Friday and Saturday, before the marathon, it really started to sink in that I was indeed going to run a marathon. I would have thought that the four months of training would have clued me in to that fact but it seems like I was living in a pretty state of denial. Saturday night, after laying everything out, I had my first “Oh crud! I don’t think I want to do this!” moment. Which was quickly replaced with, “I can’t go back home having not done this.”
Saturday morning we drove up to Portland with a quick stop at Lululemon for arm warmers. (I read AFTERwords that bare arms in rain are best because they drip dry, but I don’t care. I wasn’t too cold with them on and I was glad to have had them. And yeah, I broke the rule about wearing something I hadn’t trained in. I’m such a rebel I guess.) PS It was my first time in a Lululemon store and I wish I could have spent more time and money there. BUT, I had a bib and race packet to pick up.
We got into Portland and the traffic wasn’t pretty the closer we got to the Hilton so Hubs dropped me off and circled the block while I raced down into the depths of the Hilton to get my stuff. Such an awesome excitement in the air! I would have stayed longer except A. it was stinkin’ hot in there and B. Hubs was not going to be successful in finding a parking spot. So up into the cooler air I escaped. We drove to my Aunt V’s home in amazing time and decided that we would risk it in the morning and not use the train to get us to and from. We had a great visit with the extended family that came to see us and Aunt V made me a special spaghetti dinner. She had a good laugh when I told her they were serving the same thing at the Hilton but it was $25 a head.
I think I got maybe 5-6 hours of sleep but I knew little to no sleep would be the case and having banked 10 hours the night before, I wasn’t stressed about it like I normally am. My alarm went off at 4:50 am and I nearly jumped out of bed and into my running gear. Out of the house and on our way at 5:30 we got into downtown just as it started to rain. Really rain! Oh FUN! This is where I wished that I had brought a plastic garbage bag. We sat in the van for awhile and I finished my PB sandwich. We were able to park pretty darn close to my corral entrance so we waited, hoping the rain would subside more. It didn’t. Hubs and I hammered out last minute changes to where I’d look for him along the way. He walked me to my corral entrance and we said our goodbyes.
So very nervous! I got into line for the porta potties and should have gotten right back in line. When I came out the lines had quadrupled! I chatted with the others in my wave and one running mom helped me re-pin my bib to my leg since I wasn’t going to ditch my “throw-away” shirt just yet. Did I mention it was raining? I remember looking around at all of us huddled under whatever overhang we could find and thinking it felt funny that we were all standing in the rain on purpose getting ready to torture ourselves. The excitement and anticipation felt kind of ironic. I remember someone singing the Star Spangled Banner. There were cheers and horns…more cheers and horns, and then right when I decided to hop in the line for the potties one last time, our wave started moving. Oh well! I chatted with a guy named Skip up until we about crossed the starting line and I think I muttered to him something like, “Good luck to you I forgot to turn my Garmin on.” Or something like that. I had indeed forgotten to turn mine on so instead of starting when I crossed the line, all I got was “searching for satellite.” I started to panic a little then I pulled over to the side to wait, it didn’t connect, then I ran some more and then my Garmin started asking me questions. Was I inside? NO you stupid thing! Have I traveled over 100 miles since I last turned it on? Oh crap! It was somewhere around mile two that I think it found the satellite and started working. Lesson learned. Still raining.
">
My left foot was sloshing in my shoe and I remember thinking, Boy these blisters are going to be fun. I’d say the first 6 miles I completely forgot about my run/walk ratio….and fuel. I went out slow enough though and I caught myself running TOO slow so I sped up a little. Saw my hubs and gave him my shirt around mile 4 or so. Next time I would see him would be at mile 7. The half marathoners started running by and I felt a little sorry for them. Sorry that they couldn’t run another 13.1 miles? Lol! Mile 7 came and no hubby but I figured he just had a hard time getting there with traffic and since this was part of an out and back, I’d catch him at mile 10. I entertained myself by watching the other runners go by…watching their feet, their faces, reading the names on their bibs. I wasn’t practicing my normal run/walk ratio but thought it was ok that I was walking through all of the water stations.
Mile 10 and I’m still feeling great and starting to wonder where my hubs is but still ok with the thought that I would for sure see him around mile 19. And then there he was at mile 11.
I was so happy to see my number 1 cheerleader! He said I looked great and asked me how I felt. That’s when I realized my calves were starting to cramp. I had come 11 miles and it was easy…now cramps? So soon? Uh oh! I had some salt packets that had turned to mush but I squeezed a couple of horrible crystals into my mouth and set out for miles 12-17 which I knew would end with a huge hill. (For the record, I don’t think salt packets helped. I had hoped when I read that a runner does this at first sign of cramps and voila!...voila my a$$) I think I stopped to stretch maybe once or twice but it wasn’t helping. I found one more salt packet and put the whole thing in my mouth. Getting up the St John’s Bridge hill and crossing that darned thing was amazing. I lied to myself and told myself the hard part was over. I was now running in mileage territory that had not been crossed before by my legs. There were some blessed downhills and other than cramping calves and a feeling of exhaustion, I was pain free. Even though I was walking a lot more at this point, I was praising the fact that I was not injured. I watched my time goal of 5:30 slip further and further away but I knew I was finishing so it really didn’t matter much to me anymore. It stopped raining for me around mile something…was it 19? I don’t really remember. I saw my hubs at mile 20 and got one more hug and kiss. Much of this is blurry now. I think I’m walking now more than I’m running. I was playing little games with myself and running between lamp posts and signs, and then walking again.
Miles 23-26.2 were hard. The miles ticked off slowly and the finish line seemed to keep moving on me. I can say for sure that the last .2 seemed horrendously long. All of a sudden I rounded a corner and there it was. I think I remember hearing the music Flight of the Valkyries playing and a fat opera pig on a poster singing. I did happen to glance over and see my hubs one last time. Once over the finish line the emotions were crazy…partly crying from relief and exhaustion…it was all a blur. Blanket gets draped over me, I felt a pat on my back, I was handed a medal, I get handed a rose, a nice volunteer ties my blanket for me and puts my medal I was clutching around my neck…food, shirts, I must have looked dazed because a nice volunteer asked me if I was meeting a loved one, I think I shook my head yes, and I rounded the corner and burst into tears as soon as I saw my hubby.
He kept telling me how proud he was of me. We walked to the van which wasn’t too far away and he helped me get into some warm dry clothes. After that it was pretty smooth sailing. I got the first look at my feet which looked like what I imagine they call jungle rot. Two blood blisters, one regular blister, and legs that felt a hundred years old…not too shabby! We went back to Aunt V’s and I took a shower…more dry clothes…and then we hit the road for the outlet malls? Lol! Hubby rewarded me with a new Coach wallet for a job well done.
The car ride home was loooong and I got out and stretched every chance I could. Monday I had off and I slept most of the day. I took of Tuesday as well to catch up with everything that didn’t get done over the weekend and today I can honestly say that I have had some of those marathon blues. It’s over…what next? My body isn’t ready to hit it hard yet, but soon. I’ve never been really good at being patient. A big huge thank you to you, my spark friends, for supporting me along the way with your advice and encouraging words!! Whose going to run their first marathon next?!?!
PS Just noticed the dates are wrong on my camera but then it looks like hubs fixed them at one point. loL!
How I did with the 2011 Portland Marathon!
Good for you! I'm a long ways off from my first marathon. I'm looking to run my first 5k in November.
ReplyDeleteTerri