The Brooklyn Half Marathon is tomorrow. This will be my 3rd time running this race, but hopefully my best since the last two didn’t quite go as planned. Last year I had signed up for this race even though I knew it was just a few weeks after my spring marathon. I figured I would just run to finish and enjoy the party at Coney Island at the end. But when the marathon didn’t go well I thought I would try and turn my spring racing season around and go for a PR in Brooklyn.
Long story short, the same problems I had in NJ crept up in Brooklyn, at about the same point, just past the halfway point in the race. I was feeling fine until about mile 7 but then it went downhill after that, both literally and figuratively. Once again, because I have an awesome team, I had company, my friend Susan who was coming back from injury and wanted to run but wasn’t up to racing a half just yet. She stayed with me and pushed me through the dizziness and drifting. I walked several times, we got drenched in the rain, but I managed to finish and didn’t end up with a terrible time but it certainly wasn’t anywhere near a PR.
So as I was planning my spring races this year, I decided that I would focus on Brooklyn and try and make it a good experience. Having come to accept the fact that there are additional factors I’m dealing with that are beyond my control when it comes to racing, I’m feeling more confident about my training and prospects for a good race tomorrow.
Since last year’s disastrous spring races, I’ve made an attempt to at least pretend that I have some control over my body by using an app called My Cycle. I’ve been monitoring my symptoms and cycle and while it doesn’t alleviate any of the discomfort, at least I have a semblance of control when it comes to my body. I felt like having a way to track these things might show me how many days during the month I don’t have symptoms would be helpful and there is some truth to that. The problem is, this app also provides a prediction for the start of your next period and mine is due to start the day after Brooklyn… So, ladies, we all know what that means. I’m going to wake up tomorrow with an unwanted friend to deal with while I’m trying to remain calm on the bus to the race.
So far so good, no signs yet, but it’s just one more thing to think about the day before the big race. I’m going to try and focus today on thinking ahead to a time in the (hopefully not too distant) future when I won’t ever get my period again. Maybe this month will be the beginning of longer times between my cycles… One can only hope, but in the meantime I think I’ll go out for a run.