Marathon #9 - Hardest One Yet

This past Saturday I ran marathon #9. It was a sunny humid 70 degree start. It quickly warmed up and by the finish it was 86 hot degrees. The route was beautiful - full of country views, awesome support from volunteers, and loaded with Georgia foothills! The heat was tough but not the worst part of it at all. I drank water and gatorade and had 5 gels. I kept hydrated well and didn't have any issues there. A couple times I felt sick but would walk a minute so I could settle things down.





 

The night before the race I gathered my stuff together and could not find my Garmin anywhere. I looked for two hours and realized I was going to have to forgo my pacing alerts. So of course, I ran the first half too fast. I asked someone around mile 6 what the time was. Found out we were at 57 minutes and knew I was going way too fast. At the half way point I found out the time was around 2:10. I knew I would be doomed because it was getting hotter and that was not my plan for running in the heat! Most of the route was in the sun, but we all savored any shady spots some trees would cast on the road.








But... I never hit the wall because I had to walk most of the last 4-5 miles. My main problem were blisters forming on both heels since mile 16. The pain with each stride felt like blades scrapping my skin away. The last 2 miles I felt another blister forming under a big toe which felt like I was stepping on a thorn with each step. I had a deep heel blister from a marathon I ran in the rain two years ago. But I've never experienced anything like this.  I changed my gait when I would walk or run and I noticed the last mile it really started to affect my ITB. I was determined to finish and that's all that mattered.

At the finish, I took my shoes off right away. The blisters were long and deep with blood inside. We were able to lance and drain them the next day and immediately I had some relief. What's strange is I even coated my heels with a protective layer, wore the same sock brand I've been using for a year, and the same shoes I trained with. Mysterious and frustrating!

So many lessons learned from another marathon... and much to be thankful for!