A Race that Left More than Just My Burri-toes Hurting

What’s the best way for a bride-to-be who can’t squeeze into her wedding dress to burn calories? I know! How about a race?

It seemed like such a brilliant idea when my Groom-A-Saurus Rex (GAR) suggested it a few weeks ago. Of course, the fact that this race combined 4.2 miles of running with extreme eating challenges along the course did make it somewhat unusual (which greatly appealed to me), but I have to admit that it also may have been a little counterproductive to my goal. After all, for all the good I did with the cardio, I have to believe that the burrito, the 6 glazed donuts and the beers I chugged were, at least to a certain degree, working against my whole “weight loss” objective. But, since this was a dinnertime race, I guess this sustenance did kinda serve as my dinner, so I can feel a little better about that at least.

Well, except for the donuts … those were just gluttony.

Not that I was able to down half a dozen donuts anyway – I don’t think I could accomplish that even if I wasn’t in the middle of run. Oh sure, the burrito at the beginning of the race went down easy enough … and I didn’t even seem to notice that I had eaten it until about 1.5 miles in (at which point it hit me like a bean-filled brick). But, when it came time to down 6 of Dunkin’s finest at the halfway mark I was barely able to get down 2 measly dough boys. I suppose it was better on my waist that way (not to mention my stomach, which managed to hold it all down for the remainder of the run), though I didn’t quite get to finish the run as a true pig race “champion.” They did grant me a medal nonetheless. Or, rather, (in lieu of an actual medal) they granted me a pig snout. I’ve never been so proud.

And this race also marked the longest race GAR has completed to date. Congrats! It seems that all he needed was a little sugar to motivate him.

Overall I'd label this run a success. It's the latest in my list of race victories - in addition to the 5K I ran with my Dad earlier this year, another 5K I completed with my coworkers, the Warrior Dash (which left me tattered, bruised and muddy):

A 15K where Kitty Glitter and I placed in the top 5 overall for the 5K, 10K and full 15K divisions (and won these swanky awards): 

And, of course, the Marathon & 1/2 I ran with one of my BFFs - all 39.3 miles of it: 

And through all my running (and the subsequent photos) I've learned one very important lesson - I look like crap after all that hard work! It's almost enough to make me swear off all this sweating stuff altogether ... unless there's donuts involved, of course.