OUCH! Another Painful Grandma's

Discussing this race is easy to do, I just don't know where to start. Yesterday I had mixed emotions and I knew sleeping on it for one night would change my perspective greatly. Just a quick recap of the day before I start to share my Grandma's experience. The weatherchannel.com and local news channels said a storm front would go through our area over the night hours and leave the race morning with overcast cool (55 degree) and a N/NE wind of 6-8 mph. I held on to this information and was still hoping to see it as the gun went off. It was sunny, 65 degrees and no wind to speak of at the start. A great day for spectating. Race temps at the 3:00 mark at the finish were 80+ degrees. That is the technical data. What follows is my experience and the events that unfolded at Grandma's 2007.

Standing near the start of the race I told my wife Kari, "I get concerned when I am standing at the start of Grandma's in shorts and a tee." In years past when racing has been good, you usually have pants, long sleeves, gloves, and possibly a winter hat. That hasn't been the case for a couple of years now. I was still optimistic of this weather change that was supposed to happen, with the tailwind and all. Last years conditions were very similar but a bit more humid and I raced quite well using my fluids, gels, and electrolyte tabs so I had a lot of confidence that if I repeated the routine I would finish well. Once I got into the starting corral I had a sense of feeling like a packed sardine out in the sun. Looking around I noticed a large number of seeded runners who were in town chasing the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. Not me though, I was looking for a solid race that would get me to the finish around 2:36 or so. The gun went off and for the first 200 meters all I did was concentrate on not tripping myself or others as we all settled into our perspective paces. The first mile felt easy and relaxed but was a bit quick, a 5:38. It took me four miles to settle into the prerace pace I had planned and all was going well. I took fluid at every aid station and carried a 20 oz. bottle of Gu2O mixed with a little extra salt. At the 5th mile I got a 16 oz. bottle mixed with the same and drank it over the next 1/2 mile. I had this urge to pee and it wasn't going away so I took care of my business during the 9th mile and managed a 6:12. The only concern I had up to this point was my right Achilles. It was sore starting at the 6th mile but wasn't hindering my stride. At this point it was noticeable but not concerning yet. I did notice on my quicker miles that it hurt much less so maybe I should have run faster!? As I went through the half way mark (1:18:14) I knew I could repeat that effort and possibly pick up the pace after 22 miles and get the goal time. A pattern exists in the marathon where you settle into a pace during the first half and little changes in regards to your overall place. Once in a while a person drops out, or you might get passed during a water station, but what happens after the 1/2 way point is almost story book. At 15 miles, I started passing people hand over fist. Between 15 and 19 I bet I passed 10 or 15 runners and got passed by one. Starting at 21 I started to get the familiar feeling that something wasn't quite right. My legs felt tired but the kind of tired where you know you can push and keep the pace going. What wasn't right was my stomach. I could feel and hear my stomach "slooshing" and my gel at 19.5 didn't make it down. (I spit it out of my mouth) I pushed on and kept trying to sip my bottle but each time I did, I had the urge to puke! I thought, "if I can keep this pace and not drink, maybe, just maybe I can salvage a decent race." My last bottle pick up was at 23 miles. This was another 16 oz. throw bottle with the same Gu2O mixture. I opened the bottle and gave it my best effort to get some down, only to yak it up on the yellow line on London Road. Feeling like absolute shit, I was doing this and maintaining 6:30-6:40 mile pace. The finish line was the only thing on my mind. I took water at 24, 25 and poured it over my head and attempting to sip a little as well. Even the sips made me wretch and gag. I slowed quite a bit over last three miles but I wanted to finish and call it a day. Plus, this was the quickest way to the med tent. I have needed IV fluids in the past and didn't get them, so I knew where I was headed after the finish line mat. I crossed the line (2:45:36) and made my way to the med tent and asked for an IV. After some interview questions, vitals: pulse 60, BP 94/48, and a sodium level of 130, an IV line was attempted. It took four attempts to get a line and then I received one liter of fluid. I had 40 oz. of water after that, 16 oz. of tomato juice, a bag of sour cream onion chips, three or four nacho chips and I was still feeling ill. We decided to go home and I took in several palm-filled licks of salt and a couple glassed of water and finally I was feeling better. Some 4 1/2 hours after I finished life was finally getting better.

The end result I am not happy with, but I am happy I finished and didn't injure anything trying. Without the dehydration issues, something I have always battled in a marathon, I would have PR'd and finished near 2:38-2:39 even with the slowing miles at the end. The 24 weeks leading up to this race have been challenging and fun. No more marathons for 2007. I may consider a winter marathon, possibly Houston, and then evaluate next year for my quest for the 2:29 marathon. For now it is time to recover, and change gears and do shorter faster events all summer and early fall.

That's my 2007 Grandma's Marathon experience. Here are my splits:
Mile 1: 5:38
" 2: 5:49
" 3: 5:52
" 4: 6:03
" 5: 6:03
" 6: 6:03
" 7: -
" 8: 12:04
" 9: 6:12 (pee break)
" 10 5:45 (downhill)
" 11: 6:04
" 12: 5:55
" 13: 6:05
" 14: 5:56
" 15: 6:04
" 16: 6:01
" 17: 6:01
" 18: 6:01
" 19: 5:58
" 20: 6:08
" 21: 6:12
" 22: 6:18
" 23: 6:45 (oh shit!)
" 24: 7:45
" 25: 7:56
" 26: 9:19 (walked a bit)
1:32 last .2
finish 2:45:36