ROYAL VICTORIA MARATHON - 10/11/09

Introduction
In the weeks leading up to marathon day, my training was SERIOUSLY restricted. The IT issue was related to misaligned sacroiliac (once again). Sacroiliac joint needed a break to maintain alignment which meant doing nothing that created motion with the hips or stress on the lower back. So....no running, no aqua-jogging, no elliptical, no swimming, no cycling, no spinning, no foam rolling, limited walking. Hmmm, this kinda interferes with that MARATHON I'm suppose to be running, eh? However, I could do strengening exercises prescribed by my PT. I became the master squatter, cruncher, therabander doing up to 35 reps of everything 3 times a day. However, in the end, it created a tight hip-flexor that killed me during the last 5 miles of the marathon. But I'm jumping ahead here.

Day 1
Thanks to the support of so many, I raised over $3000 for LLS through Team In Training for the opportunity to run the Royal Victoria Marathon. What a fantastic weekend with perfect weather shared with some amazing people. I arrived in Victoria with 3 fellow rungirls one day ahead of the rest of the team. While waiting in the customs line at the airport, a tall man with an accent started chatting us up. "Are you here for the marathon? Are you running for a charity" We mentioned we were with TNT and chatted for a while before going our separate ways. Fast forward 3 hours after enjoying high tea at the Empress... We got to the expo before it opened and soon the "opening ceremonies" began with that same tall gentleman cutting the ribbon to open the weekend's events. He pointed toward us and smiled down from the balcony saying, "There are my TNT runners!" As we ascended the staircase for the expo he gave each of us a high five. As it turned out, this was Rod Dixon: olympian, New York Marathon winner, and the first TNT coach. Good omen for race day.

Day 2 - The Eve of the Marathon
Toured the marathon course by bus -- knowledge is power dontcha know. Saw the hills and new what to expect. Learned landmarks I would look foward to seeing. Rested, relaxed, drank FANTASTIC coffee.

Attended a Night of Inspiration with fellow TNT athletes. Honoree (and team mate) Todd Moore told us his story and why we were there. His form of blood cancer is most likely to reoccur, the question is when. He thanked us not only for what we are doing now, but for what needs to be done for his future. He finished with something for us to think about during the inevitable hellacious moments of the marathon. He explained, in great detail, his experience of having a auger drilled into his hip with blood dripping down his leg to extract bone marrow. Needle-butt. Not a pretty sight - if he can endure that, surely we can endure a marathon. By the way, Todd finished the Victoria Marathon in 3:38:58.

Day 3 - The Marathon

Up at 4am to warm up the muscles, stretch the IT, hip flexor, and calves -- my problem spots. Hoping that would prevent the voodoo doll in my head from stabbing the points during my run. Eat. Dress. Walk to the starting line.

During the first few miles, my calves were TIGHT. Stopped 3 times to stretch with the encouragement of Jen. The calves were never an issue for the rest of the run. 15 miles flew by...yes they did.

With the sunrise and beautiful scenery, how could it not. Such a piece of cake, truly. Goal #2 could easily be achieved, I thought. We were on track. I was an ultra-conservative runner on that day -- sacro-ili-crap won't get the best of me! It was great seeing fellow TNTers run by...I knew I was not alone.

Jen and I stuck together during a lot of the run, at times playing a game of cat and mouse. At mile 19ish the oh-crap-what-the-hell-is-this happened. Hip flexor tooo tight - every time the left leg made forward motion I winced with pain that came and went in waves. Then the IT crunched near the near. Saw Coach Tim at mile 20ish which released endorphins masking the pain. Mile 22ish had to keep on running -- decreasing walk breaks significantly -- rubbed biofreeze on the hip-flexor and IT. The transition from walk to run was far too painful. At this point, my run pace slowed so the cardio wouldn't run out. I was running without Jen for quite a bit, but my body couldn't take the walking. Visions of "needle-in-the-butt" kept me going. Visions of baby Zach enduring chemo before he reached his first birthday kept me going. The sacroiliac belt with all my honorees names written on it kept me going. My three original marathon time goals were thrown out the window, but my 4th goal was still within reach - sub 6 hours. I had a 5th and 6th goal in place (just in case), but not finishing was not one of them.

The Finish

I hadn't run with Jen for quite some time, I had no idea where she was. I really wanted to finish with her, but I had to keep forward motion and be selfish at that point. 4 miles to go. I sped up my walk pace during those breaks, sped up my run pace. Could I have done this earlier. I don't know. Then OUT OF NOWHERE with roughly a mile to go, this perky (what the hell?) chick shows up by my side, "Janine, let's DO THIS THING!" It seriously took me a moment to snap out of my marathon coma and realize I wasn't hallucinating. It was Jen. I began looking for Arianna and James, they promised to be here somewhere. I needed them. Then they appeared. James began running with Jen.

Arianna began running with me - talking me through the turns and what to expect. I told her I couldn't speak. She knew this feeling from her Napa Marathon and she was low key. She knew what to say and what not to say. I began to run faster and faster. Faster. Honoree Jack and his wife were there near the finish. He was there -- I could see the Finish Line Banner. Closer. Nearly there. Arianna left me and James left Jen. Together, Jen and I sprinted. I saw Evie cheering our names from behind the fence. We sprinted through to the end releasing any pain that previously exisited. For about 2 minutes, that voodoo doll lost control and I ran, without pain, faster...I ran.

The Result

4th goal achieved...sub 6 hours

Marathon time: 5:57:29