The end has come

This blog is ending. It was kind of hit or miss to begin with, but that's not why it is ending. It is ending because I finally finished the Monumental marathon in the time limit yesterday. After Howl at the Moon in August the rest of the past few months has been filled with training runs and a few races. I ran the Ripple Effect 4 miler in September with PR. In late September I did the 20 mile Run the Monon for the first time. It was still pretty warm then and I struggled through it, but it was under 5 hours, which gave me hope for the marathon. I did a miserable 16 mile run by myself on a Sunday at the beginning of October because I was working in South Bend on the Saturday. It was raining the whole time. Felt slow and awful. I ran part of the Monumental course and discovered that it wasn't as hilly as I thought it was...or the hill training was paying off. After that I got to race a few times. I did the Highway Half on the new bypass in Kokomo. Ran 2:56 and some change and was pretty excited about that. After I went up to the Nickel Plate and added on 7 miles since the club was doing a second 20 mile run that day. The next weekend I was able to join a relay team and run the first two legs of the Detroit Free Press marathon relay for the Glacial Pacesetters. I continued on to finish the half in 2:55+ - a course record for me. I did not add on any extra distance since I was having some knee pain from IT band tightness. I was icing, rolling, taking NSAIDs, and stretching to be able to minimize the pain when running. Taper was welcome. I did do a reasonable progression run and a good tempo run so I felt pretty good. The last weekend before the race I ran eight miles right around marathon pace. I was trying to get as healthy as possible so I didn't really do much else the week before the race. Ran 5K on Tuesday and rode 20K on Wednesday. Friday I walked to the Expo, but that was about as much activity as I got. Focused on eating and hydrating. Packed my bag for gear check, laid out my flat runner, pre-paid for parking. Saturday morning went pretty smoothly. Started farther back than I wanted to, but slow half marathoners kept creeping ahead of me. I figured it wold just keep me from going out too fast (right...). First kilometer was too fast but then I settled down a little. Still wasn't down to the 8:45/km I planned to run. Around mile 5 I needed to use the bathroom, but I wasn't going to lose the time of waiting in line...I waited until after the half marathon split off and then used one with no line. Only cost me a minute, well worth it. I was still fast at the half, crossing the mats around 2:57 which would have been great for a half marathon by itself, but was 8 minutes ahead of where I needed to be for my goal time in the full. When I passed St. Paul's someone was shouting "Is that you Rose?" I turned around and yelled yes, but kept going. At the canal I figured out it was Patti Shea Carpenter. She had come down to the canal when she almost missed me at the church because I was ahead of pace. It was cool to have fans! I was getting a little anxious about nutrition because I had planned on using gels/food from the course but they were out at 10, 14, and 17 miles. Used Gatorade, some Whoppers from a Halloween candy bucket, and my backup gel to make it to 20 miles. At 30K (18.6 miles) I was still really strong and ahead of goal pace. Around 19 I started walking. In retrospect I am really not sure why. Somewhere I started having problems breathing, but kept going. The stop at 21.8 miles, which we were afraid might run out of food, had plenty and my nutrition crisis was over. It was pretty windy on Burdisell Parkway and Meridian. As I came into the area where the Carmel Runners and Indy Runners were tailgating I started running again knowing I would know people there. There was a decent group left to cheer me and Curt Canter started running with me. He asked how I was doing and I told him I was having a hard time breathing. He ran in the rest of the way with me. I was so excited that even though I hadn't made my Big Hairy Audacious Goal of 6:09:25 (an hour off San Diego) I had beat the only goal that mattered (the time limit of 6:30) with a 6:17:05. I did it! I finished Monumental! Curt graciously helped me though the finishers chute and carried my stuff as we walked back to the tailgate area. I was able to change into dry clothes there as I was starting to get cold since I wasn't moving anymore. We went to Bourbon Street and had lunch. Then I went home to shower and relax and keep eating and drinking. We ordered pizza for dinner since David had done the half in 3:06, taking 25 minutes off his half time. I had my Vernor's treat with dinner. Made it to 9:00 PM and went to bed and slept for 11 hours. I am so happy I was able to meet this goal after 4 years. And so thankful for the people who helped me get there. So this is the end of the blog. Not my first marathon anymore. I finally finished. I have said this was my last marathon. And I meant it. But now I sometimes catch my thoughts drifting to "I am so close to making it under 6 hours" - who knows.