Warning: This is a loooooong post. As I am not likely to EVER run a marathon again (although never say never), I fully intend to milk this post for all it is worth!
As you know from last week's post, I was skeptical that I would be able to run or even finish last Sunday's OKC Memorial Marathon. Busting my big toe open on the front steps of my dad's house within 20 minutes of arriving caused me to question whether I was subconsciously sabotaging myself. After much gushing of blood, application of Neosporin, and pushing the flap of skin back down, things seemed to be under control.
GROSS! This picture doesn't really do the nastiness of this injury justice, but I thought I would share it anyway.The next day the entire gang went to the Expo to pick up running bibs, to activate chips, and to pick up complimentary t-shirts. Ooooh, I also discovered this thimble-sized container of Body Glide, at Fleet Feet, which I promptly purchased but ended up not needing.
Better safe than sorry when it comes to chafing!That evening the sistas, Ginifer and Runs Only When Chased, and family gathered for mounds o' pasta and lots of hydration. I admit, I had a sip, literally a sip, of wine with dinner. Runs Only When Chased decided to show off the Fuel Belt she had received for her birthday last month:
Who knew hydration could be so sassy?Needless to say, the evening ran long which meant late bedtime for Dr. Pavement Pounder and her crew. I'd say that between going to bed late and the excitement and anticipation about the race, I probably got about 2 real hours of sleep before the alarm went off at 4 A.M.!!!! Does anyone know of a marathon that starts around 4pm? I am not so much the morning person... However, the adrenaline kicked in and I was in unusually high spirits. After oatmeal, a cup of coffee, my anti-inflammatory, and a glass of water, I was feeling on top of the world. I even had time for interpretative poses of what I anticipated pre and post-marathon Dr. PP to look like:
Ready to kick some marathon ass!
Ready to kick some marathon ass!
Anticipating the physical wreck that would be Dr. PP after the race.I know, I know. Get to the actual race already, right? Okay.
The weather for the start of the race totally sucked: 48 degrees, raining, and a wind chill in the 30s. However, by mile 20, the sun had started to come out and things had warmed up mildly, or at least it felt that way. I'll take cold weather over hot weather any day of the week for running. It wasn't until I made a stop at the Port-o-Potty around mile 8.5 and had a hard time closing the door that I realized my hands were numb.
Speaking of Port-o-Potty's (although not really), no one mentioned how difficult it is to catch back up with your pace group after a bathroom break! Yikes! I had decided to stick as close to my pace leader, Paul, as possible, which was made easier by the fact that the poor man was forced to carry a stick with yellow balloons tied to it for the entire 26.2 miles. What a saint! Upon exiting the Port-o-Potty, I really wished I had stuck with my speedwork. After 1.5 miles uphill at a fast clip (well, fast clip for me), I managed to catch back up with the group. Never underestimate the psychological factor a pace group can play. I kept telling myself that as long as I was either ahead of my pace group or had the balloons in sight, I was gonna make it to the end. Of course, my mistake came when I spent a good 8 miles ahead of my pace group, during which time I had teamed up with a woman named Cami who had also run ahead of the same pace group - only to be passed and left in the dust by the pace leader at around mile 20. Cami and I had a nice chat until I could tell that she clearly had more fuel in her tank and I wished her well and sent her on her way.
Oh, did I forget to mention that Oklahoma, "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plains," is actually quite hilly, unlike the flat swampland that is the L.J.? You would think that after 18 years of growing up in Oklahoma this thought might have registered with me prior to the race... Well, it was made all too clear, especially when forced to run over highway overpasses!!! You can check out the elevation chart here. This was excellent training for B2B. Hayes Street, I'm comin' for ya!!!!
Since I ran the final 6.2 mi. alone - I dispute the course's claim to only be 26.2, since my GPS Garmin watch posted my total distance as 26.47 - which, by the way, gave me a waaay better pace ;) - I tried to mimic Deetschei's technique of dedicated miles to people. This, however, failed because all I could do was think about how Deetschei had done this. Instead, a catchy, inspirational German song, appropriately titled "This is for everyone" popped into my head. I was kept preoccupied by trying to remember the lyrics for the next 4 miles. I also tried to focus on Sixpack's statement that "as long as your are passing people, you are doing good." Now, this was made decidedly more complicated by the fact that there are marathon "runners" who use a technique known as "Five-Oners" or something. Basically, you would see people walking, you would just be about to pass them and then they would take off. You'd start to catch up to them as they walked again and just as you were about to catch them, they took off again - alternating sprinting 5 minutes and walking 1, or something close to that. I totally felt shafted, especially since I had decided NOT to walk, except for 10-15 sec. through the water stops. Somehow it felt so unfair. However, once I finally passed a girl who had been taunting me with her "5-1s" between miles 22 and 24, I felt vindicated! Ha! Who says I'm not competitive?!!!
As I approached the finish line, I was surprised by how many people hadn't left enough gas in the tank to finish strong. Now, I might have been in pain, but I was certainly not about to be caught walking across that finish line. As I hit the final straight away toward the finish line, I heard my name, glanced over and saw Ginifer and Runs Only When Chased, who had successfully finished their half marathons about 2 hrs earlier and were cheering me on from the other side of the barricade. Ginifer challenged me to pick up the pace, so I kicked it into high gear. However, I started to fear that I had wasted my final reserve a bit too soon. Once I saw the finish line, I knew I could keep up the pace to the finish line while passing several people along the way (including shirtless dude - Sixpack, I included this just for you). I know it doesn't look fast (even though it was an 8:56 pace) and it certainly isn't pretty, but I got the job done!
