My marathon story

francihm

Marathon and more:

1 month before the big day I decided I better start doing some long distance running to prepare myself for the 26.2 mile run I had signed up and paid for. I had run a half marathon in May and trained well for that. As soon as it was over I kinda fell off the long distance bandwagon and focused on other workouts. I knew the marathon in October would come quickly but I kept procrastinating. So I ran a few 5, 6, 7, and 8 mile runs that month but not much else. 1.5 weeks before the marathon I made the mistake of running 24 miles within 5 days. That was the most miles I had run in a short time period in a long time. My body didn't like that very well and my knee pretty much went to crap. I could hardly walk on my right leg the whole week before the big day. I decided not to do any long runs or anything for at least 1 week and then decide if I would be able to even run the marathon. I felt so mad at myself for over doing it and not training correctly. 1 week after I hurt my knee, it was feeling good. I did a lot of stretches and even saw a physical therapist during the week. I ran 2 miles on the treadmill a few days before the marathon, it ached a bit, but not as bad as before. I prayed and prayed for my body to be able to heal enough to complete the long run ahead of me. I had so many doubts.
Saturday, my mom and I drove down to stay at Ashley and Chris's house. She drove me to packet pick up, where we went down a 1 way almost getting into a crash and then it took 30 min to find parking. Big thanks to her for driving me, I would have done much worse driving in the city myself.
For supper Ashley made pasta for supper and other carb heavy foods like I had done the whole week before. I felt ready enough, but reality still hadn't sunk in. I went to sleep a little after 10 and slept fairly well. I really hadn't even let myself get nervous at this point. I set my alarm for 6 am and started to get ready. We ate our breakfast and left for downtown Des Moines at about 7. Once we arrived it was pretty chilly, about 40 degrees. We were shivering and then the nerves set in that made the shakes worse. There were thousands and thousands of people there to run their races. This is the point where reality had set in. We did our stretches and walked to our place in the line. It was about 5.5 min behind the starting line. For the 1st time in months it sank in...I was going to be running 26.2 miles with a unpredictable knee and not much training. In my head it always seemed so easy. Ashley and Chris were going to be running the half marathon. I am not sure if any of us were prepared for this day. Chris probably more than any of us.
At 8 am the gun went off and we were off. Ashley and I knew we could run side by side until mile 3.
Off we went in downtown Des Moines, by the capitol. It was so neat to see all the shops, pubs and restaurants that I have never seen.
All of a sudden I was filled with so much emotion. I was doing this whether I wanted to or not. I immediately started praying. I knew I needed Gods help. I started thinking about all the people who supported me and encouraged me in the last few weeks, I started thinking about the people that were negative towards me and doubted me, which made me want to achieve this goal even more. I think I teared up a few times before mile 2. Right before mile 3, I was once again filled with so much emotion. I knew that my sister and would have to part. The half marathon and marathon runners were separated. I didn't want to do this without her. I felt alone and scared. This was the moment I was dreading from the day that Chris and Ashley told me they were not going to be able to do the full marathon with me. Ashley and I both looked at each other and said I love you and I knew she was feeling the same emotion as me. We were alone from there on out.
So from mile 3-12 I prayed nonstop. I mean nonstop. Every time another runner passed me or I passed them, I asked God to bless them on their run. I felt a presence carrying me through. I felt pretty good. I saw a girl running it barefoot and a group with weighted back packs on, another older man pushing a guy in a wheel chair. I knew if they could do it so could I. I was probably running 9:30-10 min miles for most of those miles. The hills were insane. One hill after the other for 20 miles. My knee was feeling some aches and pains, but nothing terrible. The bottoms of my feet were getting numb.
Around mile 12-13, I decided to finally walk a min and stretch. . From there I needed to make sure I stopped for water and Gatorade anytime it was offered. As soon as I reached the half marathon point in my race I knew that I had never run further in my life. So it was all mental from there. I hit the 13.1 checkpoint and then psyched myself out. I realized that my sister and Chris were done or almost done with their race and I was only half way. I kept thinking that I still had about 2.5 hours left of running and there was no way I would do it. But I kept running and praying, running and praying. At mile 16 I felt a surge of energy. I started making mental check points, I remember thinking that as soon as I reached mile 20 it was all downhill from there. I thought I would try and run from mile 16-20, but about mile 17 I had to stop and walk a little. I sent a message to some of my family, letting them know where I was. From mile 17-26 I had to walk a bit, run a bit. My whole body hurt like it had never hurt. At mile 20 I started to get a pain in my back that was indescribable. It was like a knife twisting every time I took a step or a deep breath. It was step by step, mile by mile until the end. It felt like forever and my goal of finishing in 5 hours seemed impossible at this point, but it was what kept me going. I knew that I had to keep pushing. Around mile 23, it was all mental. My body was shot. What the heck was I thinking, but the end was so near and my family was waiting for me at the end so I kept going.
I saw the sign for 26 miles and was so happy. I ran as hard as I could to the finish line. As I was running in, I was able to give my family hi fives! It was so cool. The people behind the finish line put the medal around my neck and I let me body weight rest on the pole. What a rewarding feeling. I did it, ME. If you asked me a few years ago about doing a half marathon or even a full, I would have told you, you were crazy. I was a sprinter in high school, who hated the thought of running more than 2 miles in track practice, it seemed way to hard.
After I was done my family and I left.. I thought maybe I would be starving but it was quite the opposite. We stopped at Arbys because it is my favorite, but even that didn't taste good. I ate it because I knew I needed to and fell asleep for a bit in the car. Once I got home, I started to ache so badly that I didn't want to move. As bedtime got closer my stomach started hurting worse than the flu. My pelvis felt as if it was beat with a bat. My legs had pins and needles all over them. I had no idea how I would ever be able to fall asleep with that sort of sensation in my body. I took a unisom and ibuprofen every 8 hours and slept ok for most of the night.
24 hours later:
My girls woke me up nice and early! YAY!! I took PTO for today to recover months ago, I am so glad I did. Especially not knowing how my body would react. The stomach pains are gone and I think I finally have an appetite back. I feel like an 85 year old women, but overall the pain and aches are not as bad as I thought they might be. I am so grateful that I have this body that has carried me through so many challenges and blessings in my life.

