Prairie Fire Half Marathon

Yesterday was the Prairie Fire Marathon and Half Marathon in Wichita. The conditions were perfect and the course was fast. The course record was broken by the top 3 finishers in the marathon and many others set new PRs. Although I didn’t set a PR I am proud and relieved to say I am a half marathon finisher because at mile 11.5 I really had my doubts and actually considered dropping out of a race for the first time ever.

Finished and smiling, but oh the pain. 

When my good friend Amber M. invited me to this race I knew I wasn’t going to be prepared. My plantar fascitis was acting up and I wasn’t doing any running let alone any long walks. I was working up to the Rock-n-Roll Half in Las Vegas next month (another of Amber’s crazy ideas!) so I wasn’t pushing my training at all. I promised myself and my Hubby that I would walk this race and save myself for LV. Sounded like a good plan at the time, and it would have worked, except my competitive spirit kicked in and I just couldn’t help myself. I ran quite a bit of the first 8 miles.  My foot was feeling a little better thanks to a wonderful foot massage (yet another Amber idea, are you seeing a trend here?).

At mile 8 my phone rang. It was my hubby so I had to take the call. If I wouldn’t have he would have been worried about me and I don’t like to make him worry. He had been tracking my progress on my Garmin app and was calling to remind me I was to WALK this race. Busted by Garmin. So after walking a good part of mile 9 I got back into the groove and started running in short stretches again but I think the long walk break tightened my hips and they started to ache. Each mile was a little worse, and at mile 11.5, that was it. I told my legs to start running but after a few steps my hips just wouldn’t move any more. It got to the point that even walking as extremely painful. I kept getting slower and slower and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. My hips just would not cooperate.

I know I need to listen to my body. I know I have issues that I have no control over. I know I can’t afford to trash my body for the sake of one race. But. BUT. Quitting goes against everything inside me. That’s why I’m out here doing things that put a strain even on healthy bodies. I am not going to let anything, even rheumatoid arthritis, dictate when and how I live my life. If I had given in and stopped at mile 11.5, I would be giving up more than just a cool medal and a t-shirt. I would be giving RA a victory and I will not do that. EVER. I’m sure my lack of training didn’t help and my puny donut for breakfast may not have been enough fuel (Amber and I were having so much fun the night before that we forget to get my chocolate milk). It would have been so much easier to just stop and ask for a ride back to the finish but even though it hurt and I had to slow down so much there were several older ladies that passed me (ouch, that hurt even worse!) I kept moving and even managed a slow jog for the last 100 yards to the finish line. I finished.

Looking back I can see where I went wrong. I’ll learn from my mistakes and finish stronger a month from now in Las Vegas. My thighs are sore and my hips are screaming at me but my feet are surprisingly OK. I’ll take a few days to recuperate and then start building some distance with more running included. I don’t expect to be fast but being prepared will make the experience so much better. I can’t wait to Run the Strip with my friends and finish another adventure. But I’ll remember the lessons learned at the Prairie Fire. Amber, you are a nut, but I love you anyway!