Okay so while I was on my run this morning and doing my hill
repeats I began to think back on my worst race. Well maybe in fact it was my
two worst races…
Back in October 2008, I decided to be crazy and run a
marathon for fun-which did not end pretty. Funny thing was this wasn’t the
first time I had this crazy idea. The last time I ran a marathon for “fun”
prior to this was quite amusing. Picture
a collegiate runner in July 1995 having left the team for 7 months deciding
after her husband (at the time) thought it would be fun, to run the Deseret
News Marathon. Yes that was me…oddly I was 21 and clearly was not thinking with
all my neurons as the first thought that popped into my head was “its only 26.2
miles, how hard can it be”. It gets better.
So I arrived at the starting line that morning with maybe
two and a half months at best, running 15 miles a week. No, that is not a typo;
I literally may have run a few 3-4 milers 4-5 times a week. My attire consisted
of a gray cotton sports bra, cotton running socks with my Saucony trainers, and
some gray/blue plaid x-small men’s boxers from Gap. (No headphones-back then,
we were tough-hahaha!) Do the boxers date me or what? A picture of that day
would be worth a thousand words but I am blessed that no pictures have surfaced
to date. Now if the attire hasn’t gotten a laugh out of you, perhaps the
blazing pace I started with will? First mile 6:15. That’s right, how hard could
this be as I was going downhill. So it was about a 7-10% downhill grade for
most of the first 16 miles. This race was going to ROCK! Got done with about
mile 5 and the pace slowed considerably over each passing mile, shocking, I
know. An all downhill race with a grade like that will wear you down. I got to about mile 17 and realized that
perhaps my nutrition strategy of ONLY consuming the sports drink which I had
NEVER tried before wasn’t such a super great idea. I made a B-line for a
heavily shaded area. After the pit stop, reality was setting in BIG TIME. I
looked at the mile marker which said 18 and I wanted to cry. BUT because I knew
I had some doubters waiting at the finish line, I was not going to prove them
right. I’m a fighter! Finally around mile 23, I did make “A” goal. I was able
to hit the parade route before the Pioneer Day parade would start forcing
others to use an alternative route. The finish line however looked like a
mirage, the closer it seemed I was getting, the farther the finish line became.
Goal number two finally was achieved when I crossed the finish line startlingly
those who did not think I would finish. That’s right Marthas! Don’t tell me I can’t
do something…it just motivates me.
So I pulled out the race memorabilia that was mailed to me (cropped)
so you can all see it. The medal, I am not sure where it went BUT I have proof
of the first and WORST or perhaps better put “dumbest” marathon I ever ran. I
decided after that, I would NEVER do another marathon again…OR WOULD I? Funny when I did run one for which I trained, I bettered this time by an hour and six minutes. Amazing what training can do for a person...
(Disclaimer: results may not be typical for all persons training for a marathon due to unknown factors etc. and names were changed to protect the innocent, oh wait just kidding this happened to be one of the many aliases I have run with)
