Horrible race but I did PR!!

I have put off writing this blog about my last race, the Cotton Classic, on May 1st because I had such a hard time.


I believe this is my worse race ever as far as how I felt during and afterwards. It was extremely humid and it rained. At mile 2 I was feeling pretty bad but I usually do feel kind of bummed out until about mile 5. At about mile 3.80 I was having an extremely hard time. I wasn't sure what was going on but I was pretty miserable. The rain cooled us down some so that was good. At mile 4 I thought, "I am not going to be able to finish this!" but I refused to stop. I was about a block from the finish line and thought I was going to die. My friend, Linda, who was nursing a sore knee, did the walk and she came out and ran me in. That really helped a lot as I was almost in tears. Of course I picked it up at the end, as best I could, because I was trying to beat my last 10K time AND I DID! There is always a silver lining in the clouds!

When I crossed the finish line I could hardly breath. I had never felt this bad before and I was puzzled about it. My husband hugged me and I started crying and I am not sure why but I did. I think I was just exhausted from running faster than normal and the humidity. I walked up to my son and DIL and was still feeling somewhat not right and then the next thing I knew my throat closed up on me and I could not breath at all. Of course I panicked. My DIL is a nurse and she was instrumental in helping me to calm down and try to breath. My throat felt like it was closing up and then it would open up and I would get a few breaths and then it would close again. I had never had that happen to me before. It was an awful feeling! My family wanted me to go to the ER but I did not want to. I was hoping it would pass. I sent my DIL to find the ambulance and there was not one! First race I have ever been to where there was no ambulance. I felt if I could just get some oxygen or some air somehow, I would be okay. I started praying, "God help me, please help me" and it eased up some.

It was still raining and we were getting soaked. My son went to the car so they could take me to ER but I was feeling a little better by then. I remember my husband pouring water on me to cool me down. My heart rate felt out of this world!

By mid afternoon I was feeling better. But I did not want to run again until I had seen a doctor so I have done that and had EKG and it was normal. Received diagnosis of EIB, exercise induced bronchospasm or as it used to be called exercise induced asthma. Oh joy! NOT what I wanted to hear. So now I know what an asthma attack feels like. It ain't fun people!! Being unable to breath is a scaring feeling.

I have been given a Albuterol inhaler to use before exercising. I did PR so that is cool too. I laughingly told my family - "well if I had died, I would have died happy!" And they know that is true!

Below is me, my DIL Martha and my son, Jason before the race. Overall we really did have a good time.

Race Report - Parkinson's Charity 5K - Brandon MS

Debbie, my daughter Tammy, me and my friend, Pattie

My 5K race went really well.  I wasn't sure about the weather so I wore shorts and long sleeves.  I could have done without the long sleeves by the time it was over. Note to self:  Over 50 degrees - no long sleeves.  My daughter ran with me.  This was her first race running.  She did really well.  She could have out run me but she hung with me.  It was my best time so far.  39:21.  Although I am not really working on speed I would love to get a little faster.  But I know that will come when more weight is off.  

We ran across a causeway over a lake and it was really beautiful.  I would have loved to have taken some pictures but I did not bring my camera.  I did not wear anything "extra" on the run because I wanted to beat my best time and I did.  Sometimes I carry my camera and cell phone.  Although I did have my cell phone. 

We did have a bit of unwanted excitment.  My friend, Debbie, who has been my "personal assistant" if you want to call her that - she has gone to all my races with me and takes pictures and holds my "stuff" while I run - she decided that she would like to participate in a walk so she has been walking with me and doing really well.  Debbie has a family history of heart problems and has heart problems herself and has a defibrillator.  I asked her to check with her doctor before she starting walking and her doctor said it was fine.  Well.......me and daughter finished in fine time and was waiting for Debbie to come in.  I wanted to take a picture of her since this was her first  5K walk to participate in.  Then I realized that we had given the car keys to Debbie since she was walking and had a pocket she could put them in.  So we ran back out to meet her but she never came in.  We kept looking, being sure we had not missed her.   Well, as we were standing there waiting a police vehicle with sirens blaring came up and got the amulance who then left the park with sirens blaring and lights flashing.  Uh-oh!!  Was it someone in the race?  A lady who had been walking with Debbie saw us and asked if we were Debbie's friends and she said Debbie had "fallen out" and the ambulance was there.  As we took off running, she hollared back at us, "but she's okay" and we just kept running.   We were oblivious to everything around us as we ran back out on the course. We could see the ambulance on the side of the road.  Before we got very far a golf cart came up and Debbie was in it.  She was fine, just a little bruised up. 

