Wow... So I am really delayed in writing about the Run for the Ranch marathon back in December. Prior to the marathon I ended up getting some kind of virus that made it very hard to eat the proper diet leading up the a marathon. My meals were way too light and almost non-existent on race day. The race was in the afternoon so I had to deal with eating on race day, which consisted of some peanut butter and honey toast which I struggled greatly in eating. I had to wash it down with water, my body did not want to eat.
The time leading up to the race was long and drug out and I wasn't feeling any better. I slurped on a gel packet about an hour before the race. I chatted with all of my friends and lined up for the start (sizing up the competition, as usual). When the race started I went out nice and easy to conserve my energy, I was looking for 7 minute miles. When I looked at my watch and saw it was longer than 7 minutes and still had not seen the mile marker I sped up. But slowed my pace once I realized that there were no mile markers on the course. I felt pretty good for the first few miles. It was a beautiful day!
People said I was still looking and my time was still close to my goal as I was approaching the 13.1 miles. But on the inside I was hurting alot! It wasn't that my muscles were tired or that I couldn't breathe. It was simply that I was sick and hadn't eating enough food. It was probably around mile six when i first started feeling faint and pale. Obviously I was still able to push for a bit longer to keep up a good pace, but it finally caught up to me and slowed me down alot! I tried to drink and consume gels every chance I got. But even this substance could not save me.
I can across the 13.1 behind my mark and from there everything went down hill. My face was as white as a ghost and it took everything I could to keep moving forward. In the beginning of the race I was cheering people on and having conversations, however, as the race progressed my ability to talk and sound enthusiastic was dramatically decreased.
As I was rounding the corner to the finish line, I mustered all I could and hit a "dead" sprint. From where that came.. I do not know! haha. When I crossed the finish line I was wobbling every which way and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. Alexis was trying to get me to come to her so I could lean on her but I was just not able to get to her. Her and my mom had to walk me inside. I was sicker than sick and paler than pale. I was finally starving but if I would have eaten right then I would have puked!
Lesson Learned from this race: running a marathon while sick and not eating... bad idea!
This race left me very sick! In fact I only ran twice between the race and New Years. I am still somewhat sick but unable to stay away from running, especially due to my Mission Miles (at least 1 mile everyday)