The Marathon!
By Pigglies
@Pigglies (9329)
United States
March 22, 2010 2:23pm CST
Well, I managed to somehow finish the marathon yesterday!
I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever, still had a fever in the morning. Then it went away before the start of the race, but I was wrapped in a blanket at the starting line.
I tried to stick with some people that were going to run around 5 hours (I remembered one of their numbers and he did take exactly 5 hours), but they were going too fast at the beginning for me. So for the most part I was running alone... well, as alone as you can be in a sea of people.
At mile 11 I took my first walk break. And by mile 16 I was walking considerably at each mile. By mile 20 I was just trying my best to run every so often. At the end I did manage to pick up the pace a bit otherwise I would have been picked up by the sweeper.
I managed to finish in 5 hours and 51 minutes. I don't think I want to do another marathon anytime soon. And if I do one again, I think I'd like to do it barefoot. My feet are so beat up and blistered! And I have blisters/open wounds under my armpits too (do not shave the day before a marathon).
3 people like this
7 responses
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
23 Mar 10
I am so proud of you! You finished! I Knew you could do it!I am so sorry you are in pain today! Get some rest. I am so proud of you!
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
23 Mar 10
No. The thing to do is , 1 make sure you don't get a fever the night before. 2, get you better shoes , and 3, get a sun block that is at least 45+ and sweat proof! I think if you hadn't had a fever , if you had the right shoes and sunblock, you would be sore but not in this much pain.Take your time getting back into things. I'm so proud of you . You finished. I hope when the pain eases you are proud of yourself. You are a Runner! It is official! Pigglies The Runner!
@pandaeyes (2065)
•
4 May 10
Oh well done on finishing.
I was wondering if you managed it but I didnt get any emails of your posts. Do they only mail the first 10 friends posts or something?
Anyway it sounds like you worked really hard at it.
I havent run in about a month. Just lost the inspiration for a while but hopefully will do a 20 minutes run tonight to get back to it.
Hope your feeling better now.
Did you see the Eddie Izzard marathon thing?
He is a comedian here who ran something like 43 marathons in 48 days for the sports relief charity.
@GardenGerty (160883)
• United States
23 Mar 10
It sounds rough, but you can be proud that you finished it. I think you need to concentrate on doing the kinds of events that you enjoy. I am impressed that even though you felt ill, you ran and finished the race.
@syndibee (799)
• United States
23 Mar 10
WOW!!!
Congrats on running your first marathon, and sick at that. I surely would have DNF'd my first if I were feverish.
I bet once you heal up and aren't sick anymore you will have to hold yourself back from another marathon. You will be DYING for that good experience.
I second the body glide. I have no advice on the shoes/barefoot thing for a marathon. If you do end up running another and want it barefoot be sure you do all your training barefoot. I know Barefoot Rick has run 50 BF marathons. He'll never put on a pair of shoes again for running. For me, I'm not there yet, though I'm not at marathon level yet either.
I am really impressed with your determination. A marathon is more about mind than running. You conquered it girl!!!!!! way to go!!
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
24 Mar 10
LOL, I don't know if I'll be dying for that "good experience" as it was more like having a root canal without novacaine and then being hit with a crow bar. But I am already thinking I'd like to run one again sometime.
I would definitely build up my feet considerably if I were to run a marathon barefoot. It's the only distance I would consider barefoot though as a race, because I run much much slower barefoot. I would try some shorter races barefoot first just to get a feel for racing barefoot, but the marathon is the only distance I think I could get a PR barefoot.
I think I probably won't have enough time to train for another marathon for at least a year or so, but that's okay. I'd like to improve some times on shorter distances. I'm doing a 5K with the group in May and I'd like to do that in sometime around 26 minutes. And I really want to do a 10K once I recover from this marathon, but I don't really see anything coming up soon.
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
13 Apr 10
Sorry, I been sort of out of touch! Congrats an finishing your first marathon!!!
The half I was going to do just won't happen until this fall. I have had to take some time off.. too much stress and not feeling well. I am back on track now. I do have a couple of 5K's scheduled over the next 3 weeks. I am looking forward to getting back to racing!! Congrats again!!!
The half I was going to do just won't happen until this fall. I have had to take some time off.. too much stress and not feeling well. I am back on track now. I do have a couple of 5K's scheduled over the next 3 weeks. I am looking forward to getting back to racing!! Congrats again!!!
@unique16 (1531)
• United States
23 Mar 10
Hello Pigglies,
Wow, Awesome you did a Marathon. Do you know how many people would love to accomplished what you did? There are many people. You should very proud that you did it and finished it. It takes a lot guts to do what you did. We are proud of you. Way to go girl! Yes, you are in pain but it will subside and soon hopefully you will want to run or jog for yourself again and then maybe a Marthon again. Give yourself time to heal and feel when you jog again whther it is inside of you like a race car driver... the need and desire... Let us know what you desice to do you will have whole fan base cheeering you on the next Marathon. Way to go! I am very happy for you.
Have a great day
Sincerely Unique16
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
24 Mar 10
Thanks!!
You know, it's funny because I am kind of thinking already that this won't be my last marathon. I still think I'll wait at least a year though, probably more due to the amount of time needed for training.
Still, I'm happy I can say I've done one now!
@sleepylittlerose (1648)
• United States
22 Mar 10
Congrats on finishing your marathon. This is no small feat and you should be very proud of yourself as most would not have even attempted it.
Couple of thoughts about your physical condition after the race as I have a friend that runs marathons on a regular basis. She recommends a product called Body Glide for the chaffing under your arms and along the waist band of your shorts. Also, she said do not run it barefooted. This will leave you in more pain than you are right now. 26 miles on concrete/asphalt is not good on the bare skin. Instead make sure you get new running shoe about 2-3 weeks before the race and run in them daily for short distances to break them in.
I have no doubt that you will compete again and will be able to make your 5 hour time.
Again congrats and Happy MyLotting
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
24 Mar 10
Thanks!
I'll definitely use Body Glide next time. I didn't get any chaffing on my shorts, but I have those shorts that don't really have a small elastic band, it's one huge band. But the sports bra, and my underarms could have used some Body Glide.
I got new running shoes before the race, but they were not broken in quickly enough. Usually it takes me 150 miles to break in shoes. These got up to about 70 miles and just had too high of an arch in them still to run so far.
Maybe I'll try a marathon again someday, but I think I'll wait at least a year and I'll try a winter marathon so it won't be so hot.
If I do it barefoot, I would definitely build up my feet for that first. So far my feet can only make it about 2 miles without shoes.
