My Ohio marathon will go down as my “best worst idea.” I found out about a year ago that I would be
in Columbus, Ohio for my cousin Jenny’s wedding. I knew that I needed to do a marathon in Ohio
so once the wedding date was set, I began looking for a marathon a reasonable
distance from Columbus. I found the Red
White and Blue 26.2 in Findlay, OH being held the morning after the
wedding. Findlay is about 90 miles away
from Columbus so I planned to drive out there in the wee hours. It would be a
tight schedule as we were also flying back to Seattle that afternoon. The goal was to just get it done so I tried
not to dwell on the less-than-optimal conditions.
Flagstaff really beat me up and I really could have used
more than two weeks to recover. With
that said, I didn’t feel that bad. Nonetheless my head wasn’t in a great place
for this race. I was really excited about
seeing my extended family at the wedding and I hadn’t factored in how much I
would not want to leave for the marathon.
It meant I would miss brunch and my last chance to see most before they
headed home. By Saturday night I was giving myself a 50/50 chance of bailing. Coming from a family of mostly non-athletes,
I felt like a fool saying, “yeah, I’m
getting up in a few hours to drive to Findlay and run a marathon.” “You see it
makes sense because I’m trying to run the 50 states and I’m in Ohio so it would
be stupid not to.” “Right?” “huh?” “What’s wrong with you?”
I don’t even know when I fell asleep, maybe 2:00. I tossed
and turned and got up at 4:30 to get on the road. The roads out there were not freeways so it
wouldn’t necessarily be a quick drive. I already felt sick, my stomach was in
knots, whether it was nerves or lack of sleep I had no idea.
I got to Findlay and found my way to the park. As is usually the case with small marathons,
parking was easy, number pick-up a breeze and I was all ready to go with a few
minutes to spare. Having run the
Flagstaff marathon two weeks before, I knew I could go the distance. The
problem was I hadn’t done anything remotely close to speed work, so I didn’t
have a good sense of what my race pace should be. I sensed that I could go in the low 3:30s if
I had a good day.
I decided to go out at 8:00 pace (a 3:30) for no other
reason than that it’s a round number and easier to track. The course is two loops on dead, dead flat
road so I wouldn’t have to worry about trying to average hills. I was tired and simply not in the mood to
have to pay attention to my watch and do math problems. After a prayer and the National Anthem we
were off. I ended up running with a man
and woman both running my pace. The woman was running the half, the man would
be going the full distance. We chatted
on and off and I’m not sure whether this was good or bad for me. I wasn’t
feeling so good and as much as it was kind of taking my mind off things, I
didn’t feel up for conversation. Within
a few miles my stomach was in full knots and I knew I was going to have to take
a break. At mile 5 I excused myself for the porta-potty and knew that this day
would be about surviving, and hopefully minimizing the misery. I took my time, knowing it was going to be a
long morning.
Back on the road I went, working back to an 8:00 pace. I chugged along then started feeling sick
again near mile 9. It was going to be a really long morning… Miles 10 & 11
were a little miserable, and just after mile 11 I took another bio-break. I was in there wishing I could just time warp
this whole thing to be over. This honey
badger didn’t give a $#%! but I needed to get back on the road and get this
done and I needed to get back to Columbus to catch a flight. My legs felt fine,
but my stomach (entire GI track actually) was clearly not in a good place. Also in here is where I realized I had been
running in tail wind for a while and was now in head wind, adding to my overall
malaise. Opps – I always forget that if
you don’t feel wind, it’s a tail. The head wind was pretty strong and I was
struggling a little so I quit paying attention to my splits, I was just trying
to stay comfortable. I passed through
the spot where the half marathoners would turn off for the finish still
battling the wind. I was a little bummed not to be finishing, but at least I
was at the halfway point and headed back into tail wind. Miles 14 – 15 were not so great, just
survival. Luckily as I got closer to mile 16 my stomach had settled down a little
and I was feeling much better. I just went with it and as such my pace came
down closer to 8:00. Around mile 19 I passed an older gentleman who was
volunteering and he yelled “you look great kid!” It made me laugh that he
called me kid. To this old lady it might be the best compliment I can get! There was an out and back section just after that
was a little over a mile long so I could get a good look at where I was in
terms of the women’s field. I kind of
paid attention on the first round, but I couldn’t easily determine who was
running the marathon vs. half marathon and a relay. Anyway, around here I was
still feeling good and didn’t see any women ahead and the women behind me seemed
at least a half mile back, so I knew that unless I stopped for a long time I
would be holding whatever position I currently had. Pressing on through mile 22 I was starting to
feel crappy again. I really wanted a
break and started thinking about hitting the next porta-potty. Luckily my will to finish was strong and I
didn’t want to waste any time. I was in
survival mode and focusing on every step that got me closer to the finish
line. Other than my internal struggle
the last few miles were uneventful. I wasn’t breaking any speed records but I
was moving as fast as possible and thrilled to finally finish. The finish line
scene was quite good for a small marathon. There was an announcer and he called
my name and hometown and noted that the top 10 women were still coming in. By
my watch my finish time was 3:37:xx so a top ten finish was fine with me. I went into the park building and grabbed a
banana and a cup of hot black coffee to perk me up for the long drive back to Columbus.
To add to the craziness of the weekend I needed to get back to
the hotel ASAP to grab a shower and head to the airport. My family would have
everything packed except my toiletries and some clothes to wear home. This day wasn’t going to get any less
painful!!
The rest is a whirlwind trip. The family got me to the
airport and since our flight was going through Philadelphia, my parents and
some other extended family were on the same flight (they all live in Philly). I
was able to spend some extra time with them, even if I was sucking on Pepto Bismol
tablets and barely capable of a coherent sentence.
The next morning I lay in my bed in Seattle and thought I
would check on the results. I wanted to see my official time and place. My time
was 3:37:42 and as it turns out I was the first woman and 20th
finisher overall. The announcer guy must have been including
relay finishers when he said I was in the top ten women. I am not nearly as excited about this win as there
were only 72 people in the race and honestly, it was a half-hearted attempt. On
the other hand, it was nice to tell my kids that mommy won another race.
I have three weeks to get ready for Marine Corps Marathon. I
don’t have a race plan figured out but know that if I want a shot at breaking
3:30 I need to cram in some speed work. I am planning on a week to recover then
7-10 days of training that includes race pace work, then taper.
I didn't get any pictures from the marathon so here are a couple from the wedding...
By the mile - (1) 7:42, (2) 7:58, (3) 8:00, (4) 7:46, (5) 7:50, (6) 9:05, (7) 8:06, (8) 7:54, (9) 8:04, (10) 8:10, (11) 8:14, (12) 9:23, (13) 8:04, (14) 8:21, (15) 8:30, (16) 8:11, (17) 8:12, (18) 8:08, (19) 8:10, (20) 8:20, (21) 8:05, (22) 8:28, (23) 8:19, (24) 8:32, (25) 9:05, (26) 8:27, (.2) 2:40
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