Speaking of Port-o-Potty's (although not really), no one mentioned how difficult it is to catch back up with your pace group after a bathroom break! Yikes! I had decided to stick as close to my pace leader, Paul, as possible, which was made easier by the fact that the poor man was forced to carry a stick with yellow balloons tied to it for the entire 26.2 miles. What a saint! Upon exiting the Port-o-Potty, I really wished I had stuck with my speedwork. After 1.5 miles uphill at a fast clip (well, fast clip for me), I managed to catch back up with the group. Never underestimate the psychological factor a pace group can play. I kept telling myself that as long as I was either ahead of my pace group or had the balloons in sight, I was gonna make it to the end. Of course, my mistake came when I spent a good 8 miles ahead of my pace group, during which time I had teamed up with a woman named Cami who had also run ahead of the same pace group - only to be passed and left in the dust by the pace leader at around mile 20. Cami and I had a nice chat until I could tell that she clearly had more fuel in her tank and I wished her well and sent her on her way.
Oh, did I forget to mention that Oklahoma, "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plains," is actually quite hilly, unlike the flat swampland that is the L.J.? You would think that after 18 years of growing up in Oklahoma this thought might have registered with me prior to the race... Well, it was made all too clear, especially when forced to run over highway overpasses!!! You can check out the elevation chart here. This was excellent training for B2B. Hayes Street, I'm comin' for ya!!!!
Since I ran the final 6.2 mi. alone - I dispute the course's claim to only be 26.2, since my GPS Garmin watch posted my total distance as 26.47 - which, by the way, gave me a waaay better pace ;) - I tried to mimic Deetschei's technique of dedicated miles to people. This, however, failed because all I could do was think about how Deetschei had done this. Instead, a catchy, inspirational German song, appropriately titled "This is for everyone" popped into my head. I was kept preoccupied by trying to remember the lyrics for the next 4 miles. I also tried to focus on Sixpack's statement that "as long as your are passing people, you are doing good." Now, this was made decidedly more complicated by the fact that there are marathon "runners" who use a technique known as "Five-Oners" or something. Basically, you would see people walking, you would just be about to pass them and then they would take off. You'd start to catch up to them as they walked again and just as you were about to catch them, they took off again - alternating sprinting 5 minutes and walking 1, or something close to that. I totally felt shafted, especially since I had decided NOT to walk, except for 10-15 sec. through the water stops. Somehow it felt so unfair. However, once I finally passed a girl who had been taunting me with her "5-1s" between miles 22 and 24, I felt vindicated! Ha! Who says I'm not competitive?!!!
As I approached the finish line, I was surprised by how many people hadn't left enough gas in the tank to finish strong. Now, I might have been in pain, but I was certainly not about to be caught walking across that finish line. As I hit the final straight away toward the finish line, I heard my name, glanced over and saw Ginifer and Runs Only When Chased, who had successfully finished their half marathons about 2 hrs earlier and were cheering me on from the other side of the barricade. Ginifer challenged me to pick up the pace, so I kicked it into high gear. However, I started to fear that I had wasted my final reserve a bit too soon. Once I saw the finish line, I knew I could keep up the pace to the finish line while passing several people along the way (including shirtless dude - Sixpack, I included this just for you). I know it doesn't look fast (even though it was an 8:56 pace) and it certainly isn't pretty, but I got the job done!
Dazed, confused, and utterly exhausted, I was greeted by my family on the other side of the finish line. Much rejoicing was done by all (involving some tasty J Brut sparkling wine thanks to Ben).
I am happy to report that my Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome didn't play a significant factor in my race thanks to rest, ice, and some fab-tab-ulous insoles purchased the day before the race. After the race, Ginifer treated the sistas to massages. Helga* proceeded to pluck my shin muscle like a banjo string, pretended to break wood blocks with her hands like Bruce Lee on the back of my calves, and ended with what I can only surmise were voodoo jazz fingers in an attempt to minimize the pain she had just inflicted on my post-marathon quads and calves. Needless to say, it is now day 3 post-marathon and I still have to lower myself to sit and assist myself in standing. Don't even get me started on stairs! And while I am not certain I will do another marathon (although the Phoenix Rock-n-Roll marathon does sound appealing), I am looking forward to B2B, and I am starting to entertain the thought of a half marathon this fall!
I am happy to report that my Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome didn't play a significant factor in my race thanks to rest, ice, and some fab-tab-ulous insoles purchased the day before the race. After the race, Ginifer treated the sistas to massages. Helga* proceeded to pluck my shin muscle like a banjo string, pretended to break wood blocks with her hands like Bruce Lee on the back of my calves, and ended with what I can only surmise were voodoo jazz fingers in an attempt to minimize the pain she had just inflicted on my post-marathon quads and calves. Needless to say, it is now day 3 post-marathon and I still have to lower myself to sit and assist myself in standing. Don't even get me started on stairs! And while I am not certain I will do another marathon (although the Phoenix Rock-n-Roll marathon does sound appealing), I am looking forward to B2B, and I am starting to entertain the thought of a half marathon this fall!I just want to thank all you Drunkrunners for your words of wisdom and votes of confidence. I couldn't have done it without ya. Now I get to give advice and preface it with "Well, when I ran my marathon..."
Distance: 26.2 (or 26.47 depending on who you believe...)
Time: 4:46:25
Avg. Pace: 10:55
Observations: Don't believe it when a race says headphones aren't allowed. I learned the hard way; however, I also learned that I can run with my thoughts for 4:46:25 without going crazy!
* All names have been changed to protect the identity of individuals.
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2 comments:
You are every bit as awesome as you think you are!!!!! Welcome to the club!
I hope you are still basking in the joy of, "Shit, I ran a marathon last week!"
YOU ROCK! That is all.
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