Before I graduated, I decided that in 2010 I would run a marathon. I don’t know if this was pure craziness taking over my thoughts, or if it was inspired by a tiny fear of turning 30 on May 11, 2011 (aka the greatest day of Mr. T’s life). My life has always been chaotic up to this point and filled with endless tasks to do, so I’m sure that knowing I would only have to work and be a wife/mother made me feel a little frantic. Anyways the decision was made, I would run a marathon, and I wanted to do it before I turned 30 for my semi-bucket list. I told my family, posted it on facebook (to hold myself accountable for this decision), and settled on the Baystate Marathon in MA.
I trained using the Hal Higdon 18-week Advanced-I plan, and it was unbelievable because of the changes I experienced physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because I am neurotic, and running a marathon wasn't enough of a challenge, I decided in the back of my mind that I would try to qualify on my first marathon for the Boston Marathon (BM). I ran and ran my little heart out and logged in 6 days a week of running without missing a single workout until week 14. Week 14 I hated you.* I was doing so well and was getting confident that I would qualify for the BM with the times I was logging in until I had a misstep while working out. I damaged my knee, and it was excruciatingly painful to run. To make it worse I still had one 20 mile workout to do before the marathon, but I only made it to mile 19 until I was literally crying. I made a doctor’s appointment, and they referred me to a physical therapist. The physical therapist recommended that I do physical therapy for three days a week until the marathon because I had what is known as Patella Femoral Syndrome - on both of my knees. Crap.
So I did the physical therapy. Three days a week. I cringed through every session, and through every single remaining workout for the last four weeks. The days leading up to the marathon I was still in pain, but I decided previously that I would drag myself through the finish line if I had to (In an effort of full disclosure I should mention here that I am a Taurus and am pretty ridiculously STUBBORN). To make things worse, exactly seven days before the marathon I began shaking. I was so nervous. I would be sitting at my desk at work and literally start crying because I was so scared. In just a few days I would be running the longest distance I had ever run in my life and it was terrifying. One of my best friends, Ms. S, knew about my nerves and sent me roses the day before the big event with a good luck card. This actually snapped me back to reality, and made me realize that I had my friends and family supporting me. Besides there were bigger things going on in the world besides my race right? I became a little less nervous and began to experience an eerie calm.
October 17th, 2010 the date of the BayState event. It was the first time I was going to attempt to run 26.2 miles in one day. I was excited, anxious, scared, and sick at the thought of it. I finished with a total time of 3:54:47, and I was estatic. Even though it wasn't the time I needed to qualify for the BM, I was so happy to have lived through the most physically grueling day of my life. I had just run for almost four hours in pain, and completed the marathon without stopping to rest. My wonderful Mr. T was with me every single mile on his bike. He chased me, sped ahead of me, refilled my water bottle, and was basically the best support system I could have wished for. I am confident that Mr. T is one of the reasons I ran the whole distance without stopping once, in fact this is definitely true because every time I passed him and convinced myself I should stop and walk (or even better - lay down) he would appear out of nowhere and start cheering and clapping for me. This made me push through and ignore my rather appealing thoughts, and I finished the 26.2 miles. This day made me love Mr. T more than ever.
*Things worked out in the end, so I no longer hate Week 14.
