Well, I finished it and am sporting my graceful silver Tiffany "running girl" necklace as proof.
Race day did not quite go down as planned. We started off strong, though I was very careful to remember Cheryl's advice that the first 10k determines the last 10k. We banked a few minutes, thinking that our goal would be in striking distance. I took the hills a bit more slowly than I had planned, but I was trying to stick to the pace bracelet, and I was weary of tiring too quickly. I made up great time to catch up to Lynora on the downhills, as she is hesitant to run those quickly, whereas I let myself fly. Perhaps too much, for at around mile 16, my lower back started cramping up, sending sharp pains through my rear end and hamstrings. I started running intervals to work through the pain and to conserve energy. I hadn't eaten enough at breakfast. I wasn't hungry, and I didn't want to force myself because I didn't want to stop and use the restroom. Stupid.
My running coach found me at mile 21, so stopped for a few minutes to have Icy Hot applied to my lower back and down my hamstring. It made a world of difference. I ran well for over a mile, gaining some ground on the time I had lost. But the numbness wore off, and each step was painful. I had expected muscle pain, but this was something quite different - a jolting, shooting pain.
I admit I cried off and on during the last two miles as I watched my time grow longer and longer, with my stretch goal and normal goal times firmly out of reach. With less than a mile left, I stopped running and started walking. An older gentleman said, "Hey, keep going. You can see the end." And with those words, I started to jog, and I thanked him for his pep talk.
My back up goal time was to beat Oprah's 4:29:20, and I completed the marathon in 4:30:10. Being so close yet so far from that back up goal really kills me. But Cheryl checked on me after and pointed out the obvious. Had it not been for my injury, which happened relatively early on, I would have smashed my goal. It also felt great having helped train and encourage at the race a number of participants who did so well. I am proud of them and of Lynora who ran it in 4:16.
In the grander scheme of things, when I originally signed up to do this, it was sort of a lark. My running buddy at the time mentioned it and I told her she was crazy. With my work schedule, how would I ever train for a marathon? I registered with the expected finish time of 4:30 - 4:45. And as I got stronger and pushed myself, I saw that even though I was only running 2 days a week, I was doing as well as the 6-day-a-week runners I was helping to train. But I should keep in mind my original goal and be happy, I suppose. My Club Run SF experience was awesome. I hope to do it all again next year, but faster and stronger and without injury.
Posted by christina at October 24, 2005 10:51 AM