Monday, March 21, 2011

Duh! Winning!

I know you're dying to know how my half marathon went this weekend...
Duh?! Winning!

Isn't that what happens when you have to walk the last 6 miles?
That's right.  I'm cool like that.
I walked (a running race) the last 6 miles.

So, let's back up.

Here we were freezing waiting for the race to start while the 30 mile an hour winds blew.  The only reason we wore our sunglasses was to keep the dirt from blowing in our eyes.  (Which I obviously needed in this picture to cover up my puffiness.  But this was the only picture I had with Niki.) 
(Marcia, Niki, and Kari)  Too cold to show off our matching shirts!

They finally got the race underway (without a starting line banner because it was getting ripped up in the tornadic/hurricane-like winds)

The first 5 miles were fine, (besides Marcia and I getting separated at the 2nd mile water station and not finding each other again until mile 6) but as I passed mile 5 every step I took was excruciating.

So let's back up again. 
Why was I in so much pain?

Well, 2 weeks ago Friday (before we left for spring break) I got my right foot up under me wrong and kind of stumbled over it.  It hurt, but I didn't think much of it.
It didn't feel better the next day, and (unfortunately) hasn't for the last two weeks.  I was just doing the elliptical machine at the gym trying to let it heal.

So while it definitely didn't feel good when I was running on it, the first 5 miles were bearable. 
Around mile 7 I told Marcia I was going to have to walk.  As we started up again I literally squealed out in pain. 
(Now I know I'm dramatic, but running this race was something I really wanted to do, so I certainly didn't want to be hollering out.)

I told Marcia to just go on (Kari and Niki were way ahead of us and finished with amazing times) that I was going to walk.  Marcia was so worried about me she went straight to the medic tent after she finished the race convinced that I had had the medic truck bring me in.

I kept going, so upset I was having to walk and embarrased about my time.
But some time around mile 10 I realized I needed to be happy just to finish. 
I was seriously worried the "sweeper truck"  (It "sweeps" the slow people off the road so they can open the road back up to traffic.) was going to pick me up.

But, I actually did finish.

With a rock star-warlock-tiger blood-duh winning-time of 2:42:52 (12:25 pace) I hobbled across the finish line.
I went straight to the medic tent (where my friends were waiting for me) and asked them to look at my foot.

After handing me 3 Motrin (Thank you very much!) and examining me, the nurse said for me to have my foot X-rayed if it still hurts in 5 days.  (And since it's hurt for 2 weeks, I'm pretty sure I'll be heading to the doctor's office sometime this week.)

But here we are in our cute T-shirts. (They say: Most girls blend in. We prefer to make a scene!)
And where was Niki for the matching shirt photo-op? 
She finished so far ahead of me she was already back at the hotel taking a shower!

Big smile from me. I'd just taken 3 Motrin!
(You can tell Moab's just like Durango.  It's not enough to have the trash and recycling bins...you also have to compost!)

But the weekend wasn't a total lost.
I actually had a blast!
I loved getting to hang out with Marcia, Kari and their husbands (they came all the way from Texas for the race.)

And my Durango friends Cassidy and Kylie came with me to make it a super fun weekend.

7 comments:

GS said...

Now that is determination - maybe a little to much of it! In spite of the injury, everyone looks to be having a great time.

Friedt Family said...

Wow Jan, very impressive!! I, on the other hand, would have been waiting in the Medic tent having been brought there by the sweeper truck:-)

Unknown said...

Way to go! Now go to the doc!

Jo said...

Finishing is more than I would have done! Way to go, and I agree with Tiff; now go to the doc.

Anonymous said...

What's better than limping along in the windy cold with the sweeper truck breathing down your back?? Why..looking good in the pink t-shirt. MR

Anonymous said...

How do you spell determination?
J-A-N!
Hope you get to the doctor soon about that injury. Love those pink shirts!
Lu

Angie Vik said...

You should get extra points for finishing even though you were in pain. Should be a formula to multiply your winning time by your shoe size and add the number of friends you ran with and divide by the number of pain you were in (based on the pain scale)to come up with a more accurate time.