I think the first question I should answer is, "how did the girl who used to hate the Friday mile in PE run a whole marathon?" Well, it's been about 13 years in the making. Get back in the way back machine as my boss likes to call it and go back to 2001. After my romantic relationship crashed and burned and I got laid off a month after 9/11 I had a chance to take stock in my life and change some things. First I had to get a new job fast and I had to figure out how to pay a mortgage on that salary since I'd just bought the house with said relationship about 5 months prior. A co-worker from my job I'd gotten laid off at moved in as she began a new chapter in her life from moving out from her parents home and I found a new job.
The roommate got some information from Team in Training which is a program that teaches you how to run in exchange for you raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Somehow she convinced me that we should train together. So we did-we woke up early on Saturdays to go on long runs with a coach. We ran in the rain. We ran in the dark. We ran on hills. I did not enjoy it. The first time we went on a 10 mile training run I called my dad to brag about my accomplishment. It took him a bit to understand what had happened. He was sure I was calling because my car had broken down and I'd had to walk 10 miles to a phone. I'm pretty sure the fact that I'd run 10 miles of my own free will was not really on his radar at the time. At the 12 mile mark during the race someone from the sideline actually came out and asked my roommate if I was ok (I wheezed a bit at the time when I ran). But we made it. In 2: 22 we crossed the finish line and I figured I'd never run again.
Fast forward to having 2 small children, staying at home full time and needing some exercise. Another neighborhood mom had the same issue so we traded off kids 1-2 times a week so the other could put in some headphones and run around our (very hilly) neighborhood. I still didn't enjoy it but I did like listening to loud music and having a break from loud children.
Fast forward more to 2013. We moved to Canada. I knew very few people and needed to get to know my way around town and needed an outlet for my loneliness and away to shed the stress pounds I'd gained during the move. Curling season hadn't started yet, so I looked around after unpacking the house and there it was-a very flat running trail that ran behind my house. So I started running again. This time, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being outside. I enjoyed the endorphins. I enjoyed challenging myself to go further with each run. I found a website that would track my times and my courses. I was able to run further. In the fall of 2013 I'd run a 5k a few times a week. Then winter hit. I curled 2 times a week. The sun came back in the spring of 2014 and I started running again and same thing, I'd run a little further until I could go a 10k. Winter hit and I curled 3-4 times a week.
This spring I ran here and there in March and some weekends. I then worked full time in tax season and went down to curling only 1 time per week. After tax season was over I felt freedom. I felt tired of sitting. So I stared at my 5k, then 6k, then 7k, then 10k, then I switched to miles-I ran 5 miles, 7 miles 10 miles. Sometimes I'd meet up with my husband's cousin's wife who was thinking of running the Niagara Falls Half Marathon. She mentioned that the full went over the border from the US to Canada (symbolic, right?). When I'd run 12 miles my knees would hurt. I mentioned it to my BIL who was running and he took one look at my shoes and noted there wasn't any tread left-
When I headed to the running store and talked to her about the issue and mentioned I was running 12 miles on my long runs she asked, "What are you training for?" I replied, "to see how far I can run." She said, "you should be training for a marathon if you are already at 12 miles." So I thought about it. I looked into the Niagara Falls Marathon. There was a catch-in order to run over the border you had to fun the full marathon. I looked online to see if this was even possible. I found a 12 week training program for people who were at 10 mile long runs. I was 13 weeks away from the NF marathon. I thought about it for a week and signed up. I felt good, I was 2 weeks ahead of schedule which I figured was good because I'd be taking the kids for 3 weeks back to WA state and didn't know how much running I'd get in.
Training went well. I ran all over the farmland around us. I ran and ran and ran. I lost a few pounds.
I went to WA in August. I ran on hills and pavement from my parents' place to my very good friends' place while my Mom drove the kids past me on a great 14 mile run. Then I took a shower and sat around all day. The next day and for 3 more days every time I stepped on my left leg it felt like an ice pick grinding into my hip. I took Ibuprophen like it was candy, I tried a few short 5 mile runs that almost made me cry. For 3 weeks I couldn't properly train. Every run felt like agony.
