I had a goal of 27-30 miles for RUTS. I had no idea if that was even possible. I hadn't been training at all. In 5 weeks, I walked/jogged 2.5 miles one
day. Too busy trying to get things done
before Plaxico arrives and while I still comfortably could do them. I had been goading my good friend laz leading
up to the race (which I shouldn't have because I put un-needed pressure on
myself, but it was fun leading up to the race…race day another thing).
Pat and I left on
time and arrived at the horse park about 15 minutes before packet pick up
began. We hurriedly set up our changing
tent before the rains came and was safely seated inside while it rained
briefly. At 4, I headed up to pick up
our packets and Steve was there. He
asked if I was helping or packet pick up.
Looking at the line that had formed, I jumped in and helped, handing out
the women’s shirts and caps. Once the
line thinned out, I got our packets and headed back to the bus. Pat and I packed up and left for the
hotel. Normally, I would get a couple
hours of sleep before we went out to eat and the start of the race, but with
the Belmont running…no sleep was too be had.
At 6:45, we headed to Applebee’s for dinner and quickly ate and headed
back to the track to the start. We
worried about getting there late and not being able to get to the infield once
the race started….we just made it.
We headed to the
start line and met up with Stu, laz, and Carol Westerman (and got our pic
together). I was tired but ready to get
going. Although I told Pat I was going
to have to stop at the restroom on the first lap since I didn't have a chance
before we left the restaurant. And that
was just a sign of how things were going to go….
After coming out of the
restroom, I caught up to Pat. My
original plan was walk the curves and jog the straights until I couldn't. I wanted to bank some miles in as early as I
could because I wasn't sure how the night would go as far as sleep deprivation
and restroom breaks. We came to the
straight and began jogging. It was
uncomfortable. All of the ligaments were
screaming as they were stretching in my belly and Plaxico was bouncing on my
bladder. We walked the curve and tried
to jog the straight again, but I had to exit to use the restroom again. Not even a mile in yet and already two potty
breaks. I told Pat I was going to have
to ditch the jogging. I tried to
increase my walking pace but the bouncing of everything made my bladder say
“no, I gotta go”. I remember telling
Terri Durbin that I was no longer counting my laps but counting my potty
breaks. And so it went. A couple of times I was a able to make it
around two laps before ducking in the restroom, but most the time it was every
lap. I was very thankful that there was
soft toilet paper though. (Do to other
pregnancy related issues, as in constipation causing hemorrhoids; my butt was
already tender before the race started.)
I was slowly getting defeated by the stops and the tenderness in the
nether regions. A couple of times when I
had to stop, Pat would go ahead and run on.
I was happy for him, but that is when I felt like I shouldn't be
there. Big whale in everyone’s way. Although I stayed 6-8 feet from the inside of
the track, I still felt people brushing by me like I was in the way. Pat and I sat down for about 20-25 minutes
and I just propped my legs up and rested.
Trying to get my spirits up, but watching everyone else go by was even
more discouraging. I sat myself a time
and when it arrived, I told Pat I was heading back out. (He was done.
His knee had been bothering him and he also hadn't been doing any
training. Working two jobs is hard
enough. Plus, he knew I needed the race
more than he did this year. Thank you
sweetie…)
I hobbled out and
got the feet numb again and was able to walk around and made it to the
restroom. At one point, Matt Hoyes
caught up to me and we walked together.
He was having some hip troubles, which I felt bad for him and reminded
him about the massage person at the track.
We chatted and he pointed out the leader to me. I had heard of Scott Breeden but couldn't
have picked out myself without the hint.
It was nice to chat with Matt.
Very nice guy and great runner that Pat and I love to watch. His epic battle two years ago with Chris
Estes is still talked about in our home in revered tones. I was bummed he was having a hard time. He did stop at the massage tent and I later
saw him again cranking out miles.
Yeah!!! Meanwhile, I hit 20 laps
after another short rest break and decided maybe to take a nap. I was feeling wobbly and tired and thought
maybe I should try to sleep an hour or two and then try again. Went I got to the bus and went to climb in,
Pat was already there and asked why we didn't go to the hotel if we could get
out. There it was…my out. I quit right then and there. If I could get him to the hotel and he could
get a nice night’s sleep instead of the 2-4 hour naps he normally takes
everyday, then the weekend might not be lost after all. I went and asked Steve about leaving and was
able to catch Stu to say my goodbyes. I
watched for Laz to pass while packing up the tent, but missed him somehow. I felt bad for leaving a race early, but I
was done.
10 miles in 4 hours 21 minutes and 7 restroom breaks.
Defeated we headed
to the hotel but took a detour when seeing the IHop was open. I didn't realize how hungry I was until the
food was placed in front of me. We went
to our room with our bellies full and retired for the night. We got up the next morning, not having to
rush out like usual before check out time and had a leisurely breakfast at
Crack and then headed home. The only
other adventure we had was right before exit 53 on Western Kentucky Pkwy we ran
out of gas. We were so leisurely in
leaving that we both completely forgot to get gas before leaving Paducah. Thank goodness for AAA, but parked on the
side of the road with my door open, Pat standing at the back of the bus with
the hatch open. We had a bed. We had food.
And we had laughter. Not many
people would be laughing in that situation, but we were, and although we both
had miserable races (the worst in our six years of RUTS), we still had a great
weekend and not even running out of gas could dampen that. We saw our wonderful running family. We got time together just to chat and
laugh. We ate good food. And we attempted to meet our goals (and
failed). We had fun….what more could you
want out of a race or a weekend?
