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| Credit: Run Like a Diva official FB page |
At the bout last weekend, I injured my knee - I fell on it really hard, and it immediately swelled up and the parts that did not turn dark purple were numb to the touch.
The x-rays showed that nothing was torn or broken - it was just the tissue just above my knee where my knee pad had dug in that was hurting. That was the good news. The bad news was, I was to stay off skates for a week, and non-contact for another couple of weeks at least. And worst of all, I was told that I should count on skipping the Divas Half Marathon this weekend.
I debated with myself for a while. I emailed the race directors, but they told me I couldn't defer. I really, REALLY wanted that damn medal, and a chance to see how I could do now compared to the Tinkerbell. (And no, I did not do a good job of training for this either. I didn't actually train at all. Story of my life.)
I finally decided that I would go, and however far I could manage it, at whatever pace I could go, that would be it. I went in fully expecting to take a DNF (that's "Did Not Finish," for those of you not in the know), and it would be my first one ever. I've never not finished a race before, if I've decided to show up.
I went with my friends Kymi and Becca, in the spirit of sisterhood and togetherness - we would do this together, and keep each other company. (We did end up splitting up for the second half.) It was a bright, warm day, which is usually great race weather, but there was absolutely no shade almost the entire way.
13.1 miles with the sun beating down on you? It was a different type of difficult from other races. With Tinkerbell, even though we did kinda sorta train, it was still hard because obviously it wasn't enough training, and though I would say that that was my very best performance so far, it definitely wasn't easy.
This race was different - I'm at least 15 pounds lighter than I was for Tinkerbell (I've been off Paleo lately for medical reasons, so I gained back a little bit), and though I haven't been running or going to Crossfit, I have been working pretty hard at derby. (Seriously, the level of tired that I felt during the bout reached new heights.) The running part was easier, possibly because we spent more of the first half walking (trying to stay together). I found that I could run longer and I got less tired (yay, weight loss!) I believe I may have even run more in the second half, which is pretty much unheard of for me. I mean, I was still really tired, but I felt strong, and I was still doing running spurts up to the finish line.
But other things made it hard. My knee made it through fine, but I was very conscious about taking walk breaks when needed. And the sun was just killing me - there was barely a breeze (unusual for the SF Bay) and as I said, there was no shade, so I found myself getting dizzy and lightheaded at times due to the heat. Throughout the second half, I found myself taking a cup of water from the water station just to pour it over my head.
I came in at 3:29:04, which is slower than my Tinkerbell time (we did spend a lot of the first half walking), but I feel like I performed better this time around. And I'm happy about that, because my next big race is a FULL marathon in September, and I really need to be in tip top shape (physically and mentally) for that one.
I signed up for this race because I really wanted the feather boa and tiara and blinged-out spinny medal (given to me by a hot, hot shirtless fireman), and I'm so happy that I decided to go and that I was able to finish (and before 3:30!!). I can't believe I almost stayed home.*
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| I'm a Diva! |
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| My two medals |