The Space Coast Marathon was my 2nd marathon of 2011. I had completed Nashville Rock & Roll in May and was looking to vastly improve my time. I had originally planned on doing Savannah R & R, but that turned out not to be in the cards. I enjoyed the training schedule from Nicole, adding strength training made such a big difference on how I felt during long runs &; speed work. Not to mention the confidence I felt from seeing muscles develop:)
After my final long run before the marathon I came down with bronchitis. I figured no biggie, I get this at least once a year. I got some antibiotics, inhaler and was trying to stay calm during the last few weeks before the marathon in Savannah. I kept on schedule with my runs and while I didn't feel a ton better, I was still confident that I would be better by Savannah. The week before the marathon I did 8 miles and was exhausted. I couldn't stop coughing & felt I should have made some progress by then! So back to the Dr. I go. On Wednesday, 3 days before the marathon! After seeing the chest X-ray,it showed pneumonia, my doctor suggested the best option would be not to do the marathon. I think she thought I was joking when I said that wasn't an option, did she not know how hard I worked? The weather was going to be cool in Savannah! This was my race! My doctor suggested getting antibiotics via shot in the butt to maybe speed up recovery. I was fine with this. I did three at the appointment with a plan of coming back twice on Thursday before I left on Friday for Savannah. Well I was in for a surprise, the shots hurt so bad I could hardly run! I figured that out on an easy run that night! Thursday morning was worse, I woke up feeling like death was knocking on my door. Savannah was out and I was beyond disappointed.
I was still determined to do a marathon. I worked hard for it! Nicole mentioned Space Coast Marathon as an option. I promptly registered and made plans to bunk with Susan Meyers. SpaceCoast was Nov 27th, 25 days after Savannah. No biggie. Nicole adjusted my Training Peaks and I was set. I had taken a full week off of running before I resumed training. As the marathon became closer, the more i stressed. I was worried that being sick for about a month with bronchitis
and pneumonia might have taken more out of me than I thought, go figure.:)
We head to Cocoa Beach on Saturday. The expo was smaller than I expected, but still nice. We had lunch and checked out the marathon course. Much prettier than I had thought. The course was along the water. Loved that! As we check out the 2nd half of the marathon, it seemed to be a bit more hilly, but what goes up must come down. We all go to dinner at Carrabbas. Great time at dinner. Got to know the girls, great group!! I was beat, we went to bed by 9:30 and I was out, no problem falling asleep! Susan and I were up by 4am and ready to get it done. Nicole was kind enough to offer to chauffeur. Drop bags off for post marathon and head for the start. Time to go!
26.2 miles later..
It was the hardest thing I had ever done. The first half was beautiful! Did that in 2:04! I started feeling some aching in my shin & hips and figured I better back it off a bit. That worked till mile 20. By then it felt like I had knives in my hips and knees, my shins were knotted. So the last six miles were a combo of run,stretch, walk. I crossed the finish line. I was so dissatisfied with myself! Thank goodness for late checkout! Ice bath followed by a hot shower and we headed home.
I am glad I did it. It might not have been the smartest thing I did after being sick, lesson learned. I will do another one. I am looking forward to it!
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