Bayshore Marathon

Saturday was a learning experience, Bayshore was my sixth marathon, the first marathon where the last five miles felt like eons. The first marathon where I cursed under my breath and out loud, walked, and got water at every aide station, including four cups at the final aide station (less than two miles from the finish). I have never been so incredibly grateful for my family and friends' cheers at mile 21. They jumped and screamed in their shirts (my mom made shirts specifically for me and my cheering crowd), my nephews gave hi-fives, and Sam reminded me to keep turning my feet over. Later I would hear that he texted my family, "She looks as smooth as butter."

Stepping back to before the race, about a week away from Bayshore, I got some nagging and throbbing aches in my right leg. It worried me, as anything on my right leg, near my right hip, brings back memories of my stress fracture. I rested for a couple days, saw an amazing massage therapist in TC, Dan Zemper, and did a good nice taper. Luckily things cleared up and come Friday, my easy 30 minute jog was fine. Phew. I was gearing to go and really wanting to run!

The morning of it was the typical routine, bagel with peanut butter and banana, getting to the start with a good hour to spare, listening to Payphone by Maroon 5 (a new favorite since becoming a fan of 'The Voice'), jogging for ten minutes, finding a bush to pee, and switching up my shoes before heading to the start line. Once at the start it was a matter of keeping the legs warm, finding a building to tuck behind for pee #2, and then jogging to the start line. Then we were basically off. Before mile one I found Jake Flynn to keep me company. We both were "a bit hot" going through mile one in just under six minutes. So we settled in and chatted along with another guy who I can't for the life of me recall his name (but good luck in your next triathlon!). It was ideal, we were consistent, and I felt relaxed. Seeing my family at mile five was super fun, then I continued to get cheers from other spectators, volunteers, and around mile nine from the half-marathoners. "You go girl!" was a frequent usually followed with a quick smile and fist shake from me.

There's me, my shaking fist, Jake, and triathlon guy!

I was through the half-marathon mark in just under 1:20 and feeling absolutely awesome, but I had lost my buddies, Jake and triathlon guy, who were now slightly behind me. It was a lonely next five miles and that's probably where things started to go awry. Mile 18 will be forever engrained as a difficult mile (as that's where I dropped at the trials). When I got past that mile marker, I knew I was going to finish, but maybe not feeling like I had through the first half. After mile 21 things started to really go poorly. I was gulping water down like I couldn't believe and walking here and there. Luckily a few other marathoners and half-marathoners encouraged me to keep moving and that I was almost there. It was a walk-run finish over those final two miles. I've never been so happy to see a finish line in my life. And thank goodness for the Pepsi that followed. And the hugs from my family and friends that followed the Pepsi. And, the pizza and beer at the Filling Station which followed a much needed shower.

At first I was disappointed with my insane positive split. I mean that's an incredible positive split (1:19:54 (6:06 pace) and 1:28:37 (6:45 pace)... ouch!), but hey I gained a few new perspective over the last few days...

- I ran a good half-marathon talking at a 6:06 pace. That's great! Although as I learned, neither are probably a good idea during a marathon race.
- I finished and won even though I thought I was going to keel over in that last stretch.
- I have such amazing friends and family.
- My right leg doesn't hurt, ache, or throb! It didn't during the race or after... whahooo!
- There will always be more races, learn from past races, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
- Long runs are a staple... more to come.
- It's fun being a hometown star. Thanks to the Record Eagle for your interviews and pre-race and post-race articles and Vic McCarty for the radio interviews! And thanks to the locals for being excited by my presence, win, and determination.

Ironically, I never knew I had a talent with running in 1992 (that was my bib number in the race on Saturday and coincidentally the first year I ran a race on Central High School's track), but with a sixth grade track coach saying, "you're a distance runner" and all my family and friend's support over the past twenty years a lot has changed. And, without all that support it's likely I would not be winning any marathons. I am so incredibly grateful, so thank you Traverse City and all those who have kept reminding me to do what I love! I may be back next year as I still have a course record to tackle!

Starting to hit the wall. Mile 21.

Finishing at Central High School's track.

     

Avenue of the Giants

Once we arrived at our motel and changed into sneakers, Kate and I headed two miles up the road to the Drive Thru Tree in Leggett, CA. The owner of the Stonegate Villas had warned us of the steep climb coming back, but we ignored his precautions. Who the heck wanted to drive? We’d already spent 4 hours in a car and it was beautiful outside! About half way down the decent, Kate and I shared glances. Do we take a chance and keep walking downhill? Ok I am not trying to pull some hippy dippy nonsense (don’t get me wrong, I love both granola and incense), but this is exactly what we decided on our decent:

A. We weren’t going to walk back up the climb, seeing that I was racing the next day, instead we would meet some nice tourists that would give us a lift back up to the market. The market sat at the top of the climb, about a mile from our motel, and it was going to provide me with the funniest pre-race dinner ever, which included veggies, a noodle bowl, an orange, and some tortilla chips.

B. If A were to occur than I was going to have an incredible race the next day. As long as we have the ability to manifest things, why the heck not?

C. We didn’t even touch on the idea of A or B not occurring.

Ok so Kate and I were headed down the entrance to the Drive Thru Tree when a car pulled in and a nice couple from Austin welcomed us in the car. We got to ride with them right through the middle of a huge redwood and we got our planned lift to the market. Kate looked at me, “Ok, you know that was weird in a good way right? You know that means you’re going to kick butt in your race tomorrow right?” I really wanted to believe it, but I could sense my typical nerves over that next mile walk. I could feel that nagging tension in my right calf. I could hear that nagging doubt in my head. And, then our bag of groceries nearly ended up on the road as a leaking water bottle had developed a soppy hole. Luckily Kate and I were quick and we saved all the odds and ends. With our hands full, we made our way back to room #3. We enjoyed are simple dinner, some more conversation, and then we were in bed before the sun was completely set.

We woke-up and drove about an hour to the start. I was layered up and hour later would be pealing all those layers off. It was hot and sunny by the time I ventured off for a warm-up. I felt good and I had very little doubt even once I approached the start (This is VERY rare for me. I mean I ate an instant noodle bowl for dinner. I would think that I would at least be questioning my energy stores.) I knew I had one goal: to break my 1:19 half marathon rut. So when the gun went off that was my focus along with staying consistent and relaxed. I was immersed in the Redwoods and surprised when I went through mile one in 5:49. I settled into a 6 minute pace on the dot. At mile 10, I looked at my watch to see 59:59. The next few miles were a bit off, not because of my legs, but because of the obstacle course of half-marathoners and marathoners charging towards me as well as me weaving around 10kers. It all worked out fine as I hit the finish in 1:18:49. I finally have that 1:19 monkey off my back and even better, the reminder that my thoughts are powerful. Next time I will envision more than a noodle bowl for dinner. But, yes, we can manifest what happens on the trails, roads, in our lives as long as we’re willing to put in the hard work and trust that at some point there will be a pay off.

And just a couple thanks for those that made this day possible:
•Kate thanks for the company and encouragement. The sky is the limit for you babe! And that walk will be memorable for a long time!
•Mark thanks for giving me the confidence and strength to run faster. No doubt without that push I’d still in my 1:19 rut.
•And thanks Avenue of the Giants for having an absolutely beautiful half-marathon (my first road race that I can actually say was so beautiful I felt like I was on a trail.) Also thanks to the Team in Training bike pacer who encouraged me to kick that boys butt in front of me… next time!