Oh, running. It’s a delicious and cruel habit.
Yesterday, Lisa and I ran the A2A Half Marathon in Ardmore, Oklahoma – aka, the middle of nowhere.
We drove down on Saturday night so we wouldn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive two hours to the race.
We had a fun day discussing her recent travel adventures, picking up our race packets, shopping at the expo and having dinner with my dad and stepmom.
This event was incredibly well organized and the volunteers did such a great job. It’s only the second year that they’ve held this marathon and I think it’s really going to become a popular one in Oklahoma in years to come.
When we got back to the hotel later that night, we got our race clothes all set out.
The room was pretty nice (minus a moment of freezing coldness because we didn’t realize the thermostat was on the wall and not the window unit).
We hit the hay fairly early and I was able to get in a decent night’s sleep. I usually sleep like crap at hotels, so that was awesome.
The alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and we were up and about in no time. I think we were both pretty excited!
We drove to the area where we were to be shuttled to the start line (I got us lost, this was to be expected – I am terrible with directions).
We got there at the perfect time though and loaded onto the bus.
The weather in the morning was great – cool with a slight breeze. (If only it had stayed that way.)
I told you we were in the middle of nowhere!
We got to the start line with about 42 minutes to go before race time (8 a.m.),waited in the bathroom line, met Darius from The Biggest Loser and took silly pictures.
The time went by fairly quickly and then it was time to line up and GO!
Please ignore the floppy wrist, bad habit.
The first two miles of the race flew by. Lisa and I were both feelings strong and we completed both miles in a sub-10 min/mile pace.
The trail was surrounded by a lot of trees starting out, which was a good shelter from the wind that would later crush my soul.
There were several unique race sights to be seen – like cows and horses.
Only in Oklahoma. This is nothing compared to where I grew up though. Compared to my hometown - Ardmore is a sprawling metropolis.
As we ran onward, the trees began to thin out and the wind picked up a bit.
We still maintained a pretty solid pace (9 to 10 min/mile) and I was feeling great!
Miles 4 to 8 passed by really quickly and my legs felt light and springy.
However, I could tell I was getting a bit low on energy so I decided to take a honey Stinger pack.
Big mistake. I figured that since it was “natural” that it would be easier on my stomach than other gels. Not so much.
Miles 8-9 were okay. My stomach felt off and my energy levels never picked up.
Then, around mile 10 – the wheels fell off.
The stomach issues were bad, but the contant 20+ mph winds we’d been facing were starting to straight up piss me off.
At one point I looked down at my Garmin and saw that we were running at a 14 min/mile pace. I told Lisa we might as well just walk since we were going that slow.
As I looked ahead, feeling defeated and utterly worn out, I noticed that almost every single other runner ahead of us was walking as well.
The wind was killer!
Fortunately, Lisa got her second wind around mile 10 (she did SO WELL), and she pushed me to keep going.
We ran/walked until mile 12 when we saw my dad and stepmom for the first time.
We knew we were getting close so we started running it in. I was so ready to be finished!
The course ended at the high school football field in Ardmore, so I just kept my eyes on the prize and ran as hard as I could.
As we neared the stadium, I was so relieved… until some guy announced that we had “one more lap” around the track.
In other words, a 400. I groaned. If I’d had the energy, I would have cried.
The 400 was my nemesis in high school track. I hated that distance. And now I had to do it after already running 13 miles? Oh hell.
Lisa was trucking along, so I just kept going.
I hobbled around for 300 yards and then came to the straight away. The finish line was in sight so we sprinted our way across it.
Finally done!
I felt dizzy and terrible. Clearly something went wrong with my fueling process. I’ll have to figure out how to correct that in the future.
We got our finisher shirts, grabbed free stuff and met up with my parents.
I was in awe of Lisa – she did so great at her first half mary. Total inspriration!
We both finished in 2:27:35 which is a PR for me and a PR and PDR for Lisa!
Overall, I have to be happy with my time and performance because it was a really challenging run. However, I can’t help but feel disappointed in how poorly I did at the end.
I know I’m in better shape than that and I put a lot of effort into my training. It’s frustrating to have stomach issues defeat me over and over again. I’ve got to figure out how to get control of the situation.
My stomach was jacked up the entire ride home, through the night and continues to trouble me this morning. What is up with that?
I’ve been Googling, and I think I have some plans to prevent these problems in the future. More about that later on though, this post is a monster!
Thanks to everyone for all the Twitter, Facebook and comment love yesterday. You’re the best!
Hope you all have fabulous Mondays!
Awesome! I love that you saw cows and horses. Too funny!
I had stomach issues after my half- I think it was from dehydration. I didn’t drink nearly as much water as I did during my training runs. Do you think that could have been an issue for you?
Great job!
I’m not sure. That’s the easiest explanation, but I took water or gatorade at every other water stop (there were 12 on the course!) so I thought that would be enough.
You guys did awesome!!
