In April, I was finally able to do something I haven't done for 7 years--run a marathon. This is the first one I've run since Chicago in 2017, just a couple of weeks before we moved. I have wanted to run another marathon again for so long, but the pandemic hit, then I got really into Peloton and cut back on running, then I tried to start running more and developed a tibial stress fracture that hung on literally for years. It was awful and so painful for so long, and I saw SO many doctors and spent a truly insane amount of money on MRIs, X-rays, physical therapy, dry-needling, TENs stimulation, cryogenic therapy, Alter-G runs, cupping...you name it, I tried it. I saw multiple sports doctors, two orthopedic surgeons, and a functional chiropractor (who is the one that finally got me running again!). But for a very long time I was being told that either a) I was done running period and needed to switch to cycling, or b) I might be able to run four miles again but that would be the cap. Oh, and I forgot the gazillion hours I spent pool running (I would get up at 4 am and go run for hours in the pool. One day I literally ran a half-marathon in the pool. It takes forever).
Anyway. Long story short--I wanted so badly to build back to a marathon so that I felt like I had finally conquered the injury. After two years of rehab work, I was finally running strong again, although I was still having issues with tibial swelling after every run (this is probably here for the rest of my life OR hopefully another 5-8 years, since I have developed so many lumps on my tibia that every run irritates the tissue surrounding the bony calluses). I decided to switch to some lower-drop shoes to reduce the impact on my shins, and voila, they were amazing!! Ran 16 miles in them and felt like a total rockstar, my tibia was so much better--and then because I had switched drop way too fast (without even thinking about it, argh!) I ended up with a calf tear 8 weeks before the marathon. I took three weeks off, rehabbed it, and then was back to running and (I know this sounds so dumb) dropped my phone in an icy creek while crossing over a bridge. I managed to rescue my phone, but the full body submersion in barely melted water (still snow and ice floating around!) plus a steep climb back up out of the stream where my weak calf slipped suddenly in mud...bingo, back to the calf tear. More time off, more rehab, and then I managed to build my mileage back up to a long run of 14 miles.
At this point I went into the marathon thinking that I knew I could run the half and could drop out at the halfway mark if I needed to, but that the full was still a possibility if I took it SOOOOO easy and really prepared for it. I carb-loaded properly for the first time ever (and holy cow that made such a huge difference!!). On race day morning I did my usual hour of warm-up stuff and then headed down to the start line.
Incidentally, this is what I used for nutrition during the marathon. A huge difference from my earlier marathons where I had maybe two gels. Maybe. And no caffeine whatsoever. (I managed to get all of these down except I dropped one Maurten 100 somewhere and couldn't do the last Gu).
Race morning--a little warm, but beautiful blue skies!
I really and truly love running a marathon around my town where I know every bit of trail and road that we are going to cover. And I have all the mileages memorized and I know where all the potholes are or the narrow bits!
I felt SO good during this race. So amazingly good. All the nutrition prep and work really paid off (I followed Featherstone Nutrition's carb-loading guide and honestly thought I might explode with carbs before I got to the starting line, but I felt GREAT and never hit the wall).
There is a part of the course about 8 miles in that has a bunch of short twisty steep hills and I always hate this part. Oh my gosh, when I saw these Jurassic Park signs I was totally laughing and so happy. I love Jurassic Park so this felt like a little nod just to me and I did not even notice the hills.
Neil and some of the kids were waiting at mile 10 where it goes through our neighborhood. I tried to get Nathan to bike alongside me but no dice.
The course passes back through the finish area at the halfway mark, so it was very easy to drop if I wanted to. As I was running up the hill to 13 I felt SO strong and I was passing people like crazy. I went left at the finish chute area and started off on the back half of the course, texting Neil that I was going for it! At 15 miles I knew there was a very nice bathroom so I told myself that regardless of how I was feeling I would stop, go to the bathroom, refill all my bottles, and STRETCH for a solid ten minutes. And I did.
Then I passed the 16 mile marker and felt very emotional about being in "running longer than I have since 2017" territory.
There was a pretty big hill at mile 18 and everyone around me was stopping to walk it. I walked part of it and then did another five minutes of stretching to really work out my calves (zero interest in another tear). Everything was still feeling good!
My initial race plan was to run until 20 and then start doing walk/run intervals. At 20 I still felt pretty good and so I decided to hold off on the intervals until 22.
And when 22 came, I was happy to start throwing in some walk breaks! I was definitely feeling it in my quads by this point and it was quite hot on the unshaded back half of the course. I did 5:1 run/walk intervals and it's amazing how much that one minute of walking resets everything.
Started to get emotional at mile 25--this is a stretch I run almost every day and to be running it at the end of a marathon felt very surreal. It has been SUCH a hard couple of years and I just felt so much gratitude and triumph that I was back doing something I had fought so hard to regain.
And while running up the hill at mile 26 didn't feel as good as it had felt at mile 13, it felt AMAZING to turn the corner and see the finish line. I totally started sobbing as I crossed (to the point that the woman after me checked to make sure I was okay!) but gosh, I just felt so many emotions. So many emotions.
This was my slowest marathon (10:34 avg pace) but for sure the most enjoyable with all my stretching and walk breaks, and just really soaking in the moment and the experience. So so happy I was able to conquer a lot of the demons. (Haven't had a smooth running summer since, but...it will come.)
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