vomit

Running twice in the last three weeks then sleeping four hours last night was a great strategy, because I PR-ed at 2:03:35 in this morning’s half marathon.  It also probably helped that, after my most recent round of IV Venofer (iron infusions), my hemoglobin has not been this high in over a year: 12.7 baby, yeah!

Compared to my classmates, running warriors that they are, my time was nothing to write home about, but I do feel a little proud that I finished in the top third of all the women running today and of my age division.  One day, I’ll break two hours.

So, the funniest thing happened.  As you know, I’m pretty much anti-pain, so I don’t like to push myself all that much…I kind of trot along, and if I think a cramp might be coming on, I slow down.  Running is pleasant this way…listening to a freakish amount of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry makes it even better.  So I felt pretty okay for the first 13 miles.  Then, I don’t really know what happened/got into me, but I felt so great at 13 miles that I thought to myself, Hell, let’s sprint the last tenth of a mile.

What an idiot.  No sooner did my legs seem to make this decision for me that this wave of some sort of foul-smelling material came over me.  Totally nauseating.  But of course, I was so close to the finish, I couldn’t get myself to slow down, and I just let myself run as I felt the retroperistalsis in my abdomen.  I crossed the finish line, and then I vomited, twice.  Classy.

I met up with a bunch of MS2s on the steps of Art Museum.

Me: None of you saw me finish, did you?

Ben L: No, did you throw up?

Me (shocked): How’d you guess?

Ben: There’s vomit still stuck on your cheek.

Cyndi was sweet enough to wipe it off with water that had melted from her bag of ice.

We’re now a frightful eight days from our cardio exam–like with these races, I frequently ask myself regarding med school, How the hell did I get myself into this mess??  Today’s been pretty much blown, because the amount of energy/inspiration I have to do work post-race is next to nil.  I’m comforted only by the fact that at least I thought about Bernoulli’s principle several times throughout the run as the mean velocity of the runners had to vary inversely (somewhat) with the changing width of the course.  I might have even related it to Peripheral Artery Disease.  That totally counts.