My Race

Well, the Eugene marathon is over. Bib #921 is being retired. It feels too good to set a goal and to achieve it. Of course, I had to modify my goal this week. I trained for the full marathon and was so ready to do it. I had calc'd out all of my time splits, knew my pace, how to read what my body was telling me, worked up to the 20 mile training run and nailed it. I was so ready. . . until Monday. I woke up with a sore throat that was worse by Tuesday. Wednesday was still a training day even though I felt horrible, but I did surprisingly fine. By yesterday I wasn't sure I was going to be able to compete at all. I woke up shaky and weak. Now, this is a time in your life where it is good to live with a health care professional. Kent was able to dose me up and help me push the symptoms to the side long enough to compete but I would have to switch from the full to the half marathon. And I had to promise to not use OTC meds like that again as soon as the race was over.

So, I got to the Expo yesterday and checked in for the race as a full marathoner and did the Expo as a full marathoner. Before I left, however, I went to the registration desk and had my status changed to a half marathoner. At first this felt like defeat because I had trained so hard. A good friend (actually several good friends) told me that I needed to take it easy and focus on Africa more than the race which was awesome advice, so thank you friends. You all were totally right.

Last night at the hotel was so fun. My friend Jamie was in the race, too so we roomed together. We talked about family and training and food and a tiny bit about work (we work together). It was fun. Having a friend to share the event with makes it so much more enjoyable.

This morning when Jamie and I got up the first thing we did was check the weather. Rain. Oh well. We were so pumped up for the race that we really didn't care. We put the timing chips on our shoes, ate some energy foods, and headed for the starting line.

Jamie is 23 so I lost sight of her after the 3rd mile. She runs faster than me. But I chatted with other people along the course and enjoyed the music on my iPod. It was a good race. One I finished with a respectable time and with one lingering question. . . .. whens the next one?