Running hurts: February 2014

So the race has came and went and I am still reflecting on some things that could've been done differently, but I am truly happy with the overall fact that I completed this 15k race. Last year at this time, I couldn't even barely run 3-6 miles without dying. This year here I am a finisher of this magnificent race.
The night before the race a group of wonderful ladies joined me in a pre race dinner to carb load. I enjoyed the company. I don't get out a lot, I am sort of a homebody (much like my mother, eeek....just kidding mom, love you). We ate, we enjoyed company outside the confines of work. We later went to Liz's house and played cards and my girls played with Jana's daughters and Liz's daughter. It' s all they talk about even now. Oh and what a horse Liz's dog is. He's ginormous. I am really proud of Liz. She did the 5k race. It was steep with its bridges but she finished.
Off to bed I went around 11-12 am and up at 4 ish. Man was that rough. I hate mornings.
First thing I should've done differently, that I normally do on all other runs, prepare the night before. I couldn't find my compression sleeves that I wear on all race days. One was missing so I had to go without. I grabbed a banana out of the fridge and started eating it on the way to the race. I was trying to get there to catch the shuttle to the start line. I took one bite and about gagged. It was damn green banana. Puke. I launched that sucker out the window on Garcon Point Bridge. I got to the shuttle and waited for Holly. I ran into Beth while waiting. I also ran into Candy who I hadn't seen since last year at the Gulf Coast Half Marathon, (Semper Fi Marine). Holly finally arrived with her future sister n law, Katie, (who started running last year too) and gave me some lovely sporty jelly beans. I tried them out, just a couple. They tasted like pure vitamins, but settled well.
We got separated on the buses but then met back up at the starting area. She was headed to the bathroom for prerace unload. :)
We went to our time corrals. Katie and I headed to the 11 min mile while Holly went to the 10minute corral. We waited for each gun shot to go off before heading out.
I started off doing great. My first three miles were averaging 10:30 range. I was super excited. I slowed a bit in mile 4 when we were onto the three mile bridge. Somewhere between mile 4-5 I got fatigued so decided to eat the rest of my sporty jelly beans. I popped a bunch in my mouth and went on. About 15-30 mins later the bubble guts started. I got off the bridge and hit the next watering station at about mile 6 and took a good 20sec break to drink a glass of water to see if it would ease my tummy. Oh no. I started running again and side stitches started. I kept saying "you only have 3 more miles" As I was headed up the small ramp to toward Bob Sikes Bridge I seen a Krispy Kreme truck. The darn thing had me thinking about damn donuts. Who does that? Me, however, I was not the only one. A bunch of runners were calling out after the truck. It was kind of comical. I stopped again at the next water station to ease my side stitch just before heading up Bob Sike's bridge. Then I attempted to get up that bridge without walking but dang was it hard. I was going so slow. I was never so glad to get to the downward slope. I finished the race with an aching side and bubbling gut but dang it I finished it. My finishing time 1:54: 30sec. I had hoped to run it in 1: 40 some odd minutes but i'll take that 1:54 with the thought in mind that there is always the next race.
After the race I beelined to the Cactus Flower to unload. It was terrible. I felt like I was vagaling out. I was seeing stars. Before I left the beach, I had gone to the bathroom 4x before I left the beach, then several more times at home. The splitting headache happened with nausea. I was so dehydrated. I hydrated and rested all day. I finally googled my symptoms. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before but it's runner's diarrhea. It's caused by internal organs josling around and increasing motility. One suggestion that I never thought about doing, was taking immodium before running. It's worth a try to see if it helps.
I am not unhappy with my race, but I am a little disappointed that I didn't do a little better with my times. I know I need to really try incorporating tempo runs in my weekly regime. I took yesterday off. Thank goodness I worked as it forced me to walk and relieve the stiff soreness from my muscles. My abs hurt, my butt hurts, those bridges worked me out. I even used my frenemy,,, the foam roller.
Today I did a tempo run with walk breaks. My first mile was 10:06. I walked some then ran fast paces, with some ranging in the 8 min range. My overall time for 3 miles was 33:48 which was not bad for walk breaks in between for a tempo run.