The Easiest Marathon I've Ever Run

The St. Louis Marathon was today, the day I've been waiting for. It's was beautiful out. A welcomed sixty-five degrees was quite a change from the zero to twenty degree weather Angela (my fearless training partner) and I had been training in. It was clear, bright and sunny!

We decided to run with the 3:40 pace group, to make it easy on ourselves. We had put in our miles, done the work and were more than ready to go. I gotten the best night's sleep I'd ever had before a race, hydrated the entire day prior, eaten healthy foods and stayed off my feet. Everything was perfect...until we realized that the pacer was one minute ahead of pace at mile two.

I regret not pulling back a bit, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I think I ended up running my fasted 10K actually (sub 50 minutes)! Good for a 10K race, not so much for a marathon.

By the seven mile mark I was nauseous. Really nauseous. Nauseous enough to jump off the course and alarm the spectators. Even so, I decided to press on. I was thirsty as hell, yet I noticed my fingers swelling, and not just a little bit. I ate some of my Shot Bloks and drank some Gatorade, hoping to up my sodium levels. I was already having flashbacks from Chicago. Swollen fingers, stomach cramps, the whole bit. UGH. Not again!! I said a little prayer that at least Angela was on her way to a Boston Qualifying time, knowing that I wasn't.

I saw Chris at mile nine, told him to meet me at the half way point, and downed more Shot Bloks. I was pissed. I have gotten up before six each Saturday since January to run 14-22 miles out at Stony Creek, a 45 minute drive from my house, and even more in the snow. I had turned down Friday night plans to go to bed early in preparation. I had wasted my Saturday afternoons napping so that I could at least enjoy the Sunday of my weekend. I'd done tempos runs, speed work, cross training, yoga, weights and now I was about to drop out of a race because of swollen fingers and stomach cramps?!

Yup. That's what happened. I don't know if it was the heat, the ibuprofen I'd taken in the morning, too much water and not enough salt, the ridiculous hills or a combination of all of that, but I couldn't run any more. Every time I got into my groove, I swore I would puke. The thought of coughing up Shot Bloks and GU was all too much. And, I'd completely lost my focus.

I hung out with Chris and our friend Brian, who came to both cheer me on and help Chris drink his famous bloody marys. I changed out of my shirt, shorts and shoes, ate something and walked over to mile 21 to wait for Angela. Chris asked me if I secretly hoped that Angela dropped out too. I was appalled. She worked so hard too, and I honestly hoped that she was having a great race. The events that followed couldn't have worked out more perfectly.

Two of my friends, Kristina and Laura, from my college days, came down to cheer me on. I had seen Kristina briefly the day before, but I'd missed Laura. It was fun to be able to catch up with them for a bit on the course, something I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. I miss my friends tremendously, and I only get to see them a few times a year, if that. We all waited. The 3:40 pacer went by with three people (there were 20+ when we started). The 3:45 pacer blew by with no runners. The 3:50 pace team passed us. We were worried. Then we saw Angela. All five of use were screaming her name to cheer her on. She stared blankly ahead, not acknowledging us at all. Finally, after about 3o seconds of yelling and screaming at her, she snapped out of her spell and stopped.

She asked me to run the last five with her. I didn't hesitate. In fact, I was thrilled to be invited and glad for the opportunity to support my friend, even though my race was over. Chris and Brian were my pit stop team, helping me out of my post race shoes and back into my running shoes, pinning my number back on my shirt and sending me on my way. I was feeling a lot better by then, and filled the next 5.2 miles with mindless chatter and anything encouraging I could think to say to pass the time. It's amazing how the miles blow by when you're feeling good, something I didn't get to experience at the beginning of the race.

We finished together in 3:59:54. The announcer blasted my name over the loud speaker. Ha. This is the easiest marathon I'd ever run, I thought. With seventeen miles and an hour break, I still broke four hours. Angela told me I'd better get a medal anyway. We got our medals, our snacks, our beer and sat on the lawn to stretch and talk about what a crap race this was.

Even though this wasn't a great run for me, it ended up being a great day in other ways. I am thankful that I have an awesome husband to comes to all my races, cheers me on and shares in my triumphs and disappointments. I am lucky to have such amazing friends who support me, in person and from afar, even when what I do doesn't quite work out the way I want it to. I was happy to learn (albeit the hard way) more about what it is to be a marathoner, what I need to do differently and how I can grow from this experience. I also learned that helping Angela cross the finish line was just as good (if not better) than getting there myself.