Marathon Thoughts

It's been awhile since I ran my marathon, but I think about the experience almost daily.  I have strong feelings of accomplishment (mostly from the training) as well as strong feelings of regret (mostly from race day).  Although I may have registered for my one and only marathon for the wrong reason (I'm so angry I'm going to run a marathon!), I will always be glad I completed it. It was tough physically and drained me mentally and emotionally, but training for it and completing it was a growth experience.  I really got to know myself, what tests me, what challenges me, what I can overcome, and who loves and supports me.

Have you seen that YouTube video called Marathon Thoughts?  You can find it here.  It's hilarious but doesn't capture the complete experience of running a marathon.  No.  A complete documentation is as long and drawn out as a marathon.  I never want to forget the experience.  The day after the race I wrote it down in an email to a friend who was sick and bored and wanted to know all about it.  So I'm posting it here for posterity in case that email gets erased from my mailbox forever.  Everyone's marathon is different.  I'm sure some are more pleasant than others.  This is my marathon.

Brian dropped off my friend Kathy and me at the start a little after 7 am. Race started at 7:50. We went into a fancy hotel lobby to use the restroom and stay warm for a while. So much more practical than buying tickets to the RnR warm zone for $50! When it was time to go, she headed for corral 4 and I went to 5. Never saw her again! She turns 50 TODAY and she finished in 4:13. What in the world?!

So my race....

Cross the line and enjoyed the band. Music! I haven't heard it while running for six months!  It was exciting. Here I go! Why is my butt all wet? My water bottle is leaking. My water BOTTLES are leaking. I'm soaked through. Does it look like I peed myself? Are people behind me laughing? No, they're probably thinking, "That sucks. Glad that didn't happen to me." Oh man. I'm cold. Will I be wet for 26 miles? No, it's Arizona. I'll dry in five minutes.

Mile 1 Cool band. Makes me smile. Good thing my dad schooled me in classic rock because it's mostly old white guys with guitars who are as cool as a dad's guitar. I should take off my long sleeved cotton t-shirt now. Throw it down.  Bye!  You’ve served me well!

Mile 2 I start looking for Brian. He said he'd be around mile 2 or 3.

Mile 3 Cross the 5K line. Woooo! Hope this texting thing works and my friends are cheering at home! See Brian and wave. He sees me. Our slow camera allows him one blurry shot so he's trying to outrun me on the side to get more. I slow up to make it easier for him. Riiiiiight. All for him. I'm staying at my 'above ten minute mile' pace.  The plan is if I'm feeling good later, I can pick it up. (Now that makes me say ahahahahahahahahahaha.)

·     Miles 4-8 Continue going north on Central through downtown Phoenix. Turn right onto Missouri. I start taking a Gu at 10K. It's not going down easily and I see Brian ahead. I have about half of it and throw it down. Want good race pics! Gu race pics are not good, as I learned from my half marathon photos!

Mile 9 South on 24th through the Biltmore area--where I worked when we first moved here. That was nice. I'm feeling great at nine and thinking this is going well. I was pretty tired at mile 9 of the half but today I'm doing okay.  Clock says 1:30-something.  Oh man.  My friend Julie is probably finished with her half marathon because her goal was 1:33.  She said she’d wait for me to finish.  She’s going to be there so long!  So sorry, Julie!  Make the turn east onto Camelback Road. There's Brian. I'm thinking it's almost harder when people show up because you have to look like you're doing well. Hmmmm. That's when he tells me my friends are at 10.5. Run strong to them!

Mile 10 I see my friends and they're very supportive and cute and funny. I stop to say hello for a few seconds and carry on. 

Miles 11-12 Horrid. Who knew that stretch of Camelback was such an incline? It wasn't steep but it was looooong. I felt like I had to poop. I wondered if I was pooping and didn't know it. Don't pants your poop!  Again...are people behind me laughing at me? No, they're just happy it didn't happen to them. I started praying to the race gods for a port-a-potty at the top of the hill. Must keep running. Do not walk. That will make you poop for sure. Run, Sara, run! Crested the hill and started a downhill on Arcadia. A port-a-potty! Hooray! I hear U2's Desire playing and wished I was running past that stage instead of in the bathroom. Darn it!  One of my faves!

