Monday, May 10, 2010

Colorado Marathon Race Report – Part One

I’ll start this lengthy report answering the question on everyone’s mind. Did I mess my pants during the race? The short answer is no, not really. I had a very unexpected squirt at mile 15, but other than that, did not so much as stop at a porta-potty to pee. I know, weird, right? I swear my body did well with the lack of fiber and dairy in the days leading up to the race. Plus, not by my choice, but I was unable to eat the night before the race or morning of. While I wouldn’t recommend this, I think my tummy being empty was key. More details on that later.

I’m going to be honest. Last week sucked. I was all nerves. I could not shake this feeling of almost dread about the race. I was not excited, I was anxious. I wanted to meet my goals so badly that I was putting tons of pressure on myself. I love to run, but my love of running had taken a backseat.

So, Saturday had me on edge. After a good day of distraction with the kids’ soccer game and piano recital we dumped them on my parents and headed up to the expo in Ft. Collins (45 mins away). It was pretty small and dumpy with just a few tables set up in a dark and windowless room. Schwag bag was nothing but one Hammer gel, a too small tech shirt and some coupons. We did get to see Tara and then went to drive some of the marathon course. This lifted my spirits a bit and got me kind of excited even. I mean, who wouldn’t want to run this (It’s the Poudre Canyon. People around here refer to it as the Poudre – pronounced “pooter.” If they are taking a drive in this canyon, they say they are going “up the pooter,” which always make me laugh. How can you say that with a straight face)?     

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We then headed for home.  I’m such a control freak, I had it all figured out - get take out: buttered noodles with chicken. Go home and eat, have a small glass of wine for the nerves, put bib on shirt, chip on shoe, set coffee maker, lights out by 8:30pm for a 3:00am wake up call.

What’s that saying about God laughing when we make plans? All of my intentions fell to shit when we walked in the door at 7:30 and I took a look at my dog, Lucky. Let me remind you Lucky is not so lucky because he has three legs and a penis that always hangs out. Like lipstick, but much grosser. On this night, Lucky was especially unlucky as his eye was seeping goop and it looked like he had had a stroke. He was clearly in pain and sick.  I took him to a pet ER (never in the eight years we’ve had this dog have I had to do this). I figured it was only 7:30pm, so if the vet quickly took care of the problem, I would be on time for a 9pm bedtime. Six hours of sleep? Perfect.

As the hours ticked by I realized I would not be going anywhere anytime soon. I learned that Lucky needed the eye removed and it would be a late night. I started sobbing. You have to understand. I love my dog, but I’m not someone who is going to sink tons of money into keeping an old dog with a big penis alive. But how can you put a dog down because of a bad eye? And my kids are so attached to this damn dog. And I might be a little attached too.

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Emma (at age 3) with her dog, Lucky

The vet must have thought I was especially emotional about my dog losing his eye. After all I was carrying on like Jake from the Bachelor.  Yes, that was part of it. But the other part was that I needed to get to bed for the race, dammit. I considered not doing the marathon. How could I do it on no sleep and all this stress? Finally, I called my friend who is a vet and we decided to give Lucky pain meds and take him home and do the surgery first thing Monday.

I got home at 11:30pm. I had not had my dinner and couldn’t eat it anyway. Lucky had a cone on his head and was high from all the drugs. He was running into everything.  I had a glass of wine and tried to sleep. I got to sleep by midnight. 3am came early and I looked like shit  this:

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It was not pretty. I was not pretty. In fact, I was downright stressed and depressed. I felt for sure I would bonk at mile five and run a really slow race. All that training out the window, for nothing. I would be lucky to break my first marathon time of 4:03.

But, here’s where the human spirit perseveres and prevails!! I met Tara at the buses at 4:15am. She was as much of a mess as I was. We were both hoping for a rock slide or avalanche so the race would be called off, but we would not be quitters.  It was a lifesaver having her there on that long bus ride up the canyon. We tried to eat, but there was some dry heaving. The girl behind us threw up. We got off the bus in darkness and both laid down some nuggets in the porta potties. We huddled up for warmth at the start, hugged, cried and started out.

Stay tuned…

41 comments:

  1. Aww, poor Lucky. :(

    Can't wait to hear the rest of the story - even though I already know the ending!

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  2. wow what an eventful pre-race night! poor lucky...i'm hoping everything is working out with his surgery today!

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  3. Best pre-race report ever. Keep the information coming...

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  4. Wow that sounds so incredibly stressful! I hope the surgery went well!

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  5. The shirt was too small? Was it for dolls? Crazy! So sorry for all the prerace chaos!

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  6. Oh... man.... You left me hanging..... TELL ME MORE!!!

    Sorry about Lucky! Did he have surgery today?

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  7. What a story!!! Keep typing lady I want to know all the deets!! Hope lucky is ok,poor fella.

