What do you do when you have obstacle after obstacle thrown at you and you get beaten down to the ground?
What do you do when you just don't think you can go any further, but you know you have to?
This is all that went thru my mind during the Marine Corp Marathon. This was my A race. This is what I was training for. I thought I had this. I thought I would definitely PR. But my body had another agenda. A week before the race I got severely ill, this was my second bout with some illness that knocked the shit out of me. The previous was 4 days before my fall half, Naperville Trails Half Marathon. I ended up in the ER due to dehydration and had tests run, all of them saying nothing. Although Coach advised me not to race it, I said I would just run it to finish and screw any time. HAHA right... I managed to run the whole race without stopping or walk breaks, and I got a new PR... Where did that come from I have no clue. I think it was the excitement around me or it was that it was raining so much I just wanted to finish so I could get home in a nice warm bed.
This next time around it was just about as worse. I was puking my guts out for over 36hrs straight, causing me to lose over 6lbs. My runs up to this point were in pain as my leg/hip was killing me so I had to pull back on my long. I never reached my 20 miles, only hit 15, then my 15 turned out to be 12. My furthest run was 18 miles. I didn't think this was a factor as I had run a marathon before and knew what to expect. It may not have been a big issue, but I think in the end it did play a factor in hitting the wall.
As part of the MCM, they had a fun run on Saturday morning, which I of coarse signed up for. It was fun and easy, and I got to run along side to Bart Yasso. I didn't realize who he really was until they did the speeches at the brunch. He had some amazing stories to share with us and let us know that it's ok to go slow if we have to and that finishing is the most important part. That we should stick to our plan and not sway under the spotlight of the race.
As far as MCM, I decided to run with the 5:30 pace group. I thought, this would be best for me as I would PR if I finished, not with the 5:15 I was hoping for, but a PR still. Also it would help to keep me on track with my pace so I don't start too quickly and die out in the end. Well my plan worked for me, I kept up with the group and had fun at it too. It wasn't until mile 18 that I felt some pains in my hip/ankle. I pulled back a bit, changed my stride and that helped. Mile 20 came and went and I was doing great, a few pains, some pulls in my calfes but still moving along. Not sure what happened next, someone stepped on the back of my shoe I had to stop and I think that threw me off. By mile 22 I was starting to really feel it. I was losing it, trying to talk myself into finishing thinking I couldn't do it anymore. By mile 23 I was starting to cry. I texted the girls and Rich in hopes for words of encouragement. I had now started walking, and crying. I was pushing thru the pain, not sure I could finish. At mile 25 I thought, "suck it up and run" so i tried, and that lasted about 5 steps before I almost fell over in pain. I went back to walking. A soldier saw me and he yelled at me to pick my head up and push forward. To run for my soldier as he's not here to run himself. That did it for me. I went into a quick walk. Then I saw the 26 mile marker. I knew I had to run in the finish. I couldn't walk it. I had to do this. So I ran, I ran thru the pain, I cried and I ran, with every step knowing that this was for Capt Brandon Cyr. He was my angel that pushed me up that hill and down the stretch to the finish. And I did it. My time didn't matter, all that mattered was that I finished. When I saw the Marines with our medals at the end of the corral, I walked up, crying but smiling. He put my medal around my neck, saluted me and then hugged me... I broke down and he said I did an awesome job, and you know what.. I DID.
As our shirst say... Always Earned Never Given... This is true, I earned my medal!!
