This weekend I had the pleasure of running with my brother as he completed his first marathon. He trained as much as possible and got most of the key runs in before the big day, but the arrival of a 3rd sweet baby girl makes it hard to find the hours sometimes. I am so impressed with people who are able to do that.
Pops came out in support as he always does. His weekend consisted of traveling between Soren's swim meet and our run to take pictures for us to enjoy. It means so much to have people out on the course cheering for you. Sometimes it is the only thing that keeps you going.
Anyway, I told Zach that I could not run with him (he is a 7:30 pace whereas I am at least a minute per mile slower) but that he was welcome to join me in my 9:00/mile training run. We set out and were cruising at a cool 8:40 pace and felt great! At mile 15 to 16 I took a new kind of gel that I had not tried before. BIG mistake. Within minutes I was desperate for the port-o-potty and had to stop at the mile 17 aid station. I had to wait for a minute before the facility was available and then had to do my thing, so that mile took us a little over 11 minutes. No problem, we were still way ahead of schedule to meet our goal of finishing under 4 hours. Well, the gel was not finished with me. I had to stop two more times and these two stops were a bit longer, making each of those miles over 13 minutes, eating away at our cushion to finish on time. Zach was so awesome and stayed to wait for me; I felt awful because he was feeling great and had tons of energy and was ready to book it to the finish. Even at mile 20 he was holding back to stay at my pace of 8:45, which was actually faster than I am usually able to go at that point. He was doing amazing. Shortly after the 20 mile marker the tables turned. Zach hit "the wall" and he hit it hard. His stomach decided it would take no more gu and no more water. It was over 70 degrees with about 100% humidity and we were 3 hours into a run; you cannot stop eating and drinking at that point! He was not able to take in anything from then on and started cramping. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with the way he handled it. He pushed and pushed all the way to mile 25 before he nearly fell over. He stopped to walk for a minute and sadly I had to keep going (I HAD to get to the finish line and find the next "facility"). I crossed at 4:00 and he crossed at 4:03. After stopping 3 times and having to walk the last mile, I would say that is dang good! Zach does not even remember crossing the finish line. He was severely dehydrated and had major cramps; but he was a marathon finisher!
At the start line ready to "do this!"
Pops came out to see us at mile 10. We were running strong and feeling great!
Zach coming in to the finish. You can see how dehydrated he was!
Pops came out in support as he always does. His weekend consisted of traveling between Soren's swim meet and our run to take pictures for us to enjoy. It means so much to have people out on the course cheering for you. Sometimes it is the only thing that keeps you going.
Anyway, I told Zach that I could not run with him (he is a 7:30 pace whereas I am at least a minute per mile slower) but that he was welcome to join me in my 9:00/mile training run. We set out and were cruising at a cool 8:40 pace and felt great! At mile 15 to 16 I took a new kind of gel that I had not tried before. BIG mistake. Within minutes I was desperate for the port-o-potty and had to stop at the mile 17 aid station. I had to wait for a minute before the facility was available and then had to do my thing, so that mile took us a little over 11 minutes. No problem, we were still way ahead of schedule to meet our goal of finishing under 4 hours. Well, the gel was not finished with me. I had to stop two more times and these two stops were a bit longer, making each of those miles over 13 minutes, eating away at our cushion to finish on time. Zach was so awesome and stayed to wait for me; I felt awful because he was feeling great and had tons of energy and was ready to book it to the finish. Even at mile 20 he was holding back to stay at my pace of 8:45, which was actually faster than I am usually able to go at that point. He was doing amazing. Shortly after the 20 mile marker the tables turned. Zach hit "the wall" and he hit it hard. His stomach decided it would take no more gu and no more water. It was over 70 degrees with about 100% humidity and we were 3 hours into a run; you cannot stop eating and drinking at that point! He was not able to take in anything from then on and started cramping. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with the way he handled it. He pushed and pushed all the way to mile 25 before he nearly fell over. He stopped to walk for a minute and sadly I had to keep going (I HAD to get to the finish line and find the next "facility"). I crossed at 4:00 and he crossed at 4:03. After stopping 3 times and having to walk the last mile, I would say that is dang good! Zach does not even remember crossing the finish line. He was severely dehydrated and had major cramps; but he was a marathon finisher!
Pops took us to enjoy some mexican food and within hours we were recovered and are already planning our next attack on the beast that is the marathon. It was so great to be out there with Zach. Overall we had a total blast! He learned some things about his run nutrition/hydration plan and I experienced the GI issues that I have heard about many times from fellow runners. We both hope to NEVER repeat that part of it again but know for sure that we will be running 26.2 together many more times in the future. Too much fun!
Always gotta take a pic by the necessaries
At the start line ready to "do this!"
Pops came out to see us at mile 10. We were running strong and feeling great!
This was when I was coming in to the finish. Could not stop to wave. Had to get to the bathroom!
Zach coming in to the finish. You can see how dehydrated he was!
This is the part he doesn't remember. Crazy.
Starting to recover. Trying to choke down some crackers and water
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