5 May 2019
Irene Agricultural Research Council Farm
My very first wings for life world run.
The object of the event is to keep running/ walking until the chasing car catches you (it starts 30 minutes after the event has started at 15km/h and increases by 1km/h every hour). 100% of entry fees goes towards spinal cord research.
The night before I had gone to Monster Jam at FNB stadium, and didn't eat supper and battled to get to sleep. This meant that on Sunday I was feeling exhausted. As the race was at 1pm, I ate as close as possible to 9am, which was 2 fried eggs and a coconut pancake with nut butter - clearly the 17 hour fast did not agree with my stomach as I had gastro soon after eating. I also had a flat panic before leaving home as I realized that I had put on my 2018 license number and not 2019 - this meant everyone had to help me to hunt down my license numbers as a matter of urgency! But we managed to find a pair of 2019 numbers, that I swiftly put onto my running top.
As the race was at 1pm I wanted to go to the monthly market at Ngwenya Glass Village - we left home at 9:30. The market was smaller than expected and the stall I wanted to see was unfortunately not there. As Dakota had not had breakfast and it was still earlyish (10:15) we decided to sit and order something. I had a black coffee - I was meant to have my Keto Fat Bomb with it, but forgot it in the car. Service was unfortunately very slow and instead of leaving at 11am, we left at 11:30am - we needed to be in the start chutes by 12:30. I was going to order another coffee from one of the vendors to take away, so that I could have my coffee bomb, but as luck would have it the poor guy had an airlock in his machine and I did not have the time to wait around.
In the car, on the drive to the venue I sipped on Keto Nutrition Exo - I really find that this product is easy to digest and prolongs my energy. We got to the venue at 12:15 - by this point I was feeling nervous. My gastro was acting up severely and I was suppose to meet the Mad Hatters at 12 to collect my socks and bow tie (The mad hatters was a group set up by Claudia who was doing the event in a wheelchair). Walking to the start, I was happy to spot the porta loo's and even happier that the line was not so long... Dakota was able to collect my socks and bow tie and afterwards we made our way to the start. Unfortunately because we were so late we had to start quite far behind in the mass of people.
1pm - start time.
It was a slow start, walked to the start banner and then dodged people for the first km, hopping on and off the grass on the side pavement. The first km was uphill, but breathing wise I was feeling good. I was actually surprised at the pace I was running up the hill. After this was just a lot of long sections. Uphills and down hills were not too steep, but just long and steady. I decided to not look at my pace or the time but rather just enjoy and see how far my legs got me. I lost my bow tie twice, which saw me have to turn around and lose my rhythm.
7km - In my mind, about halfway but in reality I had much further to go. People around me were talking about 25km as we were running 5 minutes per km.
10km - 51:33. I knew the catcher car would be at 15km in 1 hour 30, but I had already done so far but it was still a long time to 1 hour 30.
12km - I had water and 2 Threshhold MSM tablets. Legs were starting to feel tired but my pace was staying consistent.
15km - 1H17 - fastest 15km I have run in a long time. The water table was about 500m further and during the run I said to myself that I would have red bull at 15km, so I did.
After this I struggled. I still managed sub 6 minute per km pace, but I was just trying to make it to the next water table, wondering when the catcher car would catch me.
18km - I had some water and another red bull. Legs feeling heavy
20km - 1H46 - Mind broken. I decided to walk for about 300m or so (I got past by so many people) before I started hearing the catcher car. At this point I decided to sprint. Using all my energy I ran at about 5:15 to make it to the 21km mark. Most people decided to stop then and there but I took a slow jog to see how much further I could go - I wanted to be caught by the car, officially on the road.
400m later I was caught and very happy to stop and walk back to the 21km.
The bus drive back was painful and felt as long as the run. Nausea started settling in and I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up or pass out - I just wanted to crawl in a ball and sleep. My hands started tingling, which I have never experienced before. When we got back to the venue I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to walk or if I was going to crawl for my medal. Collecting my medal and a can of red bull I made my way to the bathrooms - downing the red bull on the way. My dad even commented that I looked like death warmed up - very rare for me to feel terrible and actually show it on the outside. It took a long while to feel better - I had my blood sugar taken (7.5) and blood pressure, which was apparently normal. After some water and hot chocolate I was feeling better and sat for a while on the grass, watching the coverage from other events around the world.
Driving home I felt alive - not sure if it was adrenaline, post running high, the red bull or I was over tired, but I was hyped up and it was clear for everyone.
My original goal was 15km, but with my bout of horrible breathing the last few days, my first long run post injury and gastro, I was concerned I was not even going to make 10km. I over exceeded my goal by 6km. I do believe I could have made 22km if I didn't walk and my mind was stronger, but I am still happy... If I had made it to 24km I would have had banana bread, had I known that in advance.
Overall I am ranked 1862 and in my age category I am 363.
I am not sure if I will be doing next year or not, but for this year I was proud to run for those who cant.
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