Well, that didn’t go as planned. The last few weeks, my body has felt more broken down than usual. I did my best to take extra rest days, get in for all of the recovery/hamstring help, blame it on the taper, and think all of the positive thoughts. But, it didn’t work and I jumped off the course at mile 18 on Saturday. It was kind of a weird experience because I’ve thought about quitting at least a hundred times during my marathons and never have… but as I was standing there at mile 18 and watching so many incredible runners pass me by as I was telling Andrew what was going on, I knew 100% it was the right call.
And I’m proud about it. It took a day to realize how proud I am of myself because I needed to marinate in what happened (and I really wanted to focus on and celebrate everyone that had a good day… my friends all crushed it and my niece hit all of her goals ((and beat me!)) in her first marathon EVER), but I’m here to stay in this proud feeling now.
Anyone remember a half marathon I did (in St. George!) in 2011? I was struggling with disordered eating and overexercising and I had a pain like no other in my quad throughout the half marathon. I didn’t get off the course, I pushed through to the end. And then, I wasn’t happy with my finishing time so I did a speed workout on the track 2 days later in even more pain. Surprise, surprise… femoral stress fractures. I didn’t respect my body back then. I didn’t give it the grace it needed.
I’m sure I could have pushed through the pain this last Saturday, but I respect my body too much at this point to do that. I owe my body a lot, it allows me to do so much and has brought three incredible humans here. I want to keep up with Andrew and my kids my entire life and be able to run forever, so I’ll keep making the decisions needed to get there…
Now to my 68% of a marathon recap:
I woke up extremely early (1:58 am) on my own and got busy eating and getting ready.
The Andrew Express (what my friends call the experience) took us all to the starting line and we got there at 5:40ish am. Moods were high, carbs had properly been injested, liquids consumed, and gear ready.
My kids absolutely love the whole StG Marathon experience. They have so many traditions with Andrew throughout the day and I’m very glad they got their Veyo Pies at 6 am while waiting for me at mile 6!
Look at those beauties:
The start of this race is something else. They do a drone show, the stars are out, and the flags are waving. They do such a good job starting this race on time and making everything as smooth as possible.
Like I said earlier, my body had started to feel broken down the last few weeks. In the first few miles on Saturday, I was already not hitting the splits I planned, but I kept telling myself I would make up for it in the second half. It was a hot day, but I reminded myself that feelings would change, as they always do in marathons. I would absorb the positivity from the earth and other runners. It would pay off to take a slower start to then be able to end with a fast finish. I told myself I just needed to get warmed up, and then I’d have the race of my life. I had my friend, Jana, for the first 6 miles, which was so fun, and then I lost her right at the beginning of Veyo (the biggest hill on the course at mile 7). Jana did amazing, and it was her first marathon!
I popped in music at mile 8ish (I think), which made me happy, and I started feeling better overall. I took a gel every 3.5 miles, and they handed me my bottles perfectly at each station. While my right hamstring was making me aware of its existence from the the first few miles, it was in mile 11 when it started to hurt. The pain was going up into my glute and then around to my hip flexor. I didn’t have my phone with me and knew I wouldn’t see Andrew until mile 18 (if you know this course, you know it is impossible for him to get to me for a long time because of the road setup…), so I just kind of had to get to 18. I slowed down, which helped the pain, and stopped right when I got to Andrew.
We talked for a few minutes there, and the thought of starting up again didn’t even cross my mind. The race was done for me. We drove to the finish, and a massive highlight of my DNF was seeing my much faster friends finish because I never get to see them finish when I’m racing. Kodi. She broke her own course record on a hot day by 2 minutes and finished in 2:30. She is beyond incredible.
Lauren finished 5th woman overall, and I couldn’t be more amazed at how she handled the heat and smashed it.
Jess ran a very speedy half-marathon, and she didn’t even look like she had run afterward.
And my niece, absolutely killed it in her very first marathon! She finished in 3:58 and I cannot wait for many more finish line photos together over the years. (I wish I got pictures with all of my friends on Saturday but didn’t have my phone for a while but I’m so proud of them all).
We hung out at the finish line before heading back to my brother’s house for the day. I was horizontal for the rest of the day.
These kids go to the finish area for the dogs, snacks, and police officers in Beck’s case. I’m glad they see this event as the party that it is.
Now for some random things:
*The day before the marathon, Polly shared this and it was 100% of what I needed to read. I actually set it as my screen saver to look at whenever I started feeling nervous. I had each of these things going for me with the race and rembering that calmed all of my nerves. I just needed to go out, pursue joy, and see what I could get out of my legs that day (which turned out not to be what I wanted and that’s okay).
*I’ve done too much since 2022. Let me be the poster child for this so you don’t make the same mistake. I love training with my friends and signing up for all of the races, but overall, my body is telling me it’s time to take a break from marathoning. I already have some ideas of fun adventures for next year that don’t involve 26.2 (unless, I get some work offer that is too good to be true, and I can run it easy;). I realized that I’ve never done this many marathons in a row because I usually have had another baby by now and taken a break from marathoning!
*There is so much growth in the marathon and maybe even more in a DNF for me. I learned a lot about myself during this training block and the race.
*This new style of training was so hard for me. I’ve learned I can handle two workouts weekly, but I need easy miles every other run. I’m happy I tried something new, but I need truly easy days to make it through marathon training healthy. I also need the trails. I also made the cardinal sin and haven’t done any strength training besides band work the last few months. I was so tired from the running part of this training that I couldn’t find the energy to strength train, too… But I’m determined not to do that again. If I’m too tired to strength train, I need to pull back on the running. My hamstring won’t let me run another marathon without building my strength. I’m not proud that I keep making this mistake but I’m human and a busy mom.
*It’s hard to work so hard towards something and have it not work out the way we want… But perspective is absolutely everything. Things were really scary with Brooke in May (her bone infection) and my people are all healthy now… that is truly all that matters.
*I got the coolest marathon experience in Spain earlier this year, it’s hard to be sad about my 2024 running;)
*If you ever have a DNF, I now have this on my resume, so know that I’m here to talk to you about it through email or messaging. PS I also have about 50 DNS if you ever need to talk about that too.
*Over the last 14 years I’ve shared a million things I do to avoid quitting when things get hard. But today, I’m telling you that you need to quit when your body needs you to. We get one body. That’s it. We have to take care of ourselves.
*To anyone that finished on Saturday, you are incredible. The heat was no joke.
*Before the race, something I heard from Deena Kastor in ‘Let Your Mind Run’ was to let gratitude give you energy. Just like our gels and caffeine, gratitude can give us energy… in running and life. I’m grateful for a lot right now.
Thanks for joining me for the highs, the lows, the boring days, the exciting days, and everything in between. Here’s to learning more lessons even though I think I’ve already learned too many;).
Who raced on Saturday? HOW DID IT GO?
Ever had a DNF??
Give me a highlight from your weekend!
