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Hey guys,
The race is over....
Get out your hankerchiefs....
Especially if you're allergic to SUCCESS!!!
I FINISHED THE 2010 ANTARCTICA MARATHON!!!!!!!!
THE hardest Antarctica marathon course ever!.....ish
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First, thanks for the encouraging words my friends and supporters sent
me. I received them all. Here's a douzy of a journal entry. Enjoy guys,
i'll keep adding bits as i remember, but this is what i jotted down
tonight.
I've got 15% battery
life left to recount only the most AMAZING day of my LIFE so
far....second only to like the day I went skydiving. I am flying high
after this victory. So, you probably guessed by that introduction, I
finished the 2010 Antarctic Marathon. But I didn't just finish, I
finished with a damn respectable time (given the course). 5 hr 33
minutes.
It was the first time *ever* on a
race, that I was consistently passing people in the 3rd and 4th lap.
Felt so good. The course was 4 loops. 6.5ish miles each. I started out
slow, purposefully, then sped up at the end. Only thing I'd tweak was
maybe save a little energy for 4th loop....i used up a bit much on 3rd.
But man oh man. Oh and I did run it in a bikini. Thom (company prez)
said that in the 11 yrs that he has held this race, this was the 3rd or
4th toughest course. It was not a marathon, it was a mud-a-thon. Slish
sloshing your way through 26.2 miles of rolling hills. There were 152
hills (Lori, one of the runners, counted them). 19 on one way out (3.28
miles). And we did 8 legs. Or 4 loops. 2 legs per loop.
The
cruise director, Kirsten, who has been a regular partner with marathon
tours and travel in facilitating this event, says that it was THE
hardest course she's ever seen people been put through. She says Thom
is talking it down. And in talking with two guys who've run 130+
marathons, they said this was, hands down, the toughest marathon of
their running career.
Ran the marathon in 5 hours 33 minutes!
I
did SOOOOO well though. The night before, at dinner, someone was going
around the table making people guess how fast they were gonna come in.
Everyone was talking big. Saying y'know...just slightly above their
usual race time. Figuring somewhere in the low 4 hour range or
certainly below 5. Toting they'd never come in after 5 hrs before,
yadda. And these are people who've run 50+ marathons. When it came my
turn, I had a sullen look on my face, and I told them my recorded tale
of (as in, I tend to repeat this disclaimer a lot) "I'm slow - I run 5+
hr marathons....i'll be happy to make it before cutoff time of 7
hrs....i'm worried I won't."
Well, today, I made that cutoff
time by a long shot. I ran it in 5 hr and 33 min. Wait, it gets better.
EVERY SINGLE PERSON AT THAT TABLE, I PASSED ON THE COURSE. I HAD A
FASTER TIME THAN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!!! Oh, with the exception of
Doug...who placed 6th, hah. But yea!!!! I remember after Thom gave us
the pre-race-night-before-briefing, where he was giving us a heads up
on the course, saying that, "the weather's been wet, there's a lot of
mud." He was telling us what to expect as well as reiterating the IOTA
rules we were to conduct ourselves by. He said a lot of us who intended
to finish wouldn't. That the staff was to be sticking to that 7 hour
cut off.
I went up afterwards and asked him, if my personal worst was 5 hr and 30 min
(Luxor/Egypt
Marathon)...did he think it would take me 1 hr and 30 min longer to run
the Antarctica Marathon? Would the course add that much? It felt like I
was going into a confessional, admitting that to this champ runner
who's spent his life in the sport. He said, "meh, no, I don't think
so...eh, it could be close, it'll be close." I said that I was in a
little better shape now...but....i went to bed.....with prayers and
hopes only... Not to mention the fact that they've been stuffing us
FULL of good food on this ship...doesn't inspire much confidence...no
one runs well when bloated. I wouldn't say this is the prime of my
training. Had I run the race mid January....i think I would have come
in faster. But hell, I'm just glad to have finished!!!!!!!!!
Running in a bikini was a big hit!
