I am finally back amongst the living (mostly). I got back early Sunday evening after a very fun (mostly), very exhausting (definitely) weekend with some wonderful friends. I always forget how much I love and miss these people until I spend a weekend with them. I have always said that runners are some of the best people I know and it is still true. On friday I met up with my friends (some of whom I have not seen in over 6 years) and we made the 4 hour drive to St. George. We were all remembering good times and not so good times. We have all, in one way or another, been through some really life-altering events since we last saw each other. It just reaffirms that we have a lot more then just running cementing our friendships.
The marathon itself went fairly well. We awoke at 4:00 am on Saturday morning. Almost all of us were not up to our sparkly best: My friend Victor had been very sick the day before (fever, chills) and was questionable whether or not he would even start. Neal had injured his back two weeks before and decided not to race (smart move--that course would have ruined him), Kil had broke his foot earlier in the summer and had not had a long run past 14 miles, Becky had fallen ill with some respiratory gunk earlier in the week and me, well, I was operating on about 12 hours total sleep for the week. Not exactly prime racing material.
Neal drove us to the start line at 4:45 and dropped us off to catch the bus which shuttled runners to the start. The bus quite literally drives you 26.2 miles over rolling hills and drops you off in the middle of nowhere. It was about 38 degrees at the start and near 78 by the time most people finished. The course was very scenic, albeit very isolated, and very well organized. The course proved to be very fast--but you paid for it. The downhill portions really take their toll on your body. I have never run a race where I saw so many people holding their lower backs. Surprisingly, with all my back problems and injury history I suffered very little damage. During the race I most definitely felt my back making its presence known but afterwards--not too much. Unfortunately the only thing that really went poorly was my stomach/GI tract. Ever since I had Sawyer I have had trouble going more then a few miles without having to stop and pee--so to combat that I tend to drink less than I should (and I never drank a lot to begin with). Combine the lack of drinking/eating on the course with the heat and exertion and you have the perfect recipe for some nasty dehydration and GI drama. About 5 miles out I started to suffer and had to stop at a porta potty. Then 2 miles out the nausea hit and hit hard.
I had purposefully went into this race not expecting anything--so as the race went on I realized I was running at a faster pace then expected. I told myself that I would reevaluate at mile 20--if I had a shot at a BQ (Boston Qualifying time a.k.a. the Holy Grail for runners) then I would really focus and give it a go. By mile 20 I indeed had a good time but still did not feel ready to commit to racing the last 6.2. I told myself that I would wait until mile 22 to decide. Then I decided to wait until mile 24 to decide. Then with the nausea and GI kicking in full force I decided to wait until mile 25. By this point I felt REALLy nauseated--but I knew that based on my pace I not only was going to get the BQ for my age division (a 3:45) but I had a shot at getting the BQ qualifying time for the youngest women's age division (3:40). I dug in the last mile and fought off vomiting. I could not have moved any faster--I was done. i crossed the finish line at 3:41.58. I felt very pleased with the time considering all the times I had to stop.
I still felt pretty bad after we got back from the race. Luckily my friend Joi is smart and prepared. She gave me a potassium/sodium tablet and that helped alleviate a lot of the nausea and cramping. I was finally able to eat a few hours later and all was well with the world once again. And my friends? Well, Victor dug deep (sick and all) and finished a minute ahead of me. Kil pulled out at mile 16--he felt it would do more damage to continue then to play it smart. His girlfriend Joi went on to have a 10 minute PR and finally broke the 4 hour barrier. Becky pulled out at mile 16 feeling miserable. It turns out that she has bronchitis AND a sinus infection--her doctor was surprised she even started the race to begin with.
All in all a good weekend.
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