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My 3rd half marathon is in the books. After posting the day before about my worries about the rain and my allergies, I was a little hesitant about how the race would go. Let’s just say what went down was nothing I’d ever thought about happening on Saturday. But let’s start from the beginning, alright?
I woke up at 5 am after sleeping about 4 hours, and was excited and ready to go! I had been feeling pretty lousy and low on energy the two days before due to allergies, but I felt full of energy on Saturday morning! I quickly got ready and ate my traditional race day breakfast of 8 ounces of orange juice, 1 Luna Bar, and 1 large banana. My parents, brother, and I walked from the hotel to the race start, and I warmed up there. Before the race started they had a moment of silence for Boston, and then they sang “Sweet Caroline”. What a great race start! It was almost perfect running weather- a little overcast, low 50’s, and some humidity. Unlike last year, I was in a corral more in the middle, so I crossed the race start at 13 minutes on the race clock.
Race start!
Mile 0-1: This mile went really quickly, and I hardly remember anything about it. I thankfully didn’t have to do too much weaving, and that was nice (again- unlike last year!). I got a bad side cramp about half a mile in, just like last year. I’m not sure what it is that does that, especially since I almost never get them in training (I’m thinking it was difficulty breathing with allergies?). This was the first race I had my garmin, and I held back and made sure to keep a pace that I had trained at.
Mile 1-2: Again, this mile flew by. My side cramp went away here, so that was really nice. I was still feeling pretty good at this point in the race.
Mile 2-3: Lots of entertainment at this point, so that was nice. I remember feeling like the air was really stuffy at this point, so I was sweating a lot and looking forward to the water already.
Mile 3-4: At this point I was remembering every turn of the course, so I knew what was coming next. Right before Mile 4 there was a singer with a guitar player in the road playing, so it was fun to run and listen to them. There’s a sight hill I ran up here, and Mile 4 is close to the top of that!
Mile 4-5: Right when I hit Mile 4 I took my first 2 shot bloks (margarita flavor for extra salt) and then hit a water stop. I felt a little “blah” at this point and definitely wasn’t having as much fun as the beginning of the race, but I thought it was because we were getting close to the speedway (and I don’t like the speedway!).
Mile 5-6: I felt my energy pick up a bit here and did lots of positive talk as I neared the entrance of the speedway. There were dancing cows for Chick-fil-A that were on the course cheering us on, and that gave me something to think about instead of the looming race track. Entering the speedway is always a good moment. There’s a steep hill down from the street and then back up into the speedway, and people cheer going through the tunnel. It’s fun.
Mile 6-7: Oh the speedway- my nemesis. I hate that place, but I really did try to keep a good attitude going in. The first mile wasn’t as bad as I remembered it being last year, which was probably due to the fact that I ran on the very inside of the track (no slant!), and as often as I could actually ran on the grass right on the edge of the track. The track cement is just really hard. I hit mile marker seven really quickly and was pretty surprised.
Mile 7-8: Right after mile 7 I stopped for about 20 seconds to stretch quickly. I thought if I kept myself loose on the track I wouldn’t hurt as bad getting off of it. I hit the brickyard and did manage to kiss the bricks this year! I took my second two shot bloks (also the margarita flavor for more sodium) at this point as well. It was during this mile that my left leg gave out a little bit and I stumbled but caught myself.
Mile 8-9: The first half of mile 8 was still on the speedway. I remember thinking a lot about chips and salsa at this point and desperately wanting something salty. Despite drinking all the gatorade offered to me and eating the shot bloks, I was really craving salt at this point. At about mile 8.3 I texted my family to let them know that I was “about to leave this hell”, and I was really happy to get off the track. While it wasn’t as bad as I remember it being, it definitely isn’t so fun. When I got off the track I noticed that I didn’t pick up as easily as I did last year, and felt really blah and low on energy.
Mile 9-10: Right when hitting mile marker 9 I remember thinking “oh my gosh- I have almost no energy left”. I don’t think that this has really ever happened to me, especially not in any long runs or in any previous half marathon. I ate three more shot bloks this mile (cran razz) and prayed that it would give me what I needed. At this point my legs were feeling a little crampy and achy and my pace was slowing down despite trying to push myself.
