What can I say.....This course owned me. Very tough course. So many hills, I had to check the elevation chart to make sure there were some flat spots in the course. And even with that, I'm calling BS on the flat spots. :) Met up with several Muckas at the start line. I was running the full. Kevin, Holly, Brandon and Jody were running the Co-ed relay as Team Mucka. Barrett was running with another team, who initially signed up for the all male division. They had an injured runner and swapped him out for a female runner. And she was fast!!! Barrett's team took first place in the Co-ed division, followed by Team Mucka, who were only a minute or two behind them. Not bad having Muckas on the top two teams. :) And we had Sherry and Mark running the 5K. Sherry took 3rd overall female, and Mark took 5th overall male. Two more Muckas representing.
I felt strong through the first 10-miles. I started off with Barrett but knew I couldn't keep a sub 8 minute pace for too long. I told him he needed to quit letting me hold him back and that was all he needed to hear because he was gone. I hit the huge hill around the 9.5 mile mark and charged through it as best I could. Hit the water station (I asked for beer but they said no) at mile 10. About 100 yards past the water stop, I had a close encounter with an oncoming car. He wouldn't get over and forced me to the edge of the road. There was no shoulder either. I caught the edge and twisted my ankle. Now, like I said, I just passed the 10-mile mark. I had another 16-miles to go, and many more hills. This was not good. I had to utilize the run/walk method. I was still going at a decent pace. Then I started feeling a popping at the back of my ankle. Things slowed down rather quickly.
Going through Craighead Forrest was nice due to all the shade I had from the trees. Tough hills in there as well. Continued with the run/walk method while the temps continued to heat up. The humidity was zapping me pretty good. After coming out of the park, the shade disappeared. Pushed on through. At mile 20, I had some help waiting for me. Barrett was waiting there for me. He had already finished his leg of the relay and came to help push me through the last of the race. Not far past that, I had more help waiting for me. Holly and Kevin were there, ready to run along side of me. I had three Muckas coming to my aide. Now that's teamwork. :)
At this point, my ankle was killing me. I did more walking than running through the last 6-miles. As we were coming back into downtown Jonesboro, I could tell something wasn't right. I looked down at my hands and they were extremely swollen. Dehydration was taking over, and I was out of salt tabs. Kevin ran ahead and found some salt and brought it back to me. That really helped out. Once we got back to the ASU campus, the rest of the Muckas were waiting at the top of the last hill (Not at the bottom mind you! LOL!) and ran with me to the finish line. If it weren't for my fellow Muckas, this may have turned out a lot worse. Then, as I came into the finish line area, I saw my AWESOME PIT CREW, Deb and Amy. Talk about coming in to a beautiful sight. :)
Like I said, this was not my best showing. In fact, this was my worst marathon time, 4:32:39. It is also a completed marathon and goes in the books as that. I have now completed eight marathons, en route to my goal of completing 50. Thanks to everyone who has been supporting me. You all are great.
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