As the head coach at Love Training More, I’m so pleased to bring you this race report from my athlete Allana Cameron who raced the Washington DC Rock’n’Roll Marathon on Saturday, March 11. Allana had a totally awesome marathon training cycle and she arrived in DC really fit and ready to take on her goal.
Take it away, Allana:
Hotdogs and Microwaved Potatoes by Allana Cameron
With a bounce in my step, along-side my training partner, Erin Balodis, I stepped up to the “Change your Coral” booth at the Expo. I expressed, quite bubbly, how well our training had gone and requested to be bumped up a coral. I could see 3:55 on the clock. I visualized it. It was going to happen! And so, our bibs were changed from Coral 4 to 3.
We had our pre-race food plans mapped out. We jumped into a cab and said – Whole Foods please! We soon found out that this cab driver did not know the city and it was even questionable if she knew how to drive. Anyhow, we landed at the Whole Foods and to our disappointment, it was not open. This beautiful new Whole Foods was set to open – NEXT week! For fear of travelling any further with this lady, we asked her to take us straight back to the hotel… with no food. It had been a very long travel day from home to DC and we were so hungry.
Upon our request for light/simple to digest/plain foods, the friendly hotel desk attendant provided us with some food suggestions – two Irish pubs around the block or for some lighter fare, a place a couple blocks down sells things like hotdogs. HOTDOGS!
After a bit of debate, about 15 hours after the travel day began, we landed in another cab and headed off to a Whole Foods a little further away. The food was satisfactory. I had to fill up on rice because the chicken I bought had garlic on it… which is a no-no for me. No biggie… I was carb-loading, right?
Dealing with digestive issues on a daily basis, food choices are extremely important for me, especially pre-race! As it turns out, pre-race day was a series of food-fails, including dairy in my eggs at breakfast, beans (dangerous FIBER!) in my quinoa at lunch and uncooked (inedible) baked potatoes with cold rubbery turkey at supper. Food-Fail!
It was time for bed. Still, I wasn’t worried. Nothing was going to ruin my “3:55 marathon”!
Race day morning arrived! We had to head out pretty early to walk the 2km to the start line. So, I prepared my pre-race breakfast: rice crackers with peanut butter. I ate 2 and packed the rest in a ziplock bag to eat along the way. We were very layered up due to the -10 cold winds blowing through the city. I remembered everything! …except my crackers and peanut butter. I wasn’t worried – everything would be ok! 30 minutes before the race it was time for me to take my SaltStick cap… but I had no water. So, I skipped it. But, I just brushed off the concern as we headed for the start line. This was going to be GREAT!
The gun went off and we immediately tried to find our pace – as defined by Coach Erin! It usually takes me about 30-45 minutes to warm up. But, things were feeling good and I had no issues holding the pace. My right knee was bothering me, but I didn’t worry. I just told my knee – you can hurt if you want to, but I’m still running! I’ll be nice to you later!
At 10k, we started up the “Blue Mile”, a long steep hill lined with men and women in uniform cheering us on. It was also lined with posters of men and women who had sacrificed their lives in service. It felt emotional. But, something else strange started to happen. This feeling of my blood being replaced by cold, thick molasses. My arms and my legs had never felt like this before. I wanted to lay down. We were only at 10k!
After a short walk break and a little pep-talk from Erin, I had to work really hard at staying positive. This feeling was not part of the plan. This was not okay. I didn’t know how to deal with it.
My gut started to twist. I knew this feeling from previous races and also knew I had never before recovered from it. When this happens, it feels like my insides are being scraped by razors and that the “valve” to my gut is closed. My practiced nutrition was being rejected.
By 18k I knew I could not hold the pace and needed to drop away from Erin. It was maddening because it wasn’t my fitness, it wasn’t because I went out too hard, it wasn’t because my legs were giving out – it was my gut. I was mad because I didn’t want to drop away from Erin! But, I did. I stopped and took some Advil that I had packed in my pocket just in case my pre-race shin troubles bothered me… which it didn’t.
This is when I knew that 3:55 was not going to happen. So, what’s the point? I was in so much pain. I thought – isn’t this supposed to be fun? Why am I doing this to myself? And then I saw the sign – Half Marathon – Turn left, Full Marathon – Turn Right. My mind raced with reasons to quit. I imagined emailing friends and family to say I dropped out. Surely they would understand. I imagined how it would be so much better if I could just lay on my bed in the hotel. I imagined that it would be better to say I couldn’t finish than to miss my goal. Or, would it? I had to find a reason to keep going! Then I thought of Erin. This was her first marathon! I imagined how I would be setting a very negative tone to the rest of the day and trip if I quit. I imagined how my quitting would dampen her excitement of finishing and celebrating! I looked at my watch and saw I still had 3.5 hours before they closed the course. I could do it, even if I walked! This was the mental boost I needed.
After this point, I saw Erin TWICE! The course had a couple of out-back sections. It was so great to see her and cheer each other! I yelled to her, with words from Coach – BE FEARLESS ERIN!
I met some nice people along the way: I leap-frogged for a while with a man from Georgia and his daughter who lives in DC. We called out to each other “Hey Canada!” and I would reply “Hey Georgia, Hey Red!”. I met a guy who is part of the DC Triathlon Club – Quinton. He told me all about his upcoming races. There were a couple of others – all helped distract me from my gut pain and my disappointment. We kind of chuckled and agreed – if you can’t meet your goal time, at least make friends along the way.
I crossed the finish line 28 minutes after my goal. I was deeply disappointed.
But…I am so glad I finished! I am so thankful for and proud of my training partner Erin for her performance in her first marathon! And, I am very grateful for Coach Erin – her training plans, advice and pep talks!
Lessons learned… there’s probably more, but these stick out to me:
- Book accommodations with a kitchen so that the nutrition I practiced in training can be implemented pre-race day.
- Create a race morning checklist. Check it before heading out to the race.
- Write a reason or two on your hand/body to push you to the finish line – no matter the circumstances! This may help avoid or dampen the dark thoughts of quitting.
- Training with a coach matters! Although it may not be evident from the finish line clock, I was stronger than ever before. I was ready! That clock will belong to me… just not this time.
- Marathon-ing is so much more than the race itself. It is the entire journey from training to race day. It’s a great way to make new friends and build relationships on the memories made through training, traveling and racing!
- It’s okay to be disappointed – you worked hard for this goal. But it’s not okay to dwell there for long. Accept your results. Think about what went right. Start planning for your next event!
Final words by Coach Erin:
Marathoning in flimsy. Members of the general public don’t fully grasp how much bravery it takes to pour your being into training for 12-16 weeks for a race that takes 4 hours. So 12-16 weeks for one day where it can all come down to a multitude of factors beyond our control that may blow it for us: an urban food desert, a bright shining hot sun, etc. In fact, I don’t think that we marathoners can even fully grasp that all the time or think about it all the time: it would be paralyzing. But we are in control when we keep coming back for more. When we enjoy the journey. More, no matter how flimsy, is better than none.
I’m so encouraged that there is already more for Allana.
Beyond her still impressive 4:23, a few things stand out for me as her coach. She suffered through intense and incredible pain, when quitting would have been way easier, to improve her running partner’s first (and only first) marathon experience. That’s the spirit of the marathon. That’s running beauty.
I admire the way she lined up for the race. She had two choices here. The choice to be positive and optimistic or the choice to be flooded with anxiety and worry over the lack of nutrition. I’m impressed that she went with optimistic and I think that positivity mattered.
That clock will belong to her yet.
