Warning: This is going to be long, but I have to tell my pre-marathon story to make my marathon story more meaningful.
January 18, 2003 was the first time I ever ran a mile in my life…no lie. A boy dumped me that day and started something huge.
Over the next 2 months I ran every other day on the treadmill following a "couch to 5k" plan I found on the internet. I was interning in Houston at this time and pretty much hated life. I did look forward though to getting to run, and running a tiny bit farther each time. By spring break when my internship was over, I could run 3 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill. When I went to run outside, things were much different. At first, I could only run about 15 minutes without dying and going home, so I basically had to start over to be able to run outside. By April, I could easily run 3-4 miles at a time around campus. I had signed up for the Danskin Triathlon in June and was swimming and biking to get ready for that as well.
I was officially hooked to triathlons and related events after doing Danskin in June. I had a ball, and began to think about what else I could do. My crazy cousin Stephanie tried to convince me I could easily do the marathon after I did the triathlon, but I never quite believed her. (Stephanie’s best marathon time is 3:04…she married into the family, but we claim her. When it comes to sports and athletic ability, we are polar opposites – her being the talented one). Her argument was that if I could do the triathlon for 2 hours I could easily run for 4 hours…hmm. Over the summer I skied and didn’t really run or workout much. I had been watching the Austin Fit website through the summer and when the schedule finally popped up, I knew it was time to make a decision. The first training run, scheduled for August 23, was 2 miles. I hadn’t been running much since Danskin, but knew I could muster up the 2 little miles, and just take it from there. I signed up saying I would just see how things went, not saying for sure I would make it to the marathon. I just thought I would give it a try and quit when things got too hard.
Three months later things were still going strong and I was easily covering the distance in my long runs with Austin Fit. After my 13 mile run my mom told me for the first time she thought I might actually be able to finish the marathon….then I got hurt 3 days later. Tendonitis in my foot or something, but that went away in about 3 weeks and I was good to go again. Then, on a stupid 8 mile run during finals I learned what the IT band really is. Mine stopped working. I ran 15.5 miles the next weekend, but couldn’t walk for 3 days afterwards. After that, my training runs stopped. I cross trained 1-2 hours a day instead of running. I ran the Buda 30k January 11, and finished without too much pain. I went in to that race having only run 1 mile in the past 3 weeks because of my IT bands, but was able to finish. I knew once I finished the 30k that I was on for the marathon. I still didn’t run during the week, and kept cross training. January 25 I ran the 3M half marathon and a few extra miles in place of my scheduled 21 mile run.
For the three weeks before the marathon I continued on my non-running workout schedule because my IT bands were still hurting. I got a cortisone shot in my left knee the Tuesday before the race – the dr. wouldn’t give me 2 shots so I had to pick which leg hurt worse. My birthday was Saturday before the race, so all of my family was in town which was great. Saturday night I tried to go to bed for about 3 hours, but I kept remembering things I had to do or pack, or people I had to call. I think I finally fell asleep before midnight, and woke up at 3:45 and didn’t go back to sleep.
(*The Marathon Story starts here if you don’t want to read all the stuff above)
Marathon Story:Leigh, my roommate, said she would take me to the start so I didn’t have to park. That was awesome. What was not cool was that we had to sit in the car for 10 minutes waiting for it to defrost, then had to wait in traffic for about 20 minutes just to get to a place she could drop me off. I arrived much later than planned, and the Austin Fit area was much larger than I had anticipated. (in other words, I had no hope of finding anyone I had planned on meeting at the Austin Fit tent, which just turned out to be a parking lot full of people). I headed straight to the potty lines. While waiting I took off layers, added layers, put on my number, packed my waist pack, and took inventory of what I was wearing and what I was leaving in my little bag. Once I finished in the porta-potty line, I headed to the clothing drop off tent then everyone was already lined up. The start line was mass chaos. I recognized some of the Austin Fit 10:30 members (I had trained with the 10:20s) and decided to go ahead with them because I had no hope of finding anyone else. We started with the 3:30 pace group which is just funny. My friends were supposed to be in the 4:45 group. They were probably _ mile down the starting street from where I was and it was impossible to get through the people. I figured once we started running I would just hold back to find my friends.
