SOS Hulkin' Half

My first half marathon to run in over a year. It was good, bad and ugly. I trained hard with the OKC RunHers group and my friend Esther. We put in many miles together. We would get up at the crack of dawn to do our training runs before work and with the group on Saturday mornings and when one of us couldn't run on Saturday we met and ran Sunday bright and early. I loved having a running partner, she kept me company and pushed me to keep going. I was totally ready and pumped for this race... but unfortunately a great training experience doesn't always make for a great race. My weekend started with an easy run Friday night, just a couple miles and then hanging out with my bf. Saturday morning I went to yoga where I stretched and relaxed and felt great until I attempted a hand stand. I have been wanting to accomplish this feet since I started really practicing yoga 5 or so times a week the month before. I have managed to do a handstand with my awesome instructor's, Hannah, assistance but I wanted to do to it by myself! so I tried... and I failed. I hopped a couple times and ended up feeling a pain in my left shoulder blade. I left class sad but quickly forgot about it as I went home to pack and get ready for the race. On our way to Lawton I noticed every time I turned my head to the left I had pain in my shoulder blade. It felt like I had a crick in my neck. I kept telling myself I could work it out and tomorrow morning it won't be there. More on that to come. Esther and I checked in to the hotel and got our packets, I bought a new super cute sports bra from the Fleet Feet vendor along with some awesome GU chomps to use during the race the next day. We headed to Wal-Mart to get some grub for breakfast and I needed a tutu for the race. Esther and I decided we would be superheroes in honor of the theme Hulkin Half. We got pillow cases that we made into super cute capes by adding sparkly lighting bolts to and Esther got us lighting bolts for our shoes that were so stickin' cute! We got some beer and pizza and went to the room to eat drink and be super. It was nice and relaxing. We went down for the speakers to pump us up for the race and had a drink with our fellow RunHers. It was a great prerace evening. I was ready! We got up at 6am ate our breakfast, and became super heroes. Our outfits were awesome! We walked to the race corral with the other women from RunHers and were ready for that start gun. We talked about our plan to do negative splits and decided to go for it. However right from the start we were excited and started running our usual pace. We bobbed and weaved around some walkers and we walked for our 5mins after every 10min run. We were feeling great! We weren't going faster than our usual pace but we weren't slower either. The energy of the race was high! Esther cheered on every runner that turned around (there was a quarter marathon as well). I was feeding off her energy. I tried to pay attention to my pace but we never really slowed down. We got to our half way point and got some free GU. We broke out the Chomps and had been feeding off Swedish fish until that point. I had drank water at every stop. I could feel myself starting to get tired but was determined to push through it for the second half. The temps were rising and I was feeling it. We sped up our running and walking pace and were cutting down our time mile by mile. I started having a hard time breathing and stopped talking. Esther was to think of any topic to talk about to get my mind off being breathless. She spoke Spanish and French to me haha, it was entertaining. About mile 10 I knew my body was at it's max. I thought maybe I could do 5/5 intervals but once I started walking more my legs just didn't want to run. I started feeling nauseous and as I walked I tried to stretch my back a little and could just feel the tension get worse in my shoulders and lower back. I have never had back paint like that when running. I knew the next 3 miles were going to be a huge struggle for me. I told Esther at mile 11 that I was done running. She went ahead of me and I pushed myself through the last 2 miles. The whole time I wanted to quit. I had hit my wall hard! I started to get really sick feeling and cold before I finished. I'm still not 100% sure what happened to me but I think my electrolyte levels were at an all time low. I didn't drink anything but water, and a lot of it the whole race. I only have some Swedish fish and chomps which could be enough but I should have had some more earlier on as well as some Gatorade. I was pretty grumpy the rest of the day, but so happy for Esther! I finished in 2:55 and she finished in 2:48! We both were shooting for under 3 hours. We celebrated with a huge burger from Meers, OK. I only had a couple bites since I was still having stomach issues. I also got to take a nap and wonderful shower before heading home. Every shower after a race is the best shower. After my harder races I sometimes wonder... why am I doing this. Then I start planning my training for the next half marathon, Nov 23rd Route 66 see you at the start line! Gotta run ;)

A little about myself

I am new to the blogging world as a blogger, but have followed many blogs for years. I love reading about other's lives and experiences. Some about myself... I LOVE to run. I'm slow and do not look like a runner, but I have spent the last 4 years running long distance off and on. I ran my first half marathon in April of 2010, Oklahoma City Memoria

l Marathon. I was a Junior at Oklahoma Christian and found my peace in running. I pretty much hated all the long runs but loved the time to myself and with God. I struggled through my Electrical Engineering degree and found some calm in running. After my first half I was addicted! I ran several more half marathons including the Hottest Half in Dallas, and Route 66 Half in Tulsa. I learned many things about my spirit and body during my runs, like that I HAVE to eat before a long run. My spring semester senior year at OC I trained for my first and only to date full marathon. I graduated Friday April 29th and ran the marathon Sunday May 1st. It was one of the best weekends of my life. I cried when I saw the finish line and knew I had accomplished what I set out to do and what so many didn't think I could do. My mom cried during my graduation ceremony, I believe it was because she was done paying my college and bills haha, but I know she was very proud of me in that moment. All the stressed bawling calls I made over the past 4 years were done and had paid off. I got an offer from Northrop Grumman to be an Electrical Engineer in the Design Engineering group, which I had interned with for a year and a half. It was a great time in my life! But with accomplished goals comes new goals to accomplish. I have to admit my life has been a bit of a roller coaster since that wonderful weekend. The last 3 years of my life have been great with a lot of ups and downs. I have got the opportunity to travel and grow as a person. I want to start journaling/blogging my experiences and sharing with others. I plan to use this blog primarly to share my running knowledge and travel experiences in hopes of helping others find peace and purpose in their life as I find it in my own.