The Marathon
Whew! What a week that was. Last Saturday I went for a little 12km run, the last weekend run before D day. Oh that's right that was after Friday night at Peter and Mary's to celebrate Peter's birthday. The rest of Saturday I think was just doing chores outside, mowing bits etc. Oh we also took Biscuit to the dog wash in town, and let the kids buy some new toys. Saturday night the kids had another movie night, and Sunday we all went for a big family walk up to Taradale (with Biscuit) and stopped in at the cafe, before spending an hour at the playground mostly with the kids enjoying riding on their scooters in the skate bowl.
Monday was work and in the afternoon I started to feel just a bit off, like I was coming down with something. Shit. Tuesday I woke up and really didn't feel great, so I skipped going for the 3km run I had penned in. Felt miserable Tuesday afternoon, had to take some Panadol at work to get rid of the ugh feeling. Tuesday night I felt terrible, not helped by poor Beth who started to vomit. Joy. She's SO good now though, didn't miss the bowl once, held on until the bowl was in her hands etc. Amazing.
Wednesday I called in sick, which worked well because Beth was home too. She didn't vomit at all Wednesday at home, so we thought she was on the mend but Wednesday night/Thursday morning she came and woke me up saying she felt really sick, then ran down the stairs to hurp in the toilet! What'd I say, amazing right? So proud of her, poor little saus-oh. So Thursday we both had the day at home too, because I still felt terrible. And I was mega annoyed, because I hadn't done my Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday morning prep run. They were only small, but just something to keep your mind in mentally.
By this stage, of course, I was so pissed off and upset. Really just angry and crabby. All the work I'd done, getting up damn early in the morning, imaging crossing the finish line being my real motivation to actually walk out the door into the dark, it seemed like that dream was going to die because of illness. Friday I went into work, feeling a tad bit better, but after a while it was obvious to me I was still shitty. I went down to the Marathon checkin to collect all my stuff, my bib and bag etc. Then I went to the Dr, who examined me and couldn't find anything wrong. No temp, no sign of infection anywhere. He said I looked pale though and not quite right, but that was it. He ordered an urgent blood test, the result of which if it showed infection would mean I shouldn't run because of risk of heart infection. I didn't feel I'd be able to anyway. I went home, tried to do a bit more work, had a sleep etc. Rang up for the results of my blood test - it showed that I had NO infection at all, but I was very low in iron. I was 8, and men my age should be a minimum of 10, more like 20-30. No idea what unit that is. So I went and got the iron pills the Dr told me to start taking. but that was never going to be a quick fix, being anemic from lack of iron takes ~4 weeks to sort out. Bugger!
Friday night Sarah was trying to keep my spirits up, made a lovely big pasta dinner for the Marathon. I ate half of it and really felt just so so terrible. I was nearly in tears. I had a big glass of Berocca and then 60 minutes later, I started to feel a bit better. Was it the Berocca? Was it the first bit of dinner? Anyway I got my appetite, so I ate the rest of my pasta! I got all my Marathon stuff ready, my running belt, my drinks, my nipple plasters, shoes etc etc. And then I went to bed, feeling very sad, but also a tad hopeful I'd be alright in the morning. And then Saturday morning I woke up. AND HOLY SHIT I FELT PRETTY DAMN GOOD. I didn't feel 100%, but I felt like you know what, I could do this! The horrid head clamp feeling was gone. So I ate my 5 weetbix, everyone got ready and we got into the car.
I should point out, everyone getting ready included Sarah and the kids donning the cutest T-Shirts ever. Come back in a bit and I'll add a link there to their photo. So we all piled into the car and we drove to the start point at Ahuriri. It was all happening, people everywhere, excitement, nerves. The weather was perfect. The extreme wind of the previous few days had gone. Not a cloud in the sky really. Very cold to start, but you could tell it was going to be a nice sunny day.
Then at 8:12am or so after a run to the toilet, I got into the start chute and waved goodbye to my lovely cheerleading team. And then 8:15am BEEP the starter went off and away we went. I was still nervous that I'd get 1-2km in and start to really feel like it wasn't going to work. But as we passed the 40km to go sign I was pretty sure I'd be able to do it. Before 5km everyone was talking to each other, waving to spectators etc. By 5km people had got a bit quieter, more spread out. Actually it would have been about 5km I saw Beth, Theo and Sarah on the side of the road waving and cheering for me and boy it just made me feel so happy. The whole point of doing the Marathon was to get fit so hopefully my heart will be healthy and all that and I'll be around for a few years yet. So seeing them there waving and smiling was really great, really made it all worthwhile. And then they were gone, I couldn't really stop just yet!
On down Marine Parade we went, lots of other people waving, some looking a bit bemused (WTF are there 500+ people running past us?) We turned off Marine Parade down onto Te Awa ave. Ran along there for ages, then alongside the golf course. Oh just before that Adrian and Joseph where on the side of the road waving and saying hi, I recognised the booming voice of Age shouting "THERE HE IS!!". Down Awatoto road before turning left when we got to Meanne Road, waiting there for me was Holly and Isla wearing their T-Shirts Sarah had distributed the night before.
