Considering the challenges I've encountered along the way, I'm amazed how well today has gone.
Given my limited training I knew this was going to hurt, but I didn't want to permanently damage anything. I had been toiling with various strategies on how to run a marathon with limited training and recently healed injuries. Surprisingly, NOTHING exists on the Internet to guide the foolish on how to run a marathon under such circumstances. The only sites I found were recommending to not put yourself in this situation - not possible. So I came up with my own strategy: run the first half then deal with the second half when you get to it. FYI, this is not called procrastination - it's improvising - let's be clear about that!
For the first half of the marathon I partnered up with Sean Marden, a fellow NEAQ marathon teammate. Sean is a diver for the Giant Ocean Tank at the Aquarium and conversation is always interesting with him. We run around the same pace and made it at the 13.1mile marker after an hour and 48 minutes. Perhaps we could have made it faster but Wellesley College was at mile 12 so a brief stop was necessary. The signs the girls show are hilarious. One said "NEVER BEEN KISSED* (*by a runner)". She had to switch signs after I passed.
The second half of the marathon is where it got interesting. Sean and I split ways. We were each entering our own pain caves and there's no place for conversation in there. I turned down the pace a bit but kept it respectable. I was getting a headache and had double vision. It's not a good sign to get this at mile 15. I still had 11.2 miles and I haven't even hit the Newton hills where the famed Heartbreak Hill waits to crush your soul. Then noticed something. I was passing someone walking the course then the same person passed me. This recurred until I realized they were using a run walk strategy I had heard about but never tried. This person was keeping up with my running even while they were taking walking breaks. At this point a walking break sounded nice. Without being too creepy and keeping a safe distance I shadowed this run/walker and learned their secret. I counted the seconds he walked then counted the seconds he ran. One minute walking, four minutes running was his formula. I copied the idea but adjusted it. I broke down the run in mile increments then would walk a minute then finish the mile. But rather than walk based on exact timing I placed the walks in the steep downhill portions of the run. Running downhill destroys your quads. Destroying your quads destroys your stamina and I needed to budget that as much as I could. Most runners who walked portions of the race would walk up the hills. This makes absolutely no sense, but I was in no condition to pontificate on this matter. The strategy was working. Having just a minute of walking gave me enough reprieve to never hit "the wall" - a running condition where your legs don't listen to what your brain is telling them to do. I was actually maintaining a respectable pace when I finally reached the top of Heartbreak Hill. It was at this point I realized that I could finish in 4 hours if I kept a 10min/mi pace. I had to get under 4 hours. It was too close not to shoot for.
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| At the top of Heartbreak Hill. The end is near! |
As I approached Cleveland Circle the crowds got thicker and so did the energy. They always said the crowd carries you the last few miles - they sure did. I had tunnel vision but I knew they were there. All pain left my body. I reached Hereford street before I even knew it was there. The left on Boylston - the last turn of the race shows the 26 mile marker. There is 0.2 miles left and the finish line is visible. I laughed when I saw it. There wasn't anything funny about it - I was probably delirious. I didn't have double vision anymore though and although I was hurting I wasn't hurt. I knew I didn't do irreparable damage to my knees. In a way it was a miracle. I crossed the finish line after 3 hours 58 minutes and 32 seconds of running...and some walking.
My fundraising goal has also crossed the finish line. THANKS TO YOU ALL we have raised $4,663.00 for the New England Aquarium's Children's Outreach Program - which is 117% of my goal! This could not have been accomplished without your incredible generosity and show of support. You all are amazing. THANK YOU!!!!
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