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Rock ‘n’ Roll 10K Race Recap: Making Peace with the Business of Running

Gearing up for the cold before the race. Sleepy, but I had no idea what was to come…

This past weekend the FBGs (Jenn, Erin, Tish and Kristen) ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll 10k in Brooklyn courtesy of Brooks Running. This week, each FBG is sharing how her thoughts on how the race went by answering the three same questions. The difference of answers should be, well, interesting!

This surprised the heck out of me, but I was the one, lone FBG who had a sucktastic run. It seriously bums me out to write that, but I’ve made enough peace with that day to tell the tale. The truth is, sometimes—no matter if you train or not—you’ll find yourself running a bad run.

I ran my last 5-mile training run, I packed all the necessary gear (thinking of both warm and cold weather since we’re all now aware of Jenn’s weather curse) and flew out to Jersey two days before the race. Even with that kind of obsessive packing, I still wasn’t prepared. I recently found out from my doctor that I have a severe case of acid reflux. I’ve been trying EVERYTHING to control it…both homeopathic remedies, as well as the meds the doc recommended, but it’s been a beast. That and the time difference were enough to push me over the edge. Like my marathon, I didn’t sleep a wink the night before. (Apparently that’s a thing with me.) This time though, I was in pain all night. My chest was on fire. I tossed and turned, and by the time the alarm went off at 4 a.m., I was worked up into a hysterical funk.

Word to the wise: Sleep and a healthy body are important, whether it’s 26 miles, six miles or one!

How the Rock ‘n’ Roll 10K in Brooklyn Went (for Me)

1. What was your favorite moment of the race? My favorite moment was probably when we reached the 5K mark. We were running close to a 9:30 pace, which is unheard of for me. I was feeling strong (and numb) and proud of myself for all those early morning runs. At that point, I wasn’t worried about not sleeping. My chest was behaving nicely. Life was good.

2. Did you reach your goal? Sadly, no. My goal was to have fun and enjoy the run with my girls, which I did for awhile, but around mile 3.5, my body thawed out and I started to feel the heat rising in my chest. The bad thing about my type of acid reflux is that I get this weird mucus that chokes me and leaves me breathless. Climbing a couple of stairs in my home is a task, so you can imagine what a run could do! I started to heave and struggled to pull air in—and that’s when the tears came. I was so disappointed that I cried. More disappointed that I felt so bad that I needed to walk a couple of times, which meant the group pulled ahead and we separated. On a positive note, I was touched like a mother trucker that Jenn stuck with me!

3. Pick one word to describe the race. Thankful. The run was a hard struggle. At one point, I just knew I was going to pass out. The road I was focusing on grew smaller and smaller, and then I heard Jenn scream, “We’re at mile six!” and I snapped to. I just wanted to finish so that I could breathe and cry and I did. I’m so thankful I had a friend beside me strong enough to keep my hysterically fatigued and suffering body afloat!

After a nap, hot shower and some aloe juice, I was sane enough to think clearly about the race. I’ve had superstar running friends tell me stories of races they flunked for whatever reason, yet I didn’t give myself the same break. We all have our bad days; our bad runs come and go. At the end of the day, I was able to hold up a medal with my fellow FBGs, which is pretty darn sweet. I had much the same reaction as Kristen after her half marathon (which was fun!). Then I had to make peace with running—and because of that I’ll live to run another race.

Have you experienced a hot mess race before? What peace have you made with the business of running?—Tish

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