Okay - we are back safe to Wellington. What an amazing week! I fixed the videos from my last post - so you should be able to view them now.
Here is my marathon reflection. Forgive me for the wordiness, I just need to proces it all...
I have a really unfortunate habit of falling down about once a year. It usually happens on really sunny days when there are no obstructions in my path and for really no reason at all except shear klutziness... I guess I was due, because on Friday afternoon, right before picking up my race packet, I fell hard into a ditch/drain thingy on the side of the road. It hurt, but I couldn't tell if it was an "ow! I skinned my knee that really hurt" or an "ow! I messed up important knee tendon/sinew thingys and it really hurts." I kept thinking it would get better, but after a sleepless night because of throbbing pain, I decided at 5:30am not to run the marathon. I was so bummed out! I wasn't really sad about all the training being "in vain" - I actually loved my training runs around the Wellington (and the MN and FL training - thank you Hugh, Rachel and Eric!). At the end of the day, I didn't want to face all of the people I had told I was going to run the marathon - the thought just sounded excrutiating. I have a theory that was proven correct in this incident. If I tell a million people that I will do something, I will be motivated to finish it and held accountable to my training and the actual race. I am not sure if that is pride, but it was seriously effective. It's funny but I most dreaded facing Ken the mailman at the embassy on Monday... weird...
In addition to my pride, a huge factor in running the race was that Jason sent a text from my phone on Friday night asking people to pray for my knee. Although my knee was still tender, at 540am I couldn't fall back asleep and I decided to just go to the race start and see how far I could go. My ride to the marathon shuttles was a doctor (for vasectomies so maybe a little different) and assured me I wouldn't do permanent damage to me knee if I ran.
Amazingly it didn't hurt the entire marathon run - Praise God!
The weather was PERFECT for the first 20 miles of the run with temperatures in the 60s and partly cloudy skies in the gorge. The marathon is touted as New Zealand's most scenic athletic event and it was really beautiful. I met some interesting people along the way - some really crazy intense runners. One guy was running his third marathon weekend in a row and was trying to complete 100 marathons (he was at 87). Another gentleman about 60 years old or so seemed to run with a limp, he confessed that he hadn't had feeling in his left foot for weeks, but he said it was just mind over matter. He talked about his passion for running but was wondering if his body was starting to give out. I internet-stalked him and found
this article written about him. Here is another American runner in the race who was written up in the
NY Times a few years ago - he had completed 562 marathons in this dated article (and we actually ran Boston Marathon "together" in April 2002). I found myself admiring these runners, but more so I wanted to ask how many hours do they devote to the solitary sport? Do they have families? Other hobbies? The older gentleman said we were born to run (agree!) and that was all that we were created to do (disagree - we were created for SO MUCH MORE!) It made me kind of sad to see these runners pouring their entire life and being into the addiction of long distance running. Again, I'm thankful for my
parents' for demonstrating balance with running (and athletics). I can absolutely understand the temptation to go a little overboard.
One of my biggest fears about the run was the hilly course. The only review of the course I'd read was from an elite runner in Salt Lake City who scoffed at the "hilly course." I'm a Great Plains kind of girl, and the top graph is a terrain profile of my training over the past few months.
The bottom graph is the Buller Gorge Marathon profile. I thought surely all
those little spiky things couldn't truly be hills - it must be some
mistake. They were all hills - undulating in most places but pronounced
in others. The first 20 miles were great, but the last 6 were really,
really, really challenging. Because I dismissed the "official race
elevation profile" -- I didn't really take seriously those last hills.
They really weren't that bad, but I just wasn't mentally prepared for
for them I guess.
I'm so thankful I was able to finish it (even if it entailed some walking at the end), I probably won't do the full marathon at Buller Gorge again. For starters they ran out of water for the final 10 miles. I kept chugging the powerade but my stomach started to cramp up. Most of the runners (I realized after the run) were 1/2 marathoners, walkers and relay runners. The teeny-tiny group of 200 full marathon runners comprised only 10% of the total race participants. Everyone started at the same time, so the water was gone by the time the marathon runners came through. The course was also closed to spectators and supporters. That being said, the marathon relay that was being run concurrently with the marathon, had support vehicles that cheered and helped out their respective relay team. Jason asked after the marathon why people cheered for the yellow race bibs (relay) and not the blue bibs (marathon). It was almost comical the way no one was cheering for the full marathon runners - maybe it's a Kiwi thing??? I guess I'm just an American loving the loud energy from the spectators at the Marine Corps, Boston, Disney World - basically every other race I've done in the US... Jason said the whole town was out cheering for the 1/2 marathon runners
and the walkers - that there was SO MUCH energy in the town of Westport. They even
bused in a bunch of old folks from a retirement home outside the city
and they cheered for the other runners. I missed it!
As I made it toward the finish line, the last 1-2 km, I was dodging people smoking and eating lunch outside in town, and I was trying to figure out where exactly was the finish line. There was an older man in a bright orange vest who was lounging on a chair talking to people and looked up at me and pointed toward the finish line turn. Coming through the finish line, there were about 20 people watching (not cheering). I turned in my "racing chip" only to find out later they didn't use the
racing mats for the marathon (I'm not sure why we got the chip???), They gave out water (yay!) and powerade (bleh!) at the end, but nothing else. No bananas, apples, bagels, mylar blankets... It was weird. It was very weird.
Final reason I likely won't do it again. This year's shirt:
I don't want to be negative - overall INCREDIBLE experience!!! The Lord was so kind to give me health and allow me to run in the race! This is just a good reminder for me in case I get the itch to do it next year. The half would be WAY MORE FUN!
