Marathons are hard

I ran a marathon in 2012 and it kind of destroyed my knees.  But since then I've healed them and done well.  Plus I run a lot.  And I was looking for a new challenge, something that scares me.  And a marathon does that.  So I decided to train for the Mesa Falls Marathon.  Bonus is that I didn't have to commit right away because it is a smaller race and doesn't fill up fast.

I had a handful of friends that wanted to do the half marathon.  We ended up getting an airbnb because it was Sherri's birthday so we called it a girl's trip.  There were going to be more of us but it ended up being just Jen, Sherri, Cheryl and me.  Since I was doing the full marathon I had to start two hours before them.  My bus left around 5.  I ran into Ali at the bus so we visited at the start line.  Then it started and she was gone.  She's speedy.

It was chilly at the start but the long sleeve shirt did the trick.  I kept it on for almost half the race.

 I had heard this race was beautiful.  It did not disappoint.  We got to run through the wilderness on a dirt road for the first 9 miles or so.  Then we hit the pavement and had some serious downhill.  It's all in the Teton National Forest and it was beautiful.  We ran past the Falls, but I didn't stop to really look because I had this idea that I wanted to beat my last marathon time.

I don't know if it was the dirt road (I had been running plenty of trails), the cold (doubt it), or the fast downhill (my money is on this) but my muscles gave out.  I started cramping in both shins and calves.  I tried everything I knew.  I drank, I ate gummies with bcaa and electrolytes and salt.  I tried to stretch, but if I stretched the front, the back would cramp.  And vice-versa.  Unfortunately, this all came to a head right when the downhill finished and we started some serious uphill.  I had to stop to try and shake it out and stretch every minute or two.  It was an ugly 3 miles.

This picture is Warm River. We ran on a trail above it and eventually me the road.  I loved it!

The scenery on the hills was still beautiful.  I was frustrated but knew there was nothing to do but walk when I needed to and take advantage of the aid stations.  I tried banana, but it didn't help.  I eventually caught up to Sherri.  I knew there was a chance I would see my friends since I planned to hit their start line about two hours after I started.  But when I got to their start line there was no sign of any halfers.  But miles down the road I saw Sherri.  She was a ways ahead of me and I used her as motivation to get moving.  I was able to run with her for a couple miles.  But I had to walk occasionally because my muscles would literally cramp up mid-stride and I would almost trip.  She didn't want to walk.  But when we were running, she ran slower than I wanted to.  It hurt just as bad to run slow, but it took longer, lol.  So I went ahead of her for a bit.  She caught up again a few times as I was walking off my cramps. 

 I had long given up on the idea that I could beat my time, though it was going to be close.  But the last two miles were pretty darn bad.  I passed this older woman when she had stopped to stretch a bit.  Then she caught up to me and offered me a mustard packet.  She said she races obstacle courses and is used to cramps.  We got to talking and her story was pretty amazing!  She used to be overweight and she started doing Spartans.  Also her son had been in an accident and wasn't able to run so she was running for him.  I enjoyed talking to her for quite awhile, but eventually decided I just needed to run and get done.  I also asked the aid station if they had ibuprofen and they did!  So I popped some of those (my knee had started hurting a touch) and I think that might've been what helped but somehow I was able to run the last half mile or so.  I caught up to this guy that I sat by on the bus on the way up. 

 I also chatted with a few other people during the race and after.  The small race is fun.  I may have wanted to kick the person who came up with the idea to do this race (I blame my friends but they insisted it was my idea.)  But it wasn't even a day before I got over it and decided it wasn't that bad.  Lol.  Maybe I'll give the half marathon a shot next year.  Just to prove to those hills that I can conquer them.  I also want to do another marathon just to prove I can do it without falling apart.  I had trained well, I really had.  I'm still not sure exactly where I messed up, but that's just running I guess.  I ended up with a time of 4:36 I think.  My time I wanted to beat was 4:31.  So even walking at least three miles and going slow for more miles than that, I still only missed it by 6 minutes.  Frustrating. 

My friends did awesome.  Sherri was worn out from some things and so she was slower than usual but she said she felt great, best ever during a race.  Cheryl placed 2nd in her age group.  Jen had never done a half marathon before and she wasn't really trying to be fast, and she still got under 2 hours even with all those hills!  So I'm proud of all of us.  It took at least a week before I could even touch my shins without them hurting.  I tried to stretch them, and I eventually had a massage, but they were so angry!  Never have they hurt like that in my life.