OKC Marathon

Not sure if I've been procrastinating, or really just that busy, but I haven't blogged about anything in quite a while!
So, OKC Marathon - ah, not what I was hoping for at all. But, after almost 4 weeks (really??? - didn't know it had been that long - dang!!) I have come to terms with the fact that we all have bad days and sometimes Mother Nature is against us. :-)
The weekend started out great - Brady & I headed to OKC after work on Friday, met up with my pal from college Richelle & her husband Eric and one of Brady's good friends from college, Michael and had dinner. It was good times, but we said goodnight early to Richelle & Eric since they were heading on to Vegas early the next AM. Then it was just B, M & I and we went to look at a bike B had found on Craig's list then back to M's and watched Flash Gordon (yes, we seriously did this!).

Saturday we got up, had breakfast then went and looked at another bike that B was interested in - so interested in that he bought it - such a nice bike! Then, we got on the bikes and rode to the expo for packet pick-up. I had missed the deadline for online registration so I was doing it that day. We got there and saw the signs that said 1/2 marathon full & that you had to have vouchers to run the full??? I didn't know what this meant so we hurried back to where you registered and luckily I was able to get in, but this meant that Brooke & Debbie, who were on their way, would not be able to register for the 1/2! :-(
It worked out better for me in a way - since Brooke wasn't running she ended up deciding to ride my bike with me - more on this later.

So, it was going to be Don & I running the full and Scott & Robert running the 1/2. No worries. We all met up for dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill at 6:30 - so we'd all have plenty of time to prepare and sleep before the big run. Service was terrible - not just a little either - really, really terrible. We sat for 15 minutes before we got water and only then b/c Scott went and asked, but I won't go into all that! I had my ususal - spaghetti & meatballs and a glass of wine. Thought everything was good and we headed back to M's house. B & M dropped me off to get ready and they went to the store. I went in to shower and all of a sudden felt funny - let's just say dinner did not stay down. :-( Luckily, it seemed to be short lived - I felt fine right afterwards so I continued to get ready. B & M got back and we all went to bed to prepare for the early morning.

I had plans to stay with Robert & Scott since they were planning to run a 2 hour 1/2 - this worked until about mile 5 and I looked back and they weren't there. Brooke was going to meet up with me around mile 4 or 5 but b/c of congestion (there were so many people there) she couldn't. Also b/c of congestion I went without stopping (b/c it would have literally been stopping and waiting) for water until mile 6 (not good on hot day I would find out). So, she ended up catching up with me around mile 7 maybe. I was feeling ok then so she went to check on Don.

Fast forward a bit - day gets hotter and we end up at the lake with the wind - I started to come apart. It was so sad because my 1/2 was 2:01 I think - not too far off where I wanted to be. Coming off the lake we had a 24 mph head wind and I was nauseous. It got so hot compared to normal training, I tried to catch up with fluids, but it just wasn't working. I tried to eat, but it made me feel sick. I slowed down - a LOT!! Brooke helped me, but once I knew I wasn't going to make my goal it was hard to push myself through the pain & fatigue I was having. I eeeked it in at 4:30. Such a hard day, but I was happy to have my friends there at the end.
I ended up hearing that lots of people had hard days, but it doesn't really make you feel better. You just can't always have a good day and that's that. Mental notes for Chicago - drink fluids at all stops even if it means sacraficing a little time in the beginning - it may pay off in the end - oh, and don't eat at Macaroni Grill ;-).

I just can't lose sight of the fact that I finished another one - number 6 - I didn't give up - didn't finish where I wanted, but sometimes that's OK. I have to feel good about making it through something that most people will never do.