This is another marathon that's been on my "list" for years. Five years ago a group of us came to run it, but I got injured during training so only ran the first 14 miles. We had the car placed in a parking lot the night prior, so even though it was a DNF it was a planned DNF, which as I realized this week-end is a lot easier to handle then the ones you don't plan for...
I'd be traveling with Laura (LSP) and Ginna for this one, which would be great! We had a blast running Little Rock and Kansas City together.
The training went south for Ginna and I with about 3 weeks to go. Her calf was giving her trouble, and my hamstring started screaming louder and louder. Also, I got a kidney stone that wouldn't pass. When I told the urologist I was about to run a marathon in the desert he didn't even blink, so I figured it wouldn't be an issue. The stone was "only" 3mm in size and situated in my ureter. I named him Rocky. He liked my coffee, wine and wheat beer staples. He didn't hurt, but made me feel like I had to pee constantly. (I know, TMI)...
Ginna and I had a lot of conversations about being at peace with the possibility of having to drop out after we barely made it through a painful 6 mile run the week prior. I knew that I could finish if the hamstring didn't snap, and I think Ginna had the same thoughts on her calf. Still, we both reasoned that we had to at least start the race and run the first 7 miles through the Peralta trail, since this was the best part of the marathon.
There's not a whole lot to see and do in the area, so we flew in the day before the race and had just enough time to hit the expo, lunch, grocery store, check in, lay out our race gear, and go eat dinner. At dinner I started feeling sharp pain! Rocky was on the move! I thought it would subside after an hour like it had in the past, but that night I kept waking up every hour with the pain. Curled in a ball at 2:00 AM I thought this is it. I'm out. I'm not even going to be able to make it to the start! No way! I fell asleep and when the alarm went off I woke up to no more pain, just the same minor irritation as before. Whew!
We drove to the Rodeo grounds where they bused us up to the Peralta trailhead. There they had set up campfires and mats for us to wait for sunrise and the start.
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| Together again for yet another marathon adventure! |
Luckily it wasn't raining and wasn't too cold. Last year they had pouring rain, which would have ruined the best part of this race! They had plenty of water, coffee, and porta potties for us. Quite enjoyable! I made one last pit stop with 20 minutes to go and in midstream there was a "blip", an object, and just like that Rocky was gone! After 3 weeks it came down to 20 minutes before the race!! I guess he didn't want to run a marathon! I could not believe it!! One less thing to worry about...
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| Beautiful backdrop as the sun came up! |
Around mile 8 I stepped off the asphalt funny and my hamstring twinged. I hobbled to the edge and thought "this is it" and that's when the whole DNF reality hit me. I was NOT at peace with it! Noooo! I could not accept it. I came all this way and passed a kidney stone for crying out loud! I'm doing this! So I soldiered on, ignoring the pain as much as I could, knowing that Ginna was behind me doing the exact same thing. It loosened up some, and as we wound through suburbs we had lots of distractions along the way. They had great water stops and friendly volunteers--just a really happy place to be.
Passing the parking lot I had dropped out at 5 years ago was surreal and unsettling at the same time. I wasn't injured back then, just under trained. Off I went into uncharted territory.
Around mile 17 I started feeling the burn in the quads to the point where I started giving in to walking. I hadn't even thought about the net downhill part of the first half of the race and the effect it would have on me, but strangely enough the quad pain took over to where the hamstring wasn't even an issue anymore. I welcomed it, even though I didn't like the idea of having to walk some. Still, I was far enough along to know that I would finish no matter what, so I was beyond happy.
Our only out and back was around 18.5 through 20.5, and it's there that I saw LSP! She was so happy to see me (and then Ginna) and know that we would finish! When I saw Ginna I told her a PW is better than a DNF, as I could tell I was getting really close to breaking my long standing PW of 4:29 (Boston 2003). Note: PW = personal worst. Ginna gave me a less than enthusiastic response, but then again responses at this point were an enormous effort.
Running continued to be more and more of a challenge. I would try all the tricks; run through this entire song, run to the stop sign, pass that person, only walk for 20 seconds...It's hard to describe how you can be in a really sucky place and yet there's nowhere else you'd rather be...the backdrop of the Superstition mountains was breathtaking. I eventually turned off my music and enjoyed the silence of the desert.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted it to end! It took all I had to run the entire stretch to the finish, but it was a glorious finish! LSP was there with hugs and then we waited for Ginna to finish! When she ran through all I could think of was BAD ASS.
Our finishing times:
LSP: 4:12
Me: 4:32 (a new PW!)
Ginna: 4:50 (PW for her too)
Strangely enough we came in 5th, 6th and 7th in our age group!
They had a great post race set up in a nice little park, but alas no beer, so before too long we made our way back to the hotel and then out for celebratory beers.
I highly recommend this marathon! Can't think of a thing to change except possibly have race apparel or souvenirs for sale at the expo. There were no glitches in any aspect of the race. Weather could be a factor. The temperature rose pretty quickly and there's zero shade on the course, but the lack of humidity helped! That whole dry heat thing...apparently it appealed to Rocky so in Arizona he remains!
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| Going it alone! Goodbye Rocky! |
