Sunday, October 23, 2011

Morgan Hill Marathon

Yeah, this about sums it up.

The Morgan Hill Marathon is one race I would like to forget. I won't get into the gory details, but let's just say that El Diablo followed Endorphin Dude over to the south bay to wreck havoc on his Titanium quest. That little devil threw pitch forks at the Marathon Caped Crusaders in all directions. Long story short, these are the reasons why it took so long for E-Dude to cross that finish line:
  • Our attempt at the early start ended up biting Ultra Woof and Endorphin Dude in the booty. Somewhere along the way, the two of us added 2 miles to the marathon!
  • Morgan Hill was more like Morgan Hilly for that first half. I was already stressed out about those extra two miles. Add exhaustion from climbing those killer hills to that equation and you have one very frustrated super hero!
  • The second half of Morgan Hill was more like Morgan Hell, as the temperatures reached inferno status. At that point, I knew El Diablo was there at every mile mark, sucking out all my energy.
By mile 19, heat exhaustion got to me and I wanted so desperately to veer off and just finish the half. Nausea kicked in at this point. However, I kept moving forward. By mile 23, the sag wagon pulled up next to me to pick up the cones. I asked the driver if I needed to get into his truck and he noted that there was one injured runner behind me and that the race director was keeping the finish line open for him. I believe this is what saved me. I only had one little 5k left so I kept plugging along. When I reached mile 25, I had a complete melt down at the aid station. I threw a tantrum so intense that one of the volunteers, who was also a coach for the local running club, walked with me to the end. All I needed was someone to talk to in order to get my mind off of the pain and ease my angst. I've talked about marathon guardian angels before, and this guy fought off El Diablo to get me to that finish line.

Another marathon guardian angel. Thank you for getting me to that finish line. You really don't know how much that meant to me. Really.
The smiles on Ultra Woof and I are genuine. We were SO HAPPY to get this one done!

This marathon should have been a DNF or a DQ. The DNF I had control of, but I seriously needed some sort of external factor to save me from that DQ. Fortunately, that came in the form of the injured runner behind me. I finished way after the cut off time and probably should not received the official finish, but I did.

What upsets me the most about this marathon is that I let the mental break downs get to me, and I did some things that I am not proud of. There is a code of conduct that I adhere by when I am out there on the course. As Endorphin Dude, it is my civic duty to bring positive vibes to all runners and walkers. Today that did not happen. I snapped at a volunteer. I cursed under my breath at another runner. I ignored those who cheered me on. Endorphin was nowhere to be found at Morgan Hill. I am glad to get another notch on my Titanium belt, but this is one race I would like to forget.

Isn't a marathon 26.2 miles? Titanium Score Board: 36 down, 16 to go.

3 comments:

  1. I remember chatting with you after this one - that was a VERY tough day. But you somehow still managed to persevere and even better, use it to rally and rebound and get stronger for your Titanium finish.

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  2. Thanks our Coach Naresh Kumar from Team Asha :). He is our guardian angel at every single run.

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  3. What I like about this marathon is that it will pass through a variety of scenery, from the beautiful green and rolling hills that lie on the west outskirts of town, along Oak Glen and Willow Springs Road, where we pass by the peaceful lakes of the Uvas and Chesbro reservoirs.

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