Note to self

It takes four days to be able to make it down a flight of stairs without pain after running a marathon.

The most beautiful urban marathon in America

And that it is. Or at least I think it is, I don’t know any different.

Running a marathon is crazy. You work so hard for so many months and you hope it all falls into place on that one day. And then you hope you are filling your body with the right things to keep it working right for the next 2 to 6 hours depending on how fast you are.

The following is a list of things and thoughts that went through my head as I ran my first marathon:

I was overcome with emotion as 10,500 of us sang the national anthem as we were about to endure whatever it was that race was going to throw at us.

I was so happy that Adam was there with me.

I couldn’t believe the support of all the friends and family and total strangers along the way, you couldn’t go 10 steps without someone being there to cheer you on. It was overwhelming to see that many people over that many miles.

I wish I had written my name on my shirt or my body so people would cheer for me by name. I hung out with a guy named FRANK for several miles just because they were yelling his name that was taped to his shirt.

I did everything my experienced marathon friend Laura told me not to do (1) Don’t go out to fast, the race starts at mile 20 (2) Don’t have a time goal, you will just be disappointed if you don’t make it. Of course she was right, on both counts.

I couldn’t believe I was feeling so tired at mile 10.

I thought my feet were bleeding at mile 13. I wouldn’t look at them in case they were.

I didn’t realize how important it would be to see my kids when I hurt so badly. We missed each other at mile 14 and I had to dig deep to wait to see them again at mile 23.

I started with the leg cramping at mile 18.

I had to pee at mile 20. I decided I better wait until I saw a port-a-potty because if I went in the bushes like everyone else I was never going to be able to stand back up.

I couldn’t believe the leg cramps. It got to the point were if I stopped to stretch one leg the other leg would just seize up and get stuck in place.

I saw a tall skinny guy fall over on the side of the road with his eyes rolling back in his head. Several runners stopped to help until EMTs showed up. By the time Adam ran by he was out cold.

I just kept singing to myself, “you can do this, you can do this, you can do this” whenever the pain became too great.

I couldn’t believe how it plays with your mind when the “pace team” you had been running with for 16 miles runs off without you. Then you see the next pace team at mile 21 and you can’t keep up with them. That blew my mind.

I was stretching and cramping and stretching and cramping and a spectator walked by me and asked if I needed a hand because I looked like I was going to fall over.

Once I made it up Summit to the crest of the hill that overlooked the finish line and the capitol, 4 hours and 11 minutes later, I finished just as I had started…in tears.

Daymares

All the training is over. All the miles are behind me. If I’m not ready for the TC Marathon, there is nothing more I can do about it now.

I haven’t had any nightmares about the marathon like I have had in the past with the triathlons. However, this morning when it was dark and the alarm kept going off, I didn’t want to be out there in the cold darkness. I didn’t want to run in the cold darkness by myself. What if something happened to me in the cold darkness by myself? My mind wandered far enough to keep me inside, in my bed, until the sun came up and the gym doors swung open.

As I ran inside on the track knowing that was the right decision of the day, I kept thinking about how the training has gone relatively well and almost injury free (with the exception of a bit of arch pain), and how it was a good idea that I ran inside because if I had gone on that run by myself something bad surely would have happened.

My mind kept wondering and churning about the fact that all I have to do from here until Sunday morning is NOT: get hit by a car, get ax murdered, cut one of my toes off in a cooking accident, brake my ankle falling down the stairs, blow my knee out running after KP, hurt my back playing a stupid game of kickball, eat something that makes me so sick I can’t get off the toilet, get shot in the head by a car-jacker, have my eyes eaten out by red ants or be stupid enough in indulge in too much wine the night before the race.

I wish I had a chip I could put inside my head for this upcoming 26.2 miles so I could do a streaming live podcast from my brain and share the insanity with the whole world.

Race Results

The race was GREAT!


My bike did not get stolen.

I did not defecate or urinate on myself.

And I finished a surprising 12th in my age group, with a finish time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 6 seconds.

