October 1, 2016
Much as seeing a touring production versus catching the original Broadway cast on the Great White Way, the St George Marathon is a good experience that pales really only when one considers the Little Grand Canyon Marathon I ran a few weeks back. Don’t get me wrong, St George is lovely and there’s some fine views… and had I not just been in an amazing canyon locale I might not know what I was missing. But the reality is, the spectacular views of the course can’t really compete with the Little Grand Canyon.
Having said that, it’s a fast course… and one that I found myself pulling a PR and Boston Qualifying time for Boston 2018. So that’s not nothing. And the organization was quite nice, albeit a few qualms I’ll mention at a later date wherein any mistake I made or anything I misunderstood seemed to be met with the comment, “Rookie mistake!” I may be a rookie when it comes to St George but I think I’ve earned the right to say I’m not exactly a rookie when it comes to marathons.
Having said THAT, I posted this to facebook the other day but I was feeling incredibly off my game when I arrived “in country” for the event. Here’s what I wrote on September 29, 2016:
This is ridiculous. I can’t actually recall HOW to run a marathon. You know that feeling when you’ve taken a skill set for granted and then it’s just gone from your head? Maybe it’s a password you know by heart but suddenly can’t remember when a challenge query pops up on the computer. Or when you’re asked to solve a differential equation as an astrophysicist (actually… I don’t know what that’s like and can barely type the word astrophysicist). But I’ve got a race on Saturday and I’m kinda blanking on the mechanics, the mental and emotional systems necessary to do it. Man, I hope that goes away. Is this a panic attack or just one of those, “Wait! What’s happening now?” moments. Weird. Weird, weird, weird.
Post run, I can’t tell if it’s the massive amounts of venom from the incalculable number of bed bug bites I seem to have recently suffered, or that I had pushed too hard, or maybe that the years have finally caught up to me. But whatever the reason, I’m really struggling with the recovery from the event. My stomach is all wonky, I’m feeling really light headed and woozy and nauseous and just generally… well… I supposed the word would be verklempt. Could be the bloated, chunkiness of pushing 40 for sure. I hope not… I’ve got a 10K and 5K back-to-back at Dodgers’ Stadium tomorrow morning.
But in the meantime, here’s the official results breakdown from today’s 26.2 as an iPhone screengrab:
