This weekend's half marathon in Dayton, Ohio was... well, interesting. In all technicality, my race was finished in 1:16. So I (sorta) completed my goal of doing one is less than 2 hours. Of course, there's a hitch. Just around mile 5, I started getting one helluva headache. Weird. Around mile 6, I was slightly nauseous and a bit light headed (I'll tell ya what, if you're feeling dizzy, having hundreds of runners passing you is not so helpful). Just shy of mile 7, I turned a sharp corner and my body kinda kept turning. Until I was collapsed on my bootie and sitting on the grass sobbing. I knew I wouldn't finish and I had NEVER quit a race. I felt defeated and embarrassed. As the Air Force cadets and the medical team rushed to help me and take my vitals (an hour after sitting on a cot and my heart rate was still well into the hundreds), I kept insisting that I'm not a quitter. When I started getting the chills and I put on my New York City 2008 marathon t-shirt one cadet goes: "You've done a full marathon?! Don't worry about people thinking you're a quitter then. You're just having an off day." that made my feel better.
Also I kept insisting that I had to get transported to the finish line to meet up with my fiancee and my cousin. Many hours later, I finally did with the other lady in the tent that dropped out from knee problems... only to find my poor fiancee roaming the crowds looking completely freaked out more than two hours after I should have finished. He's never hugged me so tightly in my life and he insisted "Who cares about the race... I'm just so glad I have you again!" So although it was sad and I felt horrible that he worried so much... it was a beautiful moment in the end.
Off day it was. Although I'm not scratching that item from my to-do list obviously, it is still ironic to think that somehow I did actually complete that item. Not what I had in mind!
Columbus half marathon in October! I need redemption!!!
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