1 mile skied, 1250 meters swam, 48 miles biked and 192.1 miles run in 2013 races
Race: Pacific Crest Marathon
Place: Sunriver, OR
Miles from home: 173 miles
Weather: 70-80s; bright sunshine
Thought I would check to see if I still wilted in the heat whilst running in a marathon.
annnnnnd.....yep.
Until this weekend I had run one marathon in my life in Oregon - this same race seven years ago during my 52 marathons in one year quest. Doing a book signing of both my books at the expo for the race, more than a few people were curious what I wrote about the race from 2006.
It turns out that what I wrote about the race in 2006 remains the same 7 years later. Excellent organization, tremendous aid stations and a beautiful course. That’s what happened in 2006 and that was what happened again this year.
The Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival is just that: a festival. Three days of racing allows all different types of events for all different skill sets. Unfortunately, on this weekend, due to what had to be close to record high temperatures, unless your skill set was being impervious to warm temperatures, you were going to be tested.
Without fail, when I work an expo, of any kind, there are more than a few people that I meet who leave me with a good feeling in my stomach. One random story I can tell you is how a young gentleman met me when I was at this event 4 years ago. I wasn’t even racing. I was there doing a book signing of my first book. Well, long story short, he told me partly upon hearing what I had done and how we can do amazing things with the right attitude he decided to get his life in order. Granted the message didn’t strike him immediately. It took most of this time from the last time we spoke for that point to be driven home but now he was eschewing drugs and alcohol and taking up running seriously. That is the sort of wonderful I get to experience every weekend. It almost made me forget that I was wilting in the temperatures that were rapidly approaching 90 degrees. Almost.
Truth be told, I was nervous. I hadn’t done a marathon race in 7 months. I don’t like running in the heat. I was concerned what a year of living at sea level had done to my four years of temporarily residing at 4,000+ feet. Most importantly, I have come to the realization that the MRSA infection I had in my foot in April had messed up my foot pretty bad and although I like to think I can heal instantly from anything, that is not the case. The side effects of that infection are probably going to be with me for a while. Not an excuse, just a fact. A fact that made me nervous. The only way I know how to get rid of nerves about a race is to start the race. A starting pistol has always been the slayer of nerves.
First 7 miles:
My intention was to take the race and break it into portions. The first seven miles or so ran through many of the backyards of the vacations homes in Sunriver. Undulating through small rises on a bike path, twisting and turning through evergreen trees and dry shrubs, the course was, for the most part shaded through this portion. My intention was to hold a 3:10 marathon pace through here and then move on after that depending on how my body felt. My bestie Shannon was with me and this was her first of four marathons in two weeks. Ridiculous! We stood near the front trying to hunker into some of the shade to stay as cold as possible as long as possible.
