On Tuesday, after a week of being ill and barely able to stand, nevermind walk or run, I find myself in the pickle of wanting to do the Worthington 5 mile race. Hmmm, what to do?
So of course, I do the most stupid thing you can after being ill and decide to do the race in the rain. Yes, you read right, in the rain. We went and entered 45 minutes before the start and stood outside with the drizzle making us sufficiently wet to not want to wear the clothes we are in, but dry enough to not change into anything else just yet.
It was Andy's first race and I really wanted him to enjoy it. So, at the start, we were joking about chafing of nipples etc, and he laughed when I mentioned that it does happen. We started too fast - the first mile flew by in 8 minutes, and we were aiming to do them in about 9 minutes each to just finish in 45 minutes.
Two and a half miles into the race I felt the first warning sign - a cramp in my back. I told Andy to carry on, and 200m later, I was in enough pain to bring me to a grinding halt - leaving me to walk up the hill to the 3 mile mark. I wanted to scream, but since there were still some other people around, managed to keep it in for a while.
The four mile mark came too slow. It was still quite fast, but definitely took me too long to get there. Now there was only a mile left. I tried to keep the pace - the end was almost there! 200 yards and it happened. I fell to the ground, my back in a spasm that didn't listen to my pleas to leave. It held me there. Some marshals ran to my aid, as did some of the other runners that had already finished.
I stood up after a while and finished the race while walking. I wasn't proud of how it happened. It was horrible. Andy went to get the car and came to pick me up so we could go home. My first race since we started running had ended horribly.
The next day I was in bed. As ill as I was the week before, and feeling ten times worse. I learnt my lesson - stay in bed when ill, don't run, and when you start again, take it easy. It isn't worth the pain to put such stress on your body when it is still weak after its battles with the germs.
I've rested since, and feel a lot better today - this weekend I'll take it easy and start training again next week. I might take it a little easier than I want to, but at least I won't get ill again.
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