NotAResolution

Congrats on finishing. While your strategy of not running a lot is certainly not the best plan, you stuck with it and finished.

laurasnyder411

Awesome accomplishment!

WhatMeRunning

Way to go!

Wheelhouse15

Congrats on your victory!

ElliottTN

That's so unbelievable. Congrats.

sapphire318

Way to pray your way through!! Good job!

Chimis_Siq

My first marathon is next year and thats me never having run a day in my life until 14 weeks ago. Longest run is 6.25 miles..so reading this definitely made my day! Thanks for the honesty in your post.

QueenE_

Congrats! I hope to run a marathon one day.

francihm

Post marathon blog:
It's Wednesday 10/22/2014….3 days after the marathon. Most of you have read my posts and I am sure you are tired of hearing about it. After I wrote my 1st post following the marathon, I was somewhat embarrassed because I didn't want to bring too much attention to myself. So many people have run marathons and way better than me. So I have somewhat been fighting with myself and even sometimes get embarrassed when people ask me how it went. After all I didn’t train and kind of felt guilty receiving praise when so many people put in the time and energy to train for 16 plus weeks. It was kind of like I took the easy road to complete the 26.2 and didn’t deserve to feel good about the accomplishment. I am moving past that feeling and am just enjoying this week as much as I can.
Day 1 after marathon, I was sore and at home, I didn’t prepare myself for what I might actually be feeling. My energy level was very low, I was sore and maybe a bit emotional. My stomach still felt a little flu like, my appetite was low, and my poor knee was very sore. My pelvis felt like it was crushed and just going up and down stairs seemed like a huge task. I tried to stay on my feet most of the day because going from sitting to standing seemed to bring on stiffness and pain. I had agreed to bowl for another lady a few weeks back in hopes I would feel good enough. I probably should not have done that. My knee didn’t function very well and I was at times trying to smile through the pain and not whine too much to my friends. I got home that night and couldn’t fall asleep. I took a naproxen and tossed and turned for most of the night.
Day 2: I had set my alarm thinking I would get up and get back into my exercise routine, 4:40 came and I hit snooze so many times that I skipped the workout and just got into the shower. I figured I needed the rest and could do something over my lunch break. My body felt surprisingly well for it only being 2 days after. I got up and got ready for work. The only thing that bothered me was my knee and a little achiness in my legs and pelvis. I decided to go on a walk at lunch. It was a beautiful day to be outside. The walk caused my knee to feel sore but it felt good to get outside and move. My appetite was much improved and the flu like sometimes would come and go throughout the day.
Day 3: I hit snooze a few times but still allowed myself some time to do some strength training before I got into the shower. I feel great. I have not needed ibuprofen since day 1 and my body feels as if it almost completely back to normal. I still have lack of energy, but it is getting better.
On day 1 if you asked me if I would ever do that to my body again, I would have told you NO! It is weird how much difference three days makes. I think if my knee was up to par I would run one next week if I could, but that is only because I am so competitive with myself. Pushing your body to places you didn't know were even possible changes a person. Daily tasks don’t seem as hard, small goals seem reachable. The things I learned after running a marathon were that, you only get one body, one life, do something while you still can. Reach goals, push yourself past boundaries, be a better you, don't give up on yourself when things feel tough. Don't listen to others when they tell you, you can’t or shouldn't and just be thankful EVERY single day for the talents you were given.
-Heather