Whole30 Reintroduction + 5K = Eek

19:17

That was my 5K time yesterday, good enough for 2nd place.

Unfortunately I was not feeling great during this race, and to explain, I have to back up a few days.

Last Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day, was the first day of my Whole30 Reintroduction plan.  I ate a bunch of legumes for the first time in over a month.  It did NOT go well.   I was scheduled to do a 4x1200 track workout, which I did, but my stomach did not love.   That night, I looked about 25 weeks pregnant.  My husband was even like, "WOAH".  Wednesday and Thursday were back to Whole30 eating and by the end of Thursday I was feeling ok.  Friday called for the introduction of non-gluten grains.  This was the day I was going to get to eat popcorn and tortilla chips!  On Thursday night, Nate asked if I would eat popcorn.  I said sure, even though it TECHNICALLY wasn't Friday.

I had popcorn on Thursday night sans butter, with a little nutritional yeast on it.  I had several handfuls, but I just wasn't feeling it.  I didn't even eat the whole portion that he made for me, which I EASILY would have taken down pre-Whole30.  (Pre-Whole30 it would have had butter on it so that might have made a difference, ha ha ha).  I went to bed.

I slept like CRAP Thursday night.  Night sweats.

Woke up with a headache on Friday morning.  Had some quinoa for breakfast with eggs and spinach.  Tasted good but I was not feeling great.  All day I had a headache (not common for me) and my stomach was off.  I had some GF corn chips with dinner and a cob of sweet corn.  Friday night I was toast.  I was supposed to do an easy 4 miles and could not even stomach that.

Saturday morning I woke up and returned to Whole30 but I still wasn't feeling great.  I did an easy 3 miles and strideouts per my plan.  Then we were off to my company employee appreciation event at the zoo which included lunch.  I did my best to stay true to Whole30 there but, like eating out, you don't know EVERYTHING that goes into the food.   By Saturday night I was feeling ok and my husband was eating some corn chips while watching tv.  I joined him.  BIG MISTAKE.

Saturday night no one in our house got any sleep.  I was up with my son, and my daughter almost all night long.  And I felt like crap.

Sunday morning, I got up and though maybe a coffee would help my headache.  It didn't.  I had a Whole30 breakfast and spent a lot of time in the bathroom.  Then it was time to head to the race!  My husband and kids were joining me at this race as my daughter was running in the kids run.

We barely got to the parking lot and I had to dash off to the bathroom.  UGH.  I took off for my pre-race warm up.  2 miles, with 2 x 2:00 of moderate pace.  I felt ok on this but not great.  I got back and hit up the bathroom again before making my way towards the start.

I saw the woman who won the race last year with a 18:43.  My plan was to stick with her if possible. The gun went off and I took off in a fast, comfortable pace.  I ended up in first place, which is not what I would prefer.  I could hear a woman behind me, and figured it was her.  We made it through Mile 1 in 6:03 according to my Garmin.  This was 2 seconds slower than my 5K last month but felt worse.  We went back and forth as to who was leading mile 2.  Mile 2 was very hilly and I would beat her up the hills, but she would pass me on the downhill.  Mile 2 was also SLOW pace wise - 6:26 - although I didn't know that at the time because after the first mile, I don't look at my watch while racing.  I was spent after mile 2.  My legs felt like jelly and my stomach hurt.  She pulled away from me and I could not keep up.  I rounded the corner to the finish and saw my family cheering and tried to sprint to the finish as I didn't know who was behind me.  My husband later commented that he could tell I was struggling.  I also saw the clock and that it was well past 19 minutes.  UGH.  My official finish 19:17.   First place was 18:58 and third place woman was 20:04.  All three of us are in the 30-39 age group, although I am the oldest :)  I was 13th place overall.

This was my third time doing this race and my fastest time yet, which I am happy about.  
2014    21:16
2015    19:51
2016    19:17
I wish I would have been feeling better because it was a PERFECT day to run - low 60s temps, cloudy.  In other exciting news, I met a newbie to the Oiselle Volee team!

My Whole30 reintroduction continues through this week with dairy today and gluten on Thursday.  I'm preparing for another week of ickiness.