Marathon Training: Day ...I've Lost Track

We have reached the pinnacle of training. I can almost see over the top of this mountain that has consumed the entire summer and now the fall of '08. We have run 17, 18, and 19 miles. The big 20 looms ahead this Saturday. That is the furthest we will run in our training. Then we will trust all of the experts and our training plan that some how on race day, we will be able to cover 6.2 extra miles. After we run that big one on Saturday, we begin to taper; we decrease our mileage until race day to rest up. I'm ready to rest up.

One of the things that our training plan recommended was to run in a few shorter races before the big race. You can try to simulate a race in a regular old training run but I guess you won't ever push as hard as you would in a race. I believe it. So we signed up for a local half marathon and ran it on Saturday. Kelsey has been having some problems with her foot and decided to play it safe and not push too hard as to not injure it further. Amazingly it has held out for her and she has been able to continue to train. We are SO excited about that. An injury can take you right down and out of the whole thing. Even more amazing has been her positive attitude. She has maintained a great outlook and hasn't complained one bit. Me? I would have been crying about it a long time ago.

It was an interesting race. I've been calling it "The Revenge of the Orange." You will soon find out why.

It was a gorgeous morning for running. The temp was in the low 50's and overcast, perfect. Since we were running separately we both brought our own music to keep us company during the morning. I had made up a playlist of all my favorite running songs. I'm telling you what, the right song at the right time can work magic. I felt great throughout the whole thing. I really tried to push myself and didn't walk any of the water stations. They offer Gatorade too and as I tried to drink while still running, it sloshed all over me and down my legs resulting in stickiness. So that was fun. At one of the early water stations I noticed that they were handing out orange slices. A volunteer would stand on the side of the trail with an aluminum tray of pre cut slices of an orange. We never had anyone standing alongside the road during any of our training runs offering us any kind of food, and were weren't really supposed to try anything new during a race but, "What the hay?!" I thought and I grabbed one and chewed on it. It was very distracting. I liked it.

The race pounded on. My knees were feeling great and not showing any signs of soreness like I had worried about. Couldn't have had anything to do with the three ibuprofen I took before we headed out. I was almost smiling as I knocked out miles six, seven, and eight. Somewhere around there they had orange slices again. "Well sure! Why not?!" I thought. I reached for one as I ran by but I just couldn't keep my stride and exhibit superior eye hand coordination at the same time. I missed. Oh shwell. At least I didn't knock the whole tray out of the poor guy's hand. That would have been embarrassing. And who wants to be embarrassed during a race? Not me, that's for sure! I continued to play cat and mouse with the same people around me. Older guy in a white hat. Pink lady. Lady in a bright yellow tank top. I name the other runners. It keeps me distracted. Do you see a theme? Distraction is my ticket.

I was starting to tire so I started counting down the miles in my head and picturing our regular routes. Man, the more I write about what goes on in my brain during a race, the more I'm wondering what kind of a weirdo I am. Anyways, around mile 11 or so there was another orange slice guy. "YAY!" It was just the distraction I needed. I pulled it together and really focused on my grab. Got it. I bit off the flesh and threw the peel to the side. After stuffing the whole wad in my cheek, I continued to chew on it for quite awhile. "This is it, I've got it now." I was thinking to myself. "What a perfect race." And then a single fiber of orange decided to take a path of it's own. It lodged itself in just the wrong place in my throat and I began to cough and choke. I spit the whole nasty thing out. That little bit of coughing and choking came at the just wrong time. My already fatigued stomach that had been surviving the last hour and 45 minutes on gatorade, water, and GU's, decided to revolt. I started gagging. I tried to push through it but it didn't take me long to decide I was going to have to pull over.

I became the crazy lady barfing on the side of the road. Let's talk about humility for a moment shall we? Those moments of our most personal bodily functions are not the ones we want to share with sweaty strangers in shorts and tank tops. It didn't cost me too much time, a couple people passed me, but I was able to get right back on the trail and finish strong and complete. Well, minus one orange and most of the Gatorade. I even remembered to smile as I crossed the finish line instead of my regular "I'm about to die" expression of pain.

Finish time 1:52:44. Almost five minutes off of my previous half marathon time. I'm happy.

Next up. 20 miles, taper, and MARATHON!