I did it! I ran the Provo River Trail 1/2 marathon on Saturday! Friday, Eric and myself both had a fever of 103, along with nausea and diarrhea. I tried to rest as much as I could on Friday. I had to get up at 3:30 am to get to the race in time on Saturday morning. I still had my fever, so I loaded up on Advil and Pepto and took off to Provo. The buses took us up to the starting point at 5 am and it was FREEZING up the canyon! They had the sprinklers going as well and at 2 points, there was no way for me to avoid the sprinklers and I got wet. My neighbor came with me, she's been training for the 1/2 with me. 
Before the race even started I was still very nauseated, I could only eat about 1 orange slice and a few bites of a banana before I felt like I was going to throw up. It was miserable! The race didn't even start until 7am. So when they sounded the horn, we took off. I immediately felt like all of my energy was zapped from me. The fever still hadn't gone away. After what felt like we had been running for awhile, I got a HUGE sideache. I never got ONE sideache the entire time I trained. So I told my friend I needed to walk it out. So we walked for about 2 minutes, and we started to run again. Right then we came up on mile marker TWO. WHAT!! I hadn't even ran 2 MILES? I seriously felt like I was coming up on mile 5. The frustrating thing for me on this run was they didn't mark all of the miles, so you never really knew exactly how far you've ran. About mile 3 I finally told my friend to go on. It wasn't about a getting a good time for me anymore, I was just trying to survive. I had to stop and use the horrible port-a-pottys twice during the race, and then sprint to try to catch up to people, all while trying not to throw up. I even got the "fever chills" while running. I could not stop shaking while I was running. Then about 1/2 mile before the finish line, I felt my throat closing up. I couldn't breathe. I tried and the air wasn't going in. I literally stopped running, and freaked out for a second, then decided that if I relaxed it would probably open up. I was right, as soon as I relaxed I could feel the air going into my lungs again. Is this what asthma is like? I've never had asthma... Anyways, the race itself was beautiful, and it had a consistent breeze for the entire race. 13.1 miles later and I finally crossed the finish line at 2 hours 15 minutes. My goal was to do it in 2 hours, but my realistic goal was 2 1/2 hours. So I am actually 
pretty proud of my time considering my 2 detours to the bathroom, the horrible way I was feeling, etc. When I crossed the finish line, Eric and Aubrey were cheering and hugging each other. HOW CUTE!
Before the race even started I was still very nauseated, I could only eat about 1 orange slice and a few bites of a banana before I felt like I was going to throw up. It was miserable! The race didn't even start until 7am. So when they sounded the horn, we took off. I immediately felt like all of my energy was zapped from me. The fever still hadn't gone away. After what felt like we had been running for awhile, I got a HUGE sideache. I never got ONE sideache the entire time I trained. So I told my friend I needed to walk it out. So we walked for about 2 minutes, and we started to run again. Right then we came up on mile marker TWO. WHAT!! I hadn't even ran 2 MILES? I seriously felt like I was coming up on mile 5. The frustrating thing for me on this run was they didn't mark all of the miles, so you never really knew exactly how far you've ran. About mile 3 I finally told my friend to go on. It wasn't about a getting a good time for me anymore, I was just trying to survive. I had to stop and use the horrible port-a-pottys twice during the race, and then sprint to try to catch up to people, all while trying not to throw up. I even got the "fever chills" while running. I could not stop shaking while I was running. Then about 1/2 mile before the finish line, I felt my throat closing up. I couldn't breathe. I tried and the air wasn't going in. I literally stopped running, and freaked out for a second, then decided that if I relaxed it would probably open up. I was right, as soon as I relaxed I could feel the air going into my lungs again. Is this what asthma is like? I've never had asthma... Anyways, the race itself was beautiful, and it had a consistent breeze for the entire race. 13.1 miles later and I finally crossed the finish line at 2 hours 15 minutes. My goal was to do it in 2 hours, but my realistic goal was 2 1/2 hours. So I am actually 
pretty proud of my time considering my 2 detours to the bathroom, the horrible way I was feeling, etc. When I crossed the finish line, Eric and Aubrey were cheering and hugging each other. HOW CUTE! They had tons of food, etc., after the race. I could not even look at the food. I just grabbed Zac and the kids and told them that we needed to go home. I didn't even stretch..oops. I felt horrible though. My fever finally broke after we got home from the race. Our neighbors were putting in their yard, so Zac ran over and helped them for several hours while I took a nice long bath and rested with the kids. Later that night we went to Larkin's open house reception and saw the Couch's, Bub's family, and Grandpa Parry. We didn't stay too long, since I was still not feeling myself yet. Yesterday I paid big time for not stretching. My quads and calves are on fire. I can barely walk. Even this morning while I was walking down the stairs I was hobbling. I will never run this race again! Lisa tells me it is like labor though, you forget the pain...
1 comment:
Heather you do it - HOORAY!!!! and sick? how awful! We need to run a race together when we are healthy. GREAT JOB!! CONGRATS on a great time and reaching your goal!!
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