Why I fear the 26-minute mark

10.10.2010

I'll write a longer post about my race experience later, but I'm tired. So for right now all I'm going to say is that I finished my first half marathon, and I feel really good. I mean, I'm sore and tired, but my sense of accomplishment is at an all-time high.

This is not only due to the fact that I finished but because my #1 fear did not come true.

Let me preface by saying that during my training, I occasionally had a problem of needing to go to the bathroom.  

This brings me to my #1 fear: During my half marathon I feared I would have the unstoppable urge to release certain fluids, have to wait in a port-a-potty line for half an hour, and end up finishing the race at a slow waddle.

Well, today, while running, I realized something: in training, this emergency tended to happen right around the 26-minute mark. If I made it past 26 minutes without having to go, I was fine.

It was at this point in the race that I happened to look at my watch and see that I'd been running for exactly 23 minutes. I immediately started to panic. I had 3 minutes until something exploded.

Long story short, I spent the next 3 minutes running in fear, but thankfully nothing happened. I did almost throw up once I stopped running, but my mid-run bathroom nightmare didn't come to pass.

I did, however, think about this off and on throughout the race, and it sounded a little something like this: Hey! I haven't had to go to the bathroom yet! Stop thinking about it, you idiot. It will hear you. (Not really sure what "it" is referring to here...)

But as I neared the 12.5 mark, I saw someone holding this sign, which pretty much defines my running experience and also occasional road trips with my dad.

I wonder if she's speaking from personal experience. All I know is, I'm glad I didn't have to follow her advice. At least, not today.

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