What I've learned from running

Thinking about the different races I've run, I realized each one has taught me something different. 

Rangnar Napa Valley

My third leg was really rough: my right leg and knee were really hurting. After that leg we waited in line and got a free massage. The massage therapist commented on how my IT band was tight. I pretended like I knew what she was talking about and then googled it when I got home. I learned what an IT band is and how to stretch properly and haven't had problems with it since.

Tinkerbell Half Marathon

I can run. Mostly what I got is confidence that I can do it. I had never run this far before and my time was better than I expected. I've never been very confident in myself physically, and I gained some serious confidence with this run. Also, people in my life were impressed by me, and that felt pretty cool.

Disneyland Half Marathon

There is such a thing as over-hydration. I was so worried about the heat that I drank 2-3 cups of water at every station. This was too much. I had to stop at every bathroom and porta-potty. The last several miles of the race had no bathroom stop. There weren't even any bushes to hide behind, just running through a chute. I slowly peed myself the last mile or so.

Ragnar SoCal

How you train matters. I had done so well in my other races that in preparation for this one, in the back of my mind, I think I was counting on the race-day adrenaline to carry me through. Well, in running my legs I could feel when my training gave out. Not surprisingly, I got fatigued at about the distance that my training runs ended. I had other people in my van who were excellent trainers. They talked about looking at the elevation of hills on their legs and then finding similar hills near their homes to run on a regular basis. And they killed it! I did not. Another contributing factor was stress. I was too stressed and over-scheduled to really give the time to training that I should have. 

Another thing I learned is about my body's limits in extreme temperatures. My first leg was right around mid-day and much hotter than I had planned for. I was dehydrated and overheating bad. Finishing the distance was a serious struggle. My next leg was in the middle of the night. Someone around mile 1 the course took me through a golf-course. The sprinklers were on. There was no avoiding them. When I got to the other side of the golf-course I was drenched like I had just stepped out of a shower. I had to run the remaining 5 miles or so wet. I made it. I could feel my body shaking when I stopped running and knew I had to get out of wet clothes asap. I was stripping down in the back of the car before we were even out of the parking lot. The extremes in temperature really did me in. I was vomiting a while later and didn't run my last leg. 

Orange County Half Marathon

Fuel. This race had a shuttle that drove you to the starting line. The lines were ridiculous, so by the time we got off the shuttle, the race had already started. We took off running and were doing fine, eating our energy chews and keeping a good pace. A fun side benefit to starting late was that we never got passed. All the fast runners were ahead of us. We passed a lot of people though, which was pretty good for my confidence, not being a fast runner myself. We were planning on taking an energy shot around mile 9; the race had advertised that Clif would be giving them out for free. Because of the late start, by the time we got there, they were out. We didn't have any back-up fuel. And we were feeling it. We were fortunate that about a mile later some people were standing along the race course handing out apple slices and pretzels and cookies. The change in energy was instant. I would not have believed you could feel the boost that quickly if I hadn't experienced it myself. I learned how important keeping myself fueled was.

Not long after that last race I started studying for my licensing exams. (I passed the first one last week, by the way!) I told myself I wasn't going to sign up for any more races until I passed both tests. I knew it would just be too much to take on. I'm studying for the second test now. So, hopefully I'll have a new race on the horizon soon and new things to learn.