I went to a retreat with a massage therapist. I don't know what ju ju she did but she fixed me (note for future, if it happens again, immediately go to massage therapist!). I ran one time around the lake at the retreat (about 4 miles) on Saturday and one time Saturday. It wasn't the 8 miles that I had wanted to run, but I ran and I didn't want to die afterwards.
I got back up to speed. I had someone at the retreat recommend a supplement called Thrive by a company called Le-Vel and started taking it. (It's a 3 step vitamin system consisting of one capsule in the morning-it's got just enough caffeine I stopped drinking coffee, a vitamin patch and a powder I throw in the smoothie I had already been having for breakfast every morning for the last 3 1/2 years-that's it! I'm happy to give anyone more info if they are interested-it got me off a weight plateau and my run times started getting faster). I got a new pair of shoes. I started beating my personal best times.
I did my long runs-14 miles, 16 miles, 18 miles, 20 miles (two 10 mile laps around the house so I could refill my water and pee), 16 miles, 14 miles. This for me was the difference between a half marathon and a long marathon-for 6 weeks, every weekend I was basically running an unsupported (ie: no Porta Potties, no water stations, etc.) 1/2 marathon. It's a huge mind game to get yourself through that part of the training. I changed up playlists, I made new routes, anything to get me out there.
Race Day came.
I finished in 4 hours, 29 minutes and 16 seconds. The 4:15 marathon pace bunny (runners who run with watches with hats that have bunny ears and a sign saying what pace they are going) passed me shortly after the 1/2 and I was ok with that. I did the first half in 2:05: 24. Considering 13 years ago I did one in 2:22 I was feeling pretty good about myself at the 1/2 way mark. 2.2 miles from the finish line the 4:30 pace bunny caught up to me and I was going to be damned if that bunny crossed before me (luckily he was a 10 min run: 1 min walk bunny, so I made sure I walked less than 1 minute when I walked). Also luckily there were 2 small downhills near the end that allowed me to get just a little extra push. I also sprinted over both the 1/2 marathon timing pad and the final pad when I saw what my time was at. I'm so happy about my times. My goal had been to finish in 5 hours.
If you want to see Race photos you can go to https://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/home.py and put in my bib number (see above) and 2015 Niagara Falls Marathon. I look like I'm in pain in all of them but the best one is going over Peace Bridge. It was the only true downhill and I ran in front of the pack the whole way down :)
Overall this is how I finished:
In the 30-39 women's group I finished 38 out of 80.
My first 1/2 was 2:05:24 my second 1/2 was 2:23:53 which is a pace of 6:24/km or 10:18/mi
I finished 139th out of all females.
There were 882 entrants, only 721 finished.
491 of those entrants were male, only 408 finished.
391 of them were female, 313 finished.
Out of the 721 that finished, I was in 425th place.
So basically, my first marathon I finished right in the middle. I'm totally fine with that! For those curious, in order to QUALIFY for the Boston Marathon for my age group, I need to finish a marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes, which is an 8:23/mile time. I don't think it's going to happen, though I have been getting faster as I've been running since a 2 week break after the marathon. I'm lucky so far this winter that it's been much better weather than last year. Last year we had snow from November until April.
For instance, December 4 I ran 15 1/2 km (9.75 miles) and knocked 14 minutes off my previous time on the same route back in June! 5:17/km 8:31/mi. I also do a 5k as fast as I can every once in awhile. This week I did it in 23:03 which is 1:15 faster than the last time I did it-that's 4:50/km pace 7:25/mi. So if I can KEEP the pace up.....
The best part besides feeling good about my accomplishments is that my asthma is in much better control. I do occasionally get wheezy on a speed day when it's 30-45F out, but this year I've played 3 curling games in 1 day and had no problem making it through all of them without being overly tired or needing to sit and I can BREATHE when I sweep like crazy. So much better than I've ever felt!
I'm excited to keep it up as long as I can over the summer and hopefully through another tax season. It will be interesting to see what next summer may bring.
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