2 halfs in 1 weekend

Not sure what I was thinking when I signed up for 2 half marathons in one weekend but I'm sure glad I did and even more glad it's done! Originally I had a friend who was crazy enough to sign up for these back to back races with me but at the last minute some things came up and she wasn't able to go. This week when I knew I would be doing these races without her I really had a battle in my head, didn't know if I could do it without her. But I knew I had to at least try! So my amazing sister came along with me so I didn't have to travel alone!!

We left Friday late morning and headed for Louisville. Picked up my packet downtown then headed to get some food at the Cheesecake Factory. Lettuce Wraps and Buffalo Blast of course because that is what I get EVERY time I go there!

After we ate we did some shopping at the mall then went on a search for compression sleeves for my shins. My shins have felt AMAZING for weeks now but I still have the BIG fear in the back of my mind that they are going to hurt during these races. A good friend was telling me how much they helped her. So days before we left Evansville I searched for a black pair. No one had my size. Dicks had some but I wasn't impressed with the quality. So I just braved it and waited until we got to Louisville. Well sure enough I found a pair at a local running store but I sure did pay for them almost $60. But now I can say WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!! My shins felt amazing this whole weekend!!!!O I almost forgot to add, Saturday morning we had to rent me a car (still down to one car) so I could leave Jeff home with the van. Jeff took my licences in to get everything lined up with the retail car company. Well guess who forgot to get it back! Yes that right I left town without my license. I almost wasn't able to pick up my packet at the race expo and didn't think I would be able to check into the hotel. But if you talk really sweet you can get away with a lot!!! LOL!!! Tami and Kyle came to my rescue. They were leaving later in the day so they just brought my license for me so I didn't have to go the rest of the weekend without it. So before I got in my PJ for the night Ash and I walked down to the expo to meet them when they got into town! So thankful!!!!!!!

Saturday morning woke up about 5 did my normal race routine. One tip I have for runners who are staying at a hotel who love their coffee on race morning but don't want to drink the HORRIBLE hotel coffee. Via instant coffee from Starbucks and Coffeehouse creamers. I bought them both from wal-mart!!!

The races started at 7:30 so I headed towards the start line at 6:30. Hotel was just down the street from my hotel!!! Also something I'll do for every race out of town!!! Well worth the extra money!!!!!!! I had two friends that were running the race also so I met them down at the start line. So glad I had them there! He were are right before the gun went off.

I really didn't have a goal for this race, my main focus was to finish pain free and with some juice left over so I could run again the following day. Started off feeling great. About mile 3 the race got really emotional for me. The last 3 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster. Many ups and downs. I saw my real father for the first time in over 5 years, my granny died and my brother came home from being a way for 26 months. So this race I let my mind go to places I had been fighting for weeks. I cried many times during the race. I missed mile marker 4 and 8 and 9 because my mind wasn't focused on running it was in LaLa land thinking of all the stuff that had taken place! Didn't look at my watch but just a few times (which isn't like me at all) I finished the race feeling amazing with a time 1:48:11 which is a 8:16 pace! I was very happy with my time! After the race I waited for Tami and Paola. We all got to share our highs and lows of the race. Way to go Paola for setting a new PR! Took a pic and I headed back to the hotel because I had to get to Cinci to prepare for the race on Sunday.

My main concern for the day was to not get sick. After the Nashville race I got so sick from dehydration. SO after the race I drank a ton of water, 2 power-aids and chocolate milk. Had a banana and part of a bagel also at the recovery area. Once I got to the hotel I had 16 oz of coconut water, my Reliv shake, and 48 oz of water. I didn't have much of an appetite so we just headed to Cinci. We got stuck in traffic and I was starting to feel HORRIBLE. I kept trying to think of a plan, what if I need to use the restroom or puke and we are stuck on this highway not moving. Finally we got to an exit. Took it and found a CVS got a huge Gatorade and tried my hardest to get as much down as possible. Only could take in about half. Thought I was going to puke. Finally got downtown and got my packet. It was close to 3 so even though I had no appetite I forced myself to eat. We went to Chipotle. I knew I had to get some good calories in me! I ended up eating every last bit of my rice chicken bowl. By the of the meal I was feeling much better.

Ikea was our next stop!!!! Once we got to Ikea it hit me and I realized that tomorrows race might not be so easy! I was getting really sore!!! We got back to the hotel by 8:00 and I was in bed by 9:00.

Sunday morning, I woke up and couldn't get out of bed, I literally had to pick my legs up and shuffle my way to the shower. At this point I was SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!!! I had no clue how I was going to run 13 more miles. Once I got moving around I was starting to feel a little better but still didn't know how I was going to pull this off. The front desk guy said the hotel was about 1.5 miles away (ended up being 3 miles) so I decided to go ahead and use that time to run and get my legs warm then I could stretch really good before the race. At the start line I was meeting a good friend. It was so good to see her!!!!. I knew when I saw her that I was going to be ok and I was going to be able to finish. My goal for todays race was to just finish. Meg ran a half last year with the time of 2:18 so I knew she wanted to beat that. So I made it a goal for me to get her there. I started the race thinking I was going to push her but at mile 5 that wasn't the case. From the first to the last step of that race I was in pain. My legs were so sore and couldn't loosen them up. My left IT band was so tight and I started to feel some pain in my knee. O and let me add it rained almost the entire race and the hills were brutal. I had to stop and stretch once and almost made a mess in my pants so I also had to stop at the porta potties. The only good part of the race was running with Megan and winning the mind over matter battle that was going on in my head!!!! Megan I don't know if you know this but I wouldn't have been able to finish this race without you. You carried me to finish line girl and I'm so thankful for you and love you so much!!!! We finish side by side with a time of 2:14!!!!

After the race I walked back to the hotel and got ready and we headed back home. It took us 90 mins to get out of Cinci (I'll safe that story for another post) We stopped in Louisville to eat at Panera and when I took my first step I knew I was in trouble. I was in so much pain. I really didn't think I was going to make it through the parking lot. Needless to say I did, it took me a long time but I made it in. Ashley got lots of good laughs watching me try to walk. We had some good food and made our way back to home. Once I got home and had to step out of the car Jeff knew I was hurting. He went to get me some Epson Salt and a HUGE bag of ice.

I've always said the hardest thing I've ever done in life is giving natural childbirth. Well I now can say I've done something that comes really close! ICE BATHES!!!!!!! I got my bathing suit on so I could have something protecting my girl parts from that icy cold water, put a sweat shirt on and had a HOT cup of decaf coffee. First got into the cold water then had Jeff pore the HUGE bag of ice in. And lets just say I SCREAMED and MADE NOISES A HUMAN SHOULD NEVER MAKE. And lets also say Jeff got a good laugh out of all of it. The first 5 mins were the worse. Stayed in for 15 mins!!! Don't know if it helped but runners swear by it so I had to give it a try. Later that night I took a hot bath with Epson salt and stretched for about 30 mins. Went to bed and woke up still not being able to move!!!! I actually feel worse today!!! So if any body out there knows what I did wrong PLEASE give me any tips!!!!

Like i said at the beginning of the post. I'm so glad I signed up for these races. I pushed my body more than I have ever. I've done one full and if you ask me this was WAY harder. I will never forget this weekend.

I've now completed 5 of my 12 -12 goal. Almost half way there!