Marathon Post #3

The good times we knew
I'd tell you about them baby
But you were there, you were with me, too
-Tom Cochrane

I felt strong through about mile 19.  At that point I was really tired.  And my legs were really, really tired.  But this was OK.  I knew that there would be some pain, I just didn’t want to have anything like heat exhaustion (thank you, San Diego, 64 degrees was perfect), or have one of my internal organs explode.  So I continued on and entered the “deal-making” section of the race.  If I run 200 steps, then I can walk 100.  Etc.  Then came the highway.  Around mile 20 the route was uphill along the highway.  For as far as the eye could see.  And then again.  And again.  I stuck to the plan (twist my arm) and walked the uphill.

At some point after the highway, I went passed a medic tent where they had tongue depressors with a glob of something on them.  Luckily I heard someone say it was Vaseline.  Miles before, when I had passed the previous station of this kind, I had no idea what they were passing out.  I thought it was some sort of bulk food.  I was OK, since I never take food unless I can identify it, but I’m pretty sure if you take a tongue depressor from a medic and then eat the Vaseline off of it, they pull you off the course.  Or else you pull yourself off the course.  Anyway, it reminded me of The Flaming Lips song “She Don’t Use Jelly” about this girl who puts Vaseline on toast.  And a guy who blows his nose in magazines.  For a short moment, it made me laugh.

I struggled in these miles in the 20’s, which is not surprising, since they were an entirely new experience for me.  Somewhere after mile marker 25, I started my finishing kick.  By that, I mean that I knew that I had to finish this thing running and even though my feet hurt and my knees weren’t really interested in bending, I found a way to run.  It was a mostly straight-legged run, but I ran the rest of the way in.  Marathon completed.  Liver still functioning.  All goals accomplished.

Today I was driving and I had the thought “I can’t believe I really ran a marathon.”  So glad I did this.  But now I’m done.  I’m not doing another marathon.  The 26.2 brings my yearly total up to 297.  And now it is time to rest.  But first we should review what we learned

• Marathons are possible
• Apple is out to get me and makes sure that their products malfunction whenever I need them most
• If you are in line for a port-a-john and the National Anthem starts playing – it isn’t disrespectful to go pee when it’s your turn
• It is possible to carbo-overload
• Just because something is on a stick doesn’t mean it is a popsicle