7:00am – the race starts. It took nearly 5 minutes for me to get across the start line. I’m running with some people I recognize from Austin Fit, but we have never really talked. I was nervous and uncomfortable for the first 3 miles or so because I still hadn’t found my running group, and just felt disoriented. From miles 3-6 I started to get in a groove and decided I would be ok if I had to run by myself the whole way. After mile 6 my hip flexors started hurting, way too early. On Shoal Creek I met up with some of the AF 10:30s again and joined them for a few miles. At 10.5, my family was on the corner and I dumped my sweatshirt, jacket, gloves, and hat. I was going "so fast" I realized I didn’t even see any of their faces after I had thrown my stuff at them. I decided I would go slower next time and maybe stop to chat for a second. On Duval I finally found Jim from my AF group and ran with him for a while. He kept me going at a pretty good pace. We cursed the half-marathoners at their finish line and asked why we didn’t do that. Just before Mopac on 6th street, my sister’s family was waiting with big balloons. I told them I was nearing death, but that I would be fine. The Lake Austin out and back was pretty rough. Right before miles 16 I saw Flip from the triathlon team and he ran a few yards with me. He was so cheery and really put a smile on my face. I kept up with Jim just up to the 17th mile water stop then I told him I was going to walk a little more and to go on. From 17 to 18 I ran most of the way, but stopped to walk a bit. This is where I saw 5-6 of the members from my Austin Fit group on their way to mile 17 – I was just ahead of them. Just past 18 I stopped to go to the bathroom for the first time and Craig and Kacy passed me by. Just after 18 my right IT band just about killed me. I had to stop several times and at one point was worried I wasn’t going to be able to finish. I got on the ground to stretch and fixed it somehow. At this point I decided I was going to walk all I wanted to. It was much better for my soul, and I had already run a faster half marathon and 30K than my previous times.
I told myself all along once I got to mile 20 I would be fine because my best friend Kelly was joining me at that point for the last 6 miles. Just after mile 19 I saw my family – they were earlier on the course than I had expected, but that was ok. Kelly hopped in with me at that point and we were all smiles. Just after 20 I saw Leigh, Lauren, and Josie in matching pink cheering t-shirts with their names on them and various sayings on the back. Kelly was wearing one as well. She got cheered for the whole last 6 miles while no one could read my name so they didn’t cheer for me! I do not remember much about the last 6 miles other than that we probably walked at least half the way – running a few minutes then walking a few minutes. Everything hurt by this time, but nothing hurt too bad to go on. Most people kill themselves on the last 6 miles and are hating life….for me they were the best 6 miles of the race. I had decided it was my first marathon, I was going to finish no matter what, and finishing healthy with a smile on my face was much more rewarding than a difference in 20 minutes on my time. You would think I could have at least run the entire last mile, but no, I was happy walking. A bunch of cute guys camped out on Riverside cheered us on and I was inspired to run a few yards for them – that got even more cheers! The last few blocks were spent strategizing where Kelly should get off the course so she didn’t get stuck in the chute, but so that she could still find me in a relatively decent amount of time afterwards. At 1st, she got out and I entered the chute. Leigh, Josie, and Lauren were going crazy right there in the middle of the road. The chute seemed to last forever and I was the only one in it when I was running. I definitely ran faster there than I had anywhere else in the race, but I guess that is to be expected. I finished in 5:25 (chip time 5:21). When I crossed the line, the guy didn’t call out my name which was kind of insulting because I was the only one there at the time, but oh well. I found my family really soon afterwards and started crying when I saw my mom. She said "why are you crying? I’m the one crying." She never cries…but she was the one who told me I couldn’t run a marathon in the first place, so I guess I made her that much more proud.
In the course of 13 months I went from literally never running a mile in my life to running 26.2 at once. I am definitely not the same person I was when this all started, and will never be the same. Each training run that took me farther than I had ever been was as rewarding as the marathon itself. Kelly and I were already planning which marathon we want to do next during the last 6 miles of this one. I hope I am inspiration to people who classify themselves as "non-athletic" and show them that it is possible to run a marathon. I also think finishing in 5:21 is just as rewarding as finishing in 3:21, at least as a first-timer.
