The last half mile or so I seriously considered stopping. There were all sorts of competing voices in my head. One was saying I had no business going the full marathon distance with just a few months of base mileage. Another voice reasoned that how in the hell was my endurance going to get any better if I didn't take advantage of the mileage in front of me today no matter how slow I was.
As I crossed the timing mat a young lady reached down to grab the chip off my ankle. I told her I was a marathoner but hadn't decided if I was going back out or not. I stood at the aid table, drank some water, ate a couple of gels and cookies and considered what to do. My thoughts went out to my running friends who weren't able to be there for various reasons. They had all reached out to me the day before telling me good luck and to have fun. I was feeling like I needed to continue on for them. We've all known each other for a very long time and have been invested in each others successes and failures. I was feeling like a finish for me would be a finish for all of us.
I sucked it up and headed out for another 13.1 miles. In the first few yards I was literally talking out loud to myself wondering what in the hell I was doing.
The aid stations were perfectly positioned at roughly 2+, 4+, 4+ and 2+ miles. I was actually able to do a fair amount of running to the first aid station. I was thinking how nice it would be with so many fewer runners on the 2nd loop. I would allow me to get into a nice mental groove and pass some good time. There was only one aid station worker at the first aid station so we got to chat for a minute while ate some cookies and refilled my bottle. I thanked him for volunteering and headed back out.
I was feeling much better than I expected I would! I checked my watch, did some quick mental calculations and figured I may be able to make it to the next aid station in an hour which would put me in striking distance of a 6 hour finish!
It wasn't long until my race went south though. Somehow not far out of the first aid station I missed a turn. During the 2nd loop there were people running towards us for the 8 mile race which made things a little confusing. Several times I questioned whether or not I was going the right direction. All of a sudden I went through a granite outcropping and see more people coming toward me. They were making a left turn following the marathon and double marathon sign. I looked back the way I'd come and it indicated the 8 mile should be going the way I had just come. I made a quick decision to continue straight ahead. I was trying not to panic and waste what little extra energy I had. I didn't go far when I saw a runner coming towards me. He said he was a marathoner. I asked him if he'd come through the outcropping I'd just come from and he said no. Oh shit I thought, I'm in big trouble. I thanked him and continued a little farther the same way when I encountered another runner. After speaking to him I determined to go back the other way and make the turn the same direction the others were going. I went down that way a few hundred yards and really felt like this was wrong too. I turned back around and asked a lady that was coming down and she felt strongly that everyone I'd encountered were fairly far in front of me on the course. Damn, I was screwed I thought. A dim light came on in my head and I realized the only course of action was to retrace my steps.
I'd only gotten truly lost in a race once many years ago in Mississippi. Today I was picturing the humiliation of coming into the main start/ finish the wrong direction. The ONLY thing to do was to go back the way I'd come and sure enough I didn't have to go far and saw to see where I'd missed a turn.
Any hope of beating my time of 6:28 from 2 years ago was not going to happen now. I figured I'd lost about a half hour. On top of that I was just over halfway and pretty tired. There was nothing to do besides keep moving.
Again, I was pretty pleased with the amount of running I was able to do. I finally got to the 2nd aid station and was feeling good about things. Only a quarter way to go to the finish now and I'll have the satisfaction of having another marathon under my belt. I reflected on how lucky I was to be on the verge of wrapping up my 20th year of running at the end of the month. What an incredible journey it's been. Little did I know I was patting myself on the back a little early.
I stuffed down some calories and refilled my bottle again and headed out on the last 7ish miles feeling good about things. That didn't last long.
At about the 22 mile mark I was on a fairly benign part of the trail and stepped wrong on a rock and rolled my right ankle badly. I went down hard. I layed there for a few seconds and tried to gather myself. I was seeing stars and my ankle hurt like hell but I was able to get up using a tree to brace myself. I stood there for a minute or so and tried to assess how badly my ankle was hurt. I started slowly walking forward and even though it hurt like hell I was sure it wasn't broken. 4 miles to go and now I'm really screwed. All I could do was keep moving and be very, very careful with every step the rest of the way. I could not afford to have anymore mishaps now.
I kept walking and was able to actually do just a little bit of slow running on some flat smooth parts of the trail. On and on I kept moving as quickly as I safely could until I got to the final aid station with 2.2 miles remaining.
