White Rock Marathon RR - 12/14/03

First, a little background - I felt I was properly trained going in, but during my last two runs (9 miles last weekend & three on treadmill Thursday morning) my ankle was REALLY bothering me. So, I went into the race with lots of options - quit early on, run the Half (it split from the Full at 6 miles), keep running the Full course & bail at about 13 miles (about a 1 mile walk home) or just keep on trudging...

As Todd indicated in his race report, we ran together for the first 6 miles. He was concerned that I was hanging on to his 8-9 min/mile pace, but at that point, felt fine, so figured I'd rather have the company! We got to the Half/Full splint point and I decided I'd keep going on the Full course and see how far I could make it.

Had an extended wait for a porta-potty about mile 11, but had been keeping a good pace (9 min/mile) through then. After the potty, the ankle started to really throb and the splits headed over 10 min/mile.

At mile 13, I was VERY close to my house & VERY tempted to quit and head for home. However, logistics of getting to my car and that it would be my first DNF, convinced me to keep going. In addition, at this point, I was running around the lake that we train on every weekend, so kinda felt like I was on home territory - concentrated on moving forward. Had some stomach cramping and side-stitches off and on, but if I just kept moving, and didn't focus on them, they seemed to go away on their own.

I'd been walking through most of the water stops at this point & was focusing on finishing. Mile 19 had a few sips of beer at the Hash House Harriers stop (I think). Figured my stomach cramps probably wouldn't get any worse from it. From mile 16 on, the mental games of "it's only 10 miles, then only a loop (our normal loop around the lake is 9 miles), then down to a 10K," etc. began and kept me focused on just making it to the next water stop.

Mile splits in this area ranged from 10 min/mile up to one 13 min/mile... Stopped for a few minutes to chat w. some friends and Todd (who'd already finished the Half, eaten, etc.) and was then off again as Todd told me to gut it out, only a 5K left. I'd taken some ibuprofen just before stopping to see them & it seemed to kick in as I was able to run in the last couple miles at around 10 min/mile.

Finished w. a 4:31:51, Fourth in Female Clydesdales and 89/190 Age Group. Overall, glad I gutted it out, but VERY ready for a rest and recovery period over the holidays.
Pictures are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/WRMarathon03/photo#s5114337980480146290

Thanks for reading & Happy Holidays,
Katie