Notes
I ran the Hartford Marathon. Not only did I come back from 1 month in Switzerland on Friday and therefore was very jet-lagged but it also rained the whole time. Even before the starting gun went off, everybody was soaked and sometimes I got pretty windy too. But I was in a good mood thinking "bring it on" and "I'm so up for the challenge". But I was not.
By mile 12 I was tired and had to walk. Rain and wet clothes and shoes always drains my energy fast. By mile 13 I was thinking of experiencing my first DNF. But I was 7 miles off the city and had to walk back anyways. So I did so.
A major mistake I did was to not eat a good breakfast and the bowl of cereal were soon gone from my stomach. Unfortunately, the aid stations only provided us with liquids; something I had enough falling from the sky. Arriving back in Hartford (mile 20) I had severe abdominal pain due my empty stomach and I though of making a pit stop at my wife's restaurant. But since the running path was too far away from it, I decided against it; luckily, because my family was waiting in the rain on the street to cheer me on.
I told my wife how hurt, hungry, wet, and tired I was and she asked me if I want to quit. Almost instantly a clear NO came out of my mouth almost too fast for my taste like I myself have nothing to say in that decision of my brain. But I took it, kissed my wife and kids and took of for my last 6 miles, which are going to be very long.
By mile 23 they had a junk food aid station, which looked for me like the finest restaurant in town. I spent around 3 minutes there, chewing gummy-bears, biting chocolate and drinking coke. Usually I don't eat that stuff but right there it tasted so good and it gave me a bit of a boost to keep going.
Right after the station, a woman joined me and for the first time in my running career I had a running buddy in a race. Together we shared not only our tiredness and pain, but also some of our running and life stories. It's amazing what you can learn from another person within 2 miles of running.
I'm about 1.2 miles short of the finish line and while running it alone it started to kick in what I have been going through meeting the challenge set at the start. I literally wanted to quit every single mile after running half of the course. While running through the finish line I was so happy and had goose bumps all over my body. Emotionally I was about set to empty and after receiving my medal and walking back to the restaurant to meet my family, a few tear drops ran down my cheeks, but were perfectly hidden by the rain soaking my face.
It took me 5:41:35, 41 minutes and 42 seconds longer than my first marathon. Also the feeling at the end was very different. In my first marathon I was "just" happy. But with this one I was happy and emotionally drawn. Makes me wonder, how I'll be feeling with my next marathon, which is in 8 days. Bib #: 628.