Katie Wright Blog 6/03/2007

San Diego "Rock 'n' Roll" Marathon Re-cap

If the Boston Marathon was my race against weather, the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon was my race against mind.    San Diego was held a mere 6 weeks and 6 days after Boston.  

I had taken more time off after Boston than planned, and then worried that my body wouldn't withstand another marathon.   On top of the physical demands of race recovery, I interviewing for and obtained a new job, saw my little sister graduate from college and celebrated my birthday.   However, my running group in Austint sponsors a group of female "first timers" in San Diego so I knew I couldn't miss it.   My coach and running buddies continued to assure me that my body would be okay.   With that advice, I continued to fit in training runs whenever possible.   The day I ran five 1 mile repeats in sweltering heat and humidity, I felt confident about finishing San Diego.  

My travel to San Diego was flawless. I arrived late Friday night and found my roommate.   The two of us had run together in Boston until she encountered stomach trouble. This time we wanted to stick together through the entire race.  

On Saturday, the day before the event, we took the trolley to the race expo to pick up our packets and relish free samples of runner food.   Both of us wondered aloud why we were doing this so quickly again.   Race evening saw us go to bed early after watching a movie and laying out our racing gear.  

The big day was finally upon us! Unlike the cold of Boston in which we were bundled from head to toe, in San Diego we only needed shorts and top.   When we lined up for the race start my adrenaline kicked in.    We put ourselves within view of our group's 3:40 pacer, but at the same time kept a strategic distance from the huge crowd that was following him.  

As the gun went off my friend and I glanced at one another with a look that said, "for better or worse here we go".   From the first step I felt low on energy, but at the same time, charged by the environment.   At mile eight my friend and I wondered if our pacer was running too quickly. We realized we were on pace for a 3:30 marathon time rather than a 3:40.   I remembered the hundreds of occasions my coach had warned that going out too fast can cost a runner big in the end. As we reached the half-way point, I worriedly told my race partner that I was tiring.   I was also feeling a small pain in my left shin.   My partner communicated her need for a bathroom break so we took one at mile 16.   Getting back on the track, we were excited because the miles remaining could now be measured in single versus double digits.   With the finish before us, we knew the real race was about to begin!  

When we reached mile 21 the end was in sight...sort of.   My shin was aching and I was mentally run down.   The athlete in me kept staying, "this is no harder than any of your training...stick to it and you can still beat 3:40."   I'd run the San Diego course before and kept looking to see how much distance we had already covered.   I was anxiously awaiting the point when the Air Force base comes into view, marking the last 2 miles.   At mile 23 I came to the realization that this was going to be my most challenging marathon finish.   I

was battling my mind and the heat and temperature was rising.   As I entered the base I looked up to see a huge inflatable archway from the race sponsor Suzuki.   On the side of the archway, at a height of 10 feet, was my photo from last year's race.   This was the same photo that had been displayed on race packets and advertisements since last February.   It made me smile and say out loud, "that's me" which caused another runner to look up to check it out.   However, soon after this feeling of euphoria my body broke down.   I was hitting the mysterious and much discussed marathon "wall".   I had never before encountered this challenge.   I was physically unable to speed up when the finish line finally came into view.   Luckily for me, friends were standing by to cheer me through the finish.