Goofing around while trying on race day gear for the next day. Thankfully I already owned a Nike tank because a t-shirt definitely would have been too warm for this runner. And it even matched! The blue strap is my i-pod with Nike sensor, the red is our speakers. I never heard the speaker the whole race but the Nike+ did a pretty good job. 26.04 was it's final tally on miles, not too bad.
I'll just post a brief recap here of the night and morning before the race.
We had a nice pasta dinner and after working the expo all day my roommate and I were ready to crash. We got our outfits all set and headed to bed. Around 1 AM I woke up with cold and hot flashes, my insides swirling. I felt like I was going to vomit, and I was having crazy bad dreams about nothing race related. NOT GOOD! I camped out in the bathroom for an hour or so and debated a hot bath but finally felt okay enough to go back to sleep. Woke up around 2:30 to another batch of sickness. And finally in the morning at 4:45 I dealt with the last of it. I popped an Imodium and prayed everything would be okay.
Men you've been warned the rest of this post is about a ladies "moon" phase so please move along if you are easily grossed out.
I have pretty much managed to schedule every one of my road marathons during my moon phase. This was no exception. I think the combination of jet lag and starting that and eating too much just wreaked havoc on my system causing my Saturday night illness. I had pretty bad cramps all Saturday and Sunday I just focused on everything around me and was able to ignore the stomach and lower back cramps.
During the race I used a "cork" but realized very quickly that it wasn't doing it's job. As the 3:50 pacer I did not feel comfortable pulling over to take care of things. Thank goodness those shorts were maroon is all I have to say. I am really proud that I was able to run through that and not let on to anyone what was going on. I'm just glad the blood stayed on the shorts and wasn't on my legs. For all those ladies out there that this may happen too here is my normal race trick. I tape a cork to the back of my bib in case of emergency. I talked with the other pacers after the race and some of them recommended two corks side by side. I have never done that but I definitely wish I would have done something. I just hope I can salvage the shorts. I was never so happy to take a shower as I was when I got back to the hotel. For those that I missed cheering in after I finished this is the explanation for my quick rush back to the hotel.
Ahh the life of a woman marathoner.
More to come soon!