January 18, 2003 was the first time I ever ran a mile in my life…no lie. A boy dumped me that day and started something huge.
Over the next 2 months I ran every other day on the treadmill following a "couch to 5k" plan I found on the internet. I was interning in Houston at this time and pretty much hated life. I did look forward though to getting to run, and running a tiny bit farther each time. By spring break when my internship was over, I could run 3 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill. When I went to run outside, things were much different. At first, I could only run about 15 minutes without dying and going home, so I basically had to start over to be able to run outside. By April, I could easily run 3-4 miles at a time around campus. I had signed up for the Danskin Triathlon in June and was swimming and biking to get ready for that as well.
I was officially hooked to triathlons and related events after doing Danskin in June. I had a ball, and began to think about what else I could do. My crazy cousin Stephanie tried to convince me I could easily do the marathon after I did the triathlon, but I never quite believed her. (Stephanie’s best marathon time is 3:04…she married into the family, but we claim her. When it comes to sports and athletic ability, we are polar opposites – her being the talented one). Her argument was that if I could do the triathlon for 2 hours I could easily run for 4 hours…hmm. Over the summer I skied and didn’t really run or workout much. I had been watching the Austin Fit website through the summer and when the schedule finally popped up, I knew it was time to make a decision. The first training run, scheduled for August 23, was 2 miles. I hadn’t been running much since Danskin, but knew I could muster up the 2 little miles, and just take it from there. I signed up saying I would just see how things went, not saying for sure I would make it to the marathon. I just thought I would give it a try and quit when things got too hard.
Three months later things were still going strong and I was easily covering the distance in my long runs with Austin Fit. After my 13 mile run my mom told me for the first time she thought I might actually be able to finish the marathon….then I got hurt 3 days later. Tendonitis in my foot or something, but that went away in about 3 weeks and I was good to go again. Then, on a stupid 8 mile run during finals I learned what the IT band really is. Mine stopped working. I ran 15.5 miles the next weekend, but couldn’t walk for 3 days afterwards. After that, my training runs stopped. I cross trained 1-2 hours a day instead of running. I ran the Buda 30k January 11, and finished without too much pain. I went in to that race having only run 1 mile in the past 3 weeks because of my IT bands, but was able to finish. I knew once I finished the 30k that I was on for the marathon. I still didn’t run during the week, and kept cross training. January 25 I ran the 3M half marathon and a few extra miles in place of my scheduled 21 mile run.
For the three weeks before the marathon I continued on my non-running workout schedule because my IT bands were still hurting. I got a cortisone shot in my left knee the Tuesday before the race – the dr. wouldn’t give me 2 shots so I had to pick which leg hurt worse. My birthday was Saturday before the race, so all of my family was in town which was great. Saturday night I tried to go to bed for about 3 hours, but I kept remembering things I had to do or pack, or people I had to call. I think I finally fell asleep before midnight, and woke up at 3:45 and didn’t go back to sleep.
(*The Marathon Story starts here if you don’t want to read all the stuff above)
Marathon Story:Leigh, my roommate, said she would take me to the start so I didn’t have to park. That was awesome. What was not cool was that we had to sit in the car for 10 minutes waiting for it to defrost, then had to wait in traffic for about 20 minutes just to get to a place she could drop me off. I arrived much later than planned, and the Austin Fit area was much larger than I had anticipated. (in other words, I had no hope of finding anyone I had planned on meeting at the Austin Fit tent, which just turned out to be a parking lot full of people). I headed straight to the potty lines. While waiting I took off layers, added layers, put on my number, packed my waist pack, and took inventory of what I was wearing and what I was leaving in my little bag. Once I finished in the porta-potty line, I headed to the clothing drop off tent then everyone was already lined up. The start line was mass chaos. I recognized some of the Austin Fit 10:30 members (I had trained with the 10:20s) and decided to go ahead with them because I had no hope of finding anyone else. We started with the 3:30 pace group which is just funny. My friends were supposed to be in the 4:45 group. They were probably _ mile down the starting street from where I was and it was impossible to get through the people. I figured once we started running I would just hold back to find my friends.
