Ragnar & A Half Marathon

Way back in January I started running.
I was running for a reason.

The Wasatch back/Ragnar race.
I put in many hours and ran a lot of miles in preparation for this race. I even ran the Pomerelle Mtn. road. It was a killer and I was so extremely sore from it. But I knew it would only make me stronger (once I could feel my legs again that is.....)

The weekend of the race finally arrived (way back in June).
Leg 1 down.
Leg 2 down.....sort of. This was a hard leg. I was so tired and exhausted. During this leg I thought I had a side stitch. I just ran through and kept on truckin'.
Later that night when it was our vans turn to get a shower and some sleep my stomach was very tender....right in the place where my stitch was at.
After a full belly I went to hit the sack and catch some zzzz's. Only it didn't go so well. My side progressively became more and more painful. I couldn't sleep it became so bad.
I finally got up and went outside to the aid station.

Verdict: Either appendicitis or colonitis.
Leg 3 was my hardest leg. 8 miles with 1.5 straight uphill climb. They advised me not to run any more.
But I trained too hard that I didn't NOT run my planned 3 legs. I did however switch with Troy's niece and took her easy 4 mile downhill instead.
It was very painful, I won't lie. But it wasn't un-bearable. I finished that leg and I just wanted to die. Every little bump in the van killed and it really hurt when I was walking around.

The following Monday I made an appointment with the Doctor.
The official verdict: Kidney stone! He told me that a 5mm kidney stone is pretty big. Mine was 7mm.
Just great.

Even though I didn't have an enjoyable finish, I am still very glad I did the race. It is a great feeling of accomplishment and all the long hard runs I did in preparation finally paid off.

Read some of my other teammates experiences here, here, here, and here.

Three weeks after the Ragnar, I was stupid and signed up for a half marathon. I was looking into running one right before Ragnar but hadn't made any commitment. But after Ragnar I started looking at some half marathon training schedules, which were VERY similar to all the training I did for Ragnar, I signed up.

I started and finished my first half marathon. I wouldn't say it was a great experience, but it was an experience. Half way through the race I was just mentally battling with myself to keep on moving and get to the finish line. Let's just say....girls, we have the visit every month and mine visited right smack in the middle of the race. Enough said. (Sorry if that embarrassed any one!) My time wasn't great, or at least in my mind what I wanted to run it in compared to actual running time. But I did it. And I really don't think I will want to run another one.

My body hits a wall pretty hard at 8 miles. I think I will stick to 10K's. :)
So there it is. My two big races. I have ran 4 times since my half marathon (on the 10th). Some days I feel lazy that I didn't run, but then there are days that I just want to rest. I just want to play with my kids, or clean the house, or do a little sewing. Just anything BUT run. And I think that is okay.

And for the record. I have yet to pass my kidney stone.