Dragon is sleeping, so I figured I’d write this now….Dumbo Double Dare is over and I survived.
To make 19.3 miles short:
The 10k was fun and easy. We took pictures, we had a great time. The timing is a little wonky, as we were on course for just over 90 minutes but official time says 1:51–16 minute difference. We actually stopped for ALL the character photos because our time was so good through mile 5ish and we had plenty of cushion. Not like either time will do us any good for anything, so whatever.
The half was brutal. The first six miles were awesome.
We ran, we walked, we laughed. Mile six was our refuel mile. We were all smiles at mile 7!
We had averaged about a 13 minute mile for the first half, including potty breaks. Mile 6 was around 15 minutes by design. Miles 7 and 8 were okay, but the heat and sun were starting suck the energy out of us.
When we wrapped around the Ducks arena onto the dirt trail, we were still doing our intervals and thinking about finishing close to 3. The 2:45 pace group ran us down just before that. Literally ran us down, as we were moving to right for a walk break and they were running on the right. They were just barreling through walkers like a dust storm. It wasn’t pleasant.
Which brings us back to the dusty trail. It was a sandy road block. Hard to run on because of the surface and wall to wall with walkers. Because it was hard to run on a beach and dodge people, the wall only thickened.
We figured we’d pick up the running again after the trail, except the heat kicked in and we never got back into it. The heat, the humidity, the sun. I started getting a “cramp” on my surgery site in (yes in) my abdomen, and Dragon’s calves started tightening up. As we walked, I checked Accuweather: 95 degrees, real feel 102! By mile 9, we stopped running all together.
We didn’t even bother running through Angel stadium; although, it was amazing to walk the field. The stands were filled with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and random people cheering is on like Olympians!
Had I been alone, i would probably have quit when the pain started, but instead we walked. We trudged along for the next 3 miles. I ran through a “tunnel” at some point, but Dragon’s calves weren’t having it! The stations had long ago ran out of Powerade and I was horribly sick of hot water. We just kept going…
Then I turned to Dragon with tears in my eyes and said, I am in so much pain. It was mile 12 1/2. We were almost there. We were past where we could be swept. Had it happened any sooner, I would have left the course in an ambulance. I didn’t know what was wrong, I just knew my lower left “issue” wasn’t just back in full force, it was worse than it was before and after surgery combined. I know the dermoids had been removed, but something was screaming in pain.
The last bit of the race was painful…I didn’t even smile when I saw the finish line. We could see the pity in spectator’s eyes, but they were still out there, cheering the back of the pack. Dragon’s calves were killing her so we didn’t even pretend to run across the finish line.
I was miserable. We didn’t take photos with our medals, but I got both of them! (Three for the weekend!) Yes you can finish in 3:35 and get a medal! Worst time ever, and it wasn’t even fun!
Prescription painkillers, naps, showers, and food later and I’m better, but not 100%. The heat just got the best of us, but we finished.