Just spurring me on for more…onward to the marathon in October!

My always helpful subconscious

Now that I have spent five months physically preparing and done everything in my power and ability to successfully complete the race tomorrow, my always helpful subconscious spun a wonderful tale in my dreamy head last night:

The plot…a girl going to compete in her first olympic distance triathlon.

The twist…her bike gets stolen out of the car the morning of the race.

The end…girl wakes up in bed, dripping with a cold sweat.

Last

Yesterday was my last workout before my big triathlon this weekend. It was a lake swim at 5:30 am. I stepped out of my car and immediately wished I had brought my camera.

The moon was almost full and still lingering heavy and bright in the sky. The dark was almost gone as the dawn was trying to break through. The lake was so eerily still, only when I stepped in was there a ripple.

As I swam, the sun began to show itself over the tree tops and with each passing lap more and more light reflected off the water I was rushing through. I couldn’t believe I was alone in this quiet world of water, where day was breaking and everything was waking, so peaceful and so beautiful.

As I got out of the water, I turned to look back at where I had been and thought, what a great way to end the season.

Would you?

I was telling my friend Jen how awful one of my “brick” trainings had been last week. I clearly was dehydrated. I was seeing double. I was feeling like I was going to throw up. The only thing I wanted to do was stop and curl up under a shade tree and fall asleep. I guess…what do I expect, it was 2:00 in the afternoon and it was a whopping 93 degrees with very high humidity. I deserved all the pain I put myself through.

I went on to tell her that it was a real eye opening experience and that I learned I needed to pack more water with me on my long rides to make it any distance on my runs. Then she simply asked, “So with all that water, if you have to go to the bathroom during the race, are you just going to pee on yourself.”

Hmmmm, very interesting question Jen. One which I am not sure I yet know the answer to.

It’s always good to have goals

Yesterday I participated in the Lake Minnetonka Sprint Triathlon. I completed my first one there last year and fell in love with the sport.

I decided to reach a little higher this year and was gaming for a third place finish in my age group. I am happy to announce…I did it! I also ended up 19th in the woman’s division and 101 overall.

However, the one thing that sticks in my craw…the woman who took second just had a C-section four weeks prior.

She and the woman who took first place are GOING DOWN next year.

Death march at mile 11

This past Sunday Adam, my two running partners and I ran the Wells Fargo ½ Marathon. It was a beautiful day to run around the lake and take in all the torturous hills that came along with the course.

My typical running schedule doesn’t include a lot of hill work outs. But that is surely going to change, but only after my quadriceps fuse back onto both femurs and I can walk down the stairs again.

It wasn’t just the hills; it was pushing myself as hard as I could go to find out what I really had in there. I had several levels of expectations, it looked something like this: 9 minute miles – not so happy, 8 minute 30 second miles – which was my main goal and I would be happy, 8 minute 15 second miles – I would be insanely excited and would treat myself to a full body massage and a wonderfully expensive dinner out with copious amounts of champagne.

I ended up at 8:30, which I am happy with. But in reaching that goal I realized that it was much harder to attain than I thought it was going to be. I could not have run ANY faster or ANY farther for that matter. And, if I indeed want to make Boston a reality, I have a lot farther to go.

Hmmm…wondering if it is worth it???

Who’s there?

As I was driving to playgroup this morning, I saw a billboard for a major sale over the weekend of June 16, 17 & 18. Then nervous panic set in because I realized that’s the weekend of my first triathlon.

And then my stomach started swirling and I started wondering if I could actually attain my goal of a top three finish in my age group.

Then my mind went on to the marathon that I just signed up for. And I got nervous all over again. Because of course, I don’t just want to finish my first attempt at running a marathon; I actually want to try to qualify for Boston.

Then the little negative voice in my head told me my goals were too lofty and asked me who I thought I was thinking that these things could ever become a reality. And for a moment, I agreed.

Then we pulled up to my friend’s house, I put the car in park and I told that little voice that I am going to prove him wrong and that while were at it, he’s no longer welcome in my head.