We ran a marathon. Check. It is something I have done, I will always be able to say that I have done it, but I’m not so certain that we’ll do it again anytime soon. It was an amazing experience, but an excruciating experience, and time-consuming experience.
The Training: We started training in June for the marathon, and needless to say, 4 months later we were very anxious to get it over with! We ran 3 or 4 miles a few times a week, then we had a semi-long run on Wednesday, and a long run on Saturday. The semi-long run gradually increased from 4 miles to 10. The long run gradually increased from 6 miles to 20. According to schedule that we followed, we ran about 458 miles in 4 months and 1 week.
Lesson learned: Drink water. On our first 12 mile run, I didn’t drink much water. I was in excruciating pain, and, to put it graphically, I had bloody stool, and no answer as to why. After asking 2 doctors who also didn’t know why this was happening, we were able to get in touch with the Gastrointestinal Surgeon at the hospital who said I had “Marathoner’s Bowel” – basically I was so dehydrated that my colon was shutting down, cells were dying and sloughing off. There was nothing I could besides taking pain killers and lying down. Call me crazy, but somehow I did 14 miles that next Saturday and the training went on! Nothing was stopping me!
I run for donunts: Ryan and I don’t eat donuts. They’re bad for you. But, we decided that after a run longer than 12 miles, we deserved one. So after those long runs, we made it a tradition to get chocolate milk and donuts (Ryan – the maple bar, and me – the fudge bar).
Mental Training: I read,
The Ultimate Training Guide by Hal Higdon. So through out our training I would always talking about "him", and "Hal", and "he", as if we were best buds. It gave me confidence that we could do this. It helped me know what and when to eat. It gave advice down to small details about pinning your number onto your shirt the night before the race. Hal's Novice program is also the training program we decided to follow. By following this program, we KNEW we'd be able to do a marathon.
WHY: I decided to run a marathon because I needed to prove to myself that anything was and is possible. I needed to prove that no matter my circumstance, no matter what others think, I can do anything if I put my mind to it. I had to prove to myself that if I worked hard for something, if I stuck to a plan, if I had faith in myself, that I would be successful. I didn't train to beat a specific time, I trained to finish, to survive, and to prove to myself that I am strong.
The Race: Alarm went off at 3:50 a.m. We got dressed, ate a bagel and orange juice. 4:35 a.m. Left to go pick up my brother David and brother-in-law Ryan (who were also running the race). 5:25 a.m.We loaded the bus and drove for 30 minutes in darkness up the canyon, wondering what on earth we were thinking. 6:15 a.m. waited in a 20 person line to use the smelly Honeybucket for the last time for 5 hours. 6:45 a.m. the sirens went off, the race began. 6:52 a.m. We finally crossed the Start line - and we were off. We basically ran as if we were on a treadmill, set it to 6, and took it nice and steady.
The first 7 miles people were laughing, making jokes, and having fun. We got to a small little town, there were probably 100 people out there cheering us on. At that point it actually hit me what I was doing. I still had 19.2 miles to go. They had some junior high age boys playing in a little band, and people holding up signs of encouragement. Then there was the hill. THE hill. Veyo. Our strategy going in was to jog for a little, but then to walk some of it to save some energy - it was a great plan, and we stuck to it.
At this point, the sun was up, we were almost half way, and we were feeling great. At mile 11 is when I started doing a mile marker joy moment of putting my arms up in the air, and yelling "Mile 11!". This went on until mile 25...I then was saving every ounce of energy I had. We putted along, nice and steady, walking through the aid stations (every odd mile), drinking a Gatorade or two, and pouring water on our heads. Eating some oranges, and Gu - Chocolate Cherry. Life was good until about mile 18. Life was getting harder. My hips kept cramping up, and Ry wasn't his peachy ole' self either. We just wanted to finish. The last 5 miles seemed like decades. People were throwing up here and there, others were cramping up and falling, to put it scientifically - our glycogen stores were gone and we were running on empty. The funny thing is, everyone goes into a marathon knowing that's going to happen. that's the amazing thing about it, you have to fight through it.
Finally at mile 23 we were coming into the town. People were lining the streets, cheering us on to "Finish Hard!", "You're almost there!", and "You're Amazing!". We were so anxious to be done, to see that finish line and be done! Done not only with the race, but the long months of training, anticipation, the early morning runs, the long runs, and the time time time it took for all of those long runs. Approaching the finish line we saw my mom, dad, Jen, Tim, Melissa, Lucy, David, Crissi, Addie, Savannah, Bob, Sue and Livy all there to cheer us on for those last few steps. When the official clock read 4:48:50, we crossed the finish line. (Net 4:41). We did it. We actually finished a marathon. It was amazing.
Ry’s Results:
Result in Entire field – 3762nd, 66% of finishers ahead.
Result in Division – 68th place, about 49% of finishers ahead.
Becca’s Results:
Result in Entire field – 3760th , 66% of finishers ahead.
Result in Division – 27th, About 27% of finishers ahead.
Ryan has vowed to never do a marathon again, but maybe someday, when we've forgotten the pain, we'll do it again. But for now we'll stick to our lovely 1/2 marathons, 10K's and 5K's.
