Jeff ran his first ever marathon this weekend-- the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon. There were 25,000 people in the race (17,000 in the half marathon), and Jeff got 106th place! Go Husband, GO! We drove up to Seattle (4 1/2 hrs) on Thursday and stayed with my family. I asked Jeff to write about the marathon since we only saw him twice in the 3 hours 11 minutes 54 seconds that he was running. When I asked him to write this, I wasn't expecting the attention to detail he wrote...here's his story:
If you don't care about details, skip ahead to the photos, each one is worth at least a thousand words. I decided to run a marathon back in January while recovering from the hot chocolate/foot instance and started training in February once my foot healed. I was kind of disgusted with how poorly I was running at first, but training came along well and by the beginning of May, I was rather fit and feeling good about my goal of running in the 2:40 range. About the time Jay was born I developed a knee injury that kept me from running (which, weirdly , I managed to correct by running barefoot at the outdoor sports complex at WWU) consistently until two weeks before the marathon. In fact, the week before the marathon I ran a twelve miler which was slow and felt horrible. I then decided that my new goal was to finish and hopefully qualify for Boston (3:10). I thought I would open with a few 7 minute miles and see how I felt after that.
Once I got on the starting line, I made my first mistake. I threw out all of my plans and decided to run by feel. What does that mean? It means averaging nearly 6:30 miles, including a bathroom break, over the first 12 miles. I was actually feeling really good, but suddenly I felt a sharp pain on one of my toes. First I took off my shoes and walked bitterly. Then I started jogging shoeless, bitterly. Then I put the shoes on and tried jogging again, bitterly. Next, I took the shoes off and walked bitterly. Then I had a eureka moment; I took off my socks, put my shoes on, and started running, exuberantly. I was so happy that I could keep running after that ordeal that I ran the 13th mile in 5:33.
I settled down a little bit after that, but the damage was done. I bonked at 18 miles, coming to screeching halt and feeling like my body was throwing a coup against me. For the last 8 miles my goal was simple: survive. I walked about a mile until the crowd got to me and I started jogging again. I came to a water station and walked through, taking two cups of sports drink and dowsing myself with a few cups of ice water. I repeated this cycle of jogging and water station breaks and eventually found myself running 7:10 miles even with the walking. My body was hurting and I just wanted the finish line to appear faster. That moment came 3:11.54 after I started the race.
Considering the enormous tactical errors and training issues, I am actually happy with the time even though I had not met most of my goals. I already want to run another one, mostly to redeem myself.
Well, there you have it, folks! and now, on to...
THE PICTURES:
Dad and I dropped Jeff off at the exit closest to the start line around 6:30am
Freezing fans (Dad and moi)-- it was a gorgeous day for a run, but the wind and shade were ICY for us spectators! Watching all this running was so tantalizing! Dad and I caught the magic of the marathon and agreed to do the half marathon together next year
We kept Jay bundled and covered with the stroller canopy-- there was only one tiny gap on each side. He slept almost the whole time!
More of the fan club-- Grama Meri graciously sat with Jay while I watched for Jeff at the finish line: Kim-sa, Mel, Jay, and Mom
Mel and her friend Kim-Sa (did I spell that right?)
at last Jeff appeared!
It was really hard to cheer and get finishing photos--Jeff is under the yellow arch (the dude in the foreground is on the half marathon finish)
Exiting the chute--shoes off already!
Icing painful feet
He was too wet to hug with my white shirt, so a small kiss on the cheek had to suffice
More fans: Jeff's parentals
