Monday, October 8, 2007

So Close...

Well folks this first time marathoner posted a big DNF - that's right I did not finish. Plus the course shut down before I could have finished. But I am getting ahead of myself.

The day started muggy and just generally disgusting. I drank my fluids and thought to myself maybe I should take the time to fill out the back of my bib due to the extreme heat I would be facing. Nerves were at an all time high but I got down to start with plenty of time to spare. It was very chaotic! People jumping fences to get in line. I just sat and soaked it up and chatted up the guy next to me. At 8 am the gun went off and about 8:20 I crossed the start line and was off. Feeling good just really, really warm. It was extremely motivating and exciting with so many people around. I have never in any of my Chicago races ever seen so many spectators. Yes, I got a bit choked up. I changed my goal time early on to 10 min miles and actually came in a bit below that through the first half. Saw 2 friends at the 5k and I was feeling great. The shade helped. At around 8 miles I saw my great college friends and seeing them helped me keep on pushing. At this point the heat was starting to wear on me and I was trying to slow myself. Luckily the local grocery store was passing out bottles of water! Through 10 miles I felt like a superstar as much as one can feel like in 90 degrees. I was keeping pace, feeling confident, and the time was passing by like nothing. (Not that I was going fast but it seemed like I was!)

At the 12 mile mark my friend jumped in to run with me. I needed her in that moment even though I couldn't talk. Saw the family at 13.1 and I was starting to feel worse for the wear. The stomach was full of fluids and gu but I was so thirsty and drained. My friend left me around 14 and I was on my own. By 16 I was a mess and I couldn't find water or Gatorade to save my life. There was no shade that I could find (maybe I just couldn't find it) I couldn't focus and I felt as if I were drifting/leaning (yeah dehydration) but my stubborn self kept pushing.

At this point I don't have much left to tell you. I had made up my mind to jog/shuffle until 20 but walk through aid stations. Then at that point I would give myself free reign to walk because I just couldn't go any further. I so desperately wanted to just finish. The last thing I remember is trying to get to 18 or 19. I think the website shows me making it to 20 but not sure. ANYWAYS - I passed out (no recollection) and woke up in the hospital where they asked me if I remember passing out on the course. To which I responded "Marathon, I wasn't running any marathon!" I couldn't remember my name, Jacob's name, family, where I lived, phone numbers. Yes, like I said I did fill out the back of the bib for emergency contact but nobody bothered to check. I was so out of it I didn't even know I had a bib.

Around 2-3 hours later I remembered everything about me but could not for the life of me remember any one's phone numbers. And who by the way remembers phone numbers when everything is programmed into cell phones (which my boyfriend had). Luckily someone remembered the bib we got ahold of the family. It was very, very scary. I seriously thought I had amnesia. They had to admit me overnight b/c of my questionable EKG and high lab results. They thought I was either going to have a heart attack or kidney failure (luckily neither happened but labs are still a bit elevated). I'll leave out the nasty details of my hospital visit. I laid in the ER until 10:30 at which time they found a bed. Unfortunately, I did not get any sleep due to the doctors and nurse waking me up every 30 minutes asking me to repeat my story, draw blood, take my vitals, etc. They finally let me go around 4:30 pm today after making a lot of noise to discharge me.

DNF and thoroughly disappointed. All that training to pass out. My first marathon feels a bit tarnished. But I have a good story even if it does not involve a finish time or picture. Good thing I didn't get the Finisher t-shirt they were selling.

I am okay now just need to find a doctor for follow up labs and I can't run for awhile. Not sure if I will attempt a marathon again. A part of me feels like I need to. we will see...

(and I'll post some pics as soon as I download)

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! What a story! An amazing 20 miles or more and one heck of an adventure after that run. You must be one tough cookie to push yourself that hard. I am glad you are ok now and resting. Take care of yourself!

Marcy said...

((((HUGS)))) chica!!! OMG thank God you're OK. Wow, that was an ordeal to say the least. Rest up and take care of yourself!!!

RunToTheFinish said...

Oh my!! That is not the way one hopes to have their first marathon go.. I hope this doesn't discourage you from finding on in cooler temps. Rest, relax and then we hope to hear more from you!

Nancy said...

OMG, I am so so sorry. You are amazing for keeping going (although it might have been better to stop in hindsight?) That must have been really scary. I'm glad you are okay. Take it easy and rest. I would say, don't make any decisions just yet, it's not that you aren't a marathoner. It was just a horrible day to be one. You are a marathoner to me. Totally.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I came over because of Tom's blog entry.

I am so sorry it didn't go well. Glad you will be ok. I hope you will go back to running and try again. :)

Pat said...

Hope you are feeling better today. I think there's a marathon in your future. You're tough enough.

Bill Carter said...

I'm so sorry that you had such a bad experience. I want you to know (and of course you already do) that this race should have probably never been run. The marathon in the best case scenario is a friggin nightmare... under these conditions it was unreasonable. I hope that you will take all that great training you have done and when you are ready, experience the marathon as it should be.
Best wishes.

Iron Jayhawk said...

Wow. I'm so glad you're okay. I was part of the group that got cut short but made my way back onto the course to run people in. You would seriously look at a person and they'd just collapse. It was so scary.

Take it easy for a while and keep us posted on your post-race recovery.

Dave Fleet said...

As someone who's been there (I passed out after my first marathon, too, and hit my head on the way down), I wanted reassure you that it won't always be like that!

You had some extreme conditions to deal with there, so try not to get discouraged.

Hang in there, relax, regroup and look ahead to your next race. You've been through a tough one, so the next one will be all the sweeter (trust me!).

Brian Hawkinson said...

Amazing story. Something we always read about but don't usually experience.

With my first marathon I signed up three days before the event with zero training... I was stubborn and thought I could do it, which I did. I am only lucky I didn't pass out like you did vecause of lack of training and lack of preparation.

My second marathon I did much better but didn't drink enough fluids, so I cramped up and had to limp in the last 8 miles.

Lessons learned. Next time I'll bring enough water, such as a hip pack with two 20oz bottles.

Point of this ramble: Soldier on. You ran in perhaps one of the most extreme conditions for a marathon, which sucks, but you are all that much more prepared for your next one!

Hope you recover quickly!

Tiffany said...

Oh my! I hope you are recovering well... good lord!!! Hang in there... you are a tough cookie and we are behind you.

Aaron said...

I don't know you from any of the bazillion runners on Blogger, but I thought I'd drop in and urge you not to give up! 20 out of 26.2 miles? You would have had the other 6 miles licked if not for the conditions. You're good for another one. You know it.

Andria said...

Oh Jaime! I feel so sad for you but so relieved that you are relatively okay. As I'm reading the stories of all of our BRF's I'm getting tears in my eyes because we've followed the months and months of training.

I hope your recovery goes well. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers.

Garou said...

Give it a while, and try another one. Chicago this year was a major aberration in terms of weather and support. I took a DNF at 14, rather than try to push to find a cooling station, so you're not alone.

Rae said...

Oh wow! I'm so glad you're ok, that was one heck of a first marathon!! Rest up!

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