I ended the first part of my recap with a description of dehydration that probably has repulsed most casual readers. As you may recall, I found out that I was much more dehydrated than I had believed, and I furiously attempted to rehydrate as I trudged down Lake Road. Unfortunately, I wasn’t having much success.
My dad and stepmom were waiting at the Mile 17.5 turnaround, and I was very grateful that they had two bottles of water for me. I consumed both of them and hoped that they would give me the boost that I needed to knock out the last 8.7 miles, but the hill around Mile 18 somewhat negated the positive effects of the water. By this time, it had started to rain steadily—so much for the weather report!—and I was feeling worse and worse. After I passed through the 30K checkpoint, I saw that a sub-4 marathon was still in reach, but I was feeling increasingly terrible. I saw Sheila between Miles 19 and 20, and I told her that I wasn’t sure how much I had left.
Somehow, I’m maintaining a happy face even though I was about to tell Sheila that I was nearly spent!
Shortly thereafter, the rain ended…only to be replaced by blistering sun and humidity. At this point, I really began to lose steam. I consumed increasing amounts of water and Powerade, but they didn’t kick in and my stomach began to feel awful. I am not sure if I was dehydrated beyond repair or underfueled at that point, but in any case, I felt terrible. My walking breaks became more frequent and I felt my chance at a sub-4 marathon slipping away. I summoned up every motivational tactic that I knew, but they didn’t work. I saw plenty of folks taking breaks to walk, so I figured that I wasn’t the only one who was being challenged by the adverse conditions.
Eventually, we departed the Edgewater neighborhood and hit the Shoreway for the last 3 miles of the race. Another bathroom break revealed that I was still dehydrated. I also managed to drop one of my bottles into the reservoir of the port-a-potty, and there was no way that I was going to lose time (or compromise my health) by sticking my hand into it to get the bottle back. Unfortunately, the Shoreway isn’t exactly flat. In my opinion, though, the thrill of running on a highway and the beautiful lake and skyline views make up for it. Although I know that some runners don’t like ending the race with the Shoreway, I hope that they keep it in the future.
On Sunday, though, the Shoreway was brutal. The sun was out in full force and the temperature was in the 80s by this time. As I ran, I felt a bit of chest pain. I couldn’t tell if this was from my soaked shirt or if it was something else, but I do know that heart issues run in my family. Although I desperately wanted to salvage the race and end on a strong note, I thought about the consequences of pushing myself too hard on such a hot and humid day. The idea of doing anything that would even remotely put me in the position in which I would wind up leaving Sheila as a widow and my mom without her only son sounded too much to bear, so I told myself that I was going to play it smart for the remainder of the race.
Despite the fact that I felt like I was walking more than running, the miles eventually passed by. Before I knew it, I found myself descending the Shoreway and heading towards the finish. I told myself that I wanted to run as much as I could and end on a positive note, so I reigned myself in and ran at a controlled pace. The finish line crowd support was great, and it was nice to soak it all in for a change instead of barreling through in order to get the best possible. As I ran towards the finish line, I saw that I definitely would set a new marathon PR, and this made me feel great.
The final stats!
After I crossed the finish line, I had my typical post-marathon emotional moment. Once I collected myself, I sat down and drank water. My stomach still felt awful, so I went into the air-conditioned Cleveland Convention Center and vomited in the men’s bathroom. This didn’t make me feel much better, so I decided to wait around a bit in case something was wrong so that I could stop by the medical tent if necessary. When my condition didn’t get better or worse, I decided to head home. Once I got home, I rehydrated, and I started to feel like myself again a few hours later.
As it turned out, I finished with a time of 4:17:30. This was a PR from my previous marathon time of 4:23:57! Although I didn’t hit my goal of a sub-4 marathon, I am proud of the fact that I completed a marathon on a day with such adverse conditions and that I managed to PR on a day with worse weather conditions than those in which I ran during my previous two full marathons.
Again, hindsight is always 20\20, and I’m sure that I could have done a few more things differently. In retrospect, I probably should have hydrated more before the race. However, I drank the same things that I drank before my training runs on unseasonably warm days, and I thought I would be fine. That said, I’m not sure if I would have run a sub-4 marathon even if I had done all of those things. I’ve done many races of varying distances over the years, and the 2015 Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon was the hardest race that I have ever run.
