Half Marathon Calf Cramp

My one-word resolution for 2012 is finish. Completing tasks and projects has been an all too common issue for me for the longest time. Since the beginning of the year, my primary focus has been to finish whatever I start no matter how small or large the project is. I've been able to check off items one by one and yesterday's Med City Marathon was one heck of a finish.

My sister and I ran the Med City Half Marathon and even drove the course the day before in anticipation of the reported first 8 miles of rolling country hills. Now, I'm a city a girl. The tiny hill on Minnehaha Creek that goes up Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis was the biggest hill I encountered throughout the entire 12 weeks of training. I'm now giggling at my silly huffs and puffs up that Lyndale hill.

Anyway, we arrived to the race 15 minutes before the start time, enough time to hit the port-a-potties and 2 minutes worth of stretching. Waking up at 3:45am to dress ourselves, pack snacks, dress 6 children ages 13-months to 10-years, and get ourselves on the road by 5:40 for a 7:00 am start in Rochester was quite the enterprise. Our pre-race adventure also included a police pull over for speeding. God Bless the officer for letting my mother go and wishing us luck.

The starting line energy was awesome! I love the rush of pre-race chatter, the great force of hope that comes from 2,500 + bodies waiting to be in motion, and the stories waiting to unfold.

Here's my story. We started off great. Without my beloved Nike+ GPS watch, I had no idea how fast we were running and therefore no mental whisper telling me to slow down. My sister did tell me when it no longer mattered that our beginning pace was 9'17. Those hills hit at mile 2 and we were running strong with a 9'30 pace going uphill. With my ipod for distraction and a few of Jeff Galloway's mental tricks, I was good. At every uphill, I imagined that the person's legs in front of me were pulling me along.

Things got hairy though soon after the 4 mile mark. My sister lost her her ipod while taking her GU from her Spibelt. We stopped so she could turn around and look for it with no luck. I wasn't too worried because she's so competent. I even thought if it gets bad, I could sing to her. God was in total command though because it had to be no more than a mile later when my ipod completely shut off and would not come back on. My thinking was Sugar Honey Iced Tea! With 2 miles left, how in the world would I mentally make it? Anxiety took hold of me. My left calf began to twitch and all I wanted to do was walk.

I'm so mad at myself still, even with all the perspective that 24 hours gives. At the 6 mile mark or somewhere before or after, the first charlie horse seized my calf and I had to stop and stretch. All of our pace dreams ran past us. From that point, I was stopping to stretch every 2 minutes. I had a similar calf cramp experience 5 weeks prior with my first 10 mile long run and knew I had to keep stretching out the muscle. I encountered one final charlie horse that laid me out completely on the side of the road, sand all over my back, with my sister standing over me pushing against my foot and massaging the extreme cramp away. She had to call my husband. A medic was also called and soon after, a truck with sirens rushed to us and skidded to a screeching halt avoiding other runners. I was so embarrassed! Needless to say, I was soon able to stand up and walk.

That had to have been the worst calf cramp of my life. Enough to scream out God's name. No way could I handle another one. And no way did I want another cramp that would prevent me from finishing my first half marathon. We made the decision to walk the rest of the race. We crossed the finish line together.

Time: 3'09

That's the story.

I knew as soon as I begin walking the rest of the way, that I had something to prove. First, I had to finish the race. Secondly, I knew there would be another half marathon in my very near future. It's so gosh darn wonderful to have today's drive and determination to start and finish another half marathon. I feel the drive and determination pumping through me so much harder than it did 48 hours ago.

Of course, 3'09 is not the half marathon finish I hoped for. I definitely feel, however, that my 12 weeks of training prepared me to finish a race. I am so grateful for the 2012 Med City Marathon.

What's immediately next? I'm going to finish crocheting my 13-month old daughter's blanket, and I'm going to prepare for this weekend's first book club meeting.

Oh yeah...I can't wait to run again.