Rotorua Marathon

I worked out a few weeks ago that I'd done over 300km of running this year, in preparation for this marathon.  I entered because....... Clare was doing it?  Because you have to do a marathon once, don't you?  Because I'm obsessed with running Tarawera Ultra Marathon next year, and this is my base training?  Because it was the 50th year of the Rotorua Marathon and you got a souvenir medal?

Over the last 6 months since I entered, I've read lots of blogs and posts about marathon running, the training, the pain, the mistakes, and the euphoria when you finish.  An amazing buzz, the ultimate high of success and fortitude, persistence against the odds.  I've drafted this blog post in my imagination, how I'll share all the tragedies and triumphs and offer life changing advice from my new perspective as a marathon runner.

I don't have it.  Is there something wrong with me?  I feel a bit ripped off.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased that I've done it.  It was bloody painful and there were moments when my eyes welled up.  I'm so proud that I just kept running, even when my thighs felt like they had tennis balls in them instead of muscles.  I'm rapt that I paced myself well enough to run the last 8kms, and wasn't one of the many runners I passed towards the end, hands dangling, feet shuffling, limping, looking completely defeated.  I am a marathon runner.

But I'm not actually buzzing, and I feel a bit guilty for it. 

Lowlights
*Realising I had somehow lost my Garmin between picking it up to pack it on Friday night, and leaving on Saturday morning, which resulted in ripping the house apart at 5.45am and delaying departure time by 20 minutes.
*Running in bumper to bumper traffic breathing exhaust fumes for most of the marathon.  Yuck, my tummy was churning and I was so worried I was actually going to vomit.
*Feeling like a goldfish in a bubble, running past spectators looking at you blankly while they wait for their own runner.
*Running SO slowly for the 10k from the Hamurana turnoff  regardless of how hard I tried to speed up
*Not running 4:15.  I know that's ridiculous because I already ran beyond my training and talent.  I'd just like to be faster, that's all.
*Kilometres 38 to 42.  I was telling myself "I can run 4kms, 4kms is only 25 minutes, NO worries"  And I wasn't believing it.  
*Running into Government Gardens and under the pagoda finishing arch.... then seeing a blue inflatable finishing arch further down the road.  Running under that and seeing an actual finishing arch way down the road.  Ruthless.

Highlights
*Finding my Garmin and making the marathon in time?
*The section around the top of the lake, running with Vern who was running his 30th Rotorua Marathon.  Feeling comfortable at 5:50 pace.  Sneaking a hope I might actually be faster than I thought.
*Tarzan, who ran in a leopard skin speedo and afro wig.  He'd worked hard to get his tan so even.
*Running around Lake Rotorua.  It was quite cool on the top of the lake to look all the way across at the city centre and think "I've run all the way from there".  Not so cool to think I still had to run all the way back to there.

*High fives from my family
*Knowing I still had some form in the last ten ks, amongst so many runners who will be lining a physio's wallet this week.
*The kid with the sign that said "Punch here for a power blast".  I punched it.  Twice.
*The family with the "Go Random Stranger" sign.  Everytime I saw them I'd say "Hey, I'm that Random Stranger" and they'd yell all sorts of encouraging things.
*Running through the pain, I've never done that before.  "I'm not a runner" is my slogan, so I usually feel quite justified in having a rest when it hurts too much.

*54th out of 196 runners in my category.  That's alright!  :)  

So, for me, no great life changing moment in finishing my first marathon.  As someone commented in the days leading up to the event, the Marathon is just the victory lap, all the work that's gone into it is your real success.  And maybe, for me, that's true.  I've never run those distances.  I ran through discomfort and personal physical battles.  I ran alone, for kilometre after kilometre, hour after hour.  I scheduled those runs and my family supported me in giving me the time to do them.  I saw parts of Tauranga I've never been to before. 

I'm the same person I was yesterday.  Except one of my toenails is going to fall off and if I sit on the ground I can't get up again.

Rotorua Marathon.  Done.