The Krauska Family Blog

March 19, 2011

Bearathon – 13.1

Last year Brandon and I signed up to run the Bearathon in Waco and it got canceled due to the weather. We signed up again this year and hoped the weather would cooperate and it did! It was kind of windy and a little warm for a long run but all in all the weather was nice.

The course however was so hard. I have ran it once before in 2007 and I forgot how awful the hills are throughout Cameron Park. I mainly walked up the hills but I kept my pace up as much as I could. Brandon and I ran together for the first 3 miles or so and then I told him he could go ahead. He is just faster than me, and for whatever reason I have it in my head that I can’t keep up with him. I was feeling good throughout the entire race mentally. I never hit that wall where I wanted to quit. Of course about mile 11-12 I was ready to be finished, but never had the mind set of this sucks and I just want to quit or walk the entire rest of the way. I was proud of this but the only thing that was holding me back was my body. Because of all the hills, that I didn’t train for, AT ALL, my leg calf muscles would cramp up. So my run 5 minutes walk 1 minute eventually turned into run 1 minute walk 1 minute. I was frustrated with this but it was all my body could handle.

Brandon convinced me to get some compression socks to wear either during the race or after and thankfully he did. I think these helped with the cramps in my legs so much, they didn’t eliminate them but I do think they made them better. I put these bad boys on around mile 11.

We had such great family support during our race, Brandon’s parent’s met up with us at mile 9 , 11 and the finish line. My mom, Brooke and Allison also came and they met us at the finish line as well. It was so great to see family and it helps you stay focused and encouraged. I think this was the best race by far because of that support.

This was my 3rd half marathon and I was not thrilled but happy with my results of this one. Brandon and I ran one in December and the course was flat. This course was not flat by any stretch and I finished in the same time as I did the December race. Brandon did awesome, he beat his previous time and was such a great supporter and encourager for me.

After the race I felt awful, I felt like I needed to throw up but I had to keep walking and just drank and ate some fruit. This seemed to help some but I still threw up once we got to the car. I had never felt this way after a race and so I was a little worried. We ate some lunch at my favorite place in Waco, Viteks and that didn’t even sound or smell good. After I ate I felt so much better, 10 thousand times better! I think my blood sugar was low and that just made me feel crappy all over.

I was so happy with our results and our family coming to see us. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and family. We will have another race this May and I look forward to beating my time and look forward to NO HILLS!