Pocatello Marathon recap

I once asked my mom if she was less nervous for her subsequent childbirth deliveries after her first. Her response was, "No, I was MORE nervous, because I knew what it would be like!" And so that explains why I was naively excited and not a bit nervous for my first marathon a year ago, and then the next two I experienced major gastric distress before and/or during the event.

Thursday during our road trip to Pocatello, Taylor threw up twice in the car. I didn't think much of it--he was still happy. It looked like he just didn't chew his food well. But that night I woke up feeling very sick and miserable, throwing up my "carb load" dinner. On Friday I did not feel too sick except that I was having a hard time eating, and just felt gross. I wasn't excited for the marathon--actually felt pretty indifferent, maybe even obligated-- and was considering dropping out. During this time of introspection and prayer, my thoughts turned to my failed marathon earlier this year and the grave disappointment I was still carrying, subconsciously. I became emotional and resolved that darn it, I did indeed want to run this race, and however things went, I just needed to finish and it would be a success. I asked for a blessing of comfort, which stated several things but that I would do the race and look back on a good experience having learned about myself and about my abilities. After the blessing my nausea dissipated enough for me to have a big carb dinner and keep it down.

Sleep did not come easily but I kept praying and visualizing, just trying to keep my thoughts off the marathon. But we had a good night sleep and come 4:45 am, I was ready and raring to go! I caught the bus at 5:15 and we drove up into the hills for a 6:15 start time. I ran with the 4:10 pace group and held steady 9:30 splits for the first ten miles or so, getting to the halfway point in 2 hrs, 5 minutes. Right on track, but I doubted I could keep my pace up, so I was predicting a 4:15 finish. (My time last year was 4:16) that first half was fairly I eventful except for some stomach cramping and bladder issues which I experience every now and then...which led to some nice chaffing where the sun don't shine.

After that things got tricky. My gels were making me nauseas (or the stomach bug from Taylor?) and my gut was in knots. So over the following 2.5 hours, I let loose on the side of the road THREE times! And whenever I would run I would get really nauseated, so I had to keep walking. Other than that I felt okay. My legs and feet felt fine. I wasn't discouraged really, although I had a stretch where I was just bored and didn't want to be there, questioning why I even do this to myself. Once when someone asked me why I was there (trying to motivate me) my reply was "because it was only 40 bucks and I can't turn that down, so now I am obligated!"

When it was clear that I was not going to P.R. that day, I decided to kick back a bit. One reason I do enjoy marathoning is being out there with so many like-minded runners who all have an interesting story to tell about how they got there, etc. and I just love chatting it up! What I like to do is run faster to catch up with a walker in front of me, them walk with them and talk. So I did a lot of walking and talking. Twice I was in the specific situation of being ready to run again, but was more interested in the conversation so I just kept walking!

So during that low time, I ended up jogging and chatting with a couple old guys. These are your classic old runners who have done about a hundred marathons, and do little training in between, just event after event. They get away with it because they do it so recreationally. So I was getting all sorts of tips and stuff. But this old guy, he was just a total hoot! I didn't even catch his name, it sounded like Lol which I think is fitting because he had me laughing out loud over and over. He really lifted my spirits, and got me back in touch with my spunky self. He did some crazy things like pouring water on me and teasing the aid staff! At one point I said I couldn't keep up with him. He said "you gotta ditch your water bottle! It's slowing you down!" And he grabbed it away from me, poured it over my head, and threw it into the bushes!! But seriously this just delighted me. I love people like this. I really, really appreciated this guy (who I will never see again, but I will never forget!)

I ran with Lol for at least an hour. I ended up going on ahead of him actually. He got me in a really fun, spunky mood so I was dancing to my music, waving my arms around. marathons are one of those times when your inhibitions disappear and you can do what you want! After my third bowel movement (!!) I felt really good and was able go faster. So the last few miles I felt so much better than ever before, but what do you expect after 2 hours of 11-12 min splits? Of course I was still fresh. So I was in a great mood. Nothing hurt on my body, and I felt like I could go ten more miles. I ran a strong 10'30 26th mile, my best split in probably 15 miles. I had no trouble running the final half mile and finished grinning and fully alert. Rychen did the half and so was done long before me. He jogged back over a mile to wait for me and bring me in. We planned this so I kept looking for him. It was hard for me to do those middle miles without him. Finally I saw him and shouted out. He could see I was having a good time. I was 30 minutes behind my predicted time so I had to explain about all the fun potty fun I had been having! After finishing I couldn't eat much. The old guy "Lol" finished five minutes behind me and I went to give him a hug and introduce him to my husband. He was so funny, calling me weird names still. Lol was the highlight of my race! So looking back on my blessing, here's what I learned about myself and my abilities. (1) that I LOVE people. I could listen to their stories all day. I love meeting new people. I learned that I love socializing more than I care about competition (and that's saying something because I am pretty competitive!) In a short race I have no problem turning inward, focusing on my form, and leaving people in the dust. But in a marathon it's totally different. It's a community. Everybody is just holding on with all they've got. I simply can not just pass them by without asking how they feel and what brought them here today. (2) I learned that I could go longer than 26.2. I learned my endurance is sufficient. The up and coming methods of topping long runs out at 2.5 hours (15 miles) worked for me. The key to going longer than 26.2 is just slowing down and enjoying yourself. They key to repeating 26.2, the same. Running and training, and the resulting stress, is totally dependent upon how easy or intense it is. I got into trouble earlier this year because I was over zealous, running too many races without recovery in between, then doing marathon training with too many hard miles and insufficient recovery. I have another marathon in five weeks so I'm going to see what I can do with the old fashioned method--running a lot of miles, but 100% aerobic (nothing harder than marathon pace). My time was 4:44. A half hour slower than it should have been. But I am SO THANKFUL I went slow, because I let go of expectations and had an awesome time. It was a run to remember and I would do another marathon next week if I could!