No more training
No more soreness
No more exhausted Zach
No more cranky Zach (well most the time)
No more not riding my dirt bike
No more seeing the same guy selling tie dyed shirts every lap around the park
No more ruining my favorite music by running to it
No more drinking water instead of dew
No more chaffing
No more taping up nipples
No more salt face
No more running shoes
No more marathon!
But worst of all
No more summer:(
Yes I did my marathon. I am very glad its over, cause it was quite the ordeal. After a few months of training I was as ready as I let myself get. On the wednesday before the race, I decided to take it easy by playing flag football only to dislocate my t-5 vertebrae diving for the ball. With only two days till the marathon, I was barely able to walk with my back swollen, and out of commission. It sucked. But with the Running gods having compassion on me, they placed a chiropractor in my path. The night before the run I had him pop my vertebrae back in place, but I was far from healed. I could still barely walk let alone run. I iced my back the night before, and prayed for a miracle. I don't take too many things seriously, but I had trained hard and was really upset that I probably couldn't run the next day. No matter what I was going to complete that marathon, not because I'm tough, but because I'm cheap. I payed for the marathon, shoes, knee brace ext.. and I was not losing my investment. And the time put into it helped motivate me too.
The morning of the run I got up at 5 a.m. I hardly slept the night before. My cute wife traveled with me to park city and my back was still swollen and hurting. I iced it all the way up to Park City. I refrained from warming up other than stretching due to the fact that my back was still in too much pain. It was still dark but the time came to start the grueling run and we took off. All I could do was hope that my back was ok enough to run. I started going and my back hurt but was bareable, a true miracle, and by 1 mile my back wasn't bothering me at all.
I made my way on the trek battling a lot of uphills listening as well as I could to "hunger games" the book on audio. I began talking to this 66 year old man, and he gave me running advise. I had drinken a lot of water all week, and kept drinking at every aid station, but mile 6-11 was a dirt road with no aid stations, it was a killer for me. During that time I had run a few hills, which were tough, but by the time I hit mile 14 it was the start of a 4 mile trek uphill to deer valley. This was the deal breaker. The old man I was running with(who was running his 78th marathon) had had enough and was sick and forced to drop out. I was almost upset the uphills were so frustrating, I couldn't believe I chose my first marathon to be one of if not the toughest marathon in Utah. I came up on mile 18 and my legs were starting to seize up on me. Hamstrings, quads, calves, everything. I couldn't stretch on muscle cause the other side would start to get a charlie horse in it. Bad sign for someone who has 8 miles left. So much for being hydrated. Then I came across the hill from hell, it was a block long and looked like the steepest hill in San Francisco. The old man had told me earlier about this hill and told me not to run it or I would have nothing left. Considering I thought I had nothing left even before the hill, the decision to walk up it was an easy one. After getting up that hill my wife and family were there waiting for me, and cheering me on. My dad and Candice started running with me. I knew there was only 8 miles left, but I didn't have much left in the tank, but luckily my legs just kept moving, I don't know how they did. My dad and sister helped out so much and pushed me to keep my pace. My dad called it quits after being a trooper and running a few miles with me. Candice and I made our way to mile 22. By this time my legs were done for and I felt like I was shuffling my feet instead of running but somehow keeping pace. I trucked through the last 4 miles, those of which are hard to describe how I felt. You will have to run one of these to know what goes on in your head when you hit a running wall. With about .2 miles left both my calves seized up, my feet would not bend. I was running on 2 pogo sticks. My goal was to run it in 4hrs and 30 minutes. My time was running out. I came around the last corner and saw the finish line, the audience cheering, and the timer that read 4:29:40. I had to hurry, but I couldn't run, just hobbling, but fast. I couldn't really relish in the cheering at the finish line, I just wanted to accomplish my goal. I crossed the finish line. I did it in 4:49:47. Hours and hours of training payed off as I sat down on the nearest bench, put my head down in relief. As cheesy as it sounds, sitting there just on the other side of the finish line was a very peaceful moment for me, something I'll always remember. Probably because I haven't accomplished a ton in my life, but it was special.
Good stuff. I'm not a runner, never have been. But It was memorable to put a challenge in front of me and work hard and accomplish it. Some think these marathons are no big deal and do them all the time. Well I suck at running, so it was hard for me, and I'm glad its over. Thanks for my family for coming out and cheering me on, I couldn't have done it without them and their prayers for my back. I don't know if I will ever do another one again. But thinking about sitting on the bench after crossing the finishing line knowing all my hard work was payed off, that makes me want to do it again.
