Rough week

Happy Friday everyone. I've been meaning to post all week but I've got to tell you, I've had a rough week. I've been a single parent while the husband is away (in Santa Monica...sooooo jealous). I've had the flu, I'm having troubles fitting in workouts while husband is away and I had the post race blues...

As many of you know I've been battling a slight injury and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run the Victoria Goddess Run last Sunday.

Well after being away last week in Calgary Alberta, I flew into Victoria Saturday afternoon to my lovely husband waiting for me with a beautiful bouquet of pink peonies (my absolute fav!!!). 

From the airport I had to go pick up my race package regardless of me running or not. I got to the expo grabbed my package and decided despite not being ready to race I was going to do the half anyways. Don't worry my coach was okay with it as long as I promised to stop running if there was pain. Now a lot of people give me grief for racing when I'm not optimal but here's the thing. Not all races are going to go well. My theory was that when I race my Calgary Ironman in July I might be hot, I might be very tired, things could go wrong in my estimated 6 hour time and I need to be able to still finish. So last Sunday, despite not having run more than 8 km in 4 weeks I decided to just do it.

~pre-race photo with my lovely Goddess Girl Friends~

I have to say this was a super fun race! I had lots of friends running the half, the 10km and the 5km and I love seeing my fellow girls out pounding the pavement. 

So how did the race go?

~At the start~

My start was great! I felt really good and had a great pace. I thought I might even break 2 hours. Only problem is I might have gone out a little too fast. I lost steam around 8km (maybe because that's the longest I had run in 4 weeks). Then my injured knee got sore so I had to back off. I even walked for a few minutes. I was still happy around 15km but then I started feeling nauseous. I was scared to take in another gel. I had to stop at all of the water stations to sip some Gatorade. It started getting ugly. Yet I was still on track for getting a sub 2 hour. At around the 18km mark I was falling apart. My knee was getting more sore, I was fighting my body to not throw up and my legs were seizing up. I was not happy. That's when I decided There was not going to be a sub 2 hour today. I sucked up my pride and slowed right down. I stopped at the last water station and took my time. I had a couple of friends on course cheering me on and I put on a big smile but inside I was miserable. I honestly was not confident that I was going to be able to run to the finish. But, I did, and I got this cute necklace.

I filled up with oranges and water at the finish and regrouped with my lovely half Goddess's.

~We had lovely weather~

So all and all, I am happy I did it! I know I can keep going when the going is tough.

Now I am preparing for my next race. The Subaru Victoria Olympic Triathlon.

This is not a priority race for me so I will be treating it more as a training session but it will be good. I'm really looking forward to it. 

Before I sign off today I just want to send a little shout out to all of those single parents out there. My 1 week has nothing on what you guys do day in and day out. Parenting is tough enough as it is.

Also, for those in the San Fran area See Jane Run has a super fab race this weekend. If you live in the area it's worth checking out.  They do still need volunteers and there will be chocolate!