Remember "All in the Family?" Remember the episode in which Michael and Gloria had their baby? Michael was so excited during the birth, he could hardly contain himself. When Gloria finally finished pushing out little Joey, Michael was dancing up and down, enthusing, "That was wonderful! That was so wonderful! Oh, Gloria, when do you want to have another one?"
Gloria shot him a baleful look and said, "Not now, Michael, I have a headache."
That's how I feel now after finishing (yes, I finished) the Vermont City Marathon today. My hips and low back (sacrum and coccys) hurt so much I felt like I was having back labor. Except I've never had back labor, which is probably worse.
I don't want to think about Boston. I don't want to think about an ultra. I don't want to think about running at all.
I feel like maybe I'd just gone through my umteenth labor (my 23rd, I guess, since this was my 23rd marathon), and after maybe 28 hours of hard fruitless labor had a c-section delivering my 23rd son, and now I'm in bed on pain medicines that don't work and my husband says, "So do you want to try again for a girl?"
I don't want to try again for a girl. Not now. Maybe not ever.
I ran the last 10 miles or more with a wonderful lady named Elisha, running her first-ever marathon, at age 38, and she kept saying, "I can't believe I'm really doing this, I can't believe it's finally here." She talked and talked and talked. We were having about the same desire to run and walk so we stayed together. She was about the only redeeming feature of my last 10 miles. She kept me going. Thank you, Elisha, if you read this! You rock! And congratulations!
Then I hopped into my truck and drove 4 hours home to New Hampshire.
As for my time.... remember I walked a lot. I was hurting. s. bad. 5:22. Not my slowest ever but one of the bottom 4.
Except..... it hurt a lot and I stuck it out for over 5 hours. That's gotta count for something.
Don't ask me about Boston. I don't want to think about it.
I want to think about hiking. Not running.
After I go to bed for about 10 hours.
11 comments:
Good Job Ellie!!!!! I think you did great!!! Considering the longest run was what? 18 miles, I think you did amazing. My 2 marathons, for which I was fully trained, were both much longer than that so Congrats!!!
You were undertrained, so just finishing was an accomplishment. Congrats! And you'll feel better soon. :-)
You're a stud. You helped a maratho newbie to a strong finish and drove 4 hours home afterwords? Stud.
Great job fighting the discomfort and finishing. Cool that you could help a newbie finish (or she could help you ;-) How can you drive for 4 hours after that, I would cramp up and probably crash.
Congrats Ellie!!!
One more down in your 50 states quest, you made Elisha's day, and you finished, YOU FINISHED despite being under-trained and injured. (Note: I would be in a world of hurt if I ever sat in a car for 4 hours after running any marathon. You are incredible!)
Now, take a break from running. It definitely sounds like you need it. Happy Hiking :-)
Well congrats on finishing! I've had back labor so I know how it feels, and it is a lot like the pain you describe. Hopefully, your back will heal up within a week or so and you will again be thinking of running.
I had a similar feeling after my last marathon, which also was one of my worst times too. Congratulations on finishing, and good luck healing.
Congrats! You did GREAT even if you don't think so, I DO!
Way to get it done, Ellie! You'd had such a rough time leading up to this, and it took a lot of mental dedication to keep going. Congrats!
Ellie --- another one for the books. Did you cross off a state? Some are good some are bad and some are blah. Some, all three. :-)
I have not been following your training super closely, but if you were indeed undertrained, I guess that's a reminder at our age we can't do undertrained marathons as easily as we could 10 years ago.
10 years ago a single LTR of 18 miles would have got me somewhere around 4:15 - 4:20. Now, it would get me about what you got.
Recover, refresh... Heidi
WOOHOO, congrats on your 23rd Marathon. How many people can say they did 23?
Well done and you earned yourself that rest!
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