From there we ran out to Brookfields bridge. Getting to that was really comforting for me, you had two hours to get there, if you didn't make it you got removed from the course. I still had 30 minutes to go, so I wasn't worried at all (it was 15km from the start and we were about 1hr 35mins in) but it was good to know there were no other time traps waiting! From there we jogged down a path I've done quite a few training runs on, into Awatoto. Along the path there and there was Sarah, Beth, Theo, Holly and Isla waiting and cheering for me. Again, it was so great to see everyone, it really helps you to feel like you're doing a good job and that there's a reason you're there. Sarah gave me some drink too which was good, it had been ages since an aid station. Someone earlier had handed me a JetPlane (the lolly) which was nice. From there, which was about the 19km mark, it really turned into hard work. I read somewhere that about 2hr 15m the human body has burnt all the stuff it would usually burn and starts eating muscle and stuff for energy. So it can really take it out of you. And yea, I'd only done 25+km training runs a few times earlier. So yes, it was hard from there. I think about 24km I had to walk, and from then on I never managed to keep running running, looking back at my GPS record I had to walk about 9 times between there and the finish. But still I keep running as often as I could, pushing myself pretty hard always imagining the finishing line and the finishing medal I'd get. There was also a Chinese (maybe Japanese man, I only ever really saw his back, he had a huge Kanji character on it) who we kept criss crossing. He'd be walking, I'd jog past. I'd walk, he'd jog past. There were probably about 10 other people I'd see and recognise, I'd run past them and them me. But that one guy, we seemed very evenly matched. Anyway when I saw the 3km to go sign and looked at my watch, I really wanted to finish under 5 hours. It become my missions, also to beat that guy. So for the last 3 km I ran and didn't stop to walk. I think at one stage I did stop to walk but I got angry with myself and walked 2 steps and pushed myself to keep running. Then someone said "Only 500m to go mate" and then someone said "200m finish line's up ahead" and then there it was!!! I was SOOOOOO HAPPY to finish, I spotted Sarah, Beth and Theo on the sideline watching me finish. I'd freakin' done it. They put the medal around my neck! Man I was so happy. I almost cried, managed not to.
And then it was over. I could stop moving. I asked what my time was and Sarah said... 5:00:01. ARRGHGHGHG. Man I was annoyed. But it didn't really matter. I said hi to everyone who'd come out to see me, Peter, Mary, plus my family and Holly/Adrian etc. Also went to say Hi to my workmates. They gave me some great news too, the time from when the start gun had fired was 5:00:01 but my adjusted time from when I actually went over the start line was 4:59:18! I'd done it under 5hours, JUST!!! Horray.
It was hard to walk... And then we left the event, it was so busy, food was going to take ages and Sarah told me that the kids had been a bit of a nightmare. Driving around the various places to wave to me was all well and fine, but it wasn't about THEM and we think they had a bit of a hard time understanding that. Or they were just being shitheads? Anyway.
We came home and Sarah ran me a nice bath, helped me into it. The bath was SO nice. My legs just floated and felt great in there. So I stayed in for ~45 minutes, it was so nice. Getting out was hard, but it was getting cold.
And then yea, didn't do much else. I was in quite a bit of pain, just shattered. I was supposed to attend our company dinner that night, but I just couldn't do it. I was tired, shattered, didn't really feel that hungry and didn't really feel like drinking much (Though I did have a well earned beer with dinner). Then I went to bed and just had the most terrible sleep. Adrenaline? My sore knee? Just being amazed it was over? No idea. But it was a rough night. And the illness? Well I still didn't feel 100%, even taking having just run a Marathon into account. But I wasn't going to dwell on it.
It didn't matter. I'd done it. It was over and dusted. The finish line I'd dreamed of many times had been seen and the medal I'd hoped to wear I had in my posession.
33 weeks of training. When I started it out I couldn't run 1km without having to stop to walk. At the start I'd get up at 6am and go for a 15 min run. By the end I was getting up at 4am and going for a 20km run. Plus I lost 10kg, would've liked 15 but after 10kg I was pretty happy and stopped the intense dieting I was doing. I guess all the exercise (running plus biking to work every day) plus cutting back what I was eating, not increasing it, probably meant my iron levels took a slow trip south, ending up getting close to running out before the Marathon. I should have taken Multivitamins or something, but I felt fine and have always thought they're pointless if you're eating right (which I thought I was) Anyway.
So much love for my family! Sarah for supporting me and encouraging me to enter the Marathon, especially by having the Garmin watch delivered to my work without even telling me. It's been so great to help me with my training, no longer did I have to take my phone running for music, or for GPS. The watch had it all built in. It's been such a great watch actually, thanks Garmin! But yes, my lovely family for putting up with me in the last couple of months disappearing for 2-3 hours on a Saturday morning while I was out on my long training run.
So that's it! Done! My first, and last, Marathon.
42 @ 42!
Tim