Mile 10-11: Yup, I hit empty. Is this the wall that I hear so much about? Whatever it was I’d never felt it before and I definitely didn’t like it. I really felt like I had nothing left in me and had no idea what to do. My legs were cramping pretty badly at this point and I had really slowed down (I sent a text to my family that said “10.4 miles. legs are really cramped up- tough running day”). I was going much slower than my training runs at this point and I felt beyond frustrated and annoyed. Right before mile 11 I stopped to stretch a bit (my IT band was only bothering me slightly- one good point in this race!), but I guess I looked like I was in a lot of pain because someone stopped and asked if I needed to be carried. Nope. I kept telling myself the following: “Caroline- you have POTS and can handle a lot of pain- DO NOT GIVE UP.”
Mile 11-12: I turned on my music and prayed that my leg wouldn’t completely cramp up this mile. It was really bad. I truly was worried every step that I took that I wouldn’t be able to go on. I had nothing left in my legs, but since I’ve been doing pilates and best body bootcamp, I had something in my core and my arms that I could use. I definitely ran the last miles more with my upper body than my lower body.
Mile 12-13: As soon as I hit the mile 12 marker I texted my family to let them know my location (they were at mile 12.8). In all capital letters I just wrote “PAIN”- all I wanted to do was sit down and sob. While a few tears here and there did escape, I refused to allow myself to cry because that would’ve been extra energy and I needed everything that I had. I kept plugging away, knowing that my family was getting closer and closer. I was so happy to see them as 12.8. Right after I passed them I got hit with a leg cramp so bad I stopped in my tracks and had to stretch it out. My dad ran about 0.1 of a mile cheering me on, and I definitely cried a little bit then. I hated almost everything at this point, and even though I had 0.2 to go, I thought I would have to crawl. I wasn’t sure my legs would be able to finish.
PAIN- and so ready to be done
Mile 13.0-13.1: This last stupid tenth of a mile felt like it lasted SO LONG. I wobbled along and crossed the finish line. There was no smile, no excited arms in the air, and no happy feelings. I was in pain but so relieved to be done.
yellow ribbons were given at the expo for Boston
And that’s my 3rd half marathon. I finished in 2:41 which I am beyond frustrated about. It was 10 minutes slower than my half PR, and I trained for a much better race than this. I ran the second half slower than a lot of my training runs, and that was frustrating to me. I’ve never gotten leg cramps while running before, and I have no idea what happened. It was 7 miles of feeling badly, with no energy, and leg cramps. I had to dig deeper to a place I didn’t know was in me physically, and I was able to keep going despite the bad pain that I was in. Despite my time being slower than I had hoped, I still set a 12 minute course PR, and I have to recognize that as a success. Last year I don’t think I would’ve been able to finish the race. The second half of this race was run with a lot of mental energy and upper body strength, both of which I’ve worked on improving a lot with running this past year.
The race wasn’t what I wanted, and I’m beyond frustrated that my body didn’t behave the way that I wanted it to on race day. But you know what? This race taught me that I can handle way more with running than I thought was possible. It showed me the deep level of endurance and willpower that I have even in the face of pain. It showed me that I am in much better shape than last year as well, and I’m happy about that. And now it will push me even harder into training for my next half marathon.
Journey to Wellness 
Way to push through and finish a tough one! The Indy Mini was also my third half back in 2008. It was hot and humid but fun. I purposely ran the first half easy so I’d have something left for the finish. Live and learn right?
This is the slowest I’ve ever gone out in a race, so it’s even more frustrating that this happened! I even went out slower than my long runs because I figured that would give me extra energy after the speedway.
I’m so sorry that you were in that much pain — that would be so frustrating! Mile 9 is when my pain really set in too, and my sister actually had some problems around that point too! I’m so glad that you were able to finish — it’s a great accomplishment!
Great job digging deep and finishing! Each race we run is so much different the the last race.
Way to go on finishing that race, even though it looks like it was a tough man. That’s awesome that you found the energy to keep going, even though you wanted to quit.
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