·     Mile 13-19 See Brian at the start of the dreaded 3 miles out and 3 miles back portion. I knew this would be a death march facing the runners ahead of me but after I make it through this I'll be at mile 19 which is close to 20 and I know I can do 20. I run over the 13.1 mat and give myself permission to walk a bit. I figure if I’m walking I should make it worthwhile and take another Gu. It's been 2:20 already and it's about 10:30 am. I'm normally finished with my training runs at 9:00 or 10:00. The sun is so blazing hot! Not a cloud in the sky! I convince myself training early in the day before the sun comes up is the flaw of my training plan and start to give in.  From this point on I'm running/I'm walking/I'm running/I'm walking with no plan or idea what I'm doing because the plan was to not walk at all and certainly not this early. I try to run to the water station so I can walk through it. I try to run through the cheering station because even if I'll never see these people again, I don't want to look bad. There aren't many spectators on this stretch because it's hard to get to and only one band and a DJ. The band is taking a break? Are you kidding me? Bands who take breaks while marathoners are running are the scums of the earth! Brian approaches me on his bike to check on me. At 14: "Are you okay?" "Yes, I'm just hot." At 18: "You're doing really well, Sara." "I'm so tired." "I know." "This is so hard." "Yeah. But you look better than a lot of other people. Aimee's at 21. I'm gonna head to the finish after this, ok?" "Ok. Thank you. I love you!" He rides off and I get choked up and nearly hyperventilate because he's out here with me. It's not just the words he's saying that are so encouraging, it's the sympathetic way he's looking at me. Like I know you're working hard and you can do this. Just keep going. I'm really proud of you.

Mile 20 Head south on 48th Street. So tired. So hot. I'm drinking so much water and Nuun but I don't feel like it's sloshing around. Guess it was absorbing well and I really needed it. Did I mention it was HOT? I'm walking a bit then running a bit. Going on feel but I think my mind was giving in. Take a Gu, walk through a water station and decide to run to my friends.

Mile 21 Must look strong! I make it and chat a minute and get hugs. I'm whoosy just standing there not moving. My legs are like jelly. They can probably tell I'm not myself and I bet as soon as I took off they were like, "Whoa. She doesn't look so good."

Miles 22-23 The Gu is kicking in! I'm floating. I'm running for a pretty good stretch. Feeling okay and like I can do this. Not much further. Just a little over a 5K. Things are good.

·     Mile 24 Oh god. Why? Why is this so long? I'm so tired. Go away sun!  I pull out a pack of Jelly Belly sport beans and eat three. Maybe this will help. It's not helping. I'm so hot and tired!  I pass a 40K sign.  40K?  How many kilometers is a marathon?  I’ve done 8 5Ks in a row already?  Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

Mile 25  I see a water station ahead so I eat the remaining 3 sport beans.  I stop for water and start going again.  The 5:00 pacer passes me going up a steep ramp. Nothing matters anymore. Well, Sara. Who cares? Damn it I should have chased her, but at the time she looked like she was going so fast! I was so deflated I gave up for a minute and by the time I got my shizz together there was no way I could make it up to catch her, let alone beat her. I kept my head up but walked some more.

Mile 26 I cross the Mill Avenue bridge but can't will myself to run across the whole thing. Then there's that hill you have to go up towards the stadiums. I walked until I was sure I would be able to run to the end. It was so hard to run it in. I just wanted to stop. In the chutes, the guy in front of me dropped a glove and didn't know it. He went that whole way without losing it. How can I let him lose it now? I picked it up and chased him to the finish. That bought me a few seconds. Saw my friends and Brian. Saw some more friends on the other side who stayed soooo long after their half marathon finish to see me. Brian chased me to the finish line to get a photo at the line. I crossed it and stopped.

There was no crying. No fantastic high. I was just glad to stop. They were tearing down the chocolate milk tent. And the Jamba Juice tent. These RnR races aren’t very thoughtful. The same thing happened to Jennifer in San Diego. They cater to the half marathoners more than the marathoners for no other reason than that there are more of them, I think. Yes, they deserve their fair share. Their FAIR share. Just because they're finished three hours earlier doesn't mean they need to take more than their fair share of the goods when people are out there for twice as long and really need it at the end. That was really disappointing. I got some kind of disgusting fruit cocktail, a water, pretzels, and 3 granola bars handed to me. Thanks for no protein! I'll just go pass out now.  Anyhoo.....

·     I met my friends and Brian in the reunion area. While I waited for them I enjoyed the cover band who was probably ten times better than headliner Andy Grammer.  He finished playing an hour ago (hope you enjoyed it half-marathoners!). At least I knew all this band’s songs.

All in all, I'm glad it's over. My goal was to complete a marathon without getting injured. Nothing at all hurt during the race. I was just fatigued. Today, my quads are sore and my ankles are stiff, but I think that's pretty normal after 26.2 miles. I went for a walk to loosen up and I plan to keep moving and stretching. I'm sure I'll hurt for a good 2-3 days. I'll ease back into things on my bike later this week maybe. I miss Pearl.

I’m a marathoner! Two days later I’m finally proud of myself.  For someone at my level (I’m not a runner.  I’m a mom who wanted to do a marathon.), it’s less about the race itself and more about dedicating yourself to the training.  The training was the hard work and I did that and I am proud of it.  Yes it took me over 5 hours to run 26.2 miles.  So what?  Since July 23^rd , I’ve run over 500 miles.  500 miles?!  I am awesome!