Well this was my third attempt to get a better time. I traveled to Tucson and met my new friend Jack at the airport. Jack was aiming for a BQ. He came close at the NYC marathon by 10 minutes. We went to the pre-race Expo and I finally Met Lisa Batchen-Smith in person. I was going to meet her when she was in Colorado running because Marshall Ulrich told me she was going to be running here. So I asked her if she had ever finished a race last and she said once when a scorpion stung her. Not exactly what I meant but still an amazing story. We ate early and skipped the pre-race talk in order to wake up very early in order to catch the bus.
Jack is an ultra runner. He has had some amazing experiences including Mont Blanc, Copper canyon, Hardrock, Leadville and Wasatch 100 to name a few.
Pam Reed the, race director, let me start the race early. It was fun to do that but did have some drawbacks. I let a person with a clipboard know I would be starting early and she wrote my time down. I ended up starting a few minutes after that because I could not find the right bus to drop my bag. I started out in the dark. The desert is so beautiful before the sun comes up and stirs something up inside me that primal and instinctual. For a while I was the front-runner. That felt all right!!!!! One guy I met started early because he had burns on70% of his body and therefore he only sweat out of 30% of his body so he starts races early to avoid the sun and over heating. I was paying close attention to my form because I have been working with a form coach for a little while now. I can definitely feel a difference between good and bad form and I go back and forth and in and out of awareness about it during a race.
Two front-runners finally passed me. They were moving so fluidly and it was beautiful to see. Soon the pace groups were passing me. I saw all shapes and sizes of people some moving with a relaxed and easy gait and some kind of schlepping and forcing their way though. Still, most of the runners were passing me. This is the trouble with starting early, lots of people pass you and it takes me down a little with each passerby. I considered that the cumulative effects of running my third marathon in 43 days might be catching up with me but only for a second because I can’t dwell on the negative during a race. A few negative messages roll though my head even some from people who are supposed to be supportive. Like, your not supposed to run that much, you are over training, you will get hurt, blah blah blah. All from well meaning people who have no idea that these messages are not helpful and that I’m mentally throwing them in a trash can. I run a different kind of way. I’m slower and steady but I recover very quickly and feel pretty energetic even after a race. Surprisingly, I feel very focused when running. Typically I have the attention span of a piss ant but running takes me somewhere else where I can focus. I am starting to feel my way through and although I was not 100% like I felt the last two, I felt pretty good. We went though a town called Oracle and past the Biosphere. I started to develop a blister that I’m thinking might be from the way my shoes were laced but I’ll experiment with various socks to figure that out later. I saw a person pass me who had one working arm and one that looked atrophic and floppy and slightly wilted. There was evenness about the way he was running in spite of this. I finally reached the finish and by that time my friend Jack is gone and I don’t really know anyone but take the bus to the hotel. I enjoy some food at the bar and met a guy who quits drinking every 7 years for a year just to prove he can and he had just run his first marathon. His time was 4 hours and some change. Darn good if you ask me. His first race was on Oceans shores in WA this is also where my dad lives.
I went to bed early and in the morning sat in the hot tub got ready and hopped on the bus for downtown. I was proud of my self for being so resourceful. Oh yes and I popped the blister with my race bib pin because I couldn’t walk. Don’t worry I licked it first!!! It healed fast. Now …..up next a 50K!!!!
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