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  8. Talk about a rocky start! Now I am even more impressed. I hope Lucky is doing okay, and you are AMAZING!

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  9. ok now i can comment. that was weird before...again, congrats! OMG about Lucky, no matter how serious a situation may be you always get a little giggle out of me by the way you tell the story. poor lucky!! that's really sad. i hope Lucky is adjusting okay.

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  10. It is truly amazing how stress can make us far exceed our expectations! GOod for you! I hope Lucky is doing well today... Poor guy

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  11. Oh, jeez. At least I know you rocked it afterall -- but I'm still looking forward to part 2!

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  12. Whoa! What a crappy pre-race. But YOU DID IT! can't wait to read more.

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  13. Sorry stressful pre-race.

    What is up with the too small technical shirts you get from races? I wear a men's medium and I swear every time I get one of those race shirts its the size of a childs small and I look like an overstuffed sausage. The problem is that it is not consistent. If they were always that way I would just get the large, but the time I request a large I end up looking like I am wearing a nightgown. No way to win.

    Looking forward to the rest of the race report!

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  14. Oh no! What a bad start. Poor Lucky - I really, hope he is ok. And we know you had a great race, all be it a rotten start. I can't wait for Episode 2.
    Good think Tara was there for support.

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  15. "...like Jake from the Bachelor..." You are funny even when you are being serious.

    I am dieing to know how this all turns out!!

    Seriously, I hope Lucky is doing okay today.

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  16. I love Lucky already. Seriously a penis that hangs out. All the guys reading this post are now jealous of Lucky --- who cares about the three leg thing.

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  17. Part one almost makes me cry and I've never even had a dog. I can't believe that you get the time you do after the night you had... can't wait for more report. You're amazing!

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  18. Congratulations!! I bet its a huge feeling of accomplishment and relief to have this done!!
    And no pottie breaks, pretty impressive!!

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  19. I am sure gods are not laughing now. It seems all their plotting came down to nothing. You did great despite all the ruined plans and sick dog.
    I hope you are not reading any comments now but sitting there working on the next installment of the story.

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  20. That poor baby. :( And poor you! Just reading this stressed me out!

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  21. Poor Lucky! Can't wait to read the rest of your race report.

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  22. So - you have us all hooked. I hope Lucky is going OK.

    You have to love the timing of things that happen while we are going about our business . . . dealing with it all is "our life".

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  23. So what's wrong with Lucky's eye? I used to be a vet (haven't practiced for some years now) so I'm curious.

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  24. Wow..what a crazy turn of events! I'm so sorry about Lucky...poor thing. I can't believe they have to remove his eye!

    I don't know how I would have been on 3 hours of sleep either! I can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

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  25. What a crazy way to have to start a marathon! Hope Lucky is feeling better. Poor guy :(

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  26. First off...CONGRATS on the BQ! You rocked it and now knowing how it was the night before...you should get a lifetime of being able to run Boston after night like that. So happy and excited for you.

    Your posts always crack me up!

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  27. Love part one...can't wait for the rest!!!

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  28. Ah! I hate dog penises, especially the long and lipstick variety! Blah. However, I'm sure Lucky is a special pup and I'm sorry about his eye, I hope all went well today. Can't wait for race report part 2!

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  29. Oh my God, what a night! Good to know you can have such crap sleep and still run an awesome time!

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  30. you owned that pooter! so so so so proud of you! cant wait to here more!!!

    :( :( i hope lucky is okay too!!!!

    i'll be waiting for more runnning posts!! <3

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  31. oh no!! i'd be a freaking mess having that go on the night before a race.

    and the puker! ugh...i know you hate puke just as much as me. i would have tossed my cookies, too!

    can't wait for part two...hurry!!

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  32. Wow! Hope Lucky is okay!

    Looking forward to second part!

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  33. That post kept me on my toes...can't wait to hear the rest!

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  34. Holy shit! I wouldn't have raced. You are definitely the stronger person here. Kudos.

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  35. You are a bad ass, plain and simple. I thought I had bad luck getting the flu two days before Boston, but man oh man, you take the cake on this one!!! I'm so sorry about Lucky - I hope things went well on Monday.
    And the puker - I don't know how you didn't toss your own because I would have!
    I WANT MORE!! START TYPING!

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  36. Seriously? How can that happen the night before a marathon? Poor Lucky and poor you! I probably would have thrown in the towel right there. You are amazing.

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  37. Oh how is poor Lucky doing today after surgery??? I was so sad to read this news...hope he is recovering well, and that maybe you can both take a nap today! :-)

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  38. ah, so sorry about the pre-race dog emergency...now i'm off to read part 2! and i know it has a happy ending...!

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  39. UGGGGG, that sucks. But, you know how to tease a race QUITE nicely. (but you gave away the no poop at the beginning) can't wait to hear about the race

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