Thursday, February 12, 2009

Race Preview



Well, marathon time is almost upon us. Tomorrow we're traveling down to Myrtle Beach, hitting the packet pickup and expo. I hope to meet up with some folks there. We're traveling with the girls, and our neice and her friend. We're then sharing a condo with Wifey's dad, and her mom will be keeping the girls with them. so we might actually get some sleep friday night.


6:30 saturday morning is race start. It's a full 26.2 miles, in one loop. the start/finish is a few blocks off of the beach, and then you basically run a rectangle course. Here's the course map. It starts running around Broadway at the Beach, which is where we stay when we go to MB. You turn onto second row for a while, then come back through the grand strand, then back to second row until you go away from the coast to the finish line. Wifey's dad is a morning person, and I know he's bringing his new Nikon D60, an awesome camera. so he's going to be our official photographer. He's been incredibly supportive of us through the entire process. Wifey's mom, stepdad, one of her aunts, and a handful of cousins are also coming. they don't need much of an excuse to go to myrtle beach. My family is not coming because they agree with my point of view on myrtle beach.


But here's the kicker. Last night I started running a fever. Bigun went back to school today after missing a week with what the doctors called a "stomach bug" that gave her 4 days of fever, vomiting and diarrhea. EG just had the snots really bad. and I was really concerned that they were going to get us sick too, right here before marathon time. Well, last night I started the fever, and I still have it hanging around 100 degrees. I took some nyquil (love the nyquil) and an airborne, and i've been chugging vitamin c and listerine like it was keg beer. then this morning Wifey said she was starting to feel icky. I've got the full body pains today, still having a fever, but that's been it. I thought we were careful when the kids got sick, but I guess we weren't careful enough.


Did you know that webMD lists competitive running as a cause of diarrhea? I could end up finishing like that guy in the pic above. The weather forecast calls for some rain and a high temp of 63 degrees. So with a fever and maybe vomiting and diarrhea, running 26.2 miles in the rain sounds like the perfect choice of activity. Actually, it changes the goals up some. I'm not going to worry about time. If I end up walking 25 miles and finishing in 7 hours it's ok. Any discussion about marathon will tell you that the race itself is rather anti-climactic. My training plan covered 539 miles over 20 weeks. Sure, I missed my share of the scheduled runs, but I'm sure it still cleared 450 miles. Most people would argue that the most difficult part of your first marathon is having the courage to register and the determination to complete the training plan. That's done. I have also enjoyed the process enough to be sure that this won't be my last marathon either. So I'm going to get another shot at breaking 5 hours. this time I'm just going to try and be as comfortable as possible. and if this stupid sickness means i can't finish, then i can't finish.

So good luck to anyone else who is running this race with me or any other race this weekend. There's a bunch of them, i know. Jess has a 5k on saturday, knock it out girl!

We'll be traveling back here on sunday, so I will post a race report on monday. if there's anything to report on. happy valentines day!

10 comments:

Wes said...

You guys are suffering from taper madness. You are going to be fine. If you didn't have GI distress during your training runs, you are not likely to have it during the marathon either.

I'll be waiting for some news :-)

Marcy said...

I agree with Wes! You should be fine . . .as long as you don't change up your diet or race nutrition plan on a whim hehe. GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN!!

Amy - the gazelle said...

You will be fine! I hope you feel better soon - just don't eat/drink anything differently on race day.

GOOD LUCK!

Calyx Meredith said...

Travel safe, race hard and ...immodium? Good luck!

Unknown said...

Oh no, I hope your sickeness is gone by Saturday! Are you guys planning on going to any of the pre or post race festivities?

Jess said...

Wishing you the best of luck! I'm sure you and Wifey will do totally awesome! I'm so excited for the pictures and the race report. Run hard and have fun!

And thanks for the shoutout!

Alisa said...

Lots of luck!!!

And...I don't doubt the WebMD site...this is TMI but I get the post-long run, runs. YUCK, I know!

Hope your fever is gone!

Ryan said...

Hey shitting yourself can be a sign of determination...see my Ironman florida 2007 race report :-0

Hey if you are running a fever...I'll call you and talk to you and if we meet up forgive if I purell right away after meeting, I'm a little germ-a-phobic.

I hope you are feeling better.

carrie said...

You will wake up on race day and all will be well! GOOD LUCK!!!

Mike G said...

Wow that pic is truly horrifically awesome - doesn't look photoshopped either. Nice!