Mad Marathon – Shortest Recap ever

I ran the Mad 1/2 and it was 13.1 miles of dry heaving fun. No, that is not an exaggeration. I wish that it was. I truly spent 2 hours dry heave running. Up hill, dry heave, down hill, dry heave, running on flats through field, dry heave. Oh yeah. It was a blast. All I have to say is that it was the best scenery that I have ever seen bent over and trying to vomit. No more toilets for me, I will drive to Waitsfield from now on for all my puking!

I normally drive myself to my races or at least ride in the front while Alan drives. This race was a little different. I rode down to Waitsfied from Burlington with my friend Jamie and since her parents were going too I was in the back. I tried to roll down my window and stare out the front. No such luck. I got to the race ok and hoped that I would recover from the car ride. Again, no such luck. After I finished all I wanted to do was curl into the fetal position. Instead we high tailed it back to the car where I continued my “please do not vomit in these peoples car that I just met this morning”. Unfortunately, I had to ask for them to pull over along side the highway so I could vomit a little. Luckily we were close enough to their house so that it was only a one time pull over plea. Once I got to my car I was able to keep my stomach under control and made it home safely.

Shockingly, I beat my time from last year by about six seconds. Kind of hard to believe! I finished and I’ll take it as a win. Also, another learning experience for future races. With my goal 1/2 marathon in late fall I know exactly what I need to do to get into shape and I am all for the hard work that I know I need to put in. If it was easy, everyone would do it. I need to get comfortable with the uncomfortableness of running and not be afraid of the pain. I need to get comfortable with pushing myself and also learn to trust and believe in myself. Here is to the summer of 2012 – the summer of no more fear!