toughYrun
Cathlete
I know that Sarah shared my marathon news with you all the other day. Some of you might know that this was, and is, a very emotional time for me. My brother has cancer and has recently been told that there is nothing more that can be done for him. I ran this same marathon last year and he and some of his buddies made it a point to be there, planning a motorcycle trip around it. I didn't quite make my goal then but he promised that he would be back there with me this year. Unfortunately that was not possible but he (along with some amazing Catheites) served as inspiration beyond anything I could have imagined. So anyway, I have had these thoughts of the marathon going around and around in my head and thought I'd share with anyone interested. Sorry so long!
It’s 2:45 am and I am pulled out of a dream by a light knock at the door at the same time the alarm goes off. Someone, Brad, Teryl, or I, had the idea to get on one of the first buses that will take us up to the marathon start line in Central. We know that riding up between 4:00 and 4:30 makes us eligible to win a prize. Plus Brad and I know from last year’s experience that it will be best to get up there sooner rather than later. Clothes were all laid out the night before so we quickly get dressed, eat breakfast, take some pictures and head down to St. George. I have a score to settle with a 26.2 mile stretch of Highway 18. It has taken months of training, studying the course map and just generally obsessing about what I am about to do and I feel ready.
When we get off the bus in Central it is in the low 40’s. Porta potties line one side of the highway and bonfires line the other. We find a bonfire to sit next to and for the next two hours take turns hitting the porta potties. The time goes quickly and soon the moment has come to strip off our sweat pants and any other clothing that we don’t want to toss along the way. Brad and I notice the 4 hour pacer standing in his place and we plan to come back and run with him after we throw our bags in the truck that will take them down to the finish for us. Teryl, who will be running her first marathon today, wishes us good luck and heads back to the 4:30 area.
When the gun goes off we are stuck in a bottle neck and the pacer gets ahead of us then is out of sight. Oh well…..I will just use my GPS and the pace band on my wrist to keep on track.
Central is just a speck on the map, no houses or stores near the road at all, so it is very dark after I cross the start line. When my GPS alarm goes off to tell me that I have finished the first mile I cannot see what the time is. I am very cold, from my toes to my face. It is an unusual experience to run in this temperature since it is rarely this cold at home. As Brad and I are about to come up to the 3 mile point and the first aid station he asks me if I plan to walk through it. Since he carries his own hydration I tell him to go ahead, to run his own race, to be at mile 13 by two hours but not before that. A fear that has been in the back of my mind all along is that I will go out too fast and crash and burn before I am done. I don’t want him to make this mistake either.
It is now light enough for me to see the time on my Garmin. I am 1 minute behind! This is not good. My plan was to warm up with a 9:30 pace the first mile then pick it up into a 9:09 pace. The crowd, the cold, possibly the elevation has caused me to start slower than what my plan called for and I am pissed. But I have an alternate plan! I will take full advantage of any downhill I have but there is still some worry in the back of my mind because I know that from mile 7 to 11 is a steady uphill climb and that I will likely lose time when I get there. As I make my way to down the course I speed up when I can and even though I am feeling good I make myself hold back on the flats, reminding myself that I have a long way to go and there is no room for greed.
As I come down the hill at mile 6 into the little town of Veyo I am happy that I have covered this mile with an 8:39 pace. But here I am at the base of the hill and it seems colder down here. I am wishing that I had not yet tossed my $2.00 gloves that I purchased at the expo the day before. Someone has backed their SUV to the intersection and opened the hatchback so that we can hear the song from the movie Madagascar. “We like to move it, move it. We like to move it, move it.” I suck up the energy from the crowd and head up the first steep hill and then the steady climb out of Dameron Valley. I take it slowly….. 10:21, 9:25, 9:21, 9:26, 9:09. I am glad to be at the top. Mile 13 is almost upon me and I know I have some more time to make up in order to be there at the 2 hour mark. I become aggressive now because it is crucial for me to make this time goal. I take the next mile in 8:36. Finally, I am there and I am on time! I look for Brad but I don’t see him anywhere in the crowd so I just hope that he is on track too.
