... and another first half marathon RR

[skhill]

When the alarm went off this morning, I had a moment of "why the heck did I need to get up at 5am" and then I remembered.... The morning did not start out very well-- it was raining hard and windy. And somehow Pokey, my rather elderly dog, injured his right front leg while he was out in the backyard taking care of his morning necessities. He was really hurting, and could barely make it up the steps to get inside (poor boy). But he curled up on the couch, and seemed comfortable enough there, so I went ahead and raced.

The rain and wind died down for the start of the race, but picked up around the 2 mile mark. It never really went away after that. But once you're soaked, what's a bit more rain? At mile 5ish, the first guy going the other way went by-- he was flying... At mile 6, I joined the line at the porta-potty (it was almost a 3 minute wait). The water stop at the 6.5 mile turn was manned by the kid I sit next to in my church choir; it was awesome to run into a friendly face at that point. Then we turned towards home, and into the wind.... The second half of the race there was less rain, but a whole lot of headwinds... It's kinda a blur in my mind (as it was through my rain-streaked glasses)...

Anyway, the official results aren't up on-line yet, but by my watch my time was roughly 2:08, right what I was hoping for. I'm pretty sure I ran the final mile in under 9 minutes, and passed a bunch of people. (Actually, I was constantly passing folks, post-portapotty break!).

The GOOD: my final time, running so fast in nasty weather conditions, doing my first half

The BAD: the weather, traffic, and the weather. And the truly nasty state of that portapotty...

The UGLY: Pokey getting hurt. He was in a lot of pain when I got home, so I gave him one of his pain pills. He's better, but still hurting. If he's not a lot better tomorrow, it's to the vet we go. I'm afraid he might have broken or dislocated something, he's hurting so much. We do have an emergency vet clinic, BTW, but all they'd do is give him something for pain, and charge way too much....

[OakLeaf]

Way to go skhill! Great job in crummy conditions.

Hope Pokey feels better soon.

[hammertime]

awesome job

hope the dog feels better too

[Aggie_Ama]

Great job! Hope Pokey is better!

[Bike Chick]

Congrats on your first HM! Too bad the weather was so miserable but your time was great in spite of it.

I sure hope Pokey is okay

[skhill]

Pokey's still really lame on that leg, but he doesn't seem to be in (much) pain, so we're holding off on going to the vet. He's always been a difficult patient, but these days he has to be tranked before the doc can even examine him...

For dinner last night, I had a whole pint of Ben and Jerrys, without any guilt. And so this morning, the tummy felt a whole lot worse than the legs.

My next race is a 5k in 2 weeks, and I can't wait! I'm going for 3 PRs in 6 weeks (even if 2 were in new distances, it still counts, right?)...

[katluvr]

Congrats!!! Sorry about Pokey, hope all is well soon!

[kacie tri-ing]

Wow! You rocked that first half! Super fast!!

[skhill]

... and Pokey got taken to the vet at last. Good news-- it's just a sprained elbow, nothing broken or dislocated. Even better news (from his perspective): the hotdogs that hide his pills!

and my legs feel better than his right now

[Aggie_Ama]

Glad Pokey isn't too seriously injured! And good thing his mommy is recovering fast to take care of him.

[colby]

One of the first half marathons I ran (maybe the first?) I ran into someone from work at an aid station that had just started there but recognised me, and it was awesome. It really is nice to have people recognise you or just cheer you on at an unexpected part of the race. I wish more races printed your name on the bib so you can pretend they all know you (though admittedly that does make it harder to know if they DO actually know you).

Congrats on your race! Wet, windy, and right on target. Sounds like spring.

Glad to hear Pokey is feeling better, too!

[spindizzy]

Crappy weather- my mantra is "it's building mental toughness" You aced that one! Nice work.

[rocknrollgirl]

Execellent job. Nothing like a rainy, windy race to bring out your inner warrior princess!

Hope the pup feels better soon.