I have stomach issues if I eat anything before or during a run. Usually I can get away with half a banana, but other than that, no deal. I’m impressed that you kept going through it. When my stomach gives up on me, I usually give up right with it.
I’m wondering if I might have to do no food too. It’s been way worse when I eat a lot before hand.
I’m a little nervous about fueling for my half coming up. I may try the carb loading method the night before and see if that helps. I am so happy for your PR and your friend doing so well! It gives me hope I’ll do well at my half in 8 weeks! You’re a rockstar, chicky! Don’t let anyone or anything make you feel different! <3
You’re going to rock your half you speed demon!
Congrats to you and Lisa! You did amazing!!
I love the scenery that you were running past. 
You did awesome! And all it is is a learning experience with fueling for how you felt. Something that I’m sure is always a changing process. I know I will have a lot to learn and I admire you for the perseverance. Go you guys!!!
great job!! sorry you were having issues, stomach issues to me are the worst during races
I hope you get to the bottom of it soon, and feel better today, too… go celebrate that PR !
I’m so proud of you! And yeah, I feel like the stomach issues are part of the whole race process with me, too. You never know how it’s going to react…
You did awesome!! I used to have awful stomach pains after long runs too, I think eating before running, getting enough water during and immediately after helped a lot.
You did awesome. I’m sorry about the stomach troubles. I’m in awe at your time. You might be dissappointed, but that’s an amazing time. Good job! I hope you can figure out the fueling issues.
Great job on your run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m sorry about yoru stomach tho
I know that it is SUCH A PAIN! Although mine is more of a problem during runs… have you looked into dehydration? I had a post-run issue once and that’s what I came up with.
Who knows. Stomachs are so fickle!!!
But you still did awesome!!!!
I really don’t want to believe it’s dehydration because I made such an effort to stay hydrated all week before the race, but most likely it probably played a big role in it. It’s just so hard to figure out how much to hydrate and how much is enough!
YAY!!! GREAT JOB!!! That is awesome!!! I can only hope I do as good as you this weekend!!! And I probably would have flat out given up if I was having stomach issues during my run, you are an inspiration!!
Pretty pictures!! I’m so proud of you both!
you ladies rocked it! way to go – i am sooooo proud of you both! you’ve both come so far in the past year, and it is just so inspiring to see strong women doing such amazing things. hearts to you!!!
Thanks Holly, you’re too sweet!
Congrats on the race! That’s awesome – but I so hope that you’re able to figure out the tummy troubles. boo.
Awesome job lady, I’m so proud of you!! You should be so proud of YOURSELF that despite the setbacks, you still PR’d. Way to kick some booty!
Yeah! You guys are awesome. GOod job on the race!
NICE! Seriously, one of these days I gotta run a half. Looks like an awesome and rough time!
Lol, that’s exactly what it is – awesome and rough
great job! running races that are sponsoring causes is amazing! great view too- I’ve only run city ones
It was a really different experience – really small. There were good and bad things about it, but overall it was a great experience!
Congrats on the PR – you did awesome!!!!
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Sorry the race was less than stellar for you, but great job on the PR, nonetheless! At least you finished strong.
Congrats!
You guys kicked major ass! So proud of you and yes, the wind was TERRIBLE. Could not tell you were struggling at all. I can’t imagine doing a race in that. I was struggling @ Hefner.
It was so bad and seems like we’re in it for the long haul. 40 mph gusts tomorrow. Awesome.
Great great job! I’m inspired…I need to keep reading things like this so that I actually go for runs : )
Haha, isn’t that what the blog community is for?!
It sounds like it was tough, but you did so awesome! Don’t feel bad about the end – you made a PR. I don’t know a lot about running, but I’d say it’s damn near impossible for your body to feel completely awesome when pushed to the limit for that length of time.
And how do you both look so gorgeous after running 13.1 miles!? Seriously stunnnnnnning!
Thanks girl, you are too sweet!
Congratulations on your PR! Have you tried eating PB and J cut into 4′s? I have heard of that working for some people. Sports beans might be a good alternative too. I hope you get that figured out. Stomach issues and strange race day body things can really get you down. BUT, you PR’d and you know what kept you from performing the way you can
I’ve never tried the pb&j thing, it might be worth a try. Thanks!!
That’s awesome! Congratulations! You guys did sooo good.
I can’t take gels at all, I prefer the sport beans. For some reason, the gels always make me feel kind of icky.
You did great! A PR is great! I’m sorry you had stomach problems. I know that I sometimes get them from Gatorade. Do you think that might have caused it?
I had the same problem in my race. Well, not the stomach issues, but I just felt completely pooped out at Mile 10.
congrats to you two!!! dealing with harsh winds just makes finishing the race even better
you inspire me! I’ve never run a half – I’ve tried training for one two different times, but then something has happened to keep me from running the race. I want to do it!
You can totally do it girl! My first one, I was completely undertrained but it turned out to be my best race ever. Just focus on having fun and don’t be hard on yourself and it will be a great experience!
Way to go!!! Reading your recap and seeing your pics got me so excited to run another race. I can’t wait!
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