Holiday Half Via a 10K

"This is a total sh!t show." is how I described this race before we ever hit the start line. It DID improve, but let's back up!

I had been wanting to do the Holiday Half Marathon in Portland for years. I saw photos of people dressed up in fun festive attire, promises of cookies and carolers on the course, cute medals. This had my name all over it! When Dustin suggested it to Lady Storm Squad I knew this would be my year! Plus Jenn was doing it, and as it turns out even more friends, so clearly 2018 was meant to be ... or was it?

As I talked about in the prior post, I've been having a very difficult, frustrating and painful battle with Meniere's Disease this last week. Up until an hour before the race I didn't even know if I would be running it at all, and if I did, what distance would I do? I was registered for the half. I was physically prepared for 13.1 miles. Clearly I could NOT do that given my vestibular system hating me. 13.1 miles just wouldn't be fun or safe.

So I got to packet pick up to grab my bib and shirt. I talked to the lady in charge of changing distances and explained my situation. It is a $10 charge to change distance, even if you're dropping miles. Uh.. seriously? We half marathon registrants paid more than anybody else! "If I switch to 10K now and then tomorrow I feel like I can only do the 5K, so I have to pay again?" YES! She told me I could find her before the race at her table and make my official distance change then, and save myself some money if I was able to run. Fabulous! What a sense of relief I had!

It was still dark and just under two hours to race time when we left St Helens for Portland and the start line. This SHOULD have been plenty of time. Technically it was, but ...  We got off the freeway and were immediately bumper to bumper not moving. Cars were passing and then cutting in at the last minute, just causing more stress for all involved. I saw the time ticking away and felt panic set in knowing I was still set to run 13.1 miles according to the timing system. With maybe 20 minutes to spare we were finally parking. My baby fell asleep, so I was completely solo for this big jumble of chaos. I grabbed everything I needed for running in case I couldn't get back to the car. Shawn gave me $10 to change my distance so I wouldn't have to grab my card. And off I went, rushing to the building where I encountered a solid mob of people standing around staying warm. I had to worm my way through and found where packet pick up was, and the girl I talked to yesterday. I let her know I did need to drop my distance and she said I could ONLY do it if I had written permission, like an email from the race director. WHAT THE WHAT??!! This was never mentioned before! I have to have permission to NOT run a half marathon now? "What happens if I just turn at the 10K turnaround and head back? I am not racing anyone. I don't want my time to look like I ran a half marathon that fast. It's not fair to everyone else." In the end we decided I wouldn't have an official clock time (fine by me, I have a Garmin) and I could just take the timing chip off of the back of my bib. Phew!!

Now I had 13 minutes until the race started and I had on a fleece jacket. Do I have time to squish through this crowd, get to the card, ditch it, and get back to find Dustin so we could run together? Meanwhile Jenn was still stuck in traffic not yet able to park! It was insanity!!

I DID make it back to the car, grabbed a quick sip of water, ditched the coat and rushed back into the thick of things where I was pretty easily able to find Dustin. Hallelujah!!

As it turns out, neither of our moms wanted us to race, so it worked out perfectly that we started this together. She did do the full 13.1 miles, but I had the lovely pleasure of running my first 3.1 with her. It was really the highlight of this whole experience. Thank you, Dustin!!

Was the race all they hyped it up to be? Eh, if you enjoy industrial views, then you got those. The road was in great condition, so as far as running surface this was top notch! The carolers? I saw half of the course and only at Adidas were there 4 people singing. Some high school kids had cookies in a spot, which was my main motivation for this race! An unexpected treat, which at first freaked me out, was the snow at the start line! It was VERY cold and very windy when we were waiting to start. When I saw a white fleck in the sky I really did think we were getting real snow and it didn't surprise me. But to find out it was fake and we got to start with "snow" and Christmas music, well that was pretty cool! Inside the Daimler building were some vendors and photo ops, with Elf being shown on the walls. That was nice, mostly because it was warm. What I'm saying is I think they over-advertised and slightly under-delivered. The bibs, shirts and medals are totally cute! I liked that Freddi the Yeti was there as the mascot. It was all very nice, I just think they needed a little more traffic control to get everyone in and able to start on time. And a little more life on the course wouldn't have hurt.

I was meant to find this car while running in my Griswold shirt!