The defibirllator is made to "shock" Debbie when her heart rate rate gets too high or out of rhyhm.  She said she was not walking any faster than she normally did but I think maybe she was talking to her neighbor and having such a good time that she could have been walking a little faster than normal and not realized it.  When the defibrillator shocked her it knocked her to the ground, knocked off one of her shoes and shocked her three times.  The lady with her freaked out and started screaming.  So that is when the ambulance got involved.  Debbie said she was fine.  Once the heart got back into rhythm she was okay and could have continued but the EMTs would not let her. They said they had to take her by golf cart back to her car.  She has a bruise on her shoulder, a bruise her leg and her hand was scratched up.  But she felt fine.  

She has since gotten a HRM and will keep a watch on her heart rate.  She did make a trip to the doctor and he said a HRM was an excellant  idea and not to let her heart rate get above 160.  So all is well.  She was disappointed she did not get to finish, and she was 3/4 of the way finished when this happened.  Debbie said she will not let this deter her.  She will keep walking, which is really good for her, at a gentle pace.  She is a real trooper.  Many people would have said, I'm never doing that again.  But she is excited because she has lost weight since she started walking and feeling so much better. So she wants to continue and her doctor gave her the okay!  Besides, excess weight is not good for a normal heart, much less one that is not working properly.  I am sure she will do it again after she gets this HRM going - I could never get mine to work right so I have up on it.  Maybe the problem was the operator. ha ha.   But I like my Garmin better anyway. 

I have another race planned on April 10th.  A 10K on May 1st and then the BIG ONE - the half marathon in June.  Hope I survive that one.  The first half I did in December was tough but not because of any hot weather.  This will be my first hot weather half so I hope I don't combust into flames before I finish. :)  It startes at 6 am so maybe it won't get too hot before I finish.  My son and DIL are running it too and my daughter is doing the 5K.  This is turning into a family affair!  Yea!!!  Now if I could just my husband to join us.  He is working on trying to get his plantar fasciitis under control. Poor baby, he can hardly walk.  And to top everything off - I lost weight this week. 

Have a great weekend everybody!!  Happy Easter! 

Race Report St.Jude Half Marathon pm 12/05/09. (December 14, 2009)

Monday, December 14, 2009 I completed my first half on December 5th. It was lots of fun and it was cold!!!! But I enjoy running the cold better than hot.Me, my DH, my mom, and friends stayed at the son's house. He and his wife ran as well. We all did great! We got there on Friday to pick up our packets and look at the expo. I bought a few things - a hat,which I needed for warmth, a pair of gloves and I bought one of those belts that holds your race bid. Thought that was cool! he he. I also had a "fanny pack" to wear and carry my Gu in. My son laughed and said I would have so much stuff on I would not be able to run! We ate supper Friday night at the Spaghetti Warehouse. It was great too! Here is me and Linda. I'm on the left sitting down.

I got up at 4:15 and ate a power bar and drank some coffee and water. Driving in was easy. No problem there. We parked and had to walk a bit but I just considered it a warm up. We stopped in The Peabody to use the restroom because we walked by there and I thought it would be a long line at the portapotty. I had so many layers on it took a while to go to the restroom. We had lots of time before the race started. We stood around trying to keep warm and waiting on others to get there. I was really excited.

