At mile 15 when we turn the corner and see the outstanding vistas of white, orange, and red Snow Canyon, I just have to say to myself, "Ain't this a livin!" If I run this marathon again, I'll yell it out loud and give a little hoop and a holler. For a few minutes, I forgot the punishing pounding in my legs as I flew down the hill.
A few miles down the road, I wasn't so enthusiastic. I was making up all kinds of excuses as to how I could get out of this parade of pain. None of the excuses, apart from a devastating injury, made a lot of sense. So, knowing that plan A was out the window, I focused on plan B (not stopping unless I tripped). I had to convince my tired brain and body to keep going just like the famous Christmas cartoon song, "Just put one foot in front of the other." You tend to think of a lot of bizarre things during a marathon. And all of those crazy signs don't help, or maybe they do. I missed getting my butt slapped by some people offering that service. I did give lots of hand slaps. That gave me some energy for a few seconds.
I'm not sure Icy Hot works when knives are stabbing and twisting inside your calves and quads. I tried that at a couple of aid stations.
Brita and Gabe were the best fans! It was great to have our own personal fans at our suffer fest. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was cold at the start, but just warmed to the 60s at the finish.
I did manage to get a PR by 2 seconds! I'll take that. 4:13:51. Bill ran in 3:54:17. His last mile was his fastest! I hope he can add his thoughts about his experience.
Here are a few thoughts from Bill. From the pre-dawn gathering at the start, which looks like a large "occupy wall street" camp (although a much more disciplined and intelligent bunch of people)with a hundred campfires warming the anxious, pensive, and dedicated bunch of runners, my 7th marathon experience was a little different this time. I didn't go into this race with the same high expectations as the past few. For one thing a back problem has caused me to train almost exclusively on a bike. This race was an experiment to see if my bike fitness could carry me though a marathon. Well, I think it worked. My goal was to finish in under 4 hours. I promised Lisa I would take in much more liquids along the way (to avoid the IV bag in the medical tent). I did that. And, combined with the cool temps and a slight tailwind the race went pretty well, and I must say much more enjoyable then most of my past races. I still went through the same doubts, pains, mental struggles, and loneliness that are always part of a long race, but I was more relaxed about the whole experience. It was great to see Gabe and Brita on the course. That provided a needed boost of energy at mile 20. And I had to keep running, because Lisa was not far behind me. And she was really the reason I even agreed to run another marathon. I was inspired by her continued and relentless efforts.
So, I don't know if another marathon is in the future, but this one was encouraging enough so as to not rule that out.
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