The non-exciting times of running

Ethan and I traveled to Madison on Saturday afternoon to spend the night and run the Madison half-marathon the next morning. We had a wonderful evening, and the girls were being cared for, with no worries, at home by Nana and Papa - having a great time. E and I had a nice dinner at our favorite place in Madison - Outback Steakhouse. After dinner we went to the Union Terrace for some ice cream and to relax near the water. We were able to find a seat out on a pier and watch the boats go by, listen to the band from the terrace and watch the worry of the parents whose children had no fear to go right up to the edge to see the ducks. So we had a most relaxing evening. I was not nervous about the run the next morning. We rose around 5:30 and headed to the start around 6:30am. The temperature was already in the high 60s and expected to be 71 by either 7am or 8am, I can't remember. We made it downtown and found a parking spot without any trouble. We lined up near the 2:10 pacer. Which believe it or not with 5100 runners I saw the older sister of a friend from Sheboygan. I was hoping to run this time or a little better. Ethan was running with me for the whole thing. He had no agenda other than to run with me since he just ran a full marathon 2 weeks ago. The first 3 miles went by rather quickly. I felt like I was running the crazy legs race backwards. By mile 6 or 7 I was hurting - my shoulder had an aching pinching feeling in the right one. Later it went to the left. By mile 8 or 9 we were walking every now and then. I was thirsty and couldn't wait for the next water stop. This should have been a clue. We did not bring our own water bottles because we had looked on the website previously and it seemed as though they would have water and gatorade a lot - this was not the case. There was not as much gatorade as we thought. I have never walked so much and felt so awful during a race. We made it to the finish but it was tough and my day of fun was not over yet. Another side note -the older sister of someone I used to run with on the cross country team somehow recognized me near the finish and was cheering for me with my maiden name. I started to hyperventilate after we crossed the line. Needless to say I could not catch my breath and ended up in a medical tent. Turns out I was overheated and dehydrated. They put bags and bags of ice around my body to cool me down. They took my temperature (not fun how they had to do it) and it was 102.8. My blood pressure was not great either. At one point it was 76 over 45 and some paramedics had a stretcher waiting by my cot ready to take me to the hospital because they were worried about my bp and my temperature. The doctor told them to wait, thank goodness, and instead they hooked me up to an IV for fluids. The IV helped a lot, along with some gatorade to drink finally. Eventually I was able to walk out of the tent with Ethan and strict instructions to rest, drink, eat, and no exertion! It felt like a long walk to the car and because I still had not eaten much my stomach didn't feel the best. Luckily by the time we were back at our hotel and I had eaten a banana I started to feel much better. We showered, checked out and headed to Micky's Dairy Bar for some yummy breakfast actually brunch because it was 1pm. Monday was a low key day for us because I was very tired and my body ached all over. Today is Wednesday and I took the girls for a walk this morning in the cool temperatures of 65 and overcast. It felt good. We are still going ahead with plans to train for a full in September. I will just have to be very diligent and careful with my hydration and heat. Needless to say the run was one to not remember. I had hoped it would be a fun half-marathon for Ethan and I running it together but it really was not any fun. They actually called all the races at 4 hours because of the heat and they had medical staff telling them too many people were going down. There were some people in the medical tent a lot worse off than me. The girl next to me was put in an ice bath because she was so overheated. Later I overheard her father say someone they knew was delirious and in shock - this explains the commotion and screaming we had heard briefly while lying in the tent. The doctors and medical students working the tent were fabulous. I had a team physician for the Badgers and she was wonderful. She told me now I know what it is like in an army tent - treat one, get them out, and move on. But believe it or not my time was nothing what I imagined. I figured with all the walking and how slow I felt I was running that our time would be way past 2:30 and possibly even close to 3:00 hours. Not the case. We finished in 2:18. I couldn't believe it!