I will say, it was a Stunningly Beautiful course. Rychen says the best course he's done, scenery wise. It was at Lake Mead, along some sidewalks and then an old dirt road with railroad tunnels, leading up to the Dam. You overlook the dam and then turn back, and do this loop twice.
Again I did not feel 100% - marathons just aren't the same for me as training runs, energy-level wise, and maybe it's all the excitement, I use my adrenaline up the day before and then I am lethargic during the run. Who knows.
Well the night before we ate out, and I wasn't very smart... I ate something I don't handle well (soy in mayonnaise) and felt icky. I woke up at 3:45 feeling sick and wasn't able to sleep after that. By 6 am my bowels were ...all cleared out... but at 7 I was still very nauseas and I was starting to feel uneasy about how the run would go. I run because I enjoy it - and running through pain is NOT my idea of fun. (this is where Rychen and I differ) I asked for a priesthood blessing which Rychen promptly administered, in his running clothes :) The blessing said I would be comfortable for the race, and all my bodily systems would work properly. Immediately afterward, the neausea left me. I felt stable, strong, and confident. wow! I felt comfortable the entire race, although like I said I was a bit sluggish, slower than usual. I ran an average of 30 seconds slower per mile than my training runs.
I ran strong until about mile 24. I do walking breaks the first hour for my warm-up to prevent going out too fast, but after that I jogged mostly (except for the steep switchbacks). I felt great knowing I was still running at 24 miles. But gradually I got slower and slower, until the last mile I really had to force myself to do a slow jog!! As I rounded the corner to the finish chute (last .2 miles) I suddenly picked up speed and sprinted through the finish, grinning from ear to ear!! I really enjoyed that race, there wasn't anything real challenging for me, I was in good spirits mentally the whole time, enjoying myself. I finished in 4 hours, 19 minutes.
My time at marathon #1 was 4:17 but that was a downhill road course. This one had long hills, switchbacks, and lots of rocky dirt road. Marathon #1 I felt depleted and depressed, it never ended. But this time I felt strong the whole time. So I have improved, it's great to see. (Now I need to do another good flat course and cut some significant time off!)
As soon as I finished, I felt sick again!! How funny is that. Either the blessing was complete (for the time I needed it) or the marathon itself made me sick. I was using lots of gels which were based in corn (maltodextrin) and that's a food I don't tolerate well... I don't know why. But I couldn't eat much. It took me about 45 minutes, then I felt better. I was a little paranoid about missing my glycogen window (recovery is much quicker when you can get in a good carb meal after a long workout) but it all worked out.
after marathon #1 i felt totally weak the rest of the day, even mentally if I thought back to the race I would tense up and feel bad... I wasn't sure I wanted to do it again. But after this one, immediately I was looking forward to my next marathon!! I just felt it was so awesome. Thinking over exactly what was so great, it was hard to put my finger on. It wasn't adrenaline or a rush, it was a more true feeling of enjoyment. I think it's just so wonderful to be out in nature for 4 hours while under rigid physical and mental discipline, among many other people sharing the same experience. Hard to describe, but I am really looking forward to doing many more. I want to travel around the country, seeing new scenery and cities... this is just a mode of tourism. You tour a city by running through it, or running at key natural or historical sites.
Marathons in that sense are more recreational than shorter distances. Shorter distances I run hard and don't notice my surroundings very much. But a long run, you don't breath hard much at all, you can visit with people, you can look around, and really enjoy yourself. I do like both types of running.
So what's next for me?
Jan. I have a 20.13K race (12.5 miles) I would like to run in 1'45" and a 5k race I would like to run in 22-1/2 minutes.
Feb. I am running a trail half marathon. I have discovered that I LOVE TRAIL RUNS!!! Aiming for 1'49"
June - either Newport marathon or Timberline 14-miler... hmmm a flat, fast full or a trail? Don't get too many opportunities for trails... I don't think I can handle the trail full yet.
August- Pocatello take 2.
October - Hagg Lake and/or St George marathon
November - Silver Falls, probably the full marathon this year
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