER, and I mean NEVER, try something new on race day! I have since ran Army Ten Miler with a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and Cherry Blossom Ten Miler with a time of 1 hour 54 minutes. I also ran another half marathon with a time of 2 hours 33 minutes. Can you believe that...that half was over 20 minutes faster and guess what...I was able to drink a beer after!
This year during the first weekend in October, Ginger and I along with Jane and Van from KS and Melissa, Jen, and Lisa from DC are taking a girls weekend to Hampton, VA to tackle the Crawlin' Crab again. My Do-Over. This time we will take on the Shell Yeah Challenge: 5k on Saturday and 13.1 on Sunday. With both races, I will race with more knowledge than the last time.
We start off and the first 6 miles..easy and on track to finish at a decent time. Six miles is also the point where I start to get thirsty and I always use my hand held water bottle to sip water or swish and spit out. So the next water station I think I will take a cup and drink it and I chose Gatorade. You know, because it's hot and I need to replace what I am losing. I continue to stop and drink Gatorade at miles 8 and 10.
Then it hits me...or I hit it...you know...THE WALL...HARD! I feel sick, like I want to puke and curl up in a ball and cry! Why, me...why? I had not trained in heat and humidity, and then I did things differently on race day than I did in training. It took Anne Marie and Ginger to convince me I could do it. They were determined to get me over the Finish Line! Seriously, Ginger was behind me pushing me and then beside me pulling my arm! If it had not been for her, I would have stopped and quit!
Well, I made it over the finish line that day with more knowledge and a time of 2 hours and 54 minutes! But what really pissed me off, I was too sick to get my free beer at the end! Boooo!
Since then, I have redeemed myself and learned to NEVER, and I mean NEVER, try something new on race day! I have since ran Army Ten Miler with a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and Cherry Blossom Ten Miler with a time of 1 hour 54 minutes. I also ran another half marathon with a time of 2 hours 33 minutes. Can you believe that...that half was over 20 minutes faster and guess what...I was able to drink a beer after!
This year during the first weekend in October, Ginger and I along with Jane and Van from KS and Melissa, Jen, and Lisa from DC are taking a girls weekend to Hampton, VA to tackle the Crawlin' Crab again. My Do-Over. This time we will take on the Shell Yeah Challenge: 5k on Saturday and 13.1 on Sunday. With both races, I will race with more knowledge than the last time.
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