Arizona Rn'R Recap

Here is a recap of the marathon I ran last weekend. Warning- it gets kinda gross when I talk about mile 20 and on....

I felt super great, super light, fit, flow-state for the first 8 miles.  Really felt like this would be my day.  I had a group of gals, but they were running 6:10s and I wanted to be smart so I ran with one girl who had fallen off the back.  We worked 6:12-15 for a few miles but she faded at 6 mi. After that I worked with others where I could, but never found a good partner.  Then around 8miles a heaviness settled deep into my muscles- something that felt at least 10 miles too early- and my mind began to taunt me about running CIM just a month ago.  

But I stayed positive and worked  through it.  I stayed with one woman through mile 10 or 11 but actually lost her on a curve (I saw a more direct line and split from her but
she pulled away somehow.  I tried but couldn't surge to get back on with her- but this was exactly the kind of snap I was lacking, no matter how positive I stayed).  So I ran alone again.  At the Half I knew I could maybe try for a negative split but I also knew my legs were feeling CIM and that was the start of the big hill.  I let myself bring it down a notch- which turned into 5 notches and I accidentally ran 6:45s.  Give me an inch, I'll take a mile!  At 15 miles I realized how off pace I was but I just couldn't shift gears back to race mode.  I just got stuck at comfortably uncomfortable.  

Then at 18 the GI issues started- I had to stop at 20mi and probably would have stopped again if I saw somewhere along the course.  Things were moving through me way too fast.  I spent a lot of time in the port potty after the race, even missing my teammate's finish.  It was really bad.  At first I thought I'd gotten dehydrated in the sun and desert wind (it was a little windy, and was somehow a headwind the entire way), even though I took water at every aid station and had 4 of my own bottles.  

So what was really going on with my stomach at mile 20? I am not sure: it could have been race related but now I kind of suspect it was a stomach bug. I am not one to lean on excuses, but this was unlike any GI issues I've had before. Long after the race and I still found myself rushing to the ports potty and later that day, to the bathrooms. Food was difficult to consume throughout the day (though the Michelob ultra went down surprisingly easily – so weird! I am not a post race drinker!!). Even after I got home at midnight, my stomach continue roiling and boiling, gurgling up a storm. I slept for only three hours before my stomach woke me again.  At that point I tried hard to throw up, but I just couldn't. I've never been very good at throwing up and can count the times I've been sick in my adult life.  Yet here I was trying to recall what the bulimic would do on Degrassi Jr High.

I went for the rest of Monday unable to eat until my tiny dinner of rice and avocado.  I still never actually threw up. Was it a stomach bug that got me in the race or did I get the post-race sufferfest for a full 24 hours following?  I really don't know. I think it was more than the race. And, for the record, no sleep and no food is about the worst marathon recovery plan I could possibly imagine.  Once again, do as I say not as I do! ;)

Whatever it was I must say that I'm happy I ran, I'm proud of my positive mental state, and when I figure out my next goal I am going to go after it with everything I've got.