Even though it was not a triathlon (jealous of Beth,Tony, goSonja, gofastMichelle, and Tyler who got to tri in Knoxville at Rev3), it was a race.  I was nervous because my winter was different from my last 7 winters of training hard.  This last winter consisted of some running some biking, and some swimming-but nothing I would really call training.  Three weeks ago I decided I wanted to work with someone to coach me and so my training really began then-for the Colorado Marathon.  People work like 3 months getting ready for marathons-what was I thinking?!  Would I really be able to run a marathon?  The last marathon distance I set out to run saw me get 23 miles in 6 hours and a hurt IT band.  We decided I had enough base that I could finish the marathon and that I would use it as a stepping stone for getting my running mileage back up for the real goal of the year-Ironman Louisville.  So with three solid weeks of great training I was off to run a marathon without letting my heart rate go above 160.  Leave my ego on the bus.

Saturday afternoon we headed up later than I would have liked to packet pick up, got our stuff, and met up with Nicole, Christine, John, and Keith at the hotel and decided to go out to dinner together.  Every place in old Fort Collins was packed and had a waiting list of an hour and a half, which would have put us eating at 8:30 at night!  Stressful!!  So we split up into 2’s and put reservations in at 3 different restaurants….John and Keith got us in at Rasta Pasta!  Yeah.  I had Jamaica Tortellini Mon which was tortellini, rotini pasta, bananas, pineapple, and grapes.  It was light and delicious and I ate the whole thing-oops!  By the end of dinner I was pooped!  The stress of getting to packet pick up, finding food, and then having to find a friend’s house where we were staying was getting me.  After our good luck and good night hugs from friends Steve and I were off to find our bed for the night.

His friend’s front yard was SO COOL!  There was a little picket fence surrounding a really cool water feature that was all lit up for us.  There was no way I could hold on to the little bit of stress I was carrying around after walking to the front door.  Steve’s friend was staying with his girlfriend so we had the place to ourselves, which was a good thing because I really wanted to get my stuff ready for the morning and go to bed.  Now you all have to remember, I have spent years percolating perfect pre race conditions, so the first race on my own and I let a few things go, like having a glass of wine at dinner and getting to packet pick up really late, and eating later than I would have liked, but I couldn’t let the “I have to be the first person there” monkey go.  The bus was taking us up at 4:00am.  After getting our stuff all set for the morning I set the alarm for 3:15 and hit the pillows at 10:15.  3:15 jump out of bed (Sorry goSonja-no picture of the jump out of bed), dressed, fill water bottle, make an egg sandwich, and get to the bus station at 3:50.  Damn I’m good-Steve thinks I am a little crazy, but it was perfect for me.  We got to sit together on the way up and rest, we didn’t have any problem getting a parking spot, and I was comfortable.  Honestly, I was nervous about the marathon, so taking the stress out of race morning was important to me.  I put my headphones in on the ride up and used the time to relax and visualize my day.

The marathon start is up in a canyon and right alongside the river.  It was beautiful, albeit a little bit cold at 4:55am.  I was glad I had Steve to snuggle with on a park bench to try to stay warm.   We got to be the first people to use the porta potties without having to wait in line at all.  Just being able to hang out and relax before the race even though Steve was sniffling a little bit about being there too early, and whose silly idea was it to run a marathon, and next time we will….  Wait…did he just say there was going to be a next time?  I think he’s hooked  Before we knew it we were stripping out of our warm clothes, putting sunblock on, and heading over to the start line!  I saw Keith and John and got my good luck hugs and looked for Doreen without luck.  The gun went off and off I went.

Steve and I ran the first mile together and then he was on his way and I settled into myself and took a moment to enjoy the canyon, listen to the river, and be grateful for my life and smile.  The last run I had before the marathon was really hard and it was really uncomfortable and I was very happy that I was feeling good.  Lately, I have been having to use my inhaler.  Most people don’t know this, but I have asthma and have had it since I was 3 years old.  For some reason, this last few months it has been bothering me.  That last training run that didn’t feel good, I did not use my medicine before the run and I was wheezing.  So, I used my meds before the marathon and once during and it helped me breath a little easier.  The last lung capacity test I took showed that I used 70% of my lung capability, so for me using an inhaler just brings me to almost normal lung capacity.  Anyhow, LOTS of people passed me but I knew right where I supposed to be.  Heart Rate needed to be at 135-140 and I did that knowing it would help me the last few miles.  A few minutes into the run I knew I was going to have to use a bathroom.  There was no place to sneak off into the bushes on this course!  Every aid station had porta potties but they all had lines and it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t wait for a bathroom without a line.  Finally, around mile 8 there was an aid station at the fire house where there wasn’t a line.  So into the bathroom I went, did my thing, and headed back out to run feeling much more comfortable.  From that point I was actually racing.

I put my tunes in, took off my jacket, and started picking people off.  No one passed me from that point on.  Not one person.  I was amazed that I was racing.  It was very exciting to me to be having these feelings of competition.  Last year at Rage was the first time I discovered that sense of competition.  I really did not expect it for the marathon and was quite excited to have it rear its head so early in the season. I would see someone in front of me and just put my head down, stay within myself and catch up.  From there I would take inventory for a quick second:  Should I stay on this person’s shoulder or should I keep going?  Every time I kept going.  One after the other after the other.  Big hill mile 18-19.  Run up the hill-you are strong on the hills girl. Everyone is walking.  Pass em up.  I just kept going and going and going.  I was working, but keeping my heart rate down, staying in control never crossing that I’m going to die line and just fascinating myself.  I really have to take moments like these and think about how cool it is that I can go out and run a marathon without really training.  While it is not the most ideal circumstance and I don’t recommend it, it is cool to know I have enough fitness to get me through a marathon.  This leaves me feeling like I am well on my way to Louisville.

The last nine miles were tough.  I broke them up into three 5K’s.  While I was not fast by any stretch of the imagination the only time I walked was when I took on fuel.  Running strong into the finish was pretty cool.  My perception of  26.2 miles is totally different than the first time I ran a marathon.  Having done multiple 30+ runs in the last year, finishing an Ironman, running rim to rim to rim at the Grand Canyon, running the Catalina 50 mile race, and having a 17 hour training day have really done great things for my mind and body.  While I know not everyone wishes to do these types of endurance events,  they have given me confidence.  However, the coolest thing about the entire day was when I finished Steve was there with a huge smile on his face!  Not only was I proud of myself, but he was proud of me too.  A few times during the run when I wanted to slow down or walk I thought of the people who have been behind me this past year and it helped me feel like I was giving something back to them.    There is nothing in the world I would trade for the friendships I have made, the relationship with my family, and for the man I am creating my ultimate partnership with.  These are the things that help keep me running!

Congratulations to:

David Hart: 3:05:21  3rd Overall Masters

Michelle Hart: 3:49:02   Qualified for Boston

Keith Negri:3:46:06 (Doing 50 races in his 50th year-Congrats dude!)

John Murtaugh:4:10:51 ( One of my favorite people to see come get me at the end of a long day)

Steve Rogers: 4:17:13 (first marathon in 10 years!!)

Doreen DeRoss: 5:20:51 (Getting ready for Ironman Louisville)