Amazingly enough my time wasn't looking too bad. I couldn't believe it. All I could think of was how lucky I am to still be out here doing my thing. I kept moving and moving and finally the finish was in sight. Considering all that had happened I was very happy with my 6:42 finish time. All in all including DNF's and everything this was the 59th time I've covered the 26.2 mile distance. It was sure eventful AND satisfying!!!
I sucked it up and headed out for another 13.1 miles. In the first few yards I was literally talking out loud to myself wondering what in the hell I was doing.
The aid stations were perfectly positioned at roughly 2+, 4+, 4+ and 2+ miles. I was actually able to do a fair amount of running to the first aid station. I was thinking how nice it would be with so many fewer runners on the 2nd loop. I would allow me to get into a nice mental groove and pass some good time. There was only one aid station worker at the first aid station so we got to chat for a minute while ate some cookies and refilled my bottle. I thanked him for volunteering and headed back out.
I was feeling much better than I expected I would! I checked my watch, did some quick mental calculations and figured I may be able to make it to the next aid station in an hour which would put me in striking distance of a 6 hour finish!
It wasn't long until my race went south though. Somehow not far out of the first aid station I missed a turn. During the 2nd loop there were people running towards us for the 8 mile race which made things a little confusing. Several times I questioned whether or not I was going the right direction. All of a sudden I went through a granite outcropping and see more people coming toward me. They were making a left turn following the marathon and double marathon sign. I looked back the way I'd come and it indicated the 8 mile should be going the way I had just come. I made a quick decision to continue straight ahead. I was trying not to panic and waste what little extra energy I had. I didn't go far when I saw a runner coming towards me. He said he was a marathoner. I asked him if he'd come through the outcropping I'd just come from and he said no. Oh shit I thought, I'm in big trouble. I thanked him and continued a little farther the same way when I encountered another runner. After speaking to him I determined to go back the other way and make the turn the same direction the others were going. I went down that way a few hundred yards and really felt like this was wrong too. I turned back around and asked a lady that was coming down and she felt strongly that everyone I'd encountered were fairly far in front of me on the course. Damn, I was screwed I thought. A dim light came on in my head and I realized the only course of action was to retrace my steps.
I'd only gotten truly lost in a race once many years ago in Mississippi. Today I was picturing the humiliation of coming into the main start/ finish the wrong direction. The ONLY thing to do was to go back the way I'd come and sure enough I didn't have to go far and saw to see where I'd missed a turn.
Any hope of beating my time of 6:28 from 2 years ago was not going to happen now. I figured I'd lost about a half hour. On top of that I was just over halfway and pretty tired. There was nothing to do besides keep moving.
Again, I was pretty pleased with the amount of running I was able to do. I finally got to the 2nd aid station and was feeling good about things. Only a quarter way to go to the finish now and I'll have the satisfaction of having another marathon under my belt. I reflected on how lucky I was to be on the verge of wrapping up my 20th year of running at the end of the month. What an incredible journey it's been. Little did I know I was patting myself on the back a little early.
I stuffed down some calories and refilled my bottle again and headed out on the last 7ish miles feeling good about things. That didn't last long.
At about the 22 mile mark I was on a fairly benign part of the trail and stepped wrong on a rock and rolled my right ankle badly. I went down hard. I layed there for a few seconds and tried to gather myself. I was seeing stars and my ankle hurt like hell but I was able to get up using a tree to brace myself. I stood there for a minute or so and tried to assess how badly my ankle was hurt. I started slowly walking forward and even though it hurt like hell I was sure it wasn't broken. 4 miles to go and now I'm really screwed. All I could do was keep moving and be very, very careful with every step the rest of the way. I could not afford to have anymore mishaps now.
I kept walking and was able to actually do just a little bit of slow running on some flat smooth parts of the trail. On and on I kept moving as quickly as I safely could until I got to the final aid station with 2.2 miles remaining.
Amazingly enough my time wasn't looking too bad. I couldn't believe it. All I could think of was how lucky I am to still be out here doing my thing. I kept moving and moving and finally the finish was in sight. Considering all that had happened I was very happy with my 6:42 finish time. All in all including DNF's and everything this was the 59th time I've covered the 26.2 mile distance. It was sure eventful AND satisfying!!!
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