5014

I had a post that I started writing a little while ago and, in fact, had completed and then…I accidentally deleted it. I have enough saved that I can piece it back together, but since I just finished my first full marathon yesterday, I think I’ll get a post about that out of the way first.

Training
I started running in March 2014, with a C25K-type phone app. I had a hard time, for a couple different reasons, getting up to running a whole 5k straight through in the time that most of those apps give you to do so (usually 8 weeks). But then, in November, I ran my first 10k and I ran it straight through. After that I signed up for my first half marathon in April 2015. I ran 2 more half marathon (and countless other types of races) while training for my full marathon and then, came the day: the Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon. I used the Hal Higdon Novice 2 training plan as I had used Hal Higdon for my first half and liked it. I changed the schedule around a little to fit my own schedule.

The Report
All of the aid stations were great. There was a great energy from the volunteers and I was so grateful to them and the rest of the communities of Detroit and Windsor for being involved in cheering us on and keeping us alive and pumped. This race is international- it goes over the Ambassador Bridge into Canada and comes back into the US via the underwater tunnel, giving it bragging rights to the only race involving an underwater mile. The border patrol authorities were all very nice and were cheering us on- one was even taking pictures. Overall, this was a great race to participate in, if nothing else, for the views and the sense of community. Favorite posters include: ‘Good job, random stranger!’, ‘Chuck Norris never ran a marathon’, ‘May the course be with you’, and ‘Only one more country to go!’
I wasn’t really nervous at all. I had trained for this. I was as prepared as I was ever going to be. The only thing left was to just get it done. I let my guard down after mile 3/4 and started going too fast, too soon. I hit, what I think, was my wall between miles 13.5-15. During this time, I kept joking with myself that I needed to reassess how I make life decisions- this bit of humor actually helped me get through it, but really it was rough and there definitely a few seconds where I was believing I couldn’t make it. I was miraculously able to get through it, though. I didn’t return completely refreshed, but I got through and wasn’t dying when I crossed the finish line. The unfortunate thing that helped hold me down a little was something that I hadn’t ever experienced during my long runs while training. I started having some GI discomfort about halfway through. I have trained through training runs and races with the energy gels and salt pills I used for the marathon as well as eating the same breakfast always- there was nothing new, yet somehow I was facing some pretty painful gas at times. I’m chalking it up to either nerves or the temperature of the drinking water. There was a small checklist of things that have hindered races and runs for me before that I was afraid would hit during this race and, luckily, they didn’t happen. I much prefer the discomfort that happened to the pain that could have happened, but didn’t.
I was a little bummed that I just barely made it under 6 hours because general pace has become so much faster than when I first signed up for the marathon in January that I was excited that I might be closer to a 5:30 finishing time. With a 6:30 time limit, I only wanted to make 6 hours, but I trained hoping that I could get as far under 6 as possible so that I could have a cushion if something went wrong and I’d have to walk more than I hoped. Well, something did go wrong- I didn’t pace myself well enough, had that random GI distress (which lead to something like 5 different porta-john stops), and I hit that energy hole a little more than halfway through (probably due to the pacing issue), so I used my cushion and still made it under 6 hours, even if just.
There have been a few races during which I get emotional near the finish line and, therefore, start to breathe erratically which makes me start to dry heave, so I’ve learned that I can’t increase my pace too much or let myself get too emotional.  However, I turned the corner and saw the finish line and it started hitting me and then my sister screamed to the right of me and was cheering me on and then they called out my name and bib number (5014); my face crumpled. I soared, bawling, through that finish line and stopped in disbelief. I’m a marathon runner now. I run long distances. Heck, I did not merely run 26.2 miles, I ran for nearly 6 hours.

I had friends and family cheering me on throughout the course. I am so, so lucky to have people like that in my life. People who came from 8 hours away to see me cross that finish line and cheer me on at mile 17.5. People who spent their Sunday morning following me from mile 10 to 11 to 14 to 16 to 18.5 to 25.5 to the finish. People who made signs and screamed their lungs out for me. People who belong to the same fitness group as me and hyped me up along the way. Not everyone has that, but this journey has sort of led me to the people who really care for and support me (not that everyone who cares for and supports me has the means to physically follow me around during races, I know that).

By the way, it took me only mere hours to want to sign up for my next marathon. Mostly, because I can do better. Not necessarily for time, but better in pacing, better in how I utilize my gels, maybe. I can do better at how I attack it.

This milestone was so much more meaningful to me than my weight loss. Any time I lift and find I can step up to the next set of dumbbells, that means more. Weight loss is a huge deal, so do not mistake me. It is simply that I find more enjoyment in being able to do- which is linked to my weight loss, but not encompassed by it. Weight loss is only one facet of this journey. Not everyone wants to run marathons or build muscle (maybe one only wants to maintain), but finding something that keeps you active, gives you targets or goals to aspire to, and makes you happy- that is something worth searching for.

I am a marathon runner now.