Later that evening, we celebrated at Quaker Steak and Lube with our friends Holly and Matt. Over the years, they have been great friends. They came out to watch our first 5K—the 2012 Lakewood Summer Meltdown—and Matt even trekked out to Lake County to watch me at the 2013 Northern Ohio Marathon. Matt did the Chicago Marathon in 2008, and I still refer to his blog on a regular basis for another perspective on marathon training! I am particularly proud of Holly because she ran a sub-2 half marathon on Sunday! Heading into this training cycle, her goal was to run a sub-2 half marathon. She had intended to earn it at the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus in early May, but she came down with bronchitis during the week of the race and couldn’t run. I think that her achievement is especially awesome because she ran it in brutal weather conditions.
With that, another training cycle draws to a close. Although race day didn’t go exactly as I wanted it to go, I’m still extremely glad that I went through the journey and thankful for all of the great runs that I had during my training cycle. My ultimate goal is still to qualify for Boston at some point in the future, and all of the training that I did over the past few months has helped me maintain my level of fitness, decrease my mile splits, and build up my endurance and experience. Qualifying for Boston isn’t something that most runners can do in one training cycle or in one specific period of time; it’s a culmination of several years of effort and hard work. I may not have gotten my sub-4 marathon on Sunday, but I am confident that continued training and better weather conditions will help me get it at some point in the future. Additionally, I had the opportunity to meet more great people through the Official Ambassadors program! Lastly—and perhaps most importantly—training allowed me to carve out time for myself during the week. I deeply love what I do, but professional education can be a very demanding, stressful, and time-consuming job. Before I started running, I had a terrible work-life balance. (Saying that I had no work-life balance would probably be more accurate.) Running has provided me with a reason to turn off my email notifications on weekend mornings, put my phone on silent, and to enjoy a few uninterrupted hours each week so that I can clear my head and gain perspective about the things that are rattling about in my brain. Some may say that devoting so much time to training is a selfish endeavor, but I find that I am a better husband, friend, teacher, mentor, and follower of Christ when I have regular time to decompress and restore my soul through running.
No marathon training recap is complete without publicly acknowledging Sheila’s support and love. Over the past few years, her life has gotten busier as she’s ramped up her artistic pursuits and began taking more art classes. When life gets busy, many people often find themselves eating out more or using more frozen foods that are full of preservatives and salt. Fortunately, Sheila is not one of those people, and she has continued to take the time to plan delicious, healthy meals for us that allow me to keep my body in great shape. I have said this many times, but I truly do appreciate how she has never once complained about the amount of time that I dedicate to training.
I’d also like to thank my friends and family who came out to cheer me on in person, as well as those who supported me online. I felt awful when I saw my dad and stepmom standing in the pouring rain waiting for me, but I have appreciated their constant support throughout my entire running and healthy living journey.
Of course, I wouldn’t be writing this race recap—or any other race recap, for that matter—without thanking God for giving me the health, courage, and confidence to start running and to keep running. As I ran through Tremont on Sunday, I thought about my first few runs back in June 2012, which were runs in which I struggled to conquer 2 or 3 blocks without feeling exhausted. I ended my first few days of training feeling winded and tired and asking myself, “How the heck am I going to run one mile in just over a month, let alone 3.1 miles?” In spite of my doubt and fear, God gave me the strength to get out there again. When I sprained my ankle during the week of my first 5K, God healed it and helped me to run a pain-free race. Since then, God’s kept me going each step of the way. Without God’s peace in my heart and soul, I’m not sure that I would have taken my failure to run a sub-4 marathon as easily as I did. I’ve been focusing on that goal for almost a year now, and the idea of summoning up the strength to pursue that goal yet again by training for and running the Towpath Marathon seems pretty daunting. Fortunately, I know that I won’t be doing it on my own strength if I decide to move forward because I’ll be relying on God’s strength and provision each step of the way.
To those of you who started reading my blog during this training cycle, thanks for coming by! I hope you’ll continue reading far into the future. To my longtime readers, thanks for sticking around! You’re probably tired of hearing me rehash runs from the past, but I’m grateful you’re along for the ride (or should I say run?). Happy training!
