Somedays you got it, Somedays you don't....

Okay, so I can finally write this.

Sunday, October 13. 2013
Mohawk Hudson Marathon:

Before I reflect about what went wrong, what I did wrong, I will just start from the beginning.

I woke up that morning in plenty of time to eat breakfast, foam roll and get everything together.  My dad drove Abby and me to the start around 7:30 a.m.  As we got out of the car, the thermostat read 57 degrees.... When we got there, we dropped our bags and went on a light warm-up to get things moving and find a bathroom.  I ended up stealing a roll of TP from the ARE van thanks to John because surprise, the line for the port-a-potties was ridiculous.  At the start line, I spotted out the girl NOT to follow, knowing she would go out super fast.  Abby's plan, which was a 1:26 first half was similar to mine so we planned to run the first half together.  With us, was Nicole Blood, who had never run a marathon. It seemed easy, we chatted for the first 8 miles and didn't think anything of it.  However, it was too fast.  NONE of us were going to run anything close to even splits and I knew by mile 7 the damage was already done.

Just after mile 8

I took a lot of water, 2 cups of each station, one to drink, the other to throw over my head.  We went through the 10k in 39-mid.  Too fast.  I never took a gatorade, why would I need to I had gel.  I took my gel as planned at mile 6 and 11.  Around mile 10 Nicole took the lead, taking off in 6:15 pace... I was not going with her.  I stayed back, Abby eventually decided to go around mile 11.  Mile 12 I knew, this was going to suck.  I was now by myself and had gone out too fast.  I tried to slow down once Abby passed thinking this would help me.  Nope, it hurt me, my hips tightened up terribly.  As I was making it up the hill to mile 13, I realized how hot I was and how heavy my singlet felt, I threw it off to my friend, Jess.  Mile 14, I saw my parents.  As soon as I passed them I kept thinking I should have threw in the towel there, my legs are so tight.  I kept trucking... I had no choice.  At one point I thought it wasn't so bad, I was still running well under 7's and I was almost to mile 16... oh wait that was just the mile 15 mark.  That was a huge bummer.  I finally did get to mile 16, where I was scheduled for my next gel.  I couldn't stomach it.  I opened it and babied over the next mile.  Coming up to the train tracks I hoped to get in a mile around 6:40 with the downhill, but unfortunately I was about 12 seconds slower.  This wasn't going good.  Miles 18-20 were endless.  I started to become absolutely drained, I felt like I was dead, my stomach was hurting and I was done mentally and physically.  I just didn't feel right and honestly didn't think I would finish.  My parents were at mile 20, which I knew, and there they were, I could finally see them in the distance.  My mom was ready with a change of shoes in case I needed them (I still have issues with my right foot) and a gel.  I looked at them and just said I was done, stepping off the course.  They were shocked.  Never once in my life had they seen me quit anything, especially something I was so prepared and ready for.  Something I had dedicated the past several months to, training harder than ever before, running my fastest times ever leading up to this race, and logging the most miles in my life.  I was done.  I quit.  I was at 2 hours and 14 minutes, the exact same time I was at during my last marathon at mile 20, the difference, I wanted to be at 2:10 by mile 20 for this marathon and I felt awful...  I was totally okay with it at the time and had no idea why.  I sat down for awhile, noticed my bloody shoe, and eventually decided to get up and head to the finish line.  I looked down the road and noticed that I saw Crystal's singlet in the distance.  I grabbed a water, my mother saved for me at this point, and ran it to her.  I was moving.  I was seeing straight.  I was okay.  I could have jumped back in the race and ran to the finish with her, but it never crossed my mind at the time because all I knew was that I was done and had dropped out.  I got in the car, changed into dry clothes and we drove to the finish line.  When I got there, Mike, who finished second, started asking me what was going on and telling me about his race.  It was then when I started to fade and realized I couldn't stand there anymore.  I made my way to the final stretch and found myself on the grass... and then I puked.  I then found a couple friends and Kristina, who knows better and was thinking much clearer than I, told me I needed to get in some calories and went to get me gatorade.  I puked again.  I tried to sip the gatorade, but just couldn't.  She made the executive decision that I should go to the medical tent.  I didn't think I needed to, but agreed because she was so stern on the matter.  As I stood up, she held me tightly, I remember thinking, why is she holding me so tight, then all of a sudden, everything... BLACK.  I could hear, I could hear my mom approach us, I remember seeing Drew, maybe he was there before it went black, but they got me in the med tent.  After spending sometime there and getting some fluids, they let me leave.  I made it to my parents and went over to the grass.  And then, puke x 3...or 4... I don't know.  It was bad.  I didn't care to find a garbage, I just started puking in the middle of everyone.  Abby reminded me I still hadn't gotten my bag that I checked at the start of the race.  She helped me over (she was the one that actually finished the marathon) and we got our bags.  A few feet later, uncontrollable vomiting.  She took my stuff, I just wanted to go home.  We made it over close to my parents, when again I puked, for some reason this time I went for the garbage.  My friend, Dave, who had already witnessed my prior vomiting episodes looked at me and said "back to the med tent".  He walked me over.  This time they desperately tried to get an IV in me, every time they got a flash, the vein collapsed.  I took some Zofran and laid down.  I couldn't stomach anything.  Awhile later, I finally convinced Todd (the race medical director) to let me leave.  I promised I wouldn't return!  My dad had already left to bring Abby to our house and my mom was waiting for me outside the tent.  We walked over to the parking lot, where I sat in the shade until my dad got there.

