I’m not going to give up, I’m not going to stop, I’m going to work harder

I’m not going to give up, I’m not going to stop, I’m going to work harder
Miami, FL – State 22
3:52:15

It’s kind of crazy to think it took 22 marathons for me to finally cross Florida off the list. I had done the half marathon in Tampa and the Triathlon in St. Petersburg, but had yet to do a full marathon. I had thought I would do the Florida Ironman and cross the marathon off like that, however, because of the family support in the Racine Half Ironman and the local friend/cheerleaders, and Veronica, my Ironman Partner, I decided on the Wisconsin Ironman.

Xavier pushed the Miami Marathon early in my marathon ‘career’ It had been a year since I’d been to Miami, so it was about time I made another trip.

I actually took a lot of rest time since Vegas. I got in a 15 miler two weeks after, then I took a full week off run/bike/swim over Christmas. I stayed off swimming for a total of 5 weeks as I got an outer ear infection that turned into an inner ear infection and fluid behind my ear drum. It took about 6+ weeks for the fluid to be drained and is almost a non-issue but still kind of there in the mornings.

My long runs were originally planned as 18, 12, 20, 12, marathon. However, I wasn’t feeling 100% the week of the 18, so I figured I’d rest and let myself get better, and my schedule turned into 18, 20, 12, marathon. Then the weekend of the 18, I got hit with the flu in a bad way. It actually took a week for me to recover where my body wasn’t absorbing fluids, I was going through over 100oz of water, additional Gatorade and orange juice and I was still dehydrated. I was still training in this time, but not at any level of intensity. I was nervous for the 20 miler, but with my new winter running partner, Mike, I got through it.

I got a 20 mile run in, but that was about it since Las Vegas. The question was: Was I ready? What kind of race would I have? And my answer was: Just don’t give up or stop, just survive it and cross the state off. Now in reality, I wanted to remain a sub 4 hour marathoner (when it’s not a drunk marathon).

Though I tried to respect the taper, I didn’t respect it that much. I’m two weeks into my Ironman Training. The program was given to me by a 50 marathon state friend (Idaho travels) Tony S. Tony had run marathons with this training program through late May/early June so I know it’s a schedule you can manipulate for your running, and I plan to do the same. BUT, as the mileage is so low right now, I wasn’t about to cut out any of the workouts just because I had a marathon.

Friday before the race I flew into Miami. Xavi, Michelle and Tati picked me up from the airport. As always, we had such a great time. Xavi and Michelle are great parents, and this was the first time I met Tati and I’m in love with that little girl. On Saturday, I left them (so sad), but then I met up with another new friend at the Expo. David told me he had a friend doing the Miami marathon and he’d put me in touch with him. Shawn and Erin are brothers, Shawn lives in Charlotte and this was his first marathon, though he knows endurance as he has done a half ironman. Erin is actually the medical director of the Miami Marathon. So, we wandered the expo for a bit.

Side track: I have had two Garmin 205s for 5+ years. I bought the one, and it stopped being 100% dependable just after the 1 year warranty was up, so I bought another for real cheap on amazon.com. After 4+ years they both sometimes work which was fine since I had two I have always had one that worked. One of them went out in Vegas, and hasn’t worked since, the other I brought to Miami, and Saturday morning it didn’t work. Since there is a newer even greater Garmin out there, the 310xt, I splurged at the expo and got it. My electronic troubles didn’t end there, as my ipod also stopped working on me. Sometimes it needs to just power down then it works again, but it looks like this time, that’s not the case so it looks like I’ll be getting a new ipod too. Luckily the shuffle was working, so I was set for the marathon.

After the Expo, we went out for dinner, where I started to feel sick/congested. I tried to ignore it and drink fluids (I have since realized it was allergies, thanks Shawn for the Claritin, I didn’t take it on the marathon, but I took it after and it worked great!) At dinner, I met another great girl, Katie. She was doing the half marathon, which was her 2nd half marathon.

Sunday I woke up and my throat was super sore and I was congested and tired. I woke up at 4:00am, the race started at 6am. I did my routine of getting ready and left at 5:00am. As I was at the elevator, I made three more friends: Mary, Andi and Erin. They invited me to join them on their walk to the start and we decided we would hang out after the marathon.

I had to meet up with Luis (Xavi’s brother in law) as I left my phone charger at Xavi’s and he had brought it downtown with him when he came for the race. After getting my charger, Shawn and I met up (and Erin let us use the medical tent porta potties that were clean and no line). We entered the race coral and started together, though with different goals, we probably only took about 5 steps together.

