After 16 weeks of training and 300+ miles logged, race weekend was here.
Friday night I couldn't sleep at all. I think I got a couple of two hour segments in, but otherwise I was wide awake. I was thinking about the race. How would I do? Is that rain I hear outside? What if I get injured? I listened to Ben toss and turn and wondered if he was thinking about the same things.
Finally the alarm went off at 5:15AM. It was time to get dressed in our race gear we'd laid out the night before. I took the time to tape my name in big black letters to the front of my shirt. I'd heard that it's a major energy boost to hear your name being cheered along the route.
When we finally left for the race at 6AM it wasn't raining, but it was pretty humid. Heather turned on the radio to the station broadcasting live from the start line. The excitement in the broadcasters voice and the interviews with the crowd made me cry. Twice.
We managed to meet up with the family as well as Kelly (who was running the half) and her family. I was so excited to see so many people I knew that would be along the course cheering us on.
We all said our "see you at the finish lines," headed to the start and split into our corrals from there. Even though I had just peed, I felt like I had to go again. I'm not sure why my nerves show themselves in the form of bodily excretions, but I chose to ignore it and got settled into the four hour pace group corral. Ben and I were pretty quiet while waiting. I guess there wasn't much to talk about at this point because we both had a good idea what the other was thinking.
The national anthem was sung, I suppressed tears and waited another fifteen minutes until the gun finally went off. This was it. My nervousness was completely gone. I was just excited to see our parents down the road cheering us on for the next 26.2 miles.
We struggled to get our pace in the first couple of miles because of the number of runners still pushing their way through. We passed lots of fans, high fived a few kids and really took in all the sights and sounds in the first miles. I got my first few "Go Jodi's!" Around mile five I looked down at my hands and arms and realized I was sweating more than I ever have. Sweat was pooling on the backs of my hands and arms. That's when I turned to Ben with my fingers spread wide and said "I'm even sweating between my fingers!!!!" Why I felt this was necessary to share, and with so much exasperation, I'm not sure.
Soon after that I could tell I was using too much energy and needed my first gel at mile six which was about three miles earlier than expected. I was also noticing a lot of people stopping to walk and heard the EMS sirens behind us. I knew that I better take at easy because the last thing I would want was to not finish because of dehydration or heat exhaustion. Just before mile eight Ben spotted Brandon. We waved, they cheered and we headed towards the park with our new found spurt of short term energy.
As we entered the park, the sun came barreling through the clouds and I'm pretty sure the temperature increased about ten degrees. It was now officially warmer and more humid than I'd ever trained or raced in. At the park entrance I saw mom scanning the runners looking for us and not seeing us so I yelled out, "MOM!!" I was thankful she saw us, because I'm guessing she wasn't the only mom standing there who reacted. Brian and Sherry were just past her and on our way onto the park trail we saw John with the camera. I was already getting tired and I knew the picture he had just captured was not going to be pretty, but I forced a smile, wave and followed it with a strong thumbs up. Maybe if I fooled them into thinking we were feeling 100% I would fool myself.
As we exited the park we got to see our family once again. Dad and Aunt Judy had positioned themselves just after the gel stop, so we got our glucose fix and another family spotting boost. Just after the park I started hearing more sirens. I commented to Ben that I'd never seen so many people going down in a race. I immediately became worried about Heather, Kelly and her uncle. I was using the water stops to dump water down my back to keep cool. Not attractive, but I felt like it was helping.
Mile 10 is where I saw her. That damn banana that passed me last year! This year she wasn't alone, she had a gorilla with her. She was WALKING and I was going to pass her! Turns out polyester doesn't breath too well. Sweet SWEET revenge! Not only did I pass her, I was about to run two times what she was running that day! If I didn't make my goal, this would be satisfying enough!
At mile 11 we split. Half marathoners to the left, full marathoners to the right. I was actually looking forward to this portion of the race to get free from all the people and have a quieter run where I could find my zone. I heard one spectator yell out, "this is where the real runners begin!" Mile 11 was good, mile 12 was okay, and at mile 13 I found myself walking across the 13.1 timing mat. 2:03, a targeted 9:09 pace. Not bad but I was so mad that I had to walk. I've run much farther distances than this before. What was going on? I picked it back up with a few whimpers and trudged on but I knew that there was no way I could match the first half time.
