I'm just now sitting down in my home away from home (the hotel in South San Francisco) and basically wishing I could curl up and sleep for three days straight. Who thought it was a good idea to have marathons on Sundays? Give us our day of rest, people! :) The time change also really screwed me up. I mean, it seriously messed with my brain. Not to mention, we had a doorbell ditcher stop by our house at 12:15AM/11:15PM last night. It set me on edge for about an hour and I just couldn't fall back to sleep. I woke up at 5AM ready to seize the day and strangle a door bell ditcher!
It has been a really long weekend and it feels like I've squeezed 48 hours into today. First, I went home early on Friday so I could drive to meet my new manager for the first time and get a five cent tour of the facility where I will be working. I really wanted to go to the Expo for the race on Friday night to save myself the miles but that just didn't happen. Once I got home, I stuffed my face with BBQ Pulled Pork and crashed.
On Saturday, I went to the Expo but I spent all morning reading and being unproductive. The Expo set up was obviously in favor of the vendors because the bib, goodie bag, and t-shirt pick ups were scattered all over the place. I really wasn't interested in any of the vendors but I stopped and looked at tech shirts with funny sayings on them for about 10 minutes. I almost caved and bought one that said, "Dear God, Please let there be someone behind me to read this!" That is what I'm thinking most of the time that I'm running, so it would have been perfect.
Being away from home and eating out for almost every meal has really hurt my training. I didn't stay well hydrated this past week and I feel really sluggish from my food choices even though I've been deliberately choosing healthy options (Grilled Veggie Paninis, Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches, Chicken Penne Pasta with Marinara, etc.). I just haven't been diligent with my training, which is really what it comes down to and I'm disappointed in myself because I could have and SHOULD have gotten a better time than I did.
The race itself was OK. I was signed up as a half marathon RUNNER but ended up walking a majority of the time I was on the course. I actually got knocked over by a man with a stroller at or around mile two and that pretty effectively ruined my running plan for the rest of the race. I'm OK but my knee took most of the pressure from that little episode. I'm just really lucky that the person next to me was able to keep me from falling all the way to the ground (and no, he didn't cushion my fall but he definitely caught me and pushed me back upright). The course was more hilly than I expected which helped me a lot in the downhill portion but really slowed me down on the uphill.
The finish area of the race was ridiculous. Finishers had to walk a ways to get to the "Finisher's Village" where we received sweatshirts and medals. The positive of the out of the way village was that the breakfast was plentiful/yummy and there were ice cream sundaes. I haven't taken part in the breakfast offerings at the last two races but this one was a necessity because I was starving. But after sitting down and scarfing my breakfast, I realized that I had to walk back to my car and I clocked it on my GPS as a full mile back. Not to mention, I had to guesstimate where I parked and cross my fingers that I picked the right section of the parking lot. Luckily, I did pick the right area on the first try so I didn't have to torture myself further.
I got to the finish line at 3 hours and 22 minutes, which is my slowest and most disappointing time to date. Considering how much I walked, it is actually a good time but it's just not where I wanted to be as my goal was to be below three hours. On a positive note, I'm alive and I didn't require medical attention at any point before, during, or after the race and I left in my own vehicle. :)
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