Saturday, July 19, 2008

Holy Shin Splints Batman!

Ouch! The first mile of the 30th Annual Lunar Rendezvous run was pure torture. I stretched before the race...I did! I stretched the night before. I got up early stretched and rolled out every muscle in my legs. I even had the good doctor give me acupuncture on my knee again for good measure. I guess it could have been worse if I hadn't done all that. I was near tears that first mile. Ever single step hurt. I wanted to just stop and sit down but I kept telling myself, "They usually go away or calm down if you just keep walking, and you don't want to quit! People will be waiting to hear how you did. It is better to eek it out slowly than not to finish. It isn't like it is a 1/2 Marathon or anything." Those were all of the things running through my head. I am so glad that I brought my ipod, the music really helped. The hardest part in the beginning was watching lots of people pass me. I am competitive by nature and it hurts to get passed up. As my legs were screaming I was mentally saying to myself "I should be faster than that person!" Finally somewhere during mile 2 my pain started to ease and I started to get closer to a few of the people who had gone ahead. Special thanks go out to the lovely woman Susan who spent the last mile and half chatting with me. That really helped too. The last mile I walked the first part as fast as I could possibly go and then the last half mile I jogged/ran to the finish. My time was under an hour so I was happy with that being that in the beginning I didn't think I could finish. Overall I think it was a good race. I learned that I need to walk more outside. Before a race I should walk it out. (not sure how far or how much but maybe that will help) I need to stretch even more than before. I have a long way to go before I am ready for a 1/2 marathon. 
FYI : The race was onsite at JSC. It looped all the way around from the Space Center, went in front of our building, then around to near the main gates. It was a nice course around.  
Now I just have to get geared up to do another 5K in two weeks. 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay for you! That stinks about the shin splints. I'm SO sorry I couldn't be there to support you. Good job on finishing! And on even going in the first place.

Viv said...

Way to go and congratulations on keeping focused to the finish. I love when you can meet someone on the course that can help you get your mind outta the whole and get you there.

Archer said...

I didn't know you had this blog! Wow, girl, you rock! I knew you did a triathlon a while back, but now you seem to have made a career out of it. That is truly something to be proud of. I've tossed around the idea of doing some kind of marathon but then I just wimp out. Keep it up M, and know that you are definitely an inspiration!