I admit that I was lured by the bling on this one. This is a good race in general for medals. But when they offered a second medal for those who either ran a previous R&B race (which I had) or ran the Chevron Houston Marathon/Aramco Half (which I did), I was powerless. Despite the fact that it was on one of my work weekends.
My plan was that my family would drop me off at the race, I run it, I'd enjoy the after party, I'd walk across the street to where I worked, I'd use the staff shower to clean up, I'd work my shift. I made arrangements with Security to be let in early, and I stashed some toiletries and clean clothes in advance.
Let me back up to share how these plans could have gone awry. There's going to be a healthy dose of TMI, so if that doesn't work for you, skip the next paragraph.
I had been spending the last few days playing the game "Am I Pregnant or Not?" because my period was late where it hadn't been for a while. (Perimenopause is a bitch that way; and for the record, I was hoping for Not.) I spent a good deal of mental energy on comparing symptoms for the past few days. I woke up at 4:30AM on Sunday pretty convinced I was, especially since my breasts were aching so very much. I was to the point where I was trying to figure out how to tell the Mister and all the things we would need to do when I got up and ... there it is! Yay! Wait ... ugh. One less thing to worry about mentally, but sensitive and sore breasts, fatigue, loose joints, cramps, and mess are not the best foundation for a race.
I'm to the point that a 5K is almost not worth the effort, but a half is really too long for my current lifestyle. Six to eight miles is about my Goldilocks zone right now. I didn't go any faster than I usually do (I have been lax at interval training), but I was able to keep a consistent pace throughout. I managed my running and walking so that my brain didn't do any stupid defeatist things. No weird pains in my feet, although my left hip gave me a little trouble. There were a few hills in the course that I expected. What I didn't expect was the slight pitch that sometimes made my strides uneven. But an overall satisfying run--no regrets, no disappointments, no beating myself up.And two medals.
I did enjoy the after party--food and music were good, the surroundings pleasant. I was able to get into work easily, clean up satisfactorily, and move forward with my work shift as normal. Still really, really achy. But if that's going to happen anyway, I might as well have something to show for it.
