04 September 2007

So. Much. Pain....

Weight this morning: 299.2 lbs.

Oh boy. That was rough! I hurt in places I didn't expect (back, shoulders, toes) and of course, in the usual places (legs, feet) BUT not as bad as I thought I would. I actually felt the worse during the first hour after the race. Cramps suck.

It was an experience to say the least and very hard. I met with Kim and her husband at the start and we were off, of course they outpaced me and I just tried not to burn out too quickly. The challenging thing about this course is that the toughest hill is at the beginning which in retrospect is probably a good thing since if it had been near the end, I probably would have died. I was actually pretty good through the first 4 miles or so, but then my hips and left ankle really started to hurt and my pace really slowed down. The last mile and a half, all I did was stare at the ground and focused on putting one foot in front of the other, if there was another hill ahead I didn't want to see it.

I didn't have my iPod with me so I was pretty much left to my own thoughts and I thought a lot about this whole journey of mine over the last 15 months or so when I first contact Dr. Marchesini to pulling together the money to going to Brazil, coming home and working my tool. At around the 2.5 mile mark, I got a little teary-eyed because it was a little overwhelming for me to realize that I was actually doing this and then again when I crested the last !@#$-ing hill and saw that the end was right there. I had the slightest burst of energy and when I reached the finish, I plopped myself down on the ground. I was unsteady and exhausted. My legs and feet started to cramp. I sat there for like 5 minutes, called a few people to let them know I finished and cried some more.

I finally got up and struggled my way toward the food, most of which had been already devoured by the 12,198 people who had finished before me, but I grabbed two apples, two bottles of Gatorade and devoured those in record time. I stumbled my way to get my hat and t-shirt and I was good to go, until I saw the crazy line to catch the shuttle buses back to the start. It looked to be another mile or so I knew I couldn't do it so I found a cool spot under a tree and plopped myself down and finished off a protein bar. When the line was gone, I walked over and caught the shuttle to my car and went to my friend's house. I drank two bottles of water and had two 5 inch pancakes with butter and syrup.

About an hour later I had a couple slices of deli turkey and ham and then the killer fatigue set in. I went to sleep and slept for almost 3 hours. I got up, cleaned up and we went out to eat to celebrate where I had a couple of onion rings, about 6 chicken wings and a Diet Coke. By the time I got home, it was maybe 10PM so I made myself a protein shake and I went to bed. Sleeping was a little restless, I dared not move too much and I feel a little wiped out this morning, but I'm surprised I feel as good as I do. Believe you me, I am in pain, but I seriously feared that I wouldn't be able to get around at all, but thankfully I can, just not very fast or with any grace. I got a pretty good semi-hunched over waddle going on.

A couple of DS specific things:
Water: They had water and/or Gatorade stations every mile and I regretted not carrying a bottle of Gatorade with me. I wore this little backpack thingy that I kept my essentials in and I'm glad I had it, but I wish I had some backup liquid with me. I was surprised at how well the Gatorade worked, I tried to drink 2-3 cups full at the 2- and 4-mile marks, they only had water at the other ones. That sucked.

Poop: They had port-a-potties at the beginning, the 4-mile mark (I think) and the end. I went twice before the race (no poop) and didn't go until I got to my friend's house and I pooped a lot. I felt my stomach rumble quite a bit during the race but I just could poop in a port-a-potty. Totally gross. BTW, I totally believe the idea that exercise helps with constipation.

Food: I talked to Kim early Sunday evening and she mentioned "carbing up" for the race. I had no idea about that so I went out and bought some Gatorade and two plain baked potatoes from Wendy's. I ate one baked potato with some butter, salt & pepper and I mixed some protein powder (46g protein) with the Gatorade and drank that and called it a night. That morning, I had drank another 32 oz Gatorade with 46g of protein and another 26g protein drink before the race. No solid food. I don't know if that was a problem or not. I had planned on eating the other potato in the morning, but didn't.

Supplements: I took all my supplements except for the diuretic. I was just unsure about whether or not it could hasten dehydration so I opted not to take it and I made sure I drank as much fluid as I could. I also tripled my Potassium.

Weight: Morning of the race, I weighed in at 300.6 lbs. I wish I could have weighed after the race to see the difference, especially with how many carbs I had over the previous 18 hours or so and with the water loss. It was funny because after all my sweat had dried, I had all these salt crystals on my neck and face. This morning I weighed in at 299.2 lbs which I am totally happy about considering everything.

Well, the first few hours after the race I swore there was no way in hell that I would ever do that again, but now I am not so sure. I averaged 25 min miles, I would like to do better. I didn't train for too many hills and in the next few months, I will keep that in mind. There is a 5K walk in October that I will probably do, compared to this 10K -- piece of cake!

Today, I may amp up the protein a little bit, maybe sneak in an extra shake. I don't think I need to do much outside of that. Overall, good experience and I'm happy I did it although I am in no hurry to do it again. I am going to start hitting the gym, probably beginning of next week so hopefully the experience of my next 10 or 5K will be better.

Woo-hoo!!! BTW, I am totally framing my race number!

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Tia! I really enjoy your blog. I'm trying to lose weight too, and reading about your journey is really helpful. Thank you. -Rose

September 4, 2007 at 3:36 PM  
Blogger Aussieabroad said...

I'm just way impressed that you did 10km. Take it easy and take care of your bod... it's bound to hurt a little.

Frame it? Gold plate it girl!

September 4, 2007 at 9:30 PM  

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