Bloody shoe!

The next morning.  I was pissed.  Why did I let them dictate my race, why did I go out so fast, it doesn't matter how easy it felt, 6:20 pace is too fast for me!  Why did I continue to have stomach issues, and why do I always get hyponatremia during MHM?!?  2 years ago a similar situation occurred where I overdid the water and couldn't form any salvia afterwards to swallow a thing, my pulse crossing the finish line, 60.

I went out for a 2 mile run and changed my mind.  When I dropped out the day before I told my parents, I had done enough marathons, I really like the half, I wasn't upset, I had a great year, I didn't need another marathon for awhile.  Well I impulsively changed my Houston half entry to the full a few hours later.  Then the next day when I realized I qualified for the elite field at California International Marathon with my half marathon time, I signed up for that.  So now what?!!?!?

CIM December 8th.

I have been ridiculously sick with a cold/URI this past week and a half, which hasn't made training fun.   I had an endoscopy last week and a biopsy confirmed that I don't have Celiac's disease and can eat all the bread I want!  However, this doesn't help answer my iron issues...

 Regardless of what happens at CIM I will finish.  Even if it means I say screw the 2:53 dream for  2013 and even if that means I don't run a PR!  I will run my race as planned and not go out too fast.  I am going back to my original gel I used for my last marathon (sorry honey stinger) and taking gatorade if I need to, which means I will practice with some fluid other than water during my long runs leading up to CIM.  My friends are done marathoning and it is getting dark and colder out, so it is hard, but hopefully with the NYC marathon this weekend, I will find it very motivating!!!

The Final Countdown

Friday, October 11th- Less than two days!  There is no two ways about it, taper sucks.  You start to question everything.  I flew into NY on Tuesday and for the first time the flights were rather uneventful.  I met up with some ARE members to run Tuesday after I got in.  Wednesday morning I went to mile 8 on the marathon course and did my last "workout".  It didn't feel the greatest, but it wasn't terrible either (as it shouldn't be) considering it was very easy.  I did a 2+ warm up, with 15 minutes at 6:30 pace, then a 2 mile cool down.  Thursday I only ran 2.5 miles.  Unfortunately I was planning on running more, but by the time I woke up and did what I needed to do I only had 20 minutes before I had to get in the shower and get moving.  I always schedule way too much when I am home and end up running around from place to place instead of just relaxing.  Anyway, I doubt the 2.5 miles verses 4 miles I wanted to do really makes a difference.  Friday I took off even though my coach had me scheduled to run.  I always take 2 days before a marathon off and I hadn't taken a day off in over a month.  Although now I am scared I dropped too much this week because my legs feel heavy.  4 weeks ago I was coming off Palio Half Marathon so we kept the mileage low at 65 so I could recover.  3 weeks ago I went up to 72 miles, last week (2 weeks out) I dropped to 52, then this week will essentially be at only 22 before the race.  The thing I am worried about most is my arm.  For some reason my left upper arm and scapula have been giving me issues.  I usually don't notice it until after 18 miles when I am running though, but when it does come on it is a sharp, stabbing pain.  The plan is to wear a bengay patch on my arm to try to prevent that from happening.  Ah!

This year has probably the most talented women's field ever entered in the marathon.  For some reason since I didn't care to enter as an elite (the marathon doesn't offer anything aside for free entry for elite marathoners anyway) I didn't get a seeded bib number.  I was honestly upset considering it was my hometown race and the majority of runners that did enter as elite haven't qualified for the standard, which was sub-3:00 marathon.  There are a few girls who have not even run a marathon at all let alone a half marathon.  So basically they submitted 10k, 10 mile times.  Regardless it's my hometown race and I am not seeded.  Which is OK, but to top it off I get bib number 69, really?  UG!  Some races purposely eliminate numbers 13 and 666, well I think number 69 should be included in that exception.

Here are some reasons why I think I will be running much faster at MHM than at Colorado Marathon:
1.  Altitude.  Duh.  The last half of Colorado is relatively flat and that alone is going to contribute about 10 seconds faster per mile.
2.  The course.  The downhill first half of Colorado is kind of like the downhill at Boston, your legs feel destroyed at the end of that portion!  My legs were screaming at me.
3.  Training.  I have significantly increased my miles for this marathon, my speed work and long runs have all been significantly faster.
4.  Healthier.  Last marathon, I didn't know about 6 weeks out if I was still going to run the full or have to drop to the half.  My plantar fascitis was still a big issue.  Luckily, my body has felt much healthier this time around.
5.  Support!  The first time we saw any spectators at the Colorado Marathon was around mile 17!  That is a long way to run before people start cheering you on!  This race will be filled with local support and my parents will be at miles 3, 8, 13-14, 19 and the finish!

So now what?  Sleep well tonight.  Breakfast in the morning, followed by a shakeout run and the expo.  My plan is to go out in 1:25:30 and not let anyone else in the race influence that.  I'm running to run 2:53, and then to try to win.  2:53 is first.  I'm not about to go out too fast so I can stay with the leader in contention for first place only to fall apart so I don't 1- win, and 2- run 2:53.  I do know the girl that is entered with the fastest marathon time (2:52) ran an eight minute positive split when she did that.... that does NOT sound fun!  Time to see what these legs have left in them after all this training!