A few weeks ago, I ran the Nashville Greenway Marathon on a
chilly Sunday morning. I had never been
on the Nashville Greenway before even though I live only an hour or less from
several trail heads. I didn’t really
know what to expect except a few hills.
My 13-year old caught a stomach bug on Tuesday of race week,
and sure enough, it hit me on Thursday.
It wasn’t a bad one, but I wasn’t at 100% by the Sunday start. Almost though. I ran two easy miles on Saturday to test my
tummy and to shake out my legs.
A small group of about 94 or so of us started at 7:30
a.m. I knew about 6 or 7 runners and 3
volunteers. It’s always nice to see
friendly faces at races out of town! I
tried to hold back somewhat in the first few miles, averaging around 10:15 or
so. In hindsight, I probably should have
run more like 10:25 or 10:30 per mile early on as a warm up. (My best training run had been 18 miles at a
10:28 pace though.) It’s just hard to
know.
Somewhere between miles two and three, I saw a runner just
ahead whom I kind of “knew” through Facebook and Twitter and mutual friends. I sped up and caught him and introduced
myself. As it turned out, he had also
had a virus in the last few days and was not feeling very well at all. He was considering turning around and running
back to the start. He said he’d decide
for sure at 8 miles. We chatted and the
miles passed quickly. I was aware that I
was running more his (sick day) pace than mine, but I was enjoying the conversation. There were a few spots where the course
wasn’t very well marked, and I was glad to run with someone who knew the
Greenway route. Race-day buddies are always fun. You find out things in common like you are
both parents of three kids, you have run some of the same races in the past,
and of course you share your philosophy of running and races you hope to do and
tell race stories from ones you have run.
There is never a shortage of conversation (or maybe that’s just
me!). I have been blessed to pass many,
many miles with a new friend in many of my 14 marathons.
We were running somewhere around a 10-minute pace—sometimes
9:55, sometimes more like 10:10 for a long time. The eight-mile-mark came and went, and my
friend kept going. Around mile 12 or 13,
the pace really caught up to me—much earlier than it should have,
honestly. I began to fade. Legs felt heavy. Energy was flagging. Ugh, that’s the PATTERN I’ve had in all of my
recent marathons. Things are hard
earlier than they should be. Yes, I
often go out a bit too fast (but not crazily so), but that wall just keeps on
moving earlier! I’m hydrating. I’m taking in carbs every 40 or 45
minutes. But it is as if those carbs
never make it to my muscles in the form of energy! It feels much like the way I feel on a
carb-depleted run. However, on those
runs, I am usually running slower.
Hmmm....
Finally, around 14, I had faded to a 10:30 or 11:00 min mile
pace, and my friend was feeling better, so he went on. My
body was saying STOP and walk. I began
to run/walk. It was as if my legs
couldn’t run another step, but I forced them to keep moving. I remember at mile
16 thinking I could just walk the rest of the way and trying to figure out how
long that would take!
When I saw the mile 20 sign, though, it was as if the cloud
lifted a bit. There is something MAGICAL
about seeing that 20-mile-marker. You
know you are going to be alright. It
may be painful, but you’ve come that far, and there’s just a 10K left. I started running more and more. I ran fairly well in the last two miles of
the race, especially. At that point,
“running well” means an 11:30 pace, but not walking any or much at all.
I didn’t get really discouraged when things fell apart. Things have fallen apart in my last 3 road
marathons. I think I’m getting used to
it! It happens and you just dig deep
and FINISH. Around mile 20, I knew I
could probably come in under 5 hours if I didn’t walk too much. For me, under 5 hours is still an OK
day. Under 4:45 is a good day. Under 4:36 would be a GREAT day. It’ll happen sometime…. Maybe. I kept my emotions under control though and
enjoyed the beauty of much of the course.
There were some really scenic areas along fields and the river. I was really impressed with this beautiful
greenway and plan to return to run there again!
This was my first full marathon since my Hashimoto’s
Thyroiditis diagnosis on February 28. It is an autoimmune disease in which my immune
system is attacking my thyroid. The
thyroid gland regulates metabolism and energy and endurance. I PRAY that falling apart around mile 13
isn’t my new normal. I don’t want to
run strictly half marathons. I want to
run marathons and ultramarathons. I can
let go of the idea of running fast a little easier if I get to run FAR. I just have to adjust my expectations a bit,
I’m afraid. Maybe faster times are ahead
of me, maybe they are behind me.
Symptoms of Hashimoto’s include muscular weakness and lack of
stamina. Another potential symptom is associated
with malabsorption of vitamins, like B1 (Thiamin). You know what B1 does? It allows your body to convert carbohydrates
to energy. One studied showed that
MONSTER doses of B1 made a big difference in the way Hashimoto’s patients
felt. When you take a monster dose,
even if little is absorbed (the rest is excreted in urine), you are closer to
getting a “normal” amount. I started
supplementing this week!
