Marathon day

First of all, happy Cinco de Mayo and happy birthday to my superstar orange cat Jebus, who is 7 today!



Well Nicole and I ran the marathon yesterday. The weather was wonderful, maybe a bit on the warm side, but that made the cool ocean breezes that much more refreshing. In order to mentally tackle such a huge distance I divided the race into 4 chunks. First was the out-and-back to Granville Island from BC Place along 2nd/6th/4th. Granville Island is where we first met up with our amazing husbands on their bikes. Michael was taking photos and they showed up along the route many more times than we expected and were so supportive. It was getting quite warm already at 8am and I was relieved to see some clouds coming in as we made our way to the 2nd chunk along Prior nearly to Clark and back through downtown along Cordova. There were quite a few stations set up with music and I thought it was pretty hilarious how loud it was cranked for early on a Sunday morning. Get out of bed everyone! Come to your window and cheer us on!!

Soon we were heading into Stanley Park (3rd section) and past the halfway mark! Stanley Park is such a nice place to run. The marathon has always had a huge hill that is in Stanley Park but it was taken out this year and swapped for a slightly less long and steep hill. As we made our way to the top and could just make out the crest of the hill we spotted Luke and Michael. Soon we were passing the 16 mile mark - only 10 more to go! This is where I started to feel tired. I think from the beginning Nicole was feeling stronger than I was, but this is where it stopped being "easy" for me.



My parents were waiting at the Burrard bridge and it was great to see them. At the other side of the bridge we saw Camilo, Lindsey and Beth who ran up to greet us and passed on some of their energy and enthusiasm. This 4th leg was incredibly difficult for me. We saw Neil and Jen a little further down Cornwall and shortly afterwards my legs started cramping up. At first it was my left calf and right quad, mostly the muscle on the inside of my right knee. It wasn't painful, it just completely refused to fire. I noticed it mainly going uphill so I started to bargain with myself... "you're almost at the top, finish the hill then walk." Then I'd get to the top of the hill and keep running because running downhill isn't too difficult and it's nice to let gravity pull you along and also the longer I run, the faster I'll get to the end. I did walk a couple times and was so incredibly thankful to reach the turnaround point at 4th and NW Marine Drive. Heading back was a bit better if only because it was becoming more and more obvious that we were getting sooo close.

I walked a bit at Macdonald and Cornwall and Nicole kept running - she was so strong and having a great day. Thinking back now, I think that I was hitting the wall, or at least coming as close to it as I ever have. There was no more internal banter and suddenly I would just be walking, my legs having decided on their own that they weren't going to run anymore. That's when I saw my parents again and resumed running only to stop once they were out of sight. I looked up and there were Jen and Neil again so back to running - I seriously may have walked the rest of the way if it weren't for seeing those familiar faces at that point, so THANK YOU!!

I had to look away from the 25 mile marker heading back over the Burrard bridge. I would make me emotional and my breathing would get a bit irregular. There were a ton of people gathered along the roads by this point and it was a bit overwhelming and the magnitude of the distance and exertion were starting to sink in. I walked a few more times, just to flush out some of the lactic acid. Chris and Mel were by the Roundhouse and I ran past them. Only a few more blocks to the finish line. So many people, I can hear the announcer at the end. I usually have enough juice to really kick it to the end but at this point I had nothing. I ran across the line at 4:51, 5 minutes after Nicole. Hooray! I finished my previous marathon in 5:23 and my goal this time around was to finish under 5 hours and I did it!!

I took 4 gels during the race, maybe another one would have helped but after 4 gels, 2 with caffeine, a bunch of gatorade and 2 advils, my stomach wasn't feeling like it could handle more goo.

Mom and dad had ordered a sushi tray and so we headed back home and sat on the patio to eat. My legs were feeling tired but fine at this point but after an hour or so of visiting I stood up and the stiffness was definitely setting in. I tried to have a nap after everyone left but I couldn't get comfortable. Last night was the same, even after a hot bath. It hurts to roll over. I can't lift my legs without burning muscles. Getting up to standing I have to rely completely on using my arms. Standing straight is enough to stretch my calves. I'm shuffling around today, icing my knees and looking forward to another hot bath. There are more photos on my flickr page here.

So 8 months of training and we did it! We've got 5 weeks to fully recover and get motivated for the Edge to Edge marathon in Tofino on June 8th. Thank you so much to everyone who came out! You made a huge difference! Thank you Larry and Linda for the sunflowers and mom and dad for the carnations!!