You would think after 21 states, the 26.2 distance would feel short and easy, but the thing is, it still feels long. Thoughts that go through my mind early on are: really? I’m doing this again? This is so long. But...I do it and I know I’ll finish. It was still dark when we started and we went over a bridge headed to South Beach. It was real pretty going over the water. I quickly fell into a pace of 8:11 …mile after mile I was always clicking at 8:11. I knew I wouldn’t keep this pace throughout but it felt good for the time. We passed Taverna Opa, and a bunch of other bars I have visited on other trips. I started talking to another DetermiNation runner. He was from Georgia and was doing the half. We talked on and off for a few miles when we would be by one another.

Then around mile 8, I started to feel like I could get sick. I tried to push that feeling aside, but it wouldn’t go away. I started to search for porta potties along the course. It took until mile 12 until I found one. I stopped for a minute or two, and then I felt a little better, good enough to take a gu and water, which quickly came back up. I had no choice but to fight through as I wasn’t even at the half way point.

I resumed to a decent pace, still sub 9 minute miles, but it wasn’t long before my stomach started bothering me again. Instead of focusing on miles, I actually started focusing on porta potties, every time I would spot one I would think: Do I need to stop or can I push through to the next one? I ended up stopping a total of 3 times. I really just wanted to make sure I stayed under 4 hours, and though I did by nearly 8 minutes, I think I worked harder to keep pushing myself at this slower pace than I did for Detroit. So, I guess that means when fully healthy, I have more in me to push for new Boston times if and when they release them?

I really enjoyed our turnaround in Coconut Grove. The turnaround area is the same area where Kim, Sara and I spent the night before Xavi and Michelle’s wedding. And by night I mean, morning of his wedding: We cabbed it there from South Beach for Pizza, and then got stranded there at 5am and made it back to Kim and Damaris’ as the sun was rising. When we were stranded, there were runners running through the streets for their early morning runs. I tried to live off that moment to take my mind off the stomach issues. Smiling through those memories probably made the mile around there a favorite (it was around mile 18-19).

For the most part, the second half was in the shade and the sun wasn’t an issue, but around mile 22-24 we had an out and back that was right on the water and open for the sun to hit you. Of course, me loving the sun, I tried to find the good in this situation: I was getting a tan! But as I was baking and was thirsty (and fearful of every drink I had, that it might come up), it was getting more and more difficult.

With a mile + left, spectator’s were saying the cursed words you never say “you are almost there” Let me tell you, again, after 22 marathons, the last mile is not ‘almost there’ There was a hill just before mile 26 over a bridge. It reminded me of Roosevelt. The down after was great, but always feels long. YMCA was playing when I was running to the finish. I must have gotten excited as I tensed up a bit and had the ‘finish limp’ going on, but luckily I fought through it and was limp free crossing the finish. I later learned my new hotel friends, Andi and Erin, saw me cross the finish line.

After crossing the finish, I made my way through the coral, used the porta potty again, and then found a place to lay in the grass, in hopes if I were laying and still, my stomach would be nicer to me. I managed to talk to Rachel J. and Sheila some, but ultimately I laid in the sun for an hour.

It turns out Shawn finished in his goal time, but ended up in the medical tent, not just picking up his keys and phone from his brother, but for a little bit of what sounded like heat exhaustion. Katie also mentioned after she finished the half, she had some stomach issues, and Mary noted stomach issues too….hmm…was there something in the water they were giving out?

When I got back to my hotel, I got sick again but then slowly showered and made my way to the pool for more sun time. At which time, I met a guy from Michigan, who has the Ironman Fever. We chatted some, then I finally was feeling like I could keep food down, so I met up with Mary and Andi, and we had drinks and food out at the Bayside market area. Meeting them and chatting with them was so great. They are affiliated with Team In Training, and Andi shared so many different ways to fundraise (which I plan to bring up at the next ACS committee meeting). We wandered the city and made our way back to the hotel, at which time, I was in bed by 7pm!

I got to see a best friend and his family on this trip, and made so many new connections. I have met other great people along the way of my 50 states but I think it has been on the plane rides home. This time I was able to make friends with people where I could get the full marathon experience. A lot of times when I go places, I get the opportunity to see my friends who live in that city, but, I try to maximize time with them and I don’t stay around the marathon after the finish, I don’t stay in the hotels where I can meet other marathoners, and I just zip through the expo. Now, I do wish I had more time with Xavi, but it was nice to soak in the full marathon experience.

This was a tough marathon personally. From being sick through training, starting the morning off with another sore throat, and then stomach issues throughout – I think pushing to make sure I stayed under 4 hours took more work than the day I qualified for Boston. But the thing is- I’m a Survivor, I’m not going to give up, I’m not going to stop, I’m gonna work harder, I’m going to make it, keep on surving.

***Reminder: in 2011 I'm raising money for the American Cancer Society. To learn more or donate please go to:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/DetermiNation/DNFY11IL?px=4909726&pg=personal&fr_id=35207