Running A Marathon - The Last 6.2 Miles

Last year I ran the St. George Marathon with my wife. She wasn't having a good day, and each step she made became a challenge. Ever since then, I often think about how amazing those last six miles of a marathon are. I felt honored to be around fellow runners as we each fought our way to the finish line.

I guarantee that you will learn some of the most powerful lessons of your life by watching people who are in the last 6.2 miles of a marathon. I see it particularly with the runners who are slower taking more time to enjoy the scenery. In the last six miles of a marathon you will see something profound:

You will see tears.
You will see intense pain.
You will see a struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
You will see suffering.
You will see an internal battle of will.
You will see challenge.
You will see limping.
You will see exhaustion.

But when you look past the suffering....

You will see dedication.
You will see courage.
You will see strength.
You will see power.
You will see determination.
You will see bravery.
You will see pride.

When you see someone cross the finish line of a marathon, you are witnessing a miraculous transformation. Because the moment that person crosses the finish line, they realize that ANYTHING is possible.

My Most Embarrassing Experience Ever

On Wednesday during a 30 mile run I had the most embarrassing moment of my life (right behind that time when I was nine years old doing school clothes shopping and a lady opened the door of my dressing room while I was standing there in my tighty whities).

I had run eight miles when I passed through some long stretches of field after field. From past experience I knew the mosquitoes were horrible here, but I didn’t put bug spray on before the run because it was raining. (I put a poncho in my pack just in case it started to downpour.)

Unfortunately, by the time I reached the fields it had stopped raining. I started to feel a few mosquitoes on my legs.

I ran faster. “Maybe if I’m moving faster they won’t be able to catch me.” I thought.

But they did catch me. Sweet mercy did they ever catch me. I don’t know why, but mosquitoes think I am the finest thing since Justin Bieber. My wife and I can go running and she’ll get home with a mosquito bite. I’ll have fifty. (Literally.) And they swell up to the size of Junior Mints.  

So I realize that they are swarming all over my legs. I’m running like the dickens. Then a horrific thing happened: I looked behind me. I was surrounded by a cloud of mosquitoes. My neck and arms and back were covered. They were sucking my blood through my shirt.

I ran faster. I had this vision in my mind of someone coming across my bones on the side of the road. And a coroner doing an autopsy and then telling my family that I had Death By Mosquito. “Run, Cory! RUN!” said a voice in my brain.

By this point I was experiencing my first ever panic attack. I didn’t want to stop and pull out my phone to call my wife because I knew if I stopped for even a split second I would get an extra 100 bites. And then I took off my head phones and that’s when the panic attack reached epic proportions. It sounded like a swarm of angry hornets. “AAAAAHHHHHH!” said that voice in my brain.

That was the tipping point. I stopped and got the phone out of my pack and called my wife. Our conversation went like this:

Me: “Help! I’m being attacked my mosquitoes!”

Mel: “Okay, I’m on my way.”

Me: “Please! Hurry!”

Mel: “Do you have your poncho?”
Me: “Yes, but that won’t help at all! It doesn’t cover my legs!”

Mel: “Sit down on the ground and put the poncho over you and I’ll bring you some bug spray.”

Her idea sounded just plain dumb but I wasn’t thinking clearly and had no other option, unless I wanted Death By Mosquito. So I pulled out the poncho, sat down on the side of the road, and covered myself in that thin coat of plastic.

And then I prayed harder than I’ve ever prayed. “Please, please Lord. Please don’t let a car drive by and see me sitting here.” And for 20 minutes my prayer was answered. But then my fear came to pass. I heard a car coming. “Please, please Lord. Please let that be my wife.”

But it wasn’t my wife. A car sped by and I was more than relieved that they didn’t stop and ask what in the world was going on. And then the car stopped and turned around! “AAAHHHH!” said that voice inside my head.

A lady with a shih tzu on her lap rolled down her window. “Are you…….okay?” “Yes, I’m fine.” I whimpered. “I’m getting eaten by mosquitoes so I’m just waiting for my wife to get here with some bug spray.” A concerned look flashed across her face and then she drove away. This is what my pathetic self looked like:

After 30 minutes my wife arrived and saw the most pathetic scene I’m sure her eyes have ever witnessed:

I had smeared blood on my arms and legs from swatting mosquitoes. And apparently some on my face.

I am so thankful that my wife rescued me. She is a true angel. And I’m so embarrassed that she had to see her husband wrapped up in a plastic bag sitting on the side of the road. I wouldn’t blame her if she thought of me as less of a man. Not only did those mosquitoes suck out my blood. They also sucked out some of my dignity.

A 30 Miler With Bacon Cheeseburgers

On Wednesday evening after work I headed out for a 30 miler. It was a complete downpour all day but when I started running it was only sprinkling. I packed a poncho just in case. My route was a loop around Sand Hollow Reservoir. I like it here because you can go long stretches of time without ever seeing a car. (Code for "You don't have to search for a porta potty.")

After eight miles, a few different things happened: 1) the poncho literally saved my life, and 2) I had the most embarrassing experience of my life. I'll save that for tomorrow.

My sister-in-law Rachel is a brand new runner training for her first 5k. I really admire new runners because I know how difficult it is in the beginning. Mel and Rachel had a few miles on their training plan so they came out and joined me to run for three miles which was fun.

We got to the overlook of Sand Hollow Reservoir right in time to catch a positively awesome sunset. This is a reservoir where people fish, and boat, and water ski. But from this view it looks like a little puddle.

 

After soaking in the sunset for a few minutes we headed back to their car. We appreciated the positive encouragement that was spray painted on the road.