So the running part .... Dustin and I did great! We just steadily moved along and got into a good zone of talking while running. Emily came upon us near the cookies, so that keeps our tradition going of finding each other without even trying!

At my half way point I bid Dustin adieu and started working my way back to the finish line. It wasn't long after that I saw Jenn.  Poor thing started 15 minutes late because of traffic! I also got to see Emily again, as well as Donna and Julie. Seeing all my running friends was the highlight of this race for me.

Also at the half way point I started getting my new daily migraine. I focused on my *NSync Christmas album play list and tried to pretend I wasn't hurting. My legs felt great, so that helped me get home faster! When I was at 4.5 miles the half marathon winning male came smoking by me.... in his booty shorts and tank top. IT WAS SO COLD!! Oh my gosh, that reminds me! Dustin and I saw a barefoot runner by us at the start, and then later I saw someone running in sandals.  TOO COLD! I had on gloves, two hats, pants, knee socks, shoes, THREE skirts and TWO shirts!

Did I need this ambulance? NO!! 

The last mile was essentially downhill, so I loved it and went as fast as my Meniere's would allow. Vertigo didn't kick in until a couple minutes after I had finished. Phew! I got so lucky!!

At the end they tried to give me a half marathon medal because of my bib. I didn't take it. I wanted the 10K, its what I ran. Besides, that would have made me the first place half marathon woman! At a water stop race people came through on bicycles saying the half marathon lead was coming and to clear a path. Given I had a half marathon bib on I took that opportunity to joke that I was in fact the lead runner!

Once I was done I grabbed water, went inside to check things out, got some photos and then went to the car to see my snoring baby still all comfy and warm while I was out testing myself. Lucky girl! But then things hit harder and I had to lay back in my seat and just head home without getting to see my friends finish their races. Turns out the rain hit after I was done - and everyone got soaked. Dang.

Will I do this one again? I really don't know. I guess I will decide that next year when it gets closer. I enjoyed it, but there were hiccups and chaos that just felt like I didn't need to repeat it right away. We'll see!

Dilemma: Running With The Invisible Illness

This is the current status of my life:

Ever since I started running I have wanted to do the Holiday Half Marathon in Portland. It just never worked into my schedule. This year a fellow member of Lady Storm Squad suggested the race. I couldn't pass it up! That race is on Sunday. It is Friday evening now.

Back up to last Sunday. 10 miles on my training plan. I woke up with enough vertigo that I didn't feel safe running 10 miles away from home. We went to my mom's house to load up her treadmill so I could borrow it and try to get in my miles. I ran 3.

Monday I felt pretty alright, but time got away from me and I never ran.

Then Tuesday happened.

Life since Tuesday is all a blur. I feel like I've lost days.

Extreme vertigo. Daily migraines. Terrible nausea. Rushing to the bathroom at work so I don't throw up at my desk (I got lucky, never did lose my breakfast!). Sunglasses at work because I don't even want my eyes open. Brain fog. Intense, full ears that make me want to cry. Difficulty speaking. Unable to walk without my cane. The slowest walking EVER just because it is all I can manage. (It took me ten minutes to get from my desk to my car. This is probably 8 minutes or more slower than normal.) The floor moving all around like the psychedelic Circus Circus scenes in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. 

If I am lying down it doesn't hurt AS bad, but it is all still there. I can sit up for maybe 20 minutes if I'm lucky, and then I have to lay down again. I haven't been able to even fix my own food or food for my baby. Heck, even eating is hard. Forget about driving. I had to get picked up from work twice this week. Two days I couldn't even last my whopping 4 hours at work before having to go home.

But yeah, remember what is happening? The race.

To everyone that sees me I don't look sick. I don't have a cold. I don't have the flu. There isn't anything about me that would tell you I have an annoying invisible illness. I just get to suffer with Meniere's Disease, and apparently this week is going to be the absolute worst I have had in the 15 years I've been dealing with it.

And now I have to figure out what to do. The runner in me wants to run so darn bad. 

The current plan -- go to Portland tomorrow. Get my bib and shirt. And then I will decide do I run 13.1? Do I downgrade to 10k? Do I downgrade all the way to 5k? Do I skip it all together and instead show up to cheer on my friends and give them their bibs so they can have fun running and then just plan on next year instead?

I DON'T KNOW!!

This sucks.

Whining done. For now.