Today, the Holy Half Marathon took place on Notre Dame’s campus, so I was planning on getting my workout in today by running the first seven miles of the race with a couple of friends who were actually running in the race. I did start the race with them, and we ran at a decent pace. It was an ideal day for a race—70 degrees and sunny. I was enjoying the run so much that seven miles seemed to fly by. However, one of my friends was struggling, so I decided to keep running in order to encourage her and help her to finish. It is always tough to watch a friend struggle, so I did my best to keep her mind positive, taking it a mile at a time.
I learned a lesson about the importance of dehydration today, because with a quarter mile left in the race, my friend’s legs just gave out, and my friends and I had to carry her to the finish line. My friend ended up going to the emergency room, and fortunately she is doing better now. It was scary to see her body give out on her. She really did give it everything she had. Her collapse though showed me firsthand the effects of not hydrating yourself enough. I certainly am going to make a better effort to hydrate myself well.
Aside the dehydration, I was very encouraged by the fact that I was able to run 13.1 miles without much struggle. Now, it was at a slower pace that I would normally run, but it still was an accomplishment for me. I was just proud that my friend crossed the finish line. She gave it the best she had… and a little bit more!
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