"The marathon doesn’t owe you anything, which makes it the perfect vessel in which to pour your everything.” (Bromka)
Today (August 29th, 2020) was one of those days. It was such a physically and emotionally draining day on so many levels. I was on the bus by 3:30, driving up a curvy, narrow mountain road to 9500 ft. I sat in the front, worried about motion sickness, which ended up being ok! We were let off at our start an hour later, and the bus left. The only way down was by foot. The problem was, for the first 11 miles of the race, it involved rolling hills that literally destroyed my legs. I tried to be smart, even walking some of the climbs to try and save the legs for the downhill later. One runner passed me at 9 yelling “come on Chicago, let’s go!” Yep. Chicago. Flatland. Minimal hills. The course chewed me up and spit me out today. By mile 6, I knew it wasn’t going to come anywhere close to a fast time for me. I was battling nausea, pulling over to the side to dry heave or choke things down, which continued for most of the race. I texted Christian at mile 10 and said, it’s a tough one today. I chose to stop and take a few pics, walk when I needed (which was more times than I can count through mile 14) took off my shoe at one point, and finally got in a groove from 15-22.
I thought of my dad lots today…I knew the first race post his passing would be hard. He was always a strong supporter of my running. But he was there, and I know he was proud of me today. I had to work hard to keep it together emotionally, I broke again from 24-25. When I saw Christian at 26, I almost lost it, hyperventilating while also trying to finish with whatever I had left to give. I’m proud of today and I’m thankful I found a race that actually happened in 2020. But it was freakin’ hard. When I go back to reading Bromka’s words, it brings me back to the spirit of the marathon and why I love it so much.
"The truth is: the marathon will take from you everything you brought, and more. That’s its guarantee. And that’s why we love it.”
Marathon #46 and State #35 (UT)✅ in 3:42:49.
