As per usual, I was running late (shocker.) to pick up my friend Eileen. Once we eventually got on the road, it was fairly smooth sailing to the beach. We arrived in nearly record time and didn't get lost, so major bonus. We tooled around for a bit, then volunteered at the race for a few hours. We later met up with the rest of our group, did the obligatory dinner at the Pond and had an early evening.
Day 2: Race day.
Eileen and I got up at the ass crack of dawn to head down to the start. It was FREEZING, but of course in typical Brooke fashion, I was in my classic outfit of shorts and compression socks. It was certainly a cold start, but after the initial eye watering and nose dripping, I was good to go. The 3 miles out to Gordon's pond were great. I was cranking through miles perfectly on pace. Next 5k I was in good shape as well. The I hit my typical stomach cramp wall just before jumping on the trail around 6 miles. I could see port-a-potties just ahead, so I breathed a sigh of relief. When I went to open the door, no such luck. The doors were still zip tied. WTF. Like big time WTF. I could not have possibly been more pissed. And like literally, pissed. Alright. I can hold it together until the turn around at 9. It was a pretty miserable 21 minutes, but I made it. Again, first port-a-potty, freaking zip tied. Now, I am hurling curse words left and right. A few feet ahead is another one, thankfully this one was open. After a minute or two we were back in business. While this definitely affected my time, it was so worth it. There's nothing more miserable in the world than the feeling that you want to die due to your bowels.
The last four miles went by like a blur. From my calculations (which mean nothing as I am no scientist nor math whiz), I was in the top 20 which I was fine with. I cruised in the last mile or so while being cheered on by my friends and their cowbells. I walked through the finisher area and called it a day.
In all, I ran a solid 1:35.50-something, finished 17th female, and 6th in my age group. Nothing to write home about, but for the first time in forever, I didn't tank out or have a miserable race. There's nothing specific that I can accredit this to, training has not been super lately, but a nice solid race really puts it all in perspective.
Up next, spring marathon training! I have the feeling my treadmill (that I affectionately call 'Tina') will be having a special relationship over the next few months. Here's to an awesome 2019 and crushing goals.
