No More Marathon!

I am ready to take a break from distance running, now that my marathon is good and DONE! I cannot say that I will never do it again, although if you had asked me right after I finished, I would have sworn on my mother's grave that I wouldn't dare. It is too soon to say, but I think I can see myself running 26.2 again, but at least not for another year or two (or more). It was well worth it though, if not for any other reason than that I can look at myself in the mirror and say honestly, "you are a Marathoner!" It gives me a fantastic sense of accomplishment.
As for race day, my biggest regret is sadly wearing my Vibram Fivefingers. I love these shoes, and have no regrets buying them, it just wasn't smart of me to have only had 2ish months of training in them before the big day.
The longest I had tracked in them previously was only 15 miles. Around mile 18 on race day, my feet started to give and I kept telling myself, "keep moving, every step it gets closer, keep moving, don't you dare walk" until I could not help but limply-jog to the next water station (which, up to that point I would swig a water, toss the cup, all while still moving), and actually stop, attempt a foot stretch while guzzling water, then continuing on. Between the next water stop, I pushed through, but had to walk for a few brief moments, until dire mile 21. After the water station at mile 21, I attempted my lame quick-step, but couldn't push past the pain anymore and was forced to walk the majority of the way until mile 25. Unfortunately, that was the straight-away stretch from the mouth of Provo Canyon to Center Street in Provo, a very ugly, sunny, strip of road. Closer to the finish line you could see the crowds and hear people cheering, but it wasn't until, about a quarter mile from the finish, I saw my brother in law Mykle and 1-year old nephew telling me to, "Push through it! Finish strong!" that I miraculously started full-out jogging again until (yes, crying) I crossed the finish line. My tears came equal parts from the physical pain in my feet, and from the ecstatic joy of actually finishing. It was the most incredible, euphoric experience ever to see Michael waiting for me, beaming with pride, and my sister Sarah jumping with excitement!

Getting on the shuttle bus and talking with my neighbors about the race, passing the half-marathon starting point in awe thinking, "OK, now you have to run twice as far as THIS," trying to focus while stretching next to the fire pits, looking up and seeing a crack of dawn on the horizon, feeling the adrenaline when the gun shot off, and seeing the gorgeous scene wake up around me as I cruised through the canyon are just some of the amazing experiences that came from running a marathon. My favorite part was watching so many people around me, and talking with a few of them while we paced each other. From about mile 8 to 12 I ran with a "Marathon Maniac" (a club where you have to run 2 marathons within 2 weeks) from the Bronx who was fun to talk with. We both agreed that "everything in moderation" is another way of making an excuse for giving into bad habits; that you have to live extreme to get extreme results. He was an excellent pacer, and I crossed the half marathon mark at 2:20 almost exactly. I was psyched to finish in less than 5 hours and allowed myself to slow down a little. That was, until I had to walk, so I ended up finishing in 5:27, but like I said, by the end I was just happy to have finished.
 Even though I'm not terribly proud of my time, I am very happy to say that I never once "hit the wall." Hitting the wall is a dreaded moment in running ("bonking" is the equivalent for bikers), when your body runs out of glucose and has to start burning fat directly. I've been told it feels like hell, like you need to just collapse where you are. I carried a baggie full of dates with me the entire run and had a bite every few miles to keep my sugar levels up. The pain that caused me to walk was purely from the pounding on my feet, not from loss of glucose.

I could hardly walk for the next day and half after the race, and joked with Michael at Walmart that I needed to get one of those automatic carts, like when I was drugged up after getting my wisdom teeth removed. I was dousing my feet with essential oils all weekend to ease the pain of the bruises on my feet, and by Monday, I was walking mostly-normal. By Tuesday, I was feeling great and Wednesday, the soreness was hardly noticeable. I am back in action now, hitting the gym mostly with weights, and some high-intensity cardio, but no more 10mile + runs for a while. Half-marathons seem very enticing, so that will probably be my next competitive challenge, but for now I am glad to be able to say...I did it! I ran a marathon!