Well, I can officially cross “run a marathon” off the ol’ bucket list.
I ran the Eugene marathon yesterday morning.
I know. I can’t believe it either.
Eugene brought out the best running weather we could have asked for. After a week of beautifully warm, sunny days, I was a little nervous that it would be too hot, but it ended up being a little cloudy, dry, and between 50 and 60 degrees. Perfect. What wasn’t perfect? The complete lack of bathrooms before the start of the race, which led to a long line of runners waiting to pee at the first bathroom stop about 1.5 miles into the run.
Eric and I mapped out where he would come visit me along the race course (miles 7, 18, and 23). And my sweet-as-all-get-out husband surprise visited me at mile 14 too! I can’t tell you how much it helped to see a smiling face along the route (thanks to Megan and Jordan for coming out to cheer me along too!). I got a little extra burst of energy each time I saw them.
The race course was relatively flat, which these non-hill-running legs appreciated. I’d say I was feeling pretty darn good until somewhere between miles 18 and 20. After that, I was just looking forward to water stations so that I could rehydrate and walk while I drank my water. I think I nursed that water cup a little longer with each passing water station, trying to prolong the amount of time I could let myself walk. And by the end, each time I started running again, I was shocked at how slowly my legs were moving. Is this seriously how slow I run now? Yes. It was exhausting.
Luckily, the marathon course was beautiful, passing through lots of parks and running right alongside the Willamette River, so that provided a nice distraction. Honestly, the first 2 hours of the run flew by. But the last 3.2 miles or so felt like they lasted hours and hours.
The highlights of the race?
-A band of kids playing “Eye of the Tiger” on ukeleles, followed a few minutes later by a man playing his accordion in the street.
-A little boy running alongside us on the biggest hill, yelling, “Go, Mommy, go!” It was so adorable.
-All of the “You’re all Kenyans to us” signs in the crowd.
-Our bibs had our names printed on them, so lots of strangers would cheer us on (by name) as we ran. I don’t know if it was just a result of being really exhausted, but it made me a little emotional. It was just so beautiful to see all of these people coming together and cheering one another on. Cheesy, I know.
-Chocolate milk at the finish line. So, so good.
And the worst parts of the race?
-Getting really hungry and wishing someone would just hand me a sandwich instead of those silly energy gels.
-My shorts rubbing against my inner thighs. It would be far more convenient to run marathons if my legs were skinny enough that they never touched one another. This has had the embarrassing effect of making me waddle like a duck when walking today, in an attempt to keep my legs at a safe distance.
-Running downwind of particularly smelly people. I suppose the upside of this was that it made me run a little faster to pass them.
The race ended in Hayward Field, which is where they held the 2012 USA Olympic track trials. So it’s kind of a big deal in the running world, I suppose. And that cushy track felt really nice on my feet after 26 miles of pavement.
So what am I looking forward to now? Eating ice cream. I made myself avoid ice cream for the past month or so, partly because I’m a little lactose intolerant, and partly because I think it kills my running for a few days. So we celebrated the end of this non-ice cream season with some yummy Ben and Jerry’s last night. I’m also looking forward to losing some of this marathon leg muscle, which has made all of my pants way too tight. When I started training, I didn’t expect running a marathon to make my clothes tighter (more cardio equals skinnier, right?), so I’m looking forward to fitting back into my formerly loose pants.
How I’m feeling the day after the race? Surprisingly good. I was halfway expecting to not be able to get out of bed this morning, but I’m much less miserable that I anticipated. I am having a pretty hard time going from standing to sitting, which is a little rough. I’ve also found that if I drop anything on the floor (which I seemed to do more than usual this morning), it takes quite an effort to bend down and pick it up. So I suppose my post-marathon feelings are pretty similar to those of a 90-year-old woman.
Will I run another marathon? Honestly, I’m not sure. As I was running the last 6 miles or so of yesterday’s race, I kept thinking, “I’ll never do this again. This is miserable.” But once I finished, I was a little more open to the idea. So, we’ll see. At this point, I’m just proud to say I finished my first marathon in 4 hours and 32 minutes!
-Ally
Megan Bloem says
Congrats Ally!! I sure hope you got yourself a new cookbook to celebrate!
I’m glad Eric got some photos on Hayward Field, I feel like I blacked out during that part because I had to go to the bathroom SOO BADLY that I just bolted through the finish line and didn’t stop until I got to the porta-potty. Jordan also couldn’t find the entrance to the stadium in time to see me finish so there is no proof that I ever actually ran there. Perhaps we’ll have to do the race again next year?
Also- did you see the guys dressed as gorillas handing out bananas around mile 8 or 9? I got so excited and wished we were near each other at that time to giggle.
AND I know what you mean about becoming irrationally emotional, when we were watching you around mile 23, there was a huge group of kids (ranging from infant up to teens) that were there with signs for their mom. When she came by and saw them all cheering she looked so happy that it got me all choked up! Then Jordan laughed at me.
ericandally says
Ah, man! I’m sad you missed Hayward Field. It was pretty cool. Plus, they called our names as we crossed the finish line!
And, yes, I loved the gorillas handing out bananas! I thought of you as I chuckled to myself. It made the rest of the gorilla mile markers a little lackluster, though.
My “Finish for Gwyneth” mantra totally worked. Her new cookbook should arrive on Wednesday! I’m sure we’ll be serving some Gwyneth dishes soon!
Betsy Ringer says
Oh goodness! I have tears just reading this!! I am so so incredibly proud of you and happy that you made it with no injury. What a HUGE HUGE accomplishment!! A gal in my Peer Mentoring group was just telling us last week about how because your name is on your bib people call out to you and it DOES get you going! I know it was fun for Eric to travel to different points to cheer you on! I LOVED doing that when he was in cross country. Gosh…there just isn’t anything like people cheering one another! I just love that!
Enjoy the ice cream for me!! This is such a fabulous thing to celebrate!!
Now…for the blog about the waterfall!!!
Big hugs to you!! Hip hip HOORAY!!
ericandally says
Thanks, Betsy! It feels so good to be finished!
Shelly says
I am so proud of you! I can’t wait to see your face (via Skype) to hear about it in person (in video).
ericandally says
Thanks, Shelly! Can’t wait to tell you all about it!
dailyfrancofile says
That is really awesome Ally! I have yet to tackle the marathon training and it scares me a bit! You should definitely be super duper proud! Congrats!
ericandally says
Thanks, Whitney! Marathon training was pretty overwhelming, but it feels pretty darn good to cross that off my to-do list!
Becca says
This is the post I’ve been waiting for! You rock. I’m going to do by 5k run with much more inspiration now.
ericandally says
Hahaha. Some inspiring music will be headed your way shortly!