Debbie O’Connell’s race report for North Olympic Discovery Marathon. June 8, 2008.

After all the cold, rainy weather we’ve had this spring, Sunday, June 8 dawned dry and a cool 48 for my first marathon. The weather forecast is to be dry all day and temperatures in the low 50s, perfect running weather. This is the 6^th North Olympic Discovery Marathon, my first. It is a one-way race, from Sequim to Port Angeles. Everyone says, relax, enjoy it, this is your first! I’m trying, but I’m nervous, excited, apprehensive, all rolled into one fun bundle.

After some restless “missed the start time” dreams, woke up early, had breakfast and was dropped off right in front of the race start by my Dad, 45 minutes before start time. There are some benefits to small races! (Only about 500 for the marathon, 1000 for the ½ marathon.)

Stretched and waited in a heated, dry community center at the park. Met up with Cathy Nelson when she arrived by bus. We marveled that there were no lines at the indoor restrooms, bonus!

At 9AM, we are off. We stash our food (bananas for me, fig newtons for her) under a tree near the start, as we know this part is a 5 mile loop, and we’ll pick it up on the way back. Well, before we know it, we are back already, yee haw, pick up our food and keep going. We see our friend Kim cheering for us in downtown Sequim, and give her our long-sleeve shirts. We’re closing in on 7 miles and feeling pretty good so far. After some training runs with upset stomachs, I have tried to be very careful today with food and drink, no surprises at the aid stations, so I carry my own GU20 and my own food.

Next thing we know, we are at the ½ way point already. One of the support crew at the mid-point station looks up our numbers and cheers us on by name, cool! We are at 2:25, which isn’t too bad, on target for a 4:50 finish. My goal is 4:45, but I’m trying to not have a goal and just finish, right?

Well, now the fun starts. There are 3 big hills on the second half, you run down into a creek bed, across a bridge and up the other side on two of them. One is at 16, the next at about 19, and the last one (just down) is at about 21. I find out that going down is actually just as hard as going up the other side. My knees and legs just don’t like the downhill pounding. So, now I have to walk down and walk up. Okay, I’ll count this as a walk break! See Kim and Don at about mile 20, get a hug and I’m off. (It’s so great having friends along the way, what a treat!) Going down the final hill at around 21, I feel a bad twinge in my right leg, on the front, right below the knee. It turns into a shooting pain. YOW! What is that? I never had any pain in THIS spot before! Hmmm. Walk down the hill, shake it out. Okay, keep going! Less than a 10K left, right?

Make it running until about mile 24, then the pain becomes blinding and I can’t run another step. Okay, let’s walk this off… Cathy goes on ahead, go Cathy! I can’t believe how much this hurts, did I break something? Try to walk a few minutes then run again, and it just continues to hurt. I want to run! Haven’t hit the wall yet, have energy still, boo hoo, and now it’s cold without long sleeves along the water here. Hmm, okay, look at the water, Canada, freighter boats, okay… try to run again now, boo, that muscle is just not going to be happy. Walk some more.

Everyone that was by my the whole race now passes me, I don’t like that. Try to run again, start crying it hurts so badly. Okay, my head is now in a bad place. I’m sure Jeff Galloway would have me saying the mantra I picked: “Win my own race, win my own race”. I try that for a bit. Okay, I now feel that whatever is going on with my leg is not good, and my body is telling me not to run. Okay, so I’ll walk the last two miles.

At mile 25 there’s my friend Kathy Snyder calling my name and running up to me. I’m a basket case! She is a PT, and looks at my leg, rubs it and says that muscle has had enough for today. So, she and her daughter Elly walk with me to the end, taking pictures and cheering me up and on! There’s the finish photographer, I tell him to hold on and I strike a good running pose. Now there’s the finish line, I can see it! I try to run, but just can’t. I still cross the line! I really cry now. My assigned “buddy” asks if I’m okay. Yes, they are tears of joy and pain. Do you have any advil? We go to the deserted medical tent; get some advil, and some ice for my leg. Cathy and Don Nelson are there, Kim is there, and so are Kathy and Elly. Good vibes all around. The best top ramen I’ve ever had. I’m totally shivering and teeth chattering. Out come the blankets, oh that feels good. Okay, so I had hoped for 4:45, and in the end, it was 5:24.

The day after, I had a little pity party for myself, since I really felt let down. I did the training, I ate right, I hydrated, and there was nothing more I could have done, how could my body let me down like this? Good thing there are friends to lift you up! They reminded me that I AM a marathoner; I DID finish. I ran a good 24 miles before this problem took my down.

After swimming on Tuesday morning, I had a talk with Coach Patty. I told her my story and she listened. Then she told me to keep in mind that endurance events just aren’t like other shorter events. Things happen that you just can’t predict or train for. She said that you need to mentally adjust during an endurance event to what is happening, whether it is weather, injury, illness, other people, bike problems, or whatever. The important thing mentally is to keep going, and get to the finish. She said a lot of people would drop out or give up. The way you deal with these things is what makes you the athlete you are becoming.

Sometimes I am just too hard on myself. I am a very goal-oriented person, and setting a tough goal and achieving it gives me great pleasure. I realize (mostly) that every race cannot be a PR. I am starting to also realize that not everything goes my way, nor can I control everything (as much as I may want to). I think there is a lesson in this for me, and I am still figuring it out. High goals are great, but perhaps instead of high expectations, it is better to have lower expectations. Meaning, shoot high, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t make it. Perhaps this is a lesson in life in general.