Starting off was confusing at first. I decided we were in the wrong corral but then I decided it didn't matter because everyone was going to pass us anyway. But I did make sure we were not up front with the elite runners. That would have been downright uncouth and besides we would probably have gotten run over. I was awesome when we walked up a few steps and looked down at all the runners. I had never seen so many people in one place I don't think. The gun went off and we took off. I did ok till about mile 5. Started getting tired and I thought, "oh no! Can't get tired yet....too early in the game" but I took a Gu and keep going. Those hills were murder. When you train on flat land like I do, the hills are not too kind. The only "hill" to speak of in our town is the levee and that is a pretty big hill! We ran it twice and I believe that is where I might have torn my calf muscle so the last time we ran it I walked up and ran down. This was clearly not enough training for the "rolling" hills I encountered in Memphis. My new definition of "rolling" hills is - "NEVER ENDING" hills. That is what they were! But I was determined to finish. The supporters on the side of the street were amazing! Ruth Ann and I talked some as we ran and that always makes it go by quicker. When we were at about mile 5 and had just come off the river side, someone on the side of the road said, "way to go, you got it made now, the worst is over!" All I can say about that is - he must have NEVER run this race. (ha ha) The worst wasn't over but part of it was thank goodness! The scenery was great as well. We passed Elvis singing his heart out! Cool! I was told that there were St. Jude kids who came out to meet the runners but I never saw them. I think it was so cold they had to go back in before we came along. But it was still great. We did pass a house where the kids who had to stay for extending periods would stay and there were some people outside of that house. They were cheering us on and screaming. It was awesome. I won't go too long on this race report. Lets just say I did pretty good until about mile 11. I got so tired. Those hills were a major pain!! We were doing a 1:30 ratio. We ran for 1 minute and walked for 30 seconds. That ratio worked well for me on my long training run of 14 miles. But I took another Gu. I think all in all I took about 3 chocolate Gu and after the race I wish I hadn't. Something made me sick afterwards. I had to stop at potty THREE FREAKING TIMES! Oh well, at least there were no lines at them. (For me, this was the best site of all...ha ha)

The run through the park was very pretty, what I remember of it...I was in agony by this time. :( My chip time was 3:41:30. My watch had 3:25. I tried to remember to stop and start my watch at each stop we made but not sure how accurate I was. Having a garmin sure would help. I might get one for Christmas...yeah!!! My friend who ran with me, her son is a St. Jude child and when we ran through the St. Jude Campus it was very emotional for her and me! At one point a lady said, remember who you're running for and that pumped me up and gave me some extra energy. After all...we were running for those who could not. I can't wait to do it again! I plan to be a St. Jude Hero next time and raise some money for the event. It was very motivating. Another friend of mine took some pictures and I got some of them but not all. Will post others as I get them. Here I am at the finish line - I was giving a "thumbs up" to my family. Someone said it looks like I was doing something else....not!

Me and Ruth Ann at the finish line

'When the race was over I headed for the food and got a piece of pizza, a donut, three cookies, hot chocolate and two banana halves, water and a diet coke. My hands were full. I felt like a pig trying to get out of there with my hands full. And I was freezing. I didn't see the point of that silver blanket thingy they give you at the finish but on the walk back to the car I was extremely happy I had it. (don't look a gift horse in the mouth my mama said). I got sick to my stomach right after the race. I don't know it it was the post race food or the Gu. Just the thought of chocolate Gu makes me sick to my stomach now. I don't think I will use that again. I went home to my son's house and laid around on the couch all afternoon. So much for my shopping trip I though I would be able to do after the run! ha ha!! Later on that afternoon I got in the hot tub and that helped too. It was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to do it again. My favorite part ----My son gave me a BIG HUG after I crossed the finish line. I hope I made him proud. I know I made myself proud. And I am so proud of my son, Jason, and his wife, Martha, for participating with me. It was a dream come true. I want to give a big SHOUT OUT to all my family and friends who participated with me and my family and friends who came to watch and to all those who had to listen and read about my struggles along the way. Thanks to my SparkPeople friends who encouraged me so much! It would not have been possible without each and every one of you guys! Special thanks to my hubby who allowed me to spend so much time on the road training and did not complain once! I love you! Can't wait for St Jude Marathon in 2010!!! Here are a few more misc pictures:

Our Jeff Galloway YMCA training group

Race Report 300 Oaks (September 22, 2009)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I am excited about my first 10K. It was great. I was the last runner for the first 2-3 miles and the police car was following behind me. That drove me nuts. As I would walk he would slow down, when I ran he would speed up to catch me and then slow down again. It was worrying the mess out of me. But I told myself that it was okay. I only had to finish - not finish fast! And that man driving just wished he could do what I was doing. That helped me. I finally stopped focusing on him and concentrated on my race. But it helped that I passed a few people and then he followed them instead. Of course all the walkers passed me again, I think. When I came in I thought there were three behind me but when I checked the MS Track Club site it showed me as being last. I wonder what happened to the others. One man I knew, I did not see his name anywhere. He was running along side me for a while. He had been sick and he said that this race was probably not a good idea. Every step he would take his chest would hurt. So maybe he had to DNF.

