My first 26.2

“You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.” -Frank Shorter

I have been a runner since I was twelve years old. That’s almost half my life! I could run this marathon easy! It didn’t matter that I skipped a few days. It didn’t matter that I cut my 20 miler short to just 10 miles. I could run forever. I wouldn’t need any food or energy on the course either. I don’t like eating while I’m running. I could run forever! I definitely didn’t need to take my inhaler. I’m strong. My lungs are strong. What’s a little asthma going to do to me? I could run forever! Or so I thought.
I started the marathon on pace. My goal was to run 10 min miles. That’s so slow! I could do that for a million miles, not just 26.2. I skipped the first water station because everyone was stopping. I didn’t want it to slow me down. I started psyching myself out around mile 6 but I kept going because I knew my family would be there to cheer for me soon.
My family was supposed to meet me at around mile 10, but there were some last minute course changes that put them at mile 11-ish. That was pretty discouraging because I didn’t know where they were, or if I missed them. I was still (somewhat) on pace, but not feeling too hot. I just wanted to at least keep the pace till I saw everyone. Finally I saw my brother and husband. They had walked down the course to meet me before I got to where the rest of the fam was waiting. That was a good boost to my energy and kept me going until mile 13.
Around mile 13, 2:16:37, I saw the leaders leaving the loop I was entering and heading for the finish line. I decided it was time to walk through the next water stop. That was a bad idea. After I stopped to walk it was just that much harder to keep going. Did I mention the winds got up to 60 mph? I’m not sure if I ever actually hit the elusive wall, but I know whatever it was didn’t feel good. I got to the point that my legs weren’t hurting too much, but I couldn’t breathe. I would run for a little bit then have to stop because my lungs weren’t working the way they’re supposed to. If only I had taken my inhaler before the race started. If only I had my inhaler to take right then!
Luckily my brother brought his bike to the race and eventually found me around mile 18 or 19. He road beside me for miles, encouraging me and watching me suffer as I tried to finish the marathon. My walk/jog/walk combination went on for miles until I was about 1.5 miles from the finish where my husband met us. What a savior! He had my inhaler!! I sat down and took a couple of puffs. Waited until I could feel the glorious oxygen flow through my body and got up to run the last part of the race. I didn’t walk again after that and my brother and husband left me to make sure they could see me as I finished. I turned the last corner and sprinted to the finish line. I could run forever! And forever is how long it took: 5:16:56. That’s a far cry from the 4:30 finish I had hoped for. But I finished. I laughed, I cried, I didn’t hurl. I didn’t want to do the race again. I was through with marathons. I was through with running. I was going to take up cycling.

But this is something I have done for almost half my life. Who cares if I have a bum knee? I love to run. What’s that, bro? You’re going to run this next year? Okay, I might run it with you.

This week in my training:
M: 3 mi, 25:19
W: 4 mi, 32:19
F: 3 mi, 27:00
S: Prairie Dog Runs!! 4mi, 30:41 - I got 24th overall, 3rd overall women, and 1st in my age group!
Here's my awesome Prairie Dog medal:



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