Confessions of a Reluctant Marathoner: Marathon Recap

Last Saturday I ran my fourth marathon in Jackson, TN. It's been a few years since I ran my last, so I thought I'd give it another try. I'm thinking about taking on the Goofy Challenge, and thought I'd see how I'd do with another marathon first. You see, the Goofy Challenge is a 1/2 marathon on Saturday and a full on Sunday. Why does someone do the Goofy Challenge? I suppose just to prove you can. Hmmmm...I'll have to think a little more about that.

Let me move on to the recap.
This was a very small race. That's one of the reasons I chose it. I thought it would be interesting. It did not disappoint.

The above picture is my running bud, Pam, and I at the start. We were happy then. As we moved toward the start and heard some words of welcome and instruction, I heard the person say, "Please pay attention out there. There will be no closed roads. Pay attention to the arrows on the street, because we can't trust that the directional signs will be there." Uh-oh. Now, I didn't expect them to close roads for this race, but I did expect some cones. Nope. Also, I was a bit worried about missing an arrow along the way and running more than necessary. Luckily, the course remained pretty well marked and we found our way just fine. To the right is a picture of the first group of horses we came across. They were absolutely beautiful, as was the country.

In addition to finding my way and staying safe, another concern I had that day was for my foot. Two weeks prior to race day, I had started having some pain in the bottom of my foot, which I felt like was some tendonitis, that later started acting like plantar fasciitis. I got off of my feet and did not run for two weeks prior. I stretched, iced, etc. I rode my bike and did my strength training and hoped that that would suffice. It did. However, about a mile in, I knew that I was going to have to endure the foot pain for as long as I could or not finish the race. Ugh. That is not fun. I resigned myself to suck it up and do it, so on we went.

Here is a pic I snapped of Pam - doesn't she look happy? We were still happy at this point. It was a beautiful day, although warming up quickly. This was almost at the halfway point and we were doing pretty well. Having a running buddy to get through the miles with is a great help!

Here's the reason I had my phone out to take pictures. We came upon these beautiful horses and just had to stop!

Sometimes, you just have to stop and smell the roses, you know?

After we left, the horses took off running - it was a beautiful sight. We took off running, too, though not as fast. :-)

On with the race...it was getting pretty hot and the tough part of the race was approaching. I know to expect a challenge somewhere between miles 16 and 20. The challenges that day were the heat, my foot and the fact that, at some point, I was going to have to leave my buddy.

In training, we usually stay together. Our agreement for a race, is for each of us to do what we need to do. She needed to slow down and I needed to move on. I knew that if I slowed down, my foot would only hurt worse. I needed to keep running and get this thing done. So, finally, I went on and continued my race. This was definitely the hardest part of the day. This is the dig deep part. I knew I had about 11 more miles to go. I was hoping my foot would hold out. I was hoping that Pam was ok. Did I mention I saw no sign of medical help, should we need it? I knew that Trina, who came with us and was not running the marathon, would be checking on us, so that put my mind at ease a bit. At about mile 17ish, I think, Trina came along. Was so glad to see her! I had packed an extra pair of shoes in the car and quickly changed into a fresh pair. Ahhh....those fresh shoes felt so good and helped me get through the next few miles. I moved quickly, said "thanks" and "bye" - I knew if I lingered, I would hop in that car and never look back!

I have a shirt that reads, "The race begins at mile 20." Yep, it sure does. That's when it gets hard. That's when your mind takes over. How well you do depends on what you tell yourself. I kept telling myself things like:
"I can do this!"
"It's just a 10k..."
"Just keep going."
"I have to finish or start over...I'm not starting over."
"Just go."
"See that person up there, catch them."
"I so have this."

I did have it. I did have what it took to finish. It was tough, but I was tougher. I was tougher than last time. It was easier than last time. I am stronger than last time. That feels good.

I finished. I didn't have the finish time that I wanted, but it was better than my last. It was good considering the obstacles I had to overcome that day. I won because I finished.

And because I finished, I got a treat! A little bit of Coke and some Belgian chocolates! Yum. The night before I left, I went to Bunko. My friend, Francie, had been to Belgium and brought us each a box of chocolates. It is hard to express just how good that chocolate tasted. It was a wonderful reward for a really tough day.