Big Mistakes and the Denver Marathon

In a word: Soggy. That describes this weekend (as it relates to running, at least). Also: cold, wet, damp, freezing, numb and what-the-heck?

I'll start with yesterday's long run. As I was reaching for cereal for breakfast, I realized that it was already 6:35am and I was thereby late. So, I rushed out the door, not even bothering to dump the teeny gravel out of my shoes from my last run. I was heading to a new meet-up spot with the TEAM, so I was rushing while not knowing exactly where I was going, and I nearly caused an accident trying to make the turn into the correct parking lot. In my haste to not be late, I did not fill up my water bottle before leaving the house. (This shall be known as Big Mistake #1.)

It was about 50 degrees and misting rain when I got out of the car. I noticed that the typical TNT personnel weren't present, and that the coaches were in charge of setting up food/gatorade/water for the run. I kept looking around trying to find some water to fill up my bottle, but it wasn't readily available anywhere. We were about to leave, and I had only a couple of squirts of water left from last week, so I figured "oh well, I'll just not carry my water bottle this time... there'll be a table of water at the turnaround spot..." (This shall be known as Big Mistake #2.)

I'm running, running.... listening to my new audiobook (by the way, if you'd like a review of Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, let me know)...and I'm actually feeling pretty good. Aside from my t-shirt which is cotton and has by now absorbed about 3 gallons of mist from the air, I'm doing good.

About 4 miles in, I am starting to get pretty thirsty. I ask another TEAM member who's on her way back "How much further to water?" "I didn't see any water." OHHHH dear. My turnaround point ended up being a little bench on the side of the trail, where I pulled over to stretch my muscles. A lovely lady TEAM member saw me and asked if I needed anything, and she was kind enough to give me a couple of squirts from her water bottle to wash down my shot bloks. We walked for a few minutes together, and then she was on her way. (Thank you so much, kind lady!)

I ran as much as I could on the way back, but I was struggling. SoxFan's words kept ringing in my ears "It's the part at the end, when it really hurts and you want to quit, that makes you stronger!" Finally, I got back to the start point and saw that most people had already left. I was confused. My Garmin said that I'd only been gone 2:24. Where was everyone?

And then, it's as if the entire thing was in slow motion... I saw the cooler... the one that usually holds all the delicious gatorade and water bottles for after the run.... it was upside down in the parking lot... empty. NOooooo! By this point, I am basically coughing up sand I'm so thirsty. The coach thought everyone was in already, so he just gave a bunch of bottles of gatorade to this one woman. (This shall be known as Big Mistake #3, and I'm not even responsible for this one.) I actually stooped down and grabbed ice cubes from the top of the pathetic little pile and ate them... off a dirty parking lot. How thirsty was I?

Then I find out that it's actually 20 til 10... so it's understandable that they thought everyone was in... My garmin stops every time that I stop moving... so all my little stretch breaks added up. :( Sadface.

Afterwards, I had so many little errands I needed to do, I didn't properly stretch, so by the time I made it to Kev-bones' concert, I had a serious knee/ITband issue. (Obviously, Big Mistake #4.)

In good news, I finally did get something to drink (and eat! I was ravenous by the time I made it home). And, I covered about 9 miles and ran 6.9 miles! Yay! Another weekend, another new PR.

Today, I volunteered to work at the TNT water station for the Denver Marathon. Again, the weather was perfectly dismal, except that now the temp had dropped to a mere 40 degrees. It was amazing seeing the elite runners come through (they actually maintain that speed for 26 miles?), then the normal folks (they actually maintain that speed for 26 miles?), then the back-of-the-packers (they actually maintain those smiles for 26 miles?). It was cold, wet work, but I left with a warm feeling inside anyway. There were thousands of brave folks out there in the cold and rain, when they probably just wanted to quit. But they kept going, teaching me a thing or two:

1. If that woman, who probably weighs 300+ pounds, can keep going...so can you.
2. If that man, who is probably 80 years old, can keep going...so can you.
3. If that woman, who does not have legs and will run this entire race with the strength of her arms, can keep going...so can you.
4. It's good to be kind to the volunteers! So many people shouted "THANK YOU!"... it kept my cold, wet hands a little warmer.
5. It's hard to be at the back-of-the-pack. Try hard to ignore the people sweeping up cups as you pass by. They aren't trying to rush you or crush your spirit or make you feel bad... they are just trying to keep the cops happy.
6. The weather is only going to get worse in Denver, so I best figure out a way to suck it up.
   
7. Even when it hurts, you've got to keep your smile... it's where your strength comes from.

Hope everyone had fun, safe runs this weekend!