26.2 Race Report

I’m so excited to write this race report! I haven’t been able to do this since last September.

Yesterday felt (& still feels) very surreal. It’s nice to be able to surprise even myself sometimes with how much I think I can do or handle. Part of me didn’t believe I’d ever be a marathon runner, and there were definitely a few times during the race where I didn’t think so either. But here I am!! A marathon runner after all!

No I did not qualify for Boston… which is reeeeally unfortunate, because now I HAVE to run at least 1 more. I can’t let it go!!!  I’m in too deep!!! I’m sure most of you saw that one coming. J

Sooooo as you know, I couldn’t run in the SB Marathon (or even 1 mile) last November because of tendinitis in my left knee. After almost 3 months of physical therapy & being under the expert guidance of a coach, my knee is fine and I was able to run my first full marathon without (ab)normal pain! 4:38 isn’t exactly a record-setting finish, but it’s a TIME. I had to walk a few times & knew by mile 16 that Boston was out of the picture, which actually was a blessing because I started to allow myself to enjoy the run. I mean, as much as one can enjoy themselves at mile 16 of 26.2.

Not qualifying, but knowing I was for sure going to finish the race, took some pressure & expectations off my mind & allowed me to be very thankful I was running and accomplishing a huge goal of mine. I was able to appreciate the chilly weather, felt fortunate to be on the same journey as 24,000 other runners, and to have amazing friends & family there for support. I only ran with my iPod from mile 10-20… which is less than half, so give me a little leeway on that one. A little more leeway for listening to Dropkick Murphys?? J

It was not all roses & rainbows though, it was hard as hell and I wanted to drop out a few times, even FELL at mile 19! A lot of spectators were handing out bananas, orange slices, pretzels, etc. which is totally awesome (orange slices are the MOST delicious treat during a race btw!), but with thousands of people eating them the peels were everywhere. I wasn’t paying attention & slipped on an orange peel & went down… directly on my left kneecap. I popped up fast in hopes that not too many people saw & because I wanted to assess the damage. No blood… no reason to stop. My kneecap is a lot of different colors now!

The thousands of spectators, live bands, tranny WeHo cheerleaders, ACTUAL cheerleaders, running the last 10k with Alex & seeing my mom at the finish line definitely kept my spirits up & carried me all the way through. Also I can’t forget to mention the ever-amusing race posters like “May the course be with you”, “If this was easy, it’d be your mom”, or “Chuck Norris never ran a marathon”. There were a few times where I “almost cried”, meaning I had the scrunchy face + had to give myself a little pep talk to keep it together before any tears leaked out, but otherwise was loving trying to love as much of the experience as I could! Emotions are a bit harder to control when your body is toasted.

[ROLLING CREDITS]

-Thank you mom for being at ALL of my races! I’m so proud that you know how to upload all the photos now too.

-Thank you B… my sherpa boo. Even though you probably consider me crazy for signing up for race after race, thank you for always supporting me anyways J

-Thank you Mike for being an awesome coach and inspiration, & for being able to fix me if/when your workouts break me. I want to be on your level someday! And thank you to Ryan Y. (PT) & all of Elite Rehab for getting me back out on the course quickly so I can continue doing what I love

-Thank you Rynell, Jen & Toby for being awesome friends & training partners!

-Thank you Alex for running with me! Talking about competing in an IronMan made the marathon not seem so bad haha. That, & the last 5k just talking about what we wanted most…

              Alex:  “I want a pizza & beer” 

              Me:  “I just want to stop running”

-A huge thank you to anyone who’s had to hear me talk about my marathon training, to my supportive family, friends, tri-clubbers and co-workers. And thank you to my legs… even though I’m going to be hearing a lot about it from you the next few days.

YOU.GUYS. I ran a MARATHON. I actually did it. I can’t even believe that yesterday I ran 26.2 miles and today I can barely walk to my kitchen. (Why is it sooooo far away!?!??!) Also anything I’ve accidentally dropped on/near the ground is going to stay right where it is unless someone gets me a wheelchair or one of those arm grabby things. I will be doing the AARP shuffle for a few days, but I’m SO HAPPY I DID IT!!! It’s definitely a huge experience and accomplishment, and I’m over the moon that I can join this elite group of people that call themselves MARATHON RUNNERS.

PS - In case you were wondering… I had green beer, a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries(!!) as my celebratory meal J. It was the best meal I’ve ever had.

It's T-shirt...er...Taper Time!

Ok… but… not really. I get to “taper” this week but I’m still working out 7 days a week and my race is less than 2 weeks away!!

[Initialize panic mode]

The only evidence of a taper is that I’m supposed to run 12 miles this Saturday with the group instead of 20. I was hoping my coach would say I should go to Cabo & get some sun instead, but I’ll take what I can get.

I finished my last long run (well, until the actual long run) & it definitely felt good since: 1. it was my longest distance ever & I didn't feel too beat up and 2. knowing I “only have 6 more miles” to run in order to complete a marathon. I definitely felt a huge boost of confidence despite trying to keep up with the likes of Andrew Firestone, my CFO & the rest of the speedy bunch (nooooo pressure there).

It seems like the majority of the time my body is sore from something (swim, bike, run, yoga), which doesn't help my motivation to get to the next workout, but it means my muscles are adapting (I hope) and it sure as heck feels great to look back on a workout that I thought was hard & no longer feel intimidated by it. Oh yeah… and most importantly to make Coach happy :)

In the last few days, the mantra “Relentless. Forward. Progress.” keeps popping up in the front of my mind. I know a few fellow triathletes who are big believers in this mantra & have thought/said it in their races, but for me I feel like it relates to me way more during training. “Relentless forward progress” is to my training as “Be like a Kenyan” is to my race :). What I’m really stuck on is the word Relentless:

re·lent·less (adj) : showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace

What a motivating & powerful word, right? If you use that word to describe your: self/practice/training/etc., I would say you’re probably feeling pret-ty good about it. That word, to me, signifies strength and dedication, and paints a person as an unstoppable force.   Now, I’m FAR from being considered as unstoppable (ex: person says “hey Erica, it’s raining so running conditions aren't ideal today” & I say “oh ok I’ll just stay inside & eat some cookies then), but thinking about this word mentally helps me get through the training… which in turn gets me through the race. It tells my mind it’s time to focus and get stronger instead of just “getting through” a workout.

I also think this word relates to something long-term. I like to apply it to day to day training, but also to how I think about my future training schedules & races. I think I've become a little more realistic of races that I should be signing up for (ha!), but I have no intention (as if I have a choice) of letting up on my training. It’s become a very important part of my life, my therapy, the one thing that I can count on that never disappoints, and often times my struggle.  

So for the next week & a half… I will taper relentlessly & attempt to channel my inner Kenyan ;). Until the race I expect everything to be more of the same, so unless something extraordinary happens this will be my last entry until my race report. Let’s all cross our fingers that the luck o’ the Irish will be with everyone on Marathon Day!!