Not every race can be a good race October 14, 2014
Posted by mareserinitatis in Fargo, running.Tags: banana, racing, running
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Earlier this year, I had this crazy idea that I should participate in a race every month during the second half of the year. I came up with this idea before I realized that August and September are usually pretty bad months for me due to asthma. Nevertheless, I’ve been sticking it out, and I ran a 10K this past weekend as part of that self-challenge.
It was a lovely morning, though rather cool. The sun was shining, there was no wind. I had my hat/balaclava thing to keep my face covered. I feel like Sub Zero or Kitana from Mortal Combat when I’m wearing that. There are other better masks out there…but those make the wearer look like Bane. Either way, you can’t win, but at least I was prepared.
It was grueling. The run took place along some of Fargo’s most lovely trails, but I was still having difficulty with my asthma. The problem when you’re having a tough time breathing is that it’s awfully hard to concentrate on the scenery, but I did as well as I could. I also was feeling sluggish, which I attribute to lack of pre-race banana. Still, I made it through. While I was hoping to cut about 4 min. from my previous 10k time, it was only about a third of that. Still, I got done and actually felt really good the rest of the day and suffered none of the ‘racer mortis’ that plagues me after a 10+ mile run. Despite the fact that it was a hard run, I did show signs of improvement and I didn’t feel awful the rest of the weekend.
The truly disappointing thing about this race, though, was that there was almost nothing I could eat at the end. The available food included biscuits, cookie dough, chicken noodle soup, and chocolate milk. Wheat and dairy. No bananas!
I’d never been at a race before without bananas. It broke my heart. I looked like the purple guy here:
I also don’t handle milk very well but chanced it by taking a couple swallows before throwing out the remainder of the carton. (And yes, it was the best chocolate milk I’ve ever had. Anything you have after a race is always the best you’ve ever had.)
I was incredibly disappointed that I couldn’t eat the cookie dough. I’ve never wanted cookie dough that badly. I’ve decided for future races that I’m going to try to make my own and bring it along. That way, if there are no bananas, I’ll have something to eat. And if there’s no cookie dough, then everyone else will be purple with envy.
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