“You risk so much by hesitating
to fling yourself into the abyss.” ~Unknown monk, 19th century
I had never really liked the marathon. Loved the other endurance events, but that
one was just “meh” initially. As I
finished off my collegiate swimming years, I made the jump into triathlons and
longer running distances. Austin was my
first marathon in 2003 – you would think for my first one I would respect the
distance, but nope. Lackluster training
equaled a grueling, excruciating 26.2 miles.
I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
When I toed the line for the Motorola Marathon in 2004, I had put in the
long miles, and was confident it would be a PR – and it was, for two
decades. Not sure why I did not put
another one on the docket in the early 2000s, I still chased plenty of triathlons,
half marathons, half ironmans, and then finally the big one, the full ironman
in 2012. That was the next time I did a
marathon, at the end of an IM, and it was a totally different ballgame. I never learned to race the marathon in the
IM, I’ve only done 2, and while my 2nd one in 2013 I totally crushed
my previous PR, cutting 2.5 hours off of my first IM time from 2012, most of
that time came from me learning how to race the bike leg more aggressively, not
the marathon. I was confident that with
more experience and training, that I could learn to finally race the marathon,
to execute the race from start to finish, not flawlessly, but solidly. I tried again in the SA Rock n Roll in 2013
but DNFed from the heat and humidity.
Then had munchkin in 2014. Then
total hip replacement in 2016. Then I
closed that door on that goal, on what I thought would be forever. I didn’t waste any time getting back to
racing per se after the surgery, I did a half ironman 8 months post hip. I did walk the majority of that half marathon
in that race, and was tentative in getting back to running. It would become somewhat of a double edged
sword – so grateful to be out there putting in the miles, but also overwhelmed
by the anxiety of what I was doing to my prosthesis. I told myself I would keep the mileage fairly
low, the intensity low, and do races that the run leg was no longer than a
half-marathon. I branched out in 2018 to
do my first 50k, more as a celebration as anything else. My hubs had finally transitioned to a job
where we would finally be together as a family, after nearly 8 years of living
apart – we were so grateful that that day had finally come!!! Felt like the perfect opportunity as one
chapter was coming to a close to celebrate the opening of another!!! While not the most technical 50k out there,
the Wildflower race in Bastrop certainly had some more technical sections than
just an out and back beach race. So
there was quite a bit of walking in that race and I was thrilled with 9.5 hours
at the end of the day. My hip had
cooperated over those 31 miles, but before I could really lean into that, I
hesitated, and went back to the shorter runs, nothing longer than the half
marathon. Then under Coach Hillary’s tutelage
a couple of years later, after some big run sessions, I hit a half marathon PR
post THR during a mother’s day virtual run.
Something clicked. A year and a
half later I was toeing the line for my 2nd 50k, all beach, and I
pretty much ran the whole thing, and cut 3 hours off of my previous time from
2018! Suddenly I could taste it. I knew I could break my old PR, that it was
time to put it back on the docket, it was new PR or bust! I had an amazing training block headed into
Houston 2023, but we all know how that ended – not well, a DNF. Then this past fall, I ran the marathon at
the beach race, and was hopeful it would fall there. Weather was decent, low 60s, breezy, we’d get
some rain too. And my nutrition was so
on point. And I was on track, until I
fell off the last 6 miles, and struggled in the headwind on the last
segment. 4:49:08 was still faster than I
had gone in decades, so I was pumped, moving in the right direction at least! Annual
hip checkup went well in December, so I thought on it until the new year, then
decided to give the marathon one last go before giving my body a little bit of
a break. Run the Alamo was on the docket
for March, would be an awesome way to celebrate my 8th Hipaversary,
the race fell on the exact weekend that I got my new hip 8 years prior! Had an average training block this go round,
slower, and not as solid as the previous year, but I went into race weekend
focusing on nothing but the positive, and my experience as an endurance athlete,
all of the deposits I had put in over the decades were still there for the
taking. Game time babyyyy!!!
Race day weather was not great, humidity that morning was in
the low 90s, air temp 60s, overcast with not much of a breeze. I wore my hydration pack for the race for
peace of mind since I did so well with nutrition in the fall race, I would at least
have control over that during this race.
Canon fires and we are off, Coach Hillary and I had discussed beforehand
about going out conservatively, so my first mile kept it cruisy, a little over 10, just out there enjoying the day. I was
already drenched though, my core heats up really quickly in the humidity, I
knew this race would all come down to how well I handled my nutrition. 2nd mile just under 10, still
cruisy, drinking my citrus salt LMNT, and feeling decent. Miles 3-9 I settled into a good rhythm, and
kept the miles at 930 or under. We broke
off from the half marathoners somewhere around mile 8, and it got quieter
(quite a few more half marathoners than marathoners). After mile 9 my heart rate jumped from low
140s to high 170s, which was not a surprise to me in the weather. I was about to see how long I could maintain
it. My range is large, from resting in
the upper 40s to a max that will still hit the high 190s/low 200s. So I knew I was still the high end of
aerobic, dancing the line of anaerobic, even at a cruisy pace. I would love to see what my body could really
do in a marathon in weather in the high 30s/low 40s, but alas we cannot control
the weather, just make do with what we have on race day. As we branched off I was behind a couple of
runners that would speed up when I started to pick up the pace to pass, but
then slow down to a slower pace than I was going when I ended up back behind
them. It became one of those situations in which I just needed to commit and get it done, so I finally made some solid passes, and felt
better. Miles 10-12 were fairly
uneventful, slowed down some to a pace just under 10, then mile 13 I stopped at
the aid station to refill my LMNT, so that added a little time to that pace for
that mile, 1030ish. As I ran by mile 13,
I saw mile 21 on the other side, and was like oh man, we’ve got 4 out and back
miles here coming up. Held it together really
well for that stretch, taking my gels, drinking my LMNT, focusing on my form
(which had pretty much gone out the window the back half), enjoying the
peaceful path before me. What a
beautiful marathon course, going out on the greenway out to the missions,
through parks, just a gorgeous course.