 The
bikini was a HUGE hit. I got so many compliments, got called bikini
girl. AND perk: tons of people felt the need to take a pic of me. I
don't know how to go about harvesting these pics from the passengers,
but hell, there are a lot of 'em out there. Awesome. Because I didn't
even take my camera on the course. I was SO worried about the 7 hr cut
off time, that I said, eff it, no pics. No time to play the
photographer on this one. I paid 7,000 miles and flew all this way, not
for nothing, not when my record's at stake. Felt good. I ran with the
ninja face mask and an outer jacket for the first two laps. Well,
doffed the mask after the first lap really. But kept it around my neck
as a scarf. Doffed the jacket at the half, the better to showcase my
attire, lol.
It drizzled on us, windy. MUDDY. About 35 degrees
I'd say, not bad at all. I had my underlayer that I always wear of
Underarmour. The tights and maroon top. Then I had a weather resistant
over pant (not spandex, I'm glad about that). The Tufts jersey with the
names of my supporters written on the back. And then the bikini.
Gloves. Hat, sunglasses, ninja face mask as scarf. That did me.
Have
had many compliments on the bikini after, before, and during the race
from guys and girls and staff. The cruise director came up and said
never has anyone run in a bikini before. I caused smiles and chuckles
all day long. Each time a runner would pass by me in the opposite
direction or before, they'd sorta smile to themselves or shake their
heads in a "too much, just too much" manner. I've had even married guys
comment on it, lol. One guy came up to me and stated, "this is gonna
sound bad, but I definitely simply must compliment you on the bikini
idea. I had to do a double take on the course, like I saw you in the
distance and thought: is she - yea, she is *actually* wearing a
bikini!" Thom, I asked to take pics with him at the start line, he said
sure, and then he was like, "that's a good one" with regards to my
bikini. He also smiled real big every time I was rounding a corner or
cresting a hill and came into view.
What I did different this time around
 One
thing I did different for this race as opposed to prior ones: in prior
ones, I always took maybe one gu, two gu after mile 17...i told this to
Veronica at work before leaving. She is a very good marathoner. We're
talking Boston qualifier time. Speedy. She was aghast. She says that
when she runs, she's popping sport beans after 40 min and then at
regular intervals thereafter. So I took that advice to heart. She said
to give muscles energy, even before they need it. And as they begin to
exhaust, make sure your body's got stores to supplement. So I had...a
banana for breakfast maybe 2 hr before race. A granola bar 1.5 hr
before race. A whole pack of powerbar gushers 1 hr before race. A bag
of sport beans .5 hrs before race. Then I drank 8.5 fluid oz of hornet
juice spiked Gatorade throughout. Every three miles I popped three more
gushers in my mouth. At the half way point, I drank a 5 hr energy shot
and shoved another pack of sport beans in my mouth. Glorious. Energy
efficiency. Add 2 motrin before race start to stave off soreness.
I've
had like 5+ people tell me I looked so strong out there on the course.
That I was booking it, that I came flying down hills. And I had like
two guys confess they were scared that I was gonna pass 'em. Matt was
saying that by the fourth lap, he was beat. He's run track all through
high school and college so while he tries not to be competitive, he
can't help it. And he was just picking out the people who were gonna
give him a run for his money. He says I was definitely among the ranks.
He was like, "yep, bikini girl." Kelly, who is my competition for the
world record, she thought for sure I was gonna pass her too. She was
like, "alls I was thinking was: bitch." Hahah. I had one guy asking me
if I do trail running back home...what's my training. Other people
complimenting me on how I killed the course. Another chick complimented
me on how I was slow at first and then just booked it at the end.
Overtaking peeps.
Grateful I finished...grateful for your support...
 I will add, by muddy course, i mean, your shoes are disappearing up
until your ankles in foot-suctioning mud. After the first 10 minutes,
feet thoroughly THOROUGHLY SOAKED. And you've got 25.5 miles to go. My
ankles are so sore. My hip joints. The back of my knees. I feel like
I'm starting to resemble the natives (penguins) with the way I waddle
when I walk. I have NEVER been this sore after a race. And I got to the
point in Boston where i could do 20 mