My first marathon. RACE RECAP Williams Route 66 marathon After two years of training and overcoming injuries I was finally at the starting line of my first ever marathon. Even then, I was going to be running on a tibia stress fracture in an air cast. Due to letting it heal before the race I hadnt ran much in the 3-4 weeks before the race. My orthopedic doc and I didnt know if I could finish and anticipated I would be in pain but I decided to give it a shot. Due to the pain we anticipated me experiencing my best friend Robina signed up and ran the marathon with me. She had never ran over 13 miles and didnt train for the marathon. She didnt want me to be alone and in pain. Im beyond grateful for a friend like her. The surrounding of the Route 66 race was amazing. 11,000 runners, confetti as we crossed the starting line, and Bart Yasso (the MC) waved and recognized me from conversation at the expo the day before. My family cheering as I came across the start. I was starting on cloud nine. The first several miles I was fine. The hills were awful the entire course, although Id been warned it was even worse than I expected lol. I was using my applesauce fuel but sometime around mile 8 I started feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I was frustrated, I had a long ways to go and 8 miles was nothing usually. I dont know why I was like that but I wondered if I didnt hydrate well enough pre race. I drank water and Gatorade at every water stop but didnt always finish the glass. We reached mile 9.5 and it was so fun to see my friends Sean & Jennifer Mcclintock with the Oklahoma Landrunners. They had a poster with 22 names on it of people they were cheering on. Mine was one of the names, so I stopped to mark my name off, take photos and hit the road again. I first saw my family at mile 12. My husband, kids and parents were there to cheer me on. I stopped for high fives and hugs photos and was on the road again. I was pleased to have no stress fracture pain although if anticipated I would. My feet were killing me and my back and shoulders were starting to get sore. I really need to strengthen my core. At the half marathon/marathon split off I was feeling frustrated. The hills were making me ache all over, and I felt like I wasnt going to finish. I longingly watched the half marathoners head towards the very end of their race and felt defeated....although I continued one step in front of the other. Around mile 16 was one of the most fun neighborhoods to run through. They had balloon arches, live DJ, entire road was chalked up with fun sayings. I just enjoyed that street so much as the neighbors stood out and cheered us on. Still using fuel and yet feeling dizzy and lightheaded I continued on. I reached mile 18 and my friend asked someone if they had Tylenol or ibuprofen. The kind person in fact did have them and although you arent supposed to use anti anti inflammatory during a run I used it. I was hoping to take the ache out of my back. The medicine kicked in within 20 min and did alleviate some of my pain. My family met me again at mile 19. My little girl said mommy, run faster.... and I giggled. At around mile 21 I just couldnt take the pain anymore. My feet were excruciating. I felt like someone had ripped the skin off my feet and made me run. The arches of my feet, the balls of my feet were hurting so bad. Then my toes were going numb. So at this point we hit a water stop and I literally sat in the curb and took off my shoes to make sure my feet and toes werent blue. They werent, and they hurt just as bad when I got up to run again. Mile 22 I reached fans with a bowl of M&Ms cheering us on. I grabbed a handful and ate them as I ran. Thankful for a little burst of chocolate and hope. Lol Around mile 23 I met a man by the name of Tom. Tom is from Nebraska and is 68 years old and it was his 106th marathon......I wrote about him previously and his fun stories he told me about the marine corps and his various experiences in running. At mile 25 my friend and running buddy Terry met me. Hes spent all my long runs training with me and it was so nice to see him cheering me on at the home stretch! He gave me a small 26.2 shoe bling as a gift and a hug and continued to send me down the road to accomplish my dream of finishing my marathon. My friend Robina had joined the race just to help me if I was in pain. Shes never ran over 13 miles and had not trained for a marathon. At mile 25 she was really having a rough time. She had helped me earlier in the run, fight my mental battles but now it was my turn to help. Shed come so far, we were gonna finish this together! I grabbed her hand and helped her as we ran the last mile. Of all my experiences of the marathon I will never forget her sacrifice of running that race to help me, and the feeling of not only crossing the finish line but with my best friend. When I crossed I thought I would cry but I didnt, I was ear to ear smiles of excitement knowing we had just accomplished our dream!!!! And as I crossed the finish line Bart Yasso was the MC and he gave me a shoutout, saying it was good to see me finish and even on my stress fracture I had made it. He gave me a high five too!! Overall I was so excited to finish. I was disappointed that my time was fairly slow but at the same time I knew that it wouldnt be impressive. My biggest goal was to finish and I did. Already I know I will do at least one more. I may not be a fast runner but I sure enjoy the feeling of the impossible challenge, and Im ready to race again and improve myself!!! Im thankful my stress fracture wasnt an issue and I was pain free and also that my friend was with me for this entire race!!
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 02:45:54 +0000
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