As I continue down the road for the next two miles I am banking some extra time. I feel good, so happy to have gotten over the first hurdle but I know I have one more hill to climb at the 18 mile point. But right before the 15 mile point is where a 6% grade begins and I am flying now with an 8:03 pace. I quickly decide that I do not want to stop the momentum I have gained so I blow past the aid station. My quads are on fire. The speed at which I am taking the extreme downhill is excruciating and this is where I earnestly begin to think about the people who are there with me in spirit. I think about my brother and the battle he has fought. What I am feeling right now cannot possibly compare and I push on through the pain.
I quickly cover the next couple of miles as I move toward the next upward climb. Again, I am slow on the hill with a 9:20 and then a 9:11 pace. But this is OK because I am on track. However, as I crest the hill I will now have to contend with an 8% grade down. This is tough. I have started the final 10K of my journey and my quads are hurting even more now. To make matters worse, I feel some slight cramping in one of my calves. It subsides and then I feel it again. I begin to pray “Oh God! No! Please take away these cramps! I am almost there! I have worked so hard to get here! I don’t want to finish this walking. I don’t want to have to tell Sarah that I walked when I was supposed to be shooting for a BQ!” I grab Gatorade at the next aid station and although I continue to feel some cramping it is diminished and the fear has been alleviated somewhat.
At the bottom of the hill I have now finally reached St. George and the crowds are lining the streets. There are kids with their hands out wanting a high five as the runners go by but I am focused now and ignore them. The cheering of the crowd is hard to block out. Normally I revel in the encouragement but not today. I have 5K to go and I am tired running an 8:13 pace. I begin to say to myself over and over “You are strong. You are strong.” The mental game is in full swing and I dig deep. As I get to mile 24 I hear someone on the sidelines yelling that the 4 hour pacer is about 50 seconds ahead and is walking because he is finishing too soon. A few paces later I can see the balloons! I cover this mile with an 8:24 pace as they get closer and closer. I know that this means I am under the 4 hour mark since the pacer crossed the start line before me. Suddenly I am there with him and I am so incredibly tired. I decide to slow down and run in with him but the slower pace is too uncomfortable so I pick it up again and move past him. There is the finish!! I am there!!! I glance up and see 4:03 on the clock and I raise my fist in the air as I am overcome with emotion. I took me 5 minutes after the gun went off before I crossed the start. I have just run 26.2 miles in under 4 hours. This moment is sweet. The journey is now behind me and I am leaving with what I came here for!
It’s 2:45 am and I am pulled out of a dream by a light knock at the door at the same time the alarm goes off. Someone, Brad, Teryl, or I, had the idea to get on one of the first buses that will take us up to the marathon start line in Central. We know that riding up between 4:00 and 4:30 makes us eligible to win a prize. Plus Brad and I know from last year’s experience that it will be best to get up there sooner rather than later. Clothes were all laid out the night before so we quickly get dressed, eat breakfast, take some pictures and head down to St. George. I have a score to settle with a 26.2 mile stretch of Highway 18. It has taken months of training, studying the course map and just generally obsessing about what I am about to do and I feel ready.
When we get off the bus in Central it is in the low 40’s. Porta potties line one side of the highway and bonfires line the other. We find a bonfire to sit next to and for the next two hours take turns hitting the porta potties. The time goes quickly and soon the moment has come to strip off our sweat pants and any other clothing that we don’t want to toss along the way. Brad and I notice the 4 hour pacer standing in his place and we plan to come back and run with him after we throw our bags in the truck that will take them down to the finish for us. Teryl, who will be running her first marathon today, wishes us good luck and heads back to the 4:30 area.
When the gun goes off we are stuck in a bottle neck and the pacer gets ahead of us then is out of sight. Oh well…..I will just use my GPS and the pace band on my wrist to keep on track.
Central is just a speck on the map, no houses or stores near the road at all, so it is very dark after I cross the start line. When my GPS alarm goes off to tell me that I have finished the first mile I cannot see what the time is. I am very cold, from my toes to my face. It is an unusual experience to run in this temperature since it is rarely this cold at home. As Brad and I are about to come up to the 3 mile point and the first aid station he asks me if I plan to walk through it. Since he carries his own hydration I tell him to go ahead, to run his own race, to be at mile 13 by two hours but not before that. A fear that has been in the back of my mind all along is that I will go out too fast and crash and burn before I am done. I don’t want him to make this mistake either.
