Every Race is an Adventure!

Easy taper run: 4.1 miles @ 9:03/mi.

Easy taper run to loosen up the legs. I left a couple of things at the office yesterday and I'm not planning on going in today so I decided to run over and pick them up. (I sure enjoy working only 1.5 miles from home.)

I've been debating whether to 1) run in my tried and true Saucony Tangents that are a little lighter but less supportive and wearing out, or 2) run in my new Mizuno Wave Rider 13s that are slightly heavier but that are new and have felt great in the few runs I've done in them. I wore the Tangents this morning, along with some new socks I just bought, to see how they felt. The shoes felt good, but I seemed to feel the pounding of the road more than I wanted to. I got injured back in January by pushing too hard and too long in shoes that had too many miles on them, and I've been trying to heal ever since. Since I'm not going for any sort of PR this year, I've decided (for now) to take what I consider the safer (less injury risk) path and wear the new shoes. The new Asics socks also felt good today so I'll probably wear them, too.

My eighth St. George marathon was not quite the adventure I was expecting or hoping for, but it was an adventure nonetheless...the "I hope I never have to go through this again" kind of adventure.

A group of us met around 5:00am to get on the bus. Some runners were a little late so some went ahead and got on the bus and some of us waited for the latecomers. It was about 5:10 when we tried to get on a bus, but the last of the original buses were just pulling out and the first buses were just starting to get back to load up again. There were still large numbers of runners waiting to get on. I guess there was some trouble getting enough buses back so they started loading us three to a seat. Eventually we got to starting line, got to use a portapotty, and were ready to go when the race started.

Some people looked cold at the start, but I only had on a short sleeve shirt and felt fine. The forecast was for a hot marathon, and I would have welcomed a little chillier air at the start.

I started with Wayne. We both had a stretch goal of 3:20. It would be a PR for him and I wanted to help him make it. I knew my training was down a bit, but I had run 3:07, 3:10, and 3:18 the past three years and was hopeful I could stay with him at least most of the way.

We averaged 7:27/mi the fist 7 miles to Veyo (7:49,7:46,7:25,7:17,7:28,7:13,7:13) and were still optimistic about hitting 3:20. We both decided to intentionally back off the effort a little up Veyo and through Dammeron Valley and hope we had some energy left to pick it back up the second half of the marathon.

I think it was at mile 9 that my right foot started feeling a little numb. I felt this same thing at the Hobble Creek half marathon and most recently at the Red Rock Relay. It felt like my sock had a wrinkle in it. I stopped twice on my last leg at Red Rock to fix my sock, but there was nothing wrong with it. My feet bothered me through the last couple of miles of the leg. I did the same thing at mile 9 today. I grabbed a quick sit in a chair at the aid station, smoothed out my sock (which didn't really need it), and tried to catch up to Wayne. I could see him up ahead for the next 7 or 8 miles, but couldn't close the gap.

Gradually both my feet started feeling numb. I also noticed some numbness in my legs, and started feeling some ocassional chills in my arms and back. By mile 17 I had decided to back off the pace and just focus on finishing. My average pace had gone from 7:27/mi at Veyo to 7:57/mi (9:06,8:38,8:06,8:47,8:18,7:49,8:16,8:04,7:53). It was about to get much worse.

The numbness in my feet progressed to pain. It felt like my felt were swollen and every step was uncomfortable. Even walking didn't provide much relief. I think it was at mile 18 I stopped and took the stiff orthotics out of my shoes. I didn't tighten the laces and it felt a little better at first, but not for long. I eventually reasoned (not very reliable in a tired runners mind) that if my feet were swollen, maybe tightening the shoes would help prevent additional swelling and help me get to the finish line.

I couldn't decide if it hurt worse to walk or run. I also noticed that even when I was walking I was short of breath. I'd run 14 marathons and never experienced anything like this before. I'll admit, I saw runners who had dropped out going by in the shuttle vans and part of me envied them. I was beginning to question the wisdom of me trying to finish the race, but I trudged forward.

I saw the 3:50 group pass me, then the 4:00 group. I saw Tom and Kim go by on the way to Kim meeting her sub-4 goal at 3:58. There were many, many, many others who went by. I apparently missed seeing Kent and Kris go by, as they both finished ahead of me. These were very slow and difficult miles (8:54,11:59,10:50,12:24,14:23,17:02,12:16). At mile 21, I borrowed a volunteer's cell phone and called Karen to tell her I would be late coming in and not to worry. I was surprised when as I started to talk to her I almost broke down into tears.

When I reached the spectator-lined streets of St. George I decided I was just going to tough it out and run to the end. I stopped to walk briefly a couple of times but managed to look at least a little respectable the last couple of miles (8:24,9:05).

I spent very little time in the finisher's corral. I felt terrible and just wanted to get back to the hotel. I found Karen and the girls, collected my bag, then laid in the shade while Karen brought the car closer. Shortly after getting into the car I started feeling terrible and passed out while we were waiting at the stop sign. I was beginning to feel stomach cramps. Karen asked if she should get me medical help, but I told her just to get me to the hotel. I spent a long time in the bathroom. Every time I stood to try to shower I would feel nauseated and lightheaded and would sit back on the toilet or lay down on a towel on the floor. After a little vomiting, I finally gave up on showering and dressed in my pajamas and laid on the bed. I eventually felt better. It was 4:00pm before I was able to shower and I finally felt hungry and we went to eat.

I'm still trying to figure out what happened this year. I think dehydration was part of it, even though I started well hydrated and drank 2-3 cups of water at each aid station and never felt warm during the run. I also started thinking about having switched to using aspirin as my pain reliever this year. At the Expo when I had my finger pricked for a glucose or cholesterol test, the lady was surprised at how thin my blood was and asked if I was taking aspirin. I plan to switch back to naproxen and see what happens.

My feet are still a little tender, but my legs feel pretty good. This experience is behind me. I'll try to learn from it and move on to the next big adventure, whatever that may be.