Molli HalvorsonA Boston Bound Runner I joined Runners Edge of the Rockies in June of 2006 with the Boulder Backroads marathon as my goal. I had run one marathon before, but trained and ran it on my own and still felt like a novice - my first marathon was a very long and painful run. This time would be different - I wanted support and a plan. I signed up for the Speedwork sessions for Tuesday evenings to help me gain some confidence, ran all my long runs, made some friends, and was asked to co-Pace the 3:45 group in August to fill in for an injured Pace Leader. It was the best experience ever. The Wednesday before the race I could feel a sore throat coming on, and by the day of the race expo I had a fever and was battling to keep in any fluids. I decided the night before the race that I would run the race no matter what - I wasn't letting all that hard work go to waste. I put on my pacing band with a 3:45 in mind, didn't tell anyone I had caught the flu, and started the race. At the midpoint I was on pace, but I started sweating out my fever and all my fluid reserves, and by mile 16 I had already gotten sick. (Not to be gross but gels are nasty enough going down - you never want them coming up...trust me!) By 20 I couldn't go on and pulled out of the race. I was horrified... When the SAG car brought me back to the finish our own Dr. Dave took one look at me and said "Med Tent" - Apparently I looked bad. They gave me fluids and oxygen and I cried like a baby. I believed I was a failure. I must add, at this point, that a certain runner came to the med tent to check on me, he was my co-pacer from the 3:45 group and is now my fiancee (more on that later). I healed physically from the flu, but my confidence was shattered and I did not run another race even at the urgings of coach. I did decide to rejoin RE in spring of 2007 and signed up for a marathon in Oregon in June. I trained hard and smart all spring, I was able to reconnect with everything I enjoyed about running and I once again looked forward to lacing up my shoes. At the beginning of May, the runner that came to check on me at the med tent in Boulder, Dave Lowry, and I went out to visit my parents in California. At the last 1/2 mile of a 10 mile training run he totally surprised me by proposing - he had smuggled the ring through security at the airport and had tied it to his running shorts for 9 1/2 miles of our training run. It was an absolutely beautiful moment. When we came back, we started our taper and the anxiety hit. I was a mess. Worse yet I had started cramping on every run and couldn't figure out why. Race weekend arrived and Dave and I flew to Oregon for our race and drove down the coast to Newport. We went and picked up our packets and the reality of the approaching race finally hit - I had to breathe and focus on the enjoyment of running. My race times are not what define me as a runner. Dave and I went out to Newport with the goal of finishing a marathon for my confidence only. But as runners, once we were there, we decided race morning to try for a 3:40. I almost laughed when I put the pacing band on. My doubts from Boulder were convincing me that I was not capable - a 3:40 was a Boston qualifying time... We put on our pace bands and headed out. We awoke to perfect weather, it was cool and cloudy and the sound of the ocean was the only thing I could focus on. We started near the back of the pack and I tried to find a rhythm. If you've never run at sea level you don't know that there is actually oxygen available there and we had to focus on slowing down. Staying on pace. I was amazed as we passed runner after runner along the beautiful shoreline - no one appeared to have pacing bands. I was thinking, I wonder if they know how they're doing. We never got passed after mile 3. Not once. We were well trained physically and followed all suggestions in the RE's training manual. We really followed the rules on this one. As we hit mile 20 there was no bonking as we had trained to be more than great 20 mile runners by staying slow on Saturday mornings. We stayed on pace gaining about a minute along the way - we stopped at every aid station to stretch and refocus, keeping a close eye on our pace, checking our splits every mile. As we passed people winding down and struggling, we focused on our race and remained focused and alert. There were miles when I couldn't remember what mile it was between mile signs - I just kept running and believing, cheesy, but I did. We really worked together, and I kept thinking, this is what Manthey meant when he said marathoning is 90% mental. The whole race was challenging, but it's a marathon - if you're not working for it you're not running a marathon. We finally saw the 26 mile sign at the top of a long 1/2 mile uphill climb (truly cruel at the end of a race) and I did just like you said Manthey - I enjoyed every last bit of that last .2... We crossed the finish line together, smiling, and both setting PR's. We grabbed our bowls of Clam Chowder (in Colorado you run a marathon you get a bagel, in Newport OR you get a big bowl of clam chowder, damn good chowder) and settled in to watch other racers cross the finish line in their victories... To top it all off, I was shocked at the award presentations when I placed 2nd in my age group. Sweet. You guys rock - Thank you! I never thought this former smoker would be a Boston Bound runner.. Molli Halvorson |
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