After they got back to the car I continued on my own. Eventually it got dark and I just kept moving....mile after mile....hour after hour. Finally I reached civilization again and may have (did) stop at a gas station to fill my water bottle with Coke. At mile 23 I was starving. It was almost midnight and I hadn't eaten since noon.

I knew there was a Wendy's up ahead and prayed that they would still be opened. Thankfully the drive through was! I sheepishly um....walked up to the drive through. But they said their rules required that you couldn't WALK through a DRIVE through. I almost started crying.

Literally 10 seconds later an angel appeared!

One of my dialysis patients pulled up in the drive through! I hoped I wasn't hallucinating. I said "Wow! I'm so happy to see you! If I gave you some money, would you buy a few hamburgers for me?" Of course he did. Those two junior bacon cheeseburgers were the best food I ate all week. The only bad part is that I had gut rot and chunky burps for the next hour but it was more than worth it. 

I was surprised how many of these I saw all over the road over the last few miles:

The other time I took my camera this week was a 10 miler on Saturday. I went out to a dirt road near Diamond Ranch Academy where there are some nice non-technical hills.

I was surprised how good I felt. It was the only run of the week where I didn't feel like I was having to coax my legs along. That could be due to residual effects from the Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers.

I use the blog as my training log so here is the summary for the week:
Monday, August 20th 2012: Morning: 8 miles @ 11:11 per mile, Evening: 5 miles @ 10:27 per mile
Wednesday, August 22nd 2012: 30 miles @ 12:27 per mile
Friday, August 24th 2012: 7 miles @ 11:21 per mile
Saturday, August 25th 2012: 10 miles @ 11:34 per mile

Tomorrow I'll fill you in on my humiliating experience during the 30 miler. I need another therapy session before I can talk about this in public.

Must Read Blogs

Blogs are a great source of information, and humor (and homemade Hostess recipes). Here are a few blogs that I highly recommend:

Riding The Wind – The blog of insanely awesome ultrarunner Anton Krupicka. At first glance, you’d think Anton looks like Jesus in running shoes. If nothing else, scroll through his pages to check out his pictures. In my opinion they are some of the best on the web.

Alisa – My high school friend Alisa Linton is fighting cancer. She also happens to be insanely awesome. Her courage and determination is incredible. If you’re looking for some inspiration, look no further.

It Just Gets Stranger – This guy is one of the funniest writers I have seen in a long time. I first came across his blog when I saw this review of the Deseret News Marathon. His posts are hilarious. Grab the tissues because you will be laughing so hard that you cry.

The MRC – This is from a group of trail runners with some cool stories and pictures. One of my favorites is Jay Aldous, one of the nicest runners I know. (Despite my reluctance, he coaxed me to drink more Coke at the Buffalo Run 50 miler and I started feeling better within minutes.) One of my favorite posts is his review of breaking the 100 mile world age record.

It’s A Dog Lick Baby World – Kara’s blog is one of the first I turn to when I need an irreverent good laugh. She has a gift for turning bad things into funny things.

What are your favorite blogs to read? 

Overdosing On Cinnamon Rolls

"Oul our bike canes!"

I saw the note sitting on the counter and I remembered I needed to oul the bike canes (code words for "Oil our bike chains").

The day before, my youngest daughter Kylee told me that her bike chain slipped off while riding home from school. Two "really old people" stopped and helped her fix the chain. (Thank you really old people, whoever you are.) They said "Whoa! Your chain like really needs some oil!" (Admittedly, I'm doubtful that the really old people used the word "like" in this sentence but I'll take my daughter's word for it.)

I asked Kylee to leave a note on the counter to remind me to oil our bike chains. Little kid spelling (and really old people who help kids with bike chains) are awesome. When I saw the note, I went right outside to oul the bike canes.

I decided I'd take an easy week after the Corner Canyon 50k last week. I wasn't sore at all, but my body just wasn't feeling that running mojo. (Possibly because I tried to overdose on cinnamon rolls this week.) My runs were:

Wednesday, August 15th 2012: 4 miles @ 10:14 minutes per mile. Not chased by any stray dogs. Bonus!

Friday, August 17th 2012: 13 miles @ 10:57 minutes per mile. My friend Jess (who was my pacer extraordinaire for the Zion 100) asked if I wanted to do a "longish run" Friday morning. We ended up doing a half marathon before work. Waking up at 4:00am to run a half marathon before working all day guarantees an afternoon Diet Mountain Dew.

Saturday, August 18th 2012: 7 miles @ 11:56 minutes per mile. I went on my favorite secret path near the Jem Trail. It was one of those mornings when the sunrise gives you goosebumps:

I was just standing there admiring the view when all of the sudden this lanky, wiry, nerdy runner jumped right in front of the camera:

It was already an inferno outside, too hot to be too speedy. Plus I ate too many cinnamon rolls this week and my body was on a sugar crash. Plus I wanted to soak in the scenery around me. You ought to join me out here sometime.

I have run out here countless times. I've seen roughly 87,371 rabbits. I've seen tons of lizards. I've seen some desert tortoises. I've seen mountain lion tracks. But there is one thing I've NEVER seen out here....until Saturday. HUMANS!

Other than a few people I have taken out here, I've never seen another human being. I was surprised and caught off guard when I nearly ran into them.

When I got home, Mel and I did an 11 mile bike ride. It's a good thing I had "ouled our bike canes".

 

As a public service to my fellow Utahns, Maverik gas stations have cinnamon rolls for $1.49. You will think you died and went to heaven. And then you will develop an addiction. And then you will eat too many, and your body will feel like a slug when you go out running. But they are heavenly.