After another sleepless night, the alarm got me on my feet at 3AM. It was surprisingly cold outside (40 degrees). But, I knew it was supposed to get up into the low 70’s once the sun came up so I dressed accordingly. My head still felt heavy and stuffed with this annoying head-cold. But, I knew I couldn’t take anything for it today. Just have to deal with it.
Jesse got up at 4:15 and drove me to the shuttle pick-up point. I got on the bus at 5AM, and Tj was there. Just like last year, we ended up riding the same bus over to the marathon! Both times, completely unplanned.
We arrived at the Runner’s Village at about 5:30, and checked our bags. We had 2 hours until race time and were freezing!!! I still have no idea why the last shuttle for the runners leaves at 6AM. Anyway, we tried to stay warm as more and more of our friends arrived. We all got together for a few group pictures, then I told Tj and Monica that I planned to run with the 6 hour pacer. They had wanted to run with the 5:30 pacer. They both said fine, and decided to run with the 6 hour pacer as well.
Finally, we were all being herded into our corrals and we found our Pacers, Socks and Bethany. More standing around and waiting. The Donna Marathon theme song was sung. Then, the National Anthem. Then, the cannon at last! And, we were still standing, not moving. We finally got across the Start Line at 4 minutes after the gun. The sun had started to come up by now. I noted a completely cloudless sky.
It was very crowded this year with over 10,000 runners in all events (marathon, half-marathon, and marathon relay). The beginning turn onto the bridge is very tight, and it was tough to keep up with our pacers in the crowd. As we passed the 1 mile mark, we were exactly on pace! Cool.
Then the sun came up in full force. It was still cool temperature-wise, but the sun blaring down made us all warm very quickly. Miles 1 to 2 was the uphill side of the bridge. It was getting tough. By mile 2, I was feeling exhausted! Mile 2? Really. It felt more like mile 20! I had my 1st bad feeling about the marathon at that point. But, since that was a tough uphill, I decided to wait until we had gone a bit farther. Mile 2 to 3 was mostly downhill, and I felt a little better, but still far too worn out for so early in the race. I checked my Garmin; our pace was dead on. That wasn’t the problem.
Miles 3 - 5 brought more of the same jockeying around walkers and trying to get to some open road. We crossed the timing mats at mile 5 on pace then turned onto the beach. The beach was rough. No shade, full sun, and soft sand. My earlier feelings that I was done came back strong. I told Monica and Tj I was turning at mile 6.5 and doing the half. I was, at that point, so tired that I knew I could not make the full 26.2. I wondered whether I could make 13.1. Monica wondered that out loud. Apparently, my face was really really red. She’s used to running with me and seeing me with pink cheeks from heat and exertion. This, she said, was different. The half point came up. Monica hugged me, told me to stop running and get help; and we went our separate ways.
So, I turned off for the half. I had mixed feelings. I knew I just could not run the full today. No way. On the other hand, I was really disappointed in myself for not being tough enough to go on.
The next few miles were long, hot, and rough. I was not enjoying it. At mile 9, four Kenyan elite marathoners passed by. They were amazing. Mile 9.5 brought me back up the on ramp to the bridge. At that point I passed one of the Kenyan elites! What? He was walking.... either injured or ill. That was really the saddest thing to me.
On my way uphill to mile 11, I decided that I was never going to run again. Ever. I was DONE. Then, I had to stop and figure this out. I had had two 20 mile training runs that were fine. I had run 7 half-marathons that were all a blast. But here today I was struggling, really struggling. And, I felt ... bad. Something was wrong. Yes, the full sun was unrelenting. But, something more was wrong. I decided to walk for a while. The bad feeling didn’t stop. So, I resumed running on the downhill side of the bridge. It didn’t feel much worse than walking, so why not? Finally, I passed mile 12, then 12.8, then the turn at the bottom of the bridge towards the Finish line.
After crossing the Finish Line, I didn’t care about anything. I forgot to turn off my Garmin, and someone had to force a medal on me. I walked straight up to a man in a red shirt with “MEDIC” written on it and said, “I need help”.I was taken quickly to the Med tent and checked out. My BP and HR were scary high. BP was 189/81, HR was 150. Being sick + the hot sun had increased my hydration needs more than I could supply. And, I was overheated. After they rehydrated me and cooled me down, I felt much better and ready to run again! Ha!
If only.
I stayed and watched Monica and Tj come in at ~6:15. They said it had been very tough, and were never running a marathon again! I’ve heard that before. I've SAID that before!
So, it was a rough day for me and not what I had planned. But, I am happy to have finished the half.
