The Half

So I'm a stupid, horse's ass. Let's just start with that.

Instead of doing the smart thing of having a nice, balanced dinner and going to bed early on Friday night, I partied almost like a rock star. 6 Jack and Coke Zeroes later, I was trying to go to sleep at 1245am, with a 6am wake-up call looming. The Angry Sailor definitely was no help. It was so much fun to hang with my bro that I broke the rules. And then I paid the price....

I woke up 30minutes before my alarm. I just laid there thinking, damn I'm exhausted. Why the hell am I getting up so early on a Saturday?! I was also worried about the strange, unhappy feeling in my stomach. After forcing down some OJ, my daily coffee, and an English Muffin with peanut butter, Tank and I departed for the race.

About halfway to the park where the half was taking place my stomach starting being quite upset. I mentioned something to Frank the Tank, but we both quickly dismissed it (I wanted to keep him cool, as it was my boy's first half). After arriving at the park we met some nice people, stretched, and I was starting to feel better. The fresh air and great company was invigorating. We met the MAYOR of Chesapeake VA. He came up and shook Tank's hand, and BSed with us and the people in front of us for a minute or two.

We lined up, listened to the national anthem, and started moving. I was feeling pretty good, not 100%, but definitely not bad. The first 3 miles flew by, and I was right on pace to be where I wanted to be. At that point, I knew in 1/2 mile was the 2nd water station, which was to be my first water stop. The thought of putting anything in my stomach didn't sound too great, but I figured I had to start drinking water or I would never complete the race. So when I arrived, I slowly sipped the water, power walking through the station (I have not mastered the drink and run technique, and even walking I end up wearing more water than drinking). It felt like I was trying to swallow a bowling ball. Not a pleasant thing to do. I wasn't able to get much water in, and was quite worried about dehydration.

Shortly after trying to drink that water I felt an terrible feeling of nauseousness take hold of me. I felt like hell. I felt like a man who got 4.5hrs of sleep and drank too much Jack Daniels the night before a race. Approaching the 5 mile mark, the next water station, I busted out my energy beans as I was starting to drag a little bit. I could barely swallow the 2 beans with the water. Immediately this felt like a mistake. I kept going, but damn it wasn't good. Shortly after turning around at the 6.55mile mark, I lost it. The beans, the water, some the muffin, and definitely some Jack Daniels. It was quick, explosive, and painful. I knew I was FUCKED! I was about as far away as I could possibly be from the finish (the course was an out 6.55 miles and back the same route), and I was dehydrated, unable to drink water, and miserable. If I gave up I'd still have to walk over 6miles, but if I ran it would be the worst 6 miles of my life. I bargained with myself to keep moving forward (it definitely wasn't running, more so falling forward and having my feet catch me). I made it to the water station at the 8mile mark. I tried to force some more water, but it got halfway down my throat and I wretched it right back out.

From here until the last 1/2 mile I had to continually bargain with myself. I would run a quarter mile, power walk a quarter. When I got to the 11mile mark, I told myself I would run until the finish, no matter how painful it was. Well that last 1/2 mile. I walked another quarter, ran another half, walked another quarter and then finally pushed through the last 1/2 mile (I even found the energy to sprint the home stretch, for which I was rewarded by wretching and trying to vomit on the poor bastard trying to give me my medal for completing this trail of tears).

So I put myself through hell and finished the damn thing. But the end result was that I was about 1minute 30seconds slower than last year.....despite being HUNG OVER! The real question, was it worth it to party with my friends the night before the race? I've been training for about 3 months, running long distances and short distances when sometimes it would be way more fun to just sit on the couch and watch a game. Well you're damn right it was worth it! If you can't live your life and have fun with your friends, there is no point in running. You just better be ready to deal with the consequences of being a horse's ass!