This last weekend I was able to participate in my 10th half marathon! It is kinda cool to reach a milestone like that. I can’t wait until I can add another 10 more, maybe even just in a years time. This one was tough though. Really tough. In fact I didn’t even take any pictures because I was not happy with this race….
There is no expo associated with this race, but it offers a 5K, Quarter Marathon, and Half marathon distances. The half marathonĀ is a twice around loop through Downtown Houston/Allen Parkway. I am not a fan having to do a loop twice. It seems like it is harder for me to push myself when I have already seen the same scenery and course. The days leading up to the race is what I think really contributed to me not being able to push myself like I had in the last couple of races I have done.
I have been having allergies really bad for the past couple of months. I am not sure what all has been causing it so off and on I have had to take allergy meds. When I take allergy meds, it spikes my fibro pain so in turn I have no desire to workout or train any. I hate that. So it is either be miserable with my head congested and sneezing or have really bad pain. Neither way is a winning situation. I wind up taking meds the three days before the race, so my body was pretty out of whack and hurt.
The day before the race I didn’t eat nearly as much as I needed to to be able to fuel properly for a long run. I really didn’t prepare for this race like I usually do. That morning I barely ate anything, I didn’t take Tylenol like I usually do or any gels and didn’t drink much. Really an off day. I also forgot my headphones which does help me take my mind of any pain that I have during a race by cranking up the music to tune out my body some.
With a course that had hills that I am never good with and not being prepared like I usually do, it was not a good race for me. I finished just under 3 hours and I was mad. My body hurt so bad. About halfway through my hips hurt so bad that I could barely run. This race frustrated me to no end. Another little thing is that the water they provide on the course came out of the fire hydrants. Yuck!! So I didn’t get the hydration that I needed during the race as well.
I finished and that is all that matters, but I have a feeling I won’t do this race next year unless they change the course and provide better drinking water or I take a belt with as many bottles as I can manage to carry.
I have just about one week until my next race. I have stopped taking allergy meds and so I hope by then I will be able to function a little better. Until the next race š
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