The Worst Day Since Yesterday

Also Known as: How to Run a Marathon on 220 Calories, Part II

As if your kid throwing up on you all night isn’t enough, just a mere hour of sleep should leave you less than psyched about traveling across the country for a marathon. I arrived in Atlanta tired, ill, and ready to go home, not race. After getting my packet and lunch, I spent most of the day watching basketball. Dinner was in at the hotel. Pretty much a typical pre-race day.

Until 2am that is. Then I was up puking gobs of undigested food into the sink (Sorry Wyndham Hotel). My stomach was so full I could barely breathe and I slept none from then on, returning frequently to make a deposit. I awoke, tried to eat one flake of Raisin Bran, and returned to the sink for another bout. No breakfast or liquids would go in. It was going to be a long day.

Originally, I had wanted to go sub-3 hours. But when I discovered the fastest pace group was 3:40, I thought about backing off (hard to hit a pace alone that is a good 1:30 per mile faster than your daily runs). So I thought about 3:03:30 (7min/mile) but when the puking started, I changed to 3:10. After a quick dump in the bushes, I hit the start line, and within 30 seconds I knew finishing would be the only goal.

I always say that you should feel awesome through 10, good through 15, and able through 18 or you are in big trouble in the marathon. As I crossed mile 1, I felt like I was in a 5K, and by mile marker 2 I would have sworn that I just ran 20 miles. I was sweating, heaving, and felt like I was sprinting (I was running with the 1:35 half-marathon group since the courses were the same for the first 7 miles). The pace was all over the place (7:07; 6:51; 7:22) so I just chilled and kept them in sight, feeling much more stable at 10 seconds a mile slower.

The rain started at about mile 4, and then the winds picked up. It was chilly and I was throwing up little bits every 2 miles or so. But the real kicker was the hills. Never have I run such a hilly urban marathon. Long uphills were followed by bombing downhills. It was amazing how difficult the course was. But despite the hills, I was holding a relatively even, and decent pace (call in Colorado training). I crossed the half in 3:12 pace and was actually feeling better than the start. Then the hills fought back.

I couldn’t believe the course! It never stopped. People passed me on the hills since pushing made me feel ill. I held on and kept moving up, even started passing people. By 22, there was a mile long out and back section and I could see about 30 people ahead of me. All of them looked like death, and those who weren’t walking the downhills looked like they wanted to. I pushed on and was told I was in 82nd place at 23 miles. The last few miles were painful as they snaked through the hills around the finish line. I caught more and more people and tried to run with form and experience. I finished in about 67th place in 3:14. I was amazed.

Medal around my neck, I blew past the solar blankets and past the food (not that I wanted it, to my bag and out to the street where Sarah was picking me up (from finish line to bag drop amongst 18000 people in 7.5 minutes, a new record). We bolted to the airport, I hauled bags, returned the car, ran to the terminal, only to find our flight was delayed. After 4 hours we made it to West Palm, rented a car, drove to Vero, and on to Orlando. So I woke at 2am, ran a marathon, traveled for 10 hours, all on just two 100 calorie GU shots during the race, both of which I threw up during. The burger that evening when my stomach finally relented was amazing.