I meant to post the recap earlier, but after Portland, I was pooped. My body recovered pretty fast, but I was just tired. Plus I started my new job Wednesday. …and my boyfriend is being grumpy and moody which sets off my mood. *sighs* So it’s been fun. To sum it up, it’s done. We conquered. We didn’t do it without some bumps though.
The day or so leading up to the race was kind of uneventful. My dad and my sister’s husband had fun with happy hour a couple of nights but that was it really. I kept a close eye on the forecast. Unlike last time I did Portland, the day was supposed to be hot. And I mean HOT. I was more concerned for my sister and a friend of my sister’s. They don’t care for the heat so much. I don’t usually mind it too much. It was supposed to be 81 dg. Turns out that I should have been concerned but it wasn’t for my sister. The heat affected me the most.
The day of the race started interesting. We got up around 5. The race didn’t start until 7, but you never know with traffic. A couple of friends were going to drive us into town and drop us off so we didn’t have to take the light rail. This worked out in our favor and we got to sleep in 1/2 hour more. Despite Siri (stupid phone) taking us the wrong area, we made it to the start line at a fairly decent time. My sister and I met with the friend (also named Siri) who was going to be doing the race with us. We didn’t plan on running the full race with her, but we pretty much ran 95% of the race with her.
The race itself started out pretty good. We made to about mile 7 or 8 before the walking started in. Despite the last few horrible training runs that my sister had, she was doing wonderfully. We met up with Siri around mile 5 again and stuck with her the rest of the way. Around mile 9 or 10, the heat started to set in. I don’t remember last time if Portland was so open or not. It was cloudy and rained a few miles the last time so I didn’t really notice it. It turns out that it’s a fairly open course. Around Mile 16 while we were walking up the hill, I got seriously light headed and I needed to sit down for a few minutes. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what was going on. Well I got up an walked a little bit and we took off across the bridge and back up the hill. I was fine but that was when Siri started to lose it mentally. Marathons really are as much of a mental battle as they are a physical battles. Especially for us slow people. I have friends that can do marathons in 3 or so hours. My last one was 5:37. We managed to push her through the next 10 miles or so, but that last mile is tough. It really is. Tink was still going strong and so was I, but we were all starting to get pretty stiff. Tink’s usual umph kicks in usually towards the last mile or two of a race. She’s usually a fairly strong finisher. Her second wind kicked in around mile 24.5 when we started to get back into downtown. Her and I kicked it into the finish line strong. Our final time was 6:19:55.
That’s when my troubles came back. I started seeing spots again, but walked it off. The three of us got through the finisher’s area and saw our families. As we were walking to the train station, I kept getting the worst charlie horses that I have EVER gotten. I knew they were going to come at me sooner or later. I nearly got them around mile 16 and managed to run them off. My dad managed to help me and I leaned on him. We got to the train station and the white dots came back in full force. I thought it was just me and shrugged them off and laid my head on my dad’s shoulder. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground and looking up at my brother-in-law who had caught me. I had to lay on the ground for a couple of minutes. My mom rushed off to the 7-11 nearby and got me a Gatorade and sugar. My sister sat on the sidewalk with me for a bit. I recovered enough and managed to get on the next train.
Later on, while trying to get enough energy to get in the shower, I started to get angry with myself. I was stronger than that!! What on earth happened!? I wasn’t a newbie.
An ice bath and warm shower later, I called my friend, Jackie, the gal who I have mentioned a few times. Like usual, Jackie made me feel better about what happened and brought me back to reason. What she thought what happened was that I was dehydrated due to the heat. I laughed at that and said that was gibberish. They had more than enough water stations and I grabbed 2 cups at every station. She went on to say that after awhile, if you don’t have enough electrolytes in your system, your body rejects any water. She knows how much I sweat. After any run, I’m covered in sweat and salt–especially any runs over 10 miles. After I drank the Gatorade at the train station, I felt better. Jackie was right….again. I told her how pissed I was and she replied: “We’ve all done it. It’s just a lesson you learn. We just learned it along time ago.”
With that, I felt better. Gotta love great girl friends.
On the other hand, I was still slightly upset. My boyfriend was completely and utterly silent the entire weekend. No “good luck” text. Nothing. Nadda. I even texted him to say what happened after the race. No response. Nothing. I called him that night after the race to ask why. “I never checked my messages” and “work has been busy”. *sighs* Okay. I get it. Your job is tough, but couldn’t you take 2 seconds to text your girlfriend good luck for a race she’s been training the entire stupid summer for? “I don’t understand why you pay $125 to run 26.2 miles”. Okay. I get that too, but it’s my choice and I wasn’t asking him to help train or even run the stupid race. I don’t understand why people pay $80 to watch a UCF fight. Hey. We all have our things. He was never this way until his job. He was always supportive. Got up and went with me. I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. I’m still a little pissed at him for being such a boob about it. His mood didn’t change that Monday my mom and I got back from Portland either.
Monday sucked. Hardcore. The flight back was a straight shot (yay!). I really wasn’t sore but from the charlie horses. Last time I was sooooo sore it wasn’t even funny. Anywho, got back into town and go out to my car and get everything in the car. My battery was deader than a doornail. Dead as roadkill. UGH! Not. Happy. Thank GOD mother was cool. She was completely and utterly calm. I was tired and pissed at the situation inside. Tried to get a jump. My car was NOT having any of it. Called my boyfriend and had him drive out to pick us up. He was a complete and utter boob the entire way home. I love the man. Really I do. Sometimes…I just wish his job would stop making him moody. It’s been pretty bad ever since he got his set schedule. And he said he only “tolerates” me sometimes. That hurt. I don’t know what I’m going to do with him.
Sooooo….I felt bad for the Jimmy John’s guy that night. I picked up our dinner and he offered his ear while they did the sandwiches. I really let go. He was super sweet though. I appreciated him listening.
Another silly note about the weekend, the entire time during the race, my sister kept saying “I am NEVER doing this again. Never ever. Why did I even sign up?” and other lines that were pretty close to something like that. I get a text the next day: “We can TOTALLY do under 6 hours. We could have pushed it more. Let’s do another one!” HAHAHAHA!!! They always say that you say you’re never doing another one and the moment you’re done, you are signing up for the next one. I actually won an entry to the San Fransisco Marathon down at the Portland Marathon convention. Problem with this one is the cut off is 6 hours and I don’t know if it’s very big or not. It’s the weekend after my first tri. Well, I signed up for it. Figured it wouldn’t cost me anything. We shall see if I actually follow through are not. Tink’s game. My mother is game to go down.
Oh and did I mention the entire family was down except for my boyfriend (he has a strict schedule which I really didn’t mind and understood)? It really was a family affair. My dad had training down in the next town so he came down to watch us finish. I’m glad he did considering what happened after the race. If it was just my mother, she would have freaked. …yeaaa…..
Anywho, here are some images from the weekend:
On a side note, I’m sorry that I vented about my boyfriend. I love the man, but I needed to spill. I know no one is really reading this so I feel better once I get it out. 🙂