Mile 14 was the start of what I would call an out of body experience. I was drinking water and eating my gel but my mind was foggy. I felt water logged and I could've thrown up. I think mentally I panicked because I felt like this and it was ONLY mile 14! My fingers were so swollen it felt like I was lugging around a bunch of bratwursts. Making a fist was out of the question. I started to cuss the pre-race pasta feed as the salt turned my skin into a giant exfoliating scrub.
I would describe my personality over the next six miles as a drunken crybaby. I was apologizing profusely for walking, telling Ben I seriously wanted to go home, whimpering and repeatedly asking Ben if he'd had enough water. During those six miles I dropped to an 11:20 pace, running/ walking and drinking Gatorade at every aid station. Around mile 16 I vurped into what turned into more vomit than a burp and I proceeded to swallow it. I had to walk again at that point, hoping I could actually throw up and make the feeling in my stomach go away. It never happened and thirty seconds later I was off and running again.
At mile 20 I started seeing better. My mind cleared and I remember thinking, "I've only got six miles to go, about an hour, let's DO this!" My new goal was to run a solid mile to each water/ Gatorade stop, walk through those while drinking a cup of Gatorade and then head onto the next aid station. Since the split I'd lost count of the number of fans yelling my name. It was incredible. I even had an entire aid station yelling, "Go JODI!" If I could cry at this point I would've, but my emotions were exhausted during the six miles prior. There seemed to be less spectators, but the words they did yell seemed to hit home and were really encouraging. The runners were cheering each other on. It almost seemed like a group battle to the end.
Along mile 21 was a spectator holding out his garden hose for us to run through. That was the coldest water of the day. I let out a " whew!!!" It was like I was reborn, I was ready to finish. About a half mile later Ben spotted Brian. He, Heather and Mom had drove out to the back corner of the race to catch us. As Ben would later say, I used that time to be overly dramatic in describing my feelings. After all, it was my mommy and I'm pretty sure I cried out for her along mile 16. She would give me the sympathy that Ben wasn't. While Ben rolled his eyes I told them that it was HORRIBLE and that I was walking every half mile (the latter of which was not entirely accurate). I kept running past and was glad that I saw them one last time before the finish. It was a surprise so I'm glad I was actually running when they saw me and not walking. At this point I thought we would be lucky to break five hours. Ben then proceeded to tell me we were only 20 minutes off our goal time. OH. So I guess it wasn't THAT horrible.
I was surprised to see the number of marathoners walking. I was under the impression that all these people ran the whole way. There were people walking who I thought looked like hardcore runners, not marathon virgins like myself. I was also surprised at the rage I felt when a relay team member passed me on fresh legs. Briskly darting in and out of TRUE marathoners to their "marathon finish". The only thing that seemed to calm me down was the thought that they must feel like a chump passing those of us who had been running the last 25 miles ON. OUR. OWN! This made me feel slightly better as I pushed past the country club and ran under the railroad tracks to campus.
My hips were starting to hurt, but when I saw the 26 mile sign I wanted to rip it out of the ground and take it with me. John and Sherry were by the last mile marker to see us turn the corner into Memorial Stadium. As we approached the stadium, Kelly's uncle reached out to give me a high five and I got my last "WAY TO GO, JODI" from him before entering the stadium. How awesome!
There were spectators lining the sidewalk and looking over the stadium wall as we entered the field. The last 50 yards were blocked off to form a path with tons of cheering fans. I grabbed Ben's hand and we ran to the finish line together.
We did it! 26.2 in 4:29:51. 19 minutes and 9 seconds off my goal time. At mile 14 I'd thought this moment was impossible! We were now part of an exclusive club, one that only 1.5% of Americans belong to.
Heather came running up for a hug. I'm pretty sure she was supporting me for a good 15 seconds. Kelly ran up for one just as I laid down. She got me a much needed gatorade and we headed to the stands to celebrate with all the family and friends that stuck around to see us finish.
Looking back, I'm a little embarrassed at how weak mentally I became. I'm pretty sure Ben witnessed me at my lowest point. I'm positive I can produce better results. My training was so successful that I felt like the humidity and heat shortchanged my performance. I guess that can only mean one thing, time to start looking for the next race.
Last year, for some reason, my hydrangea bush didn't bloom. This year I have blooms everywhere. I was told that in order to have blue flowers (or pink, or green, etc) you need to have the right pH balance and chemical makeup in your soil. Well I've done jack squat and I've got pink, purple, blue, AND green all on one bush! How's that for making up for last year's disappointment? I know, my green thumb is so impressive it's even making me gag a little.