And I could feel the humidity drop throughout the run, which was so
nice! I mean, it wasn’t super low or
anything like that, but as long as it wasn’t 90%+ I was pumped! As a matter of fact, not only did I recognize
some of the old running trails that I used to run on regularly with the
friendies, but I came across the section that I stopped at all of those years
ago at SA Rock n Roll, that the golf cart came to pick me up after I DNFed. I smiled, I felt so strong, and just kept
putting one foot in front of the other.
I picked some rabbits to chase, some I passed and didn’t see again;
others passed me back, and we would hop back and forth throughout the rest of
the course, and at the finish as we congratulated each other, we laughed about
the sections in which we kept passing each other back up. It was really cool. Miles 14-21 were solid, with 14 being the
last one under 10, but the other ones between 10-1030, which I was totally
stoked about! Then the wheels came off
not long after 21 and the last aid station I briefly stopped at. Legs were heavy, not cramping (because my
nutrition rocked!), just tight, and I continued to will them forward. Not only did I lean into the training deposits
in the bank, but also leaned into the experience as an endurance athlete, and
understood that I how I felt throughout these miles would change rapidly. Sure enough, clipped off some mileage at 10
min mile, just to do a brief 20 second walk break a moment later. The last 5 miles were exactly like that, all
of them. Averaged 12 min miles for all
of them, and just kept digging deep on that home stretch. The last couple of miles are along the Riverwalk
as you head back towards Hemisphere Park and the finish. I felt great, and passed people; I felt
terrible, and got passed back. I checked
my watch, calculated what my miles had to be in order to secure the PR. As we came up from the Riverwalk and headed
to the finish, the volunteers that were yelling “you are almost there!” were
fortunately correct, thank goodness. It’s
never fun times when you hear “the finish is right around that corner!” when
the finish, in fact, is not right around the corner, you are actually not
almost there because you have like another mile to go. While my watch mileage was a little ahead of
the actual mile markers, it wasn’t by much, so as I passed 26, with .2 to go, I
knew I was indeed nearly there. That old
PR was about to fall, and I picked up the pace the best I could in that
finisher chute, giving high fives along the way. Saw my people cheering me on and gave them
the best smile and high fives – what a race day this was!!! Crossed that line in 4:31:30, breaking my 2-decade
old PR of 4:38:39 (I kept thinking it was 4:37, I actually had another minute
to spare, lol) at the Motorola Marathon in 2004. 44-year-old me with a prosthesis beat 24-year-old
me with a working body. Experience
certainly was in my favor, but not necessarily my body. I was beside myself that a goal that I had essentially
put up on the shelf forever I was able to dust it off, and give it a go again;
and not just chase it, but take it down!!!
Takeaway message – never say never.
Always believe in yourself.
Always. Encouragement from your
crew is important, yes, but at the end of the day, YOU have to believe in YOU,
no one else is going to do it for you. Whether
it’s an athletic endeavor, an academic endeavor, a business venture, whatever
your goal/dream may be, you have to put in the work, and you have to take the
leap. May we all be so lucky to have mentors,
friends, coaches, loved ones who support us wholeheartedly on our journey, who
inspire us to keep reaching each and every day.
May we continue to pour that same energy into those around us, so that
the rippling effect of that energy reaches far and wide. May we always be humble enough to keep
learning, but confident enough in ourselves to know what we bring to the table. May we never make ourselves small. May we never place limits on ourselves – we
will never know how far we can go unless we fling ourselves into that abyss without
hesitation.
***Nutrition – if you are curious about my nutrition for the
race, I had 2 Liters of water in my pack, which I drank a little over a Liter
of water during the race while taking my gels (I took 10 total gels, 7 roctane
lemonade gels [no caffeine & more amino acids] and 3 salted watermelon gels
[caffeine & more sodium], so 1000 calories total). I had 2 16 oz carry bottles (one I carried,
the other in my pack) of slightly diluted LMNT (1000 mg sodium, 200 mg potassium,
60 mg magnesium) which I drank, then I had an extra 2 packs of the drink mix
which I used one pack in one of my 16 oz bottles and did not dilute it. The other pack I couldn’t tear open so I had
to do just Gatorade in my 16 oz bottle at the last aid station. So 4 16 oz bottles of an electrolyte drink,
which was predominantly LMNT, which I would highly recommend for anyone who
sweats profusely and is losing large quantities of sodium.
