Then I went to IL for a 15k. I was 3 weeks out from the marathon and the race just didn't go well. It didn't help the course was full of non-stop hills, but I figured after the ADK Distance Run, the hills wouldn't matter. Well they did. I left questioning my marathon goal pace.
Once I came home from IL I came down with a nasty cold. I stayed home from work, slept 9 hours during the day, drank an insane amount of fluids and took medication. Surprisingly, this all worked! I was thrilled. Then Wednesday I had my last hard workout before the marathon, 6 x mile on 2 minutes rest, closing in 5:41. I felt awesome. I went home, drank a recovery shake and then BOOM, food poisoning! It was terrible. I lost 5-6 pounds overnight. Not something I needed to happen. A couple days later I went to the Fam 5k just to get my legs moving a little. I still felt weak from being sick and went there with the plan of not racing full effort. I was expecting to run around 18:10 and went out very conservatively. I ran under 18 and felt extremely strong at the end, closing in 5:33. Finally, a good sign. The next day I had my final longish run, 16.5. I ran an easy 9 with Janne before the Voorheesville 7.1 miler, then ran the race (plus a little more) at a harder effort.
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| Fam Fund 5k |
Despite a good weekend, taper still messed with me. In the final week my legs felt heavy and flat. I was worried I was anemic. I had every negative thought running through my head! BUT I made it to the start line ready to go.
I normally get nervous before I race, however I was never nervous in Hartford. It was like I was going out for another run. The gun went off and I searched for Erica and Katie. I started to get on Katie's shoulder, but then realized she was going out too fast for me and backed off about a half mile in. First mile was 6:07. This was a little fast, but OK. The 5k split was fine, then something happened at mile 4 and 5. The splits were way off and began clocking 6:30 miles. I couldn't believe that was the case. I missed mile 5 and was really thrown off. Finally at mile 6, where I saw my mother, things seemed to be a little better, but mentally those miles were tough. We went over a bridge and down an off ramp where I saw another girl that had been running with Katie. I quickly caught her and thought about passing her. Then I realized it was only mile 7 and we still had a long way to go. I ran with her and we picked up another guy. We hung together until mile 11 until the male and myself took off. Then around mile 12 we had to take a left hand turn, that we almost missed. I was mad. Then I realized I never saw my water bottle! I had taken my last gel that I was carrying at mile 11 and had missed my water bottle which had my gel. At mile 13.1 I saw Emily and Vince (1:21:58), which was great because it started to feel a little isolated on the course. Then I never saw the second table to get my gel! I freaked out. I couldn't possibly finish a marathon with no more gel. I took it conservatively from 14-17 because I was scared I would crash and burn f I ran faster without taking in any calories. FINALLY around mile 18.5 a guy on a bike was handing out gel. I went to grab one and it fell on the ground. I tried to pick it up and I missed. My hands were numb from the rain and my fingers weren't fitting in my gloves. I yelled to the guy on the bike to please come back. And he did! He made sure to get 2 gels in my hand before taking off. I told him I loved him. Although it had been drizzling all morning, the rain was starting to get heavy. I saw Emily and Vince again at mile 20, as well as my friends Kelly and Dan who were running in the other direction of the out and back section. I started to feel great after receiving my gel, but then the course got lonely again. I had dropped the guy I was running with and there was no one in sight. The rain made it hard to see and I was convinced several times I was no longer on the course. The last mile was by far my slowest. We had an uphill section and a couple turns. I crossed the line in 2:45:44 for third place. 
