Upon signing up for Dopey 2015 in March of 2014 I downloaded the RunDisney/Jeff Galloway training plan. Which doesn't have you start training until July 2014, this would be great if I was an experienced runner. Up until this point I haven't wogged anything faster than a 15-16 minute mile. I mean I'm out there running and doing races and having a blast, but I've never had to beat a cut off time. SO, I plan on training like the schedule says.. but it's Summer in Georgia and it's Africa hot... keep in mind I have FMS and at this point my diet was not what it needed to be for a healthier me... I had a pretty mean Diet Coke addiction (4+ a day, at least) and I became the Queen of excuses... I'm tired, it's hot, I haven't pooped yet today (an actual excuse I used A LOT). My husband would come home from work and say "I've got the kids, go run" and I would say " You don't get it, I'm tired, there's nothing left in the tank today" and so on.....OH here's where I should tell you my sister got pregnant and had issues and wasn't able to run during her pregnancy and had to defer her Dopey, merp.
So when I should have been doing 3 runs a week, it looked more like 2ish runs. I would mark my calendar with frowny faces on the days I gave up and continued with the lie that I could run 48.6 miles without training.
In the Galloway plan you (basically) do (2) 45 minute runs a week and then a long run on the weekends and every other weekend you add miles to your long run. I knew I needed to complete a real half so around the time I hit my 13 mile Saturday I signed up to do the Diva Half in Peachtree City Georgia in September 2014. By September my longest run was 10 miles. It was a HORRIBLE experience for me for my first half. Here's the run down.....
I got up and dressed, (as Audrey Hepburn/Kitty Golightly) in plenty of time and headed to the parking area we were told to to catch the shuttle to the race. Peachtree City is NOT equipped to host a big race and have everyone park in the same area. It is in fact called Golf Capital of Georgia, so you park away from the start and take buses to the park. We were in line waaaaay in advance, because I hate being late and rushing. We waited our turn and by the time it was OUR turn to get on the bus (Still an hour before our race start) the race organizers/volunteers started yelling for all the late comers for the 5k to jump ahead and get on the bus because they would miss their start. Why they were getting preferential treatment is beyond me, but I did what I was told, which bumped us many buses back. By the time we got to the park and unloaded it was time for the half to start. I HAD to pee so I got in the super long portapotty lines and waited... there were definitely not enough bathrooms for the amount of runners for this race also. I ran from the potty to the start, paused for a pic
and immediately started the race because our corral had already gone. I was maybe a minute later starting. Temps were warm and headed for hot and humid. I could not get my Garmin Forerunner 10 to sync with GPS because of all the trees and spent probably the first mile walking waiting for my watch to wake up and start beeping my intervals. I now have a Gymboss for my intervals because a) it doesn't use GPS and always works and B) it saves my Garmins battery. I am hoping to upgrade soon to a Garmin VivoActive that has a 10 hour battery. Back to the race, So we started with the intervals, but I was already in a crappy frame of mind from the late start, no watch and so on... so I had a hard time maintaining the intervals and walked and talked with my cousin with whom I was running more than I should have. Most of the race was on narrow golf cart paths through out the backside of neighborhoods....the water stations were definitely not close enough for the heat that day. Heres where I realized how costumed running could interfere with your race... the gloves came off immediately... cause it was hot... but as I ran along my triple strand of pearls beat me to death, wearing all black made it feel hotter than it actually was. I also learned the lesson of wearing the right bra for me, because as I ran and got hotter and more tired, where my bra hit me against my neck caused excruciating tension to the point that I could only fixate on that pain (which is an FMS problem) It was about mile 9 that my make up (yep i wore make up for a 90 degree race) began to stick to my contact lenses and made it seem like I had cataracts. Mix my neck tension, with the heat, feeling blind and run me down a drainage tunnel (yes there were 2 underground drainage pipes the race took you down, I was about to have a claustrophobic freak out. By the time we hit mile 10 our time was still good (we were right at 3 hours 10 minutes for a 4 hour race time limit) a golf cart pulled up behind us and told us to get on that we had been "swept".....My cousin ran on ahead of me, (she's the rebel in the family) but I did what I was told and got on. The cart behind us with 6 girls on it pulled up, across the street and let the ladies out and they picked up their race... our golf cart would not stop for us... so basically the back of the packers behind us got shuttled a mile and were allowed to finish. We were driven to the last 2 tenths of a mile and put out to finish the race. I was devestated and heartbroken... what should have been an empowering experience was not. I was running a 15 minute mile and would have finished in the allotted time and even as I sat there watching the finishers there were many runners that came in 30 minutes after the 4 hour time limit. So why was I swept? apparently it was a Volunteer enforcing their power.
Here's my poop out van selfie:
And my cousin getting her medal for finishing:
So my first half was actually a 10 miler and I learned many lessons at this race. I was angry and upset and sent emails to the race director for the transportation, water and sweeping issues and basically got an unapologetic response of "we use volunteers and have no control over them" I wasn't expecting a discount offer for another race or any freebies but an apology would have been nice. A Race that I thought was designed to empower women left me feeling less than able, So I swore off Diva Races, but looking back there was a lot to learn from that race.
Here's what I learned:
Don't let late comers take the bus in front of you... if you are there on time you stand your ground and get on the damn bus, if you have to lie and say you are a 5k runner also, then do it!
As far as MY capabilities I realized I was under trained, certainly for those conditions (heat and humidity). I was running with fashion over function and it hurt me, the heavy pearls, black dress, earrings etc all contributed to the extra stress and pains I experienced.
Make up, I no longer pile on the make up for a race over 6 miles, it's bad for your skin and it is pointless.
I was wearing the wrong bra, I can't tell you how important the right bra is for big boobied girls to have... I was layering 2 and 3 cheaper bras for support and in return I still had clapping boobs and shoulder pain. Moving Comfort bras revolutionized my running. If you haven't tried them I'd recommend you finding a local store and trying them on.
I also should have carried more water/Gatorade myself, self fueling can literally save your life in races that don't have enough water stations.
I also should have ran on ahead of the poop out golf cart when they pulled up behind me...It wasn't a police officer or anyone with any real authority..
I went home in shame, gave my medal to my daughter and committed to taking my training seriously for the next 13 weeks...
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