Saturday I did something completely ridiculous! I ran 12.4 miles without being prepared. I’m pretty sure I ran less than 10 times in the month of May and the longest run was 8 miles at the end of April. NOT SMART DARCI!!!
But I finished, Kyle stuck with me the entire time, and I know I will never run that far without being prepared again! Here is a quick recap. But just as an FYI, the pictures are on the light side because it rained over half of the race. :(
We went down to Des Moines Friday evening to pick up our race packets. It was wonderfully organized and we were in & out of there in just a few minutes.
After packet pickup, we headed to Olive Garden for supper. We met Kyle’s cousins & their little 3 year old there.
I definitely got my carbs in, Kyle and I both ordered the tour of Italy…good stuff!!
With full tummies we headed downtown to check into our hotel for the evening. We had a great view!
With butterflies in my stomach, I got my race gear ready. I knew I wasn’t prepared and there were major thunder storms headed our way.
Kyle & I both were quite restless throughout the night. I kept waking up, worried that I missed the alarm. But 4:30am came & we both hopped out of bed and got ready.
From 5am-5:45am 7,000 runners were bused from downtown Des Moines out to Saylorville Dam. The race began at 7am. So for over an hour we were standing in the wind & rain, no fun!
The gun went off and we didn’t cross the start line for about 15-20 minutes! I started out feeling pretty good, but not enjoying the rain.
Miles 1-6 went ok, we were keeping an 11 minute/mile pace, and it was raining the entire time. I was so glad Kyle decided to stick with me! I know he is the reason I was able to push through.
Between mile 6 & 7 I suddenly had the feeling I had to go #2! This may be TMI…but it was part of the race! It was too early to go pre-race! So we stopped along the way and had a potty break. We had to wait for the porta-potty for about 5-7 minutes. The entire time I could feel my legs getting tight.
It was rough to get back into my “groove” after the potty break. The rain had cleared, but now we were just soggy and I could feel my wet shorts rubbing on my legs with every stride.
I’m not sure what mile it was, but I did something to my knee. Nothing too bad that I couldn’t keep going, but it was fairly painful. We did a walk/run routine for the majority of the rest of the race.
We ran the last mile with all we had. I was ready to be done! I couldn’t have been more excited to see the finish line!
I knew Kyle was disappointed in our performance, but he was so supportive the entire way even though he wasn’t feeling the best either. I LOVE my running partner. I know I wouldn’t have been able to finish without him by my side.
We took advantage of the free food & Powerade and met up with Kyle’s cousins to check out the downtown farmer’s market. The entire time our bodies were screaming at us that we had pushed them hard enough for the day!
I know it wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done and I’m pretty sure I didn’t do any long term damage to my body, but boy, oh boy am I hurting today! My knee is super stiff and I’m pretty sure muscles in my body are hurting that I didn’t even know I had.
With all of that said though, I’m proud that we finished, I’m so blessed to have a great husband who is so supportive, and I learned my lesson! ;)
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