So, yesterday I ran my umpteenth half marathon. Honestly, I have no idea how many I’ve run but I’m probably close to 30 or so given I’ve been running races for over a decade and run anywhere from 2-4 a year. Anyway, yesterday was one for the books…but not in a great way.
Last week, I came home to find my car damaged. There’s a large dent and one of the front panels was popped out. Apparently someone struck the median side of my parked car. How? No idea. That was irritating enough but I’ve brushed it off. What I didn’t consider is that an impact of that size would have set my alarm off. Thereby draining the battery.
Enough set up? So, at 0430 yesterday morning, I went out to my car to make the drive to Baton Rouge for the Louisiana half marathon only to find my car dead. Thankfully I have a self-jumper (highly recommend for everyone) and was able to jump start my car. While I was doing so, I watched a large raccoon cross into my yard, which I found amusing. The car troubles only set me back about 15 minutes but it set the tone of the day.
My friend and I made it to the race start without issue. I was excited to run and thought I’d do well. The first two miles changed my mind on that. Both my arches were sore from the start. Not sure why, as I haven’t typically had issue with them during any training runs. By 2.6 miles, I was walking. I knew this didn’t bode well. I’ve gone out for a half before with zero training and done better. What’s a runner to do?
So, I walked/ ran and pressed on. I decided to enjoy the day as much as I could and snapped some photos as I ran through the beautiful campus of LSU. GEAUX TIGERS!
Did I mention that overnight the temperature had dropped about 30°? The majority of the race wound its way around University Lake. It was beautiful but the wind coming across the lake made the weather mostly unbearable. I was not dressed for it at all. I was dressed for mid-50s but not the frigid wind. Alas.
I finished. I even PRd. For my longest half marathon time ever. In over a decade, I’ve never been so close to 3 hours. My watch time (I’m not counting the five or so minutes I had to stand in line for the porta-potties that will be factored into my official time) was 2:48:38. I was starving by the time I crossed the finish line but I still finished strong.
Thankfully Louisiana races offer way better food at the finish than unripe bananas and dry bagels. There was gumbo and grits. To go with my day, I spilled gumbo on my hand not once, but 3 times. Ugh. It still tasted great.
My car made it back to my friend’s rental but had to be jumped again to get back to New Orleans. At that point I was super annoyed and had written off the day.
Fortunately, the rest of the day was uneventful. However, my car is on E and I was scared it wouldn’t start again if I took it to the gas station. So I have to figure out getting gas in the next couple days and apparently it needs to go to the shop for a new battery.
Not all days are perfect. There will always be inconveniences and sometimes they pile up. Thankfully there are good friends, sunshine, running, cute bartenders, and good food.
