Sunday, November 6, 2011

I finished my first marathon!

I finished my first marathon yesterday after having done enough training for a half marathon only. My mistake was thinking I could do the whole thing. By mile 13 I really was rethinking my decision and since it was an uphill run on the Truman at that point I thought oh well, let’s get on with it. I have a love hate thing with hills, either big or small, I’m not bothered by them and enjoy them but I also loathe them as well. Nothing personal, they just get in the way, that’s all.

For the diabetic bean counters out there:

Woke up at 2 am with a Blood Glucose Reading (BSG) of 173. Ate my half bagel with cream cheese and banana and ½ cup of juice and 2 cups of decaf coffee with a little French vanilla cream in them. Took 27 units of Lantus insulin. This was the only insulin I took until well after the marathon.
Just before the race I took 23 g. carbs of a granola bar and 1 banana. I wanted to be in the 200’s for the start of the race. I used the facilities 2 times before getting in my corral. The Brooks VIP one that I had a pass for was out of order and I was not happy! My BSG was 281 before the race.

At about 7:44 am I crossed the starting line and that was it! I planned on taking 1 packet of GU every 3 miles. I actually took my first GU at mile 6. My BSG was 168 at that time. After this I started taking GU every 3 miles. I took only water throughout the Marathon. I saw Karen at mile 8 and was feeling really good!

Mile 12 my left knee, which had given no problems to me at all throughout my training started to ache. My BSG was 192 and I started walking for the first time.
By mile 16 both knees were aching. I was walking more. I met a bigger guy who was having quad muscle problems and said he was a type 2 diabetic. He thought his problem was glucose related so I gave him 2 packs of my GU. We then walked around the corner of the course and found a water station with a table full of salt packets. I took 3 along with 3 waters and soon was running again. I’m certain the other runner made it to the finish.

Mile 18. Muscles stiffening up everywhere! My right hip, my knees, my quads, my hamstrings! Just keep moving! Don’t stop! Check my BSG 184. Another GU. More walking, then a limping kind of stride that makes Quasimodo look like an Olympic sprinter, then more walking. I met a man from the Savannah Striders on the Truman on ramp saying “Go striders!!” I talk was walking along and telling him how much my knees hurt when these 2 girls run by saying “at least they won’t hurt more.” I thought, “Hell, she’s right.” And I trotted along for about another mile.

Mile 21 my BSG is at 93. So I took 2 GU’s and at the next water station had half of a Cyto-max drink. Kept run/walk till mile 22 which became my wall.
Mile 22. Here I am 4.2 miles from the finish line! I took another GU and some water from my Camelbak belt. I hurt, badly, my muscles in my leg are cramping and it seems that no amount of stretching will ease them. There is a head wind all along the Truman Parkway. I want to cry. The band playing at mile 22, Lorenzo, are absolute bad asses! I rally for a little bit, knowing that walking only will make the pain last longer but running will end the pain sooner. I go back to walking and running till mile 23. The medical tent is right there. I walk past. On the other side of the Truman Parkway are the Ambulances. I keep walking. At first the runners started occasionally stopping at stretching calf and hamstrings and quads around mile 12, maybe 1 here another there. By mile 16, there are more. By mile 21 we are dropping like flies! I’ve seen muscles spasming in legs before but nothing like this! I vow not to look at my legs till the race is over.

Mile 23, there is a girl walking with her left foot angled away from her body. Something is very sore with her foot. I catch up to her while walking. We walk the next 2 miles together. She is from South Carolina and just ran a marathon in California 2 weeks ago and her left foot feels like a knife is stabbing into the bottom of her foot each time she steps on it! We comment on the funny signs we see. The encouragement we get from strangers. She is upset and frustrated, she was on pace for a 3:40 marathon and now she isn’t. She thinks maybe this happened so she will be more compassionate for other injured runners. She used the think that they should “suck it up.” Not anymore. She feels her body is betraying her. I can relate. I don’t know what to say. I agree with compassion and that it is a good thing. We talk about a few other things. She tells me in a few months she is going to China with a friend to run a marathon on the Great Wall of China! I am amazed by this. I tell her that I hope her foot will be fully recovered by then and wish her well. My strides feel better and I want to run across the finish line so I start to hobble again.

Somewhere between mile 25 and 26 I start running again. The rusting iron in my legs is heavy, every stride hurts when I touch the ground. I keep moving. I have to sprint because I can’t lift my legs just a little bit, it is an all or nothing proposition. I finally cross the finish line! I cry like a baby. I did it. Finally I finished something I started. It wasn’t pretty. But I finished.

My time was 5:21:15

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