The scenery was beautiful. It was overcast (I got sunburned) and it was not too hot. All in all a nice day. It had rained every day the previous few days and we thought it would rain this day but didn't. I thought about sunscreen but then just as quickly forgot about it. Forgot that you can still get sunburned on cloudy days.

I started out too fast. My mind said walk at the beginning but my feet took to running! The first two miles were pretty hard. I keep focusing on that darn police car on my butt and the fact that my breathing was pretty fast since I started out too fast. But I made myself slow down and it got better. At about 5 miles I got really tired and thought "are you crazy? What are you doing out here?" Then I told myself - "you only have a mile to go. You are over half way. Keep going. You CAN DO THIS!" (That seems to happen to me a lot at mile 5) When I came in I think I was the only one still running. But there were people there that cheered me on and it felt good. I am still a little self conscious about how I look when I run but I am slowing getting over that.

I am still at a quandary as to why I am not losing weight. Even if I overeat a few times you would think I would still lose a little. But I have not gained. I have been around the same for months. But I sill need to lose 50 more pounds. I do well for a few weeks and then blow it all. Me and a friend are having the same problem. We are trying to work on it and help each other. I thought the Biggest Loser would motivate me more but it hasn't yet.

But I will just keep plugging along. After the half marathon in December I might start working on my speed. But I have been told that it is the long run (more miles) that gets the weight off so I might need to concentrate on that. I am having a hard time finding time to run. I would have to get up at 4 am to get in more miles since I am so slow and getting in the bed early the night before has been nearly impossible due to extenuating circumstances at my house.

As I was running the 10K I passed a young lady in a wheelchair sitting on her driveway. I waved at her and she smiled as best she could - it was obvious that she did not have use of her arms or legs. I could not help but think - what would she give to be able to take one step???? And here I was grumbling about how I was feeling. At least I can walk. I think that is when I began to feel better. I was reminded, one again, of God's grace in my life. Considering my past alcohol and drug use, it is only by the grace of God that I am here today. Just to be alive is a true blessing and to be able to run, no matter how slow, is icing on the cake! I must never forget where I came from and what "could have been." My life is so good today. I have many restored relationships and most importantly I have a relationship with Christ that keeps me strong. Thank you God for keeping me humble and thank you for the many ways you show yourself in my life (even in my running) and I pray that the young lady in the wheelchair found some measure of happiness as she watched all of us run by. There but for the grace of God go I.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

MAKE it a great one.

Race Report (July 5, 2009)

Sunday, July 05, 2009

UPDATE ** I should have waited on the "official" results. My time was even better according to the website - 43:30. Yeah, go me! UPDATE **

My 5K on July 4th went pretty well. My time was awful! But I did finish and I felt good when I finished. This race had a few rolling hills in it and they slowed me down tremendously. The heat wasn't too bad. The route included a small park so we had trees which provided a little shade on part of the run. But the hills were the hardest part for me. My husband was at the finish line and I got a high five from him, incidentally, July 4th was our 17th wedding anniversary too so I am grateful that he came with me to experience this. I did fine all the rest of the day. We came home and I went to the bathroom and Ouch! ! ! !! the pain, the pain (no, not "the plane, the plane") but the Pain, the PAIN. So, my husband and I spent most of last night in the ER. I wanted to try and wait till Monday to see a doctor but I could not. I am a wimp when it comes to pain and I could not stand it any longer. I knew instantly what is was because I have had them before. At any rate, I am better today. I have sat around the house watching the "man-hater" channel, (BTW-I told my husband that and he said he is not coming home! ha ha. ) I could not even make it to church this morning.

I am debating on whether or not I will do a race in August. I wanted to do one once a month but the heat is horrible here. Maybe I should just be focusing on my first half marathon that is in December for now. I'm not sure my son is going to do it with me, I hope so but if not, that, is okay too. It would be a memorial event to have him beside me, (if he doesn't run off and leave me) but to have him waiting at the finish line cheering me on would be okay too. I am amazed when I think back on where I was not too many months ago. To know that I can run three miles and am planning on running 13.1 is an awesome thing. I thank God for what he has done in my life. Life is truly good today!!