Each Day Is a Gift

Foot assessment:  some swelling across the top of the foot, pain with movement and touch.  Eric advised using crutches in addition to wearing the boot to minimize weight bearing.  Thank heavens I don't have little kids to chase around but a wonderful hubby to take care of me! :) :) :) 

With injury, I have more time to read, study and check on my emails.  Here's one from my bro-in-law.  AMAZING how he remembered/recognized Chad, Kelli and Mark whom he met briefly at the start.  Whereas I would easily miss any of them even when standing next to 'em!

Hi Susanna, thanks again for getting me into Odgen marathon.  It was fun to see you and Larry and I enjoyed meeting your friends.  FYI below are my thoughts on the race that I wrote up on the plane home.....

Ogden Utah Marathon 2012.
Pre-Race:  Fifth marathon this year....Mumbai India; Hong Kong; Bangkok Thailand; Bali Indonesia, and Odgen Utah.  Thanks to my Sister-in-Law for finding a bib to buy at the last minute.  Slept like a total of 8 hours over the past 3 days...and not much more the few days before that.  Completely broke my taper routine during race week...did a hard run up in the canyon with Alex on Thursday night and then an easier one (but hilly) with him on Friday night, just 12 hours before the race.  Was that a bad idea?.....Using the 'good', 'better', 'best' process of decision making, I would do it again and again and again as running with Alex (or any of my family) takes precedence over any marathon.  Also didn't do my usual heavy carbo loading the day before but did manage to pack down two quarts of gatorade, two big bowls of fried rice, a banana, a bagel, and a granola bar in the car on the way to the race.  It was fun meeting some of Susanna's running friends.

The Race:  I loved it and I hated it.  It was one of most beautiful courses (the I loved it part) and it was probably my worst marathon to date (the I hated it part), although not my slowest.  Given the last minute entry and that I wouldn't be using a chip, my thinking was a nice Saturday morning long run somewhere between 3:15 and 3:30, another T-shirt for my quilt, and another medal....then stretch, get my post race greasy burger and Dr. Pepper and then go hang out with my boys for the rest of the day.  Then....on the bus up the canyon......the talk of running......the talk of the fast course......seeing the nice gentle decline of the course.....hearing (I think Chad) shooting for a 2:48 in a pair of Crocs!.....the excitement of the runners generally.....the competitive bug starts to play mind games.....so the mindset starts to change and I start thinking I might as well try for a faster time...always a mistake when the mind is ahead of the  unprepared body......
Started off way too fast...first 3 miles averaged 6:25; it didn't feel too bad......but what was I thinking??....I guess I wasn't.  Then tried to get into a steady groove...but couldn't....felt like I was a bit off balance, breathing wasn't smooth, strides weren't smooth, splits were all over the place....I simply wanted to get into a good rythym.  Hit the half at 1:33 but felt it was a struggle the whole way..... and was frustrated with the way I felt.....started to think that I'd be happy with a 3:10 - 3:15.  It was downhill from there....literally.  Splits continued to be all over the place, couldn't get my breathing down, couldn't do this, couldn't do that.  Kelli (great hair!) flew by me looking very strong, then Marc (great Hawaiian running shirt!) then came up I think a bit before the dam, also running strong.....tried to keep pace with him but that lasted about 20 yards, if that.  I usually love to cruise on slight downhill grades like the miles after the dam.  I just simply couldn't do it.  I had a number of 8+ minute splits over what I thought should have been the best and fastest part of the  course.  I walked through two water stations....I never walk through water stations.  Even in the last mile....thought I could finish strong....tried to kick it in gear down the stretch....not only didn't it kick in....I could feel a cramp coming on when I tried.....and no way am I going to cramp a few hundred metres from the finish....so I had to go back to a slower pace and just finish....which i did in 3:22 and some change.

Post Race:  Glad I did it....beautiful course.....want to come back mentally and physically prepared and give this course another shot.....great people....great organization.  Lesson learned:  if you don't got it, you don't got it, so just relax and enjoy the race rather than try to force something to happen and get more frustrated when it doesn't happen.  And run the race you plan to run....not something different.   Regardless of effort....or lack of effort....regardless of disappointing result.....there's always a sense of satisfaction in completing another one and hanging the medal with a pride of sorts.  Later that day a friend asked me 'whats the point of running 26.2 miles if you're so miserable and frustrated?' This question was followed by 'and you pay to do this?'   I could only think of one response ......'because thats what runners do'......

Whats next:  pacing my nephew the last 40 miles of the Western States 100; starts at Lake Tahoe at the end of June...if he finishes within 24 hours he gets a belt buckle....I told him I can think of a lot of easier ways to get a belt buckle.  Odgen, I'll be back!