Road to the Canton Marathon: If It Could Go Wrong, It Did Go Wrong

I apologize in advance for the length of this post but if it could go wrong, it did go wrong so I have quite a bit to tell!  I have been gearing up for my last "long" run in marathon training with much anticipation and nervousness.  Even though almost every sane and sound training plan under the sun says that you "only" have to train to 20 miles if you are not concerned with your finish time, I just could not only train to 20 miles.  I had to do 24 miles.  I could not trust that if I ran 20, I could go 6.2 miles farther during the actual event.

The night before the run, I could not sleep.  I was a bundle of adrenaline fueled nerves.  After contemplating getting up at 2am and just going for the run (my sleep deprived brain was able to surmise that would have been a bad idea), I finally got somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 hours of sleep (Preview of the night before the marathon? Probably.).  I did at one point set my alarm for 30 minutes later than I had intended to get up in the hopes that extra 30 minutes would refresh me.

After taking a near panic inducing drive of the marathon route about a week ago (there are a lot of hills!!!), the plan for this run was to actually run a decent amount of the actual course (almost 12 miles of it to be exact). I had given my husband (who still may not be completely convinced I am running a marathon.  I think he thinks I run about a mile away, find a nice restaurant/bar, sit around a have a few drinks with friends, and then run home really fast so I appear sweaty and exhausted!) instructions the night before because I was going to be dropping my car off in one location and would need him to meet me somewhere on the course route to refuel me with fresh water bottles and snacks.

After a very groggy prep ritual, I set out to drive to my start location.  Looking down at the seat next to me, I forgot to leave one of my water bottles on the front porch so I could pick it up as I ran past my house (about 6 miles from where I was starting) and exchange it for one of the empty bottles on my fuel belt.  Fail #1.  A brilliant idea came to me to plant it along the route so I could pick it up and not have to carry it the whole way to my house.  Water bottle left at a random location on Market Ave.  Check.  Problem solved.

Pulled into the parking lot where I was leaving my car and looked down to realize I had my husband's keys (aka the ONLY set of keys to his car).  Fail #2.  I started to drive back home to switch keys when I realized I could just carry the keys and leave them at home with water bottle mentioned above. Problem solved again.

The Market Ave portion of the course was not as bad as I thought it would be and I even made some friends along the way (of course they were a quarter of a mile ahead of me and didn't know I existed behind them but their presence was very comforting and so I just know we would have been friends if I could have caught up to them).  I was cruising along the route faster than I thought I would be and everything was going okay.  Then...

I had to go to the bathroom and I mean GO to the bathroom.  I never have to stop to go to the bathroom.  Fail #3.  I had to evaluate my location and realized I was well under a half mile to a gas station.  Frustrated at this point because the run was going so well and my legs felt good because I had to walk so I could make it to the gas station to GO to the bathroom.  Okay, bathroom break over and setting out again. 

Running on busy roads is very nerve wracking.  I tend to speed up so I can get off of them sooner but this was to be my ultimate downfall.  I was going way too fast for a training run.  I did make a real friend along the way, a very nice woman who passed me, asked me where I was parked, and wished me luck and told me to be careful on these busy roads. I reached my turn around point and was heading back to home where I was going to end and then drive later to pick up my car.  I was about 17 1/2 miles into my 24 mile run when I just did not feel quite right.  I took in some extra water (thank you husband for supplying me with some extra bottles) and thought I could tough it out.  Hmmmmm....

Then, right around 19 miles (and in the middle of the Hall of Fame Bridge) I bonked.  I hit the wall.  I was going to pass out!!!  Epic fail #4.  I felt dizzy and light-headed and realized I had to stop.  I tried leaning against the side and then walking a little.  It was very cool up on the bridge which helped because I think the heat had something to do with what I was experiencing but I could not take it, I had to sit down so I popped a squat right on the bridge.  After taking more water and cooling off for a few minutes, the strange looks from passers by made me realize someone might get worried about the woman sitting on the bridge, so I pushed myself up and onward.  I walked to another gas station to fill my water bottles and splash water on my face.

I quickly came to the realization I was not going to be able to run much of the 5 miles I thought I had left so I resigned myself to a fast paced walk home. I could have called my husband to come get me but he was at my son's baseball game and I really didn't want to call him away from it. After several miles of walking, I was able to do a run/walk combo but very slowly.  I hit 23 miles just before I reached my house and had to admit to myself that going that last mile to get me to 24 was probably a really bad idea.  Final fail #5. I stumbled up our drive and dove into the arms of my family who helped me get fueled and fixed up.  I am so grateful for their understanding and patience with me. 

So, while this did not go as planned at all, I am kind of "glad" that it happened during training.  If I had bonked like this in the actual event, I don't know how I would have reacted.  I now have intimate knowledge of how I will handle hitting the wall and know that if absolutely necessary, in order to cross that finish line, I could have walked the last miles.  If I bonk during the marathon, I will not meet my goal of a 5 hour finish but I know I can push myself to finish and that is why I don't feel like an epic failure but just a runner who has learned a LOT from an epic failure of a training run. 

Now, wonder how many days until I can walk normally again!!