7:00am – the race starts. It took nearly 5 minutes for me to get across the start line. I’m running with some people I recognize from Austin Fit, but we have never really talked. I was nervous and uncomfortable for the first 3 miles or so because I still hadn’t found my running group, and just felt disoriented. From miles 3-6 I started to get in a groove and decided I would be ok if I had to run by myself the whole way. After mile 6 my hip flexors started hurting, way too early. On Shoal Creek I met up with some of the AF 10:30s again and joined them for a few miles. At 10.5, my family was on the corner and I dumped my sweatshirt, jacket, gloves, and hat. I was going "so fast" I realized I didn’t even see any of their faces after I had thrown my stuff at them. I decided I would go slower next time and maybe stop to chat for a second. On Duval I finally found Jim from my AF group and ran with him for a while. He kept me going at a pretty good pace. We cursed the half-marathoners at their finish line and asked why we didn’t do that. Just before Mopac on 6th street, my sister’s family was waiting with big balloons. I told them I was nearing death, but that I would be fine. The Lake Austin out and back was pretty rough. Right before miles 16 I saw Flip from the triathlon team and he ran a few yards with me. He was so cheery and really put a smile on my face. I kept up with Jim just up to the 17th mile water stop then I told him I was going to walk a little more and to go on. From 17 to 18 I ran most of the way, but stopped to walk a bit. This is where I saw 5-6 of the members from my Austin Fit group on their way to mile 17 – I was just ahead of them. Just past 18 I stopped to go to the bathroom for the first time and Craig and Kacy passed me by. Just after 18 my right IT band just about killed me. I had to stop several times and at one point was worried I wasn’t going to be able to finish. I got on the ground to stretch and fixed it somehow. At this point I decided I was going to walk all I wanted to. It was much better for my soul, and I had already run a faster half marathon and 30K than my previous times.
I told myself all along once I got to mile 20 I would be fine because my best friend Kelly was joining me at that point for the last 6 miles. Just after mile 19 I saw my family – they were earlier on the course than I had expected, but that was ok. Kelly hopped in with me at that point and we were all smiles. Just after 20 I saw Leigh, Lauren, and Josie in matching pink cheering t-shirts with their names on them and various sayings on the back. Kelly was wearing one as well. She got cheered for the whole last 6 miles while no one could read my name so they didn’t cheer for me! I do not remember much about the last 6 miles other than that we probably walked at least half the way – running a few minutes then walking a few minutes. Everything hurt by this time, but nothing hurt too bad to go on. Most people kill themselves on the last 6 miles and are hating life….for me they were the best 6 miles of the race. I had decided it was my first marathon, I was going to finish no matter what, and finishing healthy with a smile on my face was much more rewarding than a difference in 20 minutes on my time. You would think I could have at least run the entire last mile, but no, I was happy walking. A bunch of cute guys camped out on Riverside cheered us on and I was inspired to run a few yards for them – that got even more cheers! The last few blocks were spent strategizing where Kelly should get off the course so she didn’t get stuck in the chute, but so that she could still find me in a relatively decent amount of time afterwards. At 1st, she got out and I entered the chute. Leigh, Josie, and Lauren were going crazy right there in the middle of the road. The chute seemed to last forever and I was the only one in it when I was running. I definitely ran faster there than I had anywhere else in the race, but I guess that is to be expected. I finished in 5:25 (chip time 5:21). When I crossed the line, the guy didn’t call out my name which was kind of insulting because I was the only one there at the time, but oh well. I found my family really soon afterwards and started crying when I saw my mom. She said "why are you crying? I’m the one crying." She never cries…but she was the one who told me I couldn’t run a marathon in the first place, so I guess I made her that much more proud.
In the course of 13 months I went from literally never running a mile in my life to running 26.2 at once. I am definitely not the same person I was when this all started, and will never be the same. Each training run that took me farther than I had ever been was as rewarding as the marathon itself. Kelly and I were already planning which marathon we want to do next during the last 6 miles of this one. I hope I am inspiration to people who classify themselves as "non-athletic" and show them that it is possible to run a marathon. I also think finishing in 5:21 is just as rewarding as finishing in 3:21, at least as a first-timer.
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