The St. George marathon was the first Saturday in October. I was burned out going into the training, because I had just run a marathon, and it was terrible. There were so many times I was very close to quitting, but I plowed through, put in the miles, and in the end, my last couple long runs (19 and 20 miles) went really well. I am so glad I stuck it out!
I had to come home earlier than Chelsea (my friend I ran with), so I followed her in my car down to St. George. We drove straight to the expo. to pick up our packets.
I have run the St. George Marathon once before. It was the first marathon I ever ran, in 2001. I had forgotten how incredible the venue is! The expo was awesome. There were vendors and booths everywhere...all in the name of running. It was my kind of paradise! We picked up our packets, got all sorts of excited for the marathon the next morning, stopped at every booth, and then we headed out, because the expo was closing for the night. On our way out, we stopped at a booth that was selling compression socks. I have heard a lot about them, but I have never run in them. The thought kept on popping into my mind that I should get some, but this time around, I was determined to try NOTHING new at all. I have made that mistake one too many times.
We left the expo and drove to our hotel, and the entire drive to the hotel the thought in my mind would not leave. I knew I needed to get the compression socks. So...once we parked at the hotel, I told Chelsea that I was going to hurry back to the expo, and if it was still open, I was going to buy some compression socks. She asked me to grab some for her too. We both knew that it was not likely that the expo would be open. It was supposed to close 20 minutes prior to the time I decided to drive back.
I zoomed back to the expo, literally ran through the parking lot, and found a door that was not locked yet. The only booth left, was the booth with the compression socks! The lady was just packing up her last box. I asked her if I could buy a pair, and she told that she was already packed up and cashed out for the night. I ended up pleading with her, and she finally agreed. I bought the socks, and I felt better....and definitely a little out of my mind.
The next morning, we got up at 3:30am. Yup, that's a marathon for you. Busses start loading at 3:30am. We got ready and as the morning went on, we both got more and more excited!
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| 3:30 am, smiling like we aren't about to go torture our bodies for approx. 4 hours. Go us! |
We spent the next hour at the bus loading zone. There were so many people, that it took that long to finally get on a bus. There are approx. 9,000 runners in this marathon.
We got to the starting line with literally 10 minutes to go before the starting gun. Perfect! We got on one of the last busses on purpose. There is nothing worse than spending an hour or more freezing your butt of, waiting to start the marathon.
The starting line was awesome!!! They had spot lights flashing through the sky, booths set up everywhere, fires all over to get warm, hot chocolate, energy bars, about a million porta-pottys, a live band, and really high energy. It was amazing!! The sheer amount of people at the starting line was unbelievable. It was the most fun I have had at a starting line...ever.
The gun went off, and we didn't actually start running for a few minutes. We were pretty far back in the line. It takes a while for 9000 runners to funnel through a starting chute. I can almost always tell, at the starting line, about how the race is going to go for me.
I knew it was going to be a good one this time. I could feel it. I could tell my body was tapered exactly where it needed to be, my legs were fresh, my mind was very positive and excited, my stomach was calm, my hip was not inflamed at all. I just knew it was going to be a good one.
It is soooo rare for all of the stars to align at a marathon. Most people have that happen once or twice out of about 10 marathons. This was my 7th, and I had yet to have everything work out perfectly...as far as my body and my mind. I knew this one was different though, and I was bursting with excitement and anticipation.
This was Chelsea's first marathon, but she said that she was "feeling it" as well. We blasted out the first 7 miles with no problems. I did not have to stop once for the bathroom! I ALWAYS have stomach issues during long runs, so this was incredible for me. We were both feeling awesome at that point. We were crushing our goal time! We were running 8 minute miles, and a couple were less than that!
We held our pace and kept on chugging for the first half. The fist half has a HUGE 4 mile hill, and several other hills as well. It was not easy, but we were both feeling great. I was following my nutrition plan exactly and drinking my tailwind at the exact miles I needed to. I thought Chelsea was doing the same.
By the half way point, we were on track to qualify for Boston...with time to spare! This has always been a huge dream of mine, and I have missed it by 5 minutes...twice. When we realized this, we were so excited!
The aid stations for this marathon were unbelievable! I honestly believe that my compression socks and the aid stations are the reason my hip held up so well. Our first aid station stop was at the half way point. They had every fruit you can imagine, they had gummy bears, water, Gatorade, popsicles, and...while you were eating or drinking, you could put you leg on this little stool, and these massage therapists with gloves covered in icy hot, would massage your legs! No joke!
We didn't eat or drink, but I had them massage my IT bands for about 30 seconds each. It made a world of difference. Oh, and did I mention that while they were massaging, someone else put a wet, lemon infused towel around your neck...no joke.
After our quick stop at mile 13, we finally had some down hill to look forward to. We were soo excited to be able to shed even more time off our pace.
We cruised to mile 19. We stopped for about one minute every two miles to get my legs massaged, and to drink and refuel.
Around mile 19, where I normally hit the wall, I was still feeling great! I couldn't believe it. I could not stop grinning. This was finally going to be the one!
And then Chelsea got the mother load of all side aches. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't run. She couldn't walk. She was dry heaving. She turned gray. She got dizzy. She started seeing black spots. It completely freaked me out!!! We were not near an aid station, so I couldn't leave her, or get any real help for her.
I felt terrible for her. I was really worried about her, and I kept thinking that it would ease up for her any minute.
But...the minutes went by. And then more minutes went by. As the time went on, I felt my heart sinking slowly in my chest. After 10 minutes went by, of us not running at all, our dreams of Qualifying for Boston was over. I had tears burning my eyes, and a flame in my chest that was raging of disappointment, but I wasn't going to leave my friend on the side of the road in a condition like that.
I finally decided to give her one of my salt tablets that I keep for emergencies, typically for severe leg cramping after hitting the wall. I thought that maybe her side "ache" was actually a side "cramp"
One minute after she ate the tablet, she felt completely fine. And there it was. She was gotten behind on her nutrition because she was feeling good (very common mistake I have made a million times myself). The killer is though, that once you get behind on electrolytes, carbohydrates, or hydration in a marathon, you cannot catch up. It's game over. You have to stay one step ahead...which means drinking and taking in nutrients before you feel like you are tanking.
I realized that she was toasted.
We knew that our Boston goal was lost, but we decided that if we really, really hustled for the last 7 miles, we could maybe break 4 hours. We took off at almost a sprint.
One mile later, Chelsea got sick again. I walked her to the next aid station, with tears of frustration streaming down my cheeks. I made sure she had medical help, and then I took off. I was still feeling great at this point...just incredibly upset and frustrated...not at Chelsea, I was not mad at her, I was just mad at the whole situation.
By that point, I was not even going to PR. I would be luck to even get close to my previous times. I was crushed. I took off running as fast as I could for the next 3 miles. I ran so hard, and I knew that I would end up tanking, but I ran hard anyway. At mile 23 in the race I finally hit the wall. I forced myself to fun as much as possible to the finish line. I ended up run/walking miles 24 and 25. At mile 25, I was hurting everywhere, I was mentally crushed, and I was exhausted. I promised myself that I would run that last mile, no matter what...and I did. It literally took every last ounce of whatever I had in me. I was dizzy at the end and not even able to look up, but I did it. I crossed the finish line.
I finished in 4 hours and 5 minutes. My fastest marathon time is 3:57.
If you shave off the 20 minutes I spent helping Chelsea, my time would have been 3:37. Boston Qualifying time is 3:45.
Basically, without Chelsea getting sick, we would have Qualified for Boston with 8 minutes to spare, and I would have PR'd by 20 minutes!!!
As frustrating as this made me feel, I was elated to know that I am capable to accomplishing this goal that has seemed to impossible to accomplish. I also realized that I can have a marathon where all of the stars align. I can run sub 8 minute miles half way through a marathon. My body can do it!!
I waited for Chelsea at the finish line, and she came in about 20 minutes later...looking like absolute death. We ended up sitting with her in the medical tent for a while. She was in bad shape. She continued to be very sick for the next several hours.
Aside from Chelsea being sick, the finish line was awesome!!! There was everything you could imagine for the runners. Pizza, Great Harvest Bread, Creamy Popsicles, massage tents everywhere, any drink you can think of, music, bounce houses. My favorite thing, by far, was that right as you finish, you walk into a mist tent. It feels amazing!!! I wanted to stay there all day, but I was worried about my phone getting too wet.
We hung out at the finish line for a long time. Chelsea wasn't in any condition to go anywhere, and I was just fine lying on the grass not moving a muscle.
I realized, as I was moaning about my sore muscles, that my legs were not sore from the knee down. The compression socks had worked wonders! My hip was screaming, but no more than the rest of my muscles. I honestly think that the compression socks helped my lower leg muscles so much that they were able to help out when my hip started weakening. Huge blessing! I'm so grateful that I listened to the prompting to get the socks.
We finally made our way back to the hotel, where we literally collapsed on the beds and didn't move a muscle. I finally got up a showered and ordered pizza. My body was not hungry at all, and then all of the sudden... I was beyond starving!!!
The pizza guy came, I paid him, and I literally ate over half the pizza myself in about 15 minutes. It was heaven! Chelsea at half a piece, and got sick. She was still not doing great.
I had to drive home that day, so I chugged down as much caffeine as I thought my heart could handle and I forced myself to get in the car. Chelsea drove down with a friend that was taking good care of her, so I knew she would be ok.
The drive home was hard. I had to stop every hour to stretch and walk around, because my legs would cramp up so badly that I could hardly push the gas pedal down. I made it home though, and all was well.
It was interesting to me, that night, and the following days, how incredibly excited and happy I felt about how the marathon went. I was sad that I didn't have the time to show for it, for it was by far my best marathon to date. I had so much fun! It was such a great venue, Chelsea was a blast to run with, my body felt amazing, and I proved to myself that I am capable of reaching my dreams.
I am so grateful that I didn't back out of this marathon. I loved it! It was exactly the marathon I have craved to have.
Chelsea and I already have plans to run another one next year. We are on the wait list for one, and if we don't get in....you better believe we will be right back in St. George next October!