It is now light enough for me to see the time on my Garmin. I am 1 minute behind! This is not good. My plan was to warm up with a 9:30 pace the first mile then pick it up into a 9:09 pace. The crowd, the cold, possibly the elevation has caused me to start slower than what my plan called for and I am pissed. But I have an alternate plan! I will take full advantage of any downhill I have but there is still some worry in the back of my mind because I know that from mile 7 to 11 is a steady uphill climb and that I will likely lose time when I get there. As I make my way to down the course I speed up when I can and even though I am feeling good I make myself hold back on the flats, reminding myself that I have a long way to go and there is no room for greed.
As I come down the hill at mile 6 into the little town of Veyo I am happy that I have covered this mile with an 8:39 pace. But here I am at the base of the hill and it seems colder down here. I am wishing that I had not yet tossed my $2.00 gloves that I purchased at the expo the day before. Someone has backed their SUV to the intersection and opened the hatchback so that we can hear the song from the movie Madagascar. “We like to move it, move it. We like to move it, move it.” I suck up the energy from the crowd and head up the first steep hill and then the steady climb out of Dameron Valley. I take it slowly….. 10:21, 9:25, 9:21, 9:26, 9:09. I am glad to be at the top. Mile 13 is almost upon me and I know I have some more time to make up in order to be there at the 2 hour mark. I become aggressive now because it is crucial for me to make this time goal. I take the next mile in 8:36. Finally, I am there and I am on time! I look for Brad but I don’t see him anywhere in the crowd so I just hope that he is on track too.
As I continue down the road for the next two miles I am banking some extra time. I feel good, so happy to have gotten over the first hurdle but I know I have one more hill to climb at the 18 mile point. But right before the 15 mile point is where a 6% grade begins and I am flying now with an 8:03 pace. I quickly decide that I do not want to stop the momentum I have gained so I blow past the aid station. My quads are on fire. The speed at which I am taking the extreme downhill is excruciating and this is where I earnestly begin to think about the people who are there with me in spirit. I think about my brother and the battle he has fought. What I am feeling right now cannot possibly compare and I push on through the pain.
I quickly cover the next couple of miles as I move toward the next upward climb. Again, I am slow on the hill with a 9:20 and then a 9:11 pace. But this is OK because I am on track. However, as I crest the hill I will now have to contend with an 8% grade down. This is tough. I have started the final 10K of my journey and my quads are hurting even more now. To make matters worse, I feel some slight cramping in one of my calves. It subsides and then I feel it again. I begin to pray “Oh God! No! Please take away these cramps! I am almost there! I have worked so hard to get here! I don’t want to finish this walking. I don’t want to have to tell Sarah that I walked when I was supposed to be shooting for a BQ!” I grab Gatorade at the next aid station and although I continue to feel some cramping it is diminished and the fear has been alleviated somewhat.
At the bottom of the hill I have now finally reached St. George and the crowds are lining the streets. There are kids with their hands out wanting a high five as the runners go by but I am focused now and ignore them. The cheering of the crowd is hard to block out. Normally I revel in the encouragement but not today. I have 5K to go and I am tired running an 8:13 pace. I begin to say to myself over and over “You are strong. You are strong.” The mental game is in full swing and I dig deep. As I get to mile 24 I hear someone on the sidelines yelling that the 4 hour pacer is about 50 seconds ahead and is walking because he is finishing too soon. A few paces later I can see the balloons! I cover this mile with an 8:24 pace as they get closer and closer. I know that this means I am under the 4 hour mark since the pacer crossed the start line before me. Suddenly I am there with him and I am so incredibly tired. I decide to slow down and run in with him but the slower pace is too uncomfortable so I pick it up again and move past him. There is the finish!! I am there!!! I glance up and see 4:03 on the clock and I raise my fist in the air as I am overcome with emotion. I took me 5 minutes after the gun went off before I crossed the start. I have just run 26.2 miles in under 4 hours. This moment is sweet. The journey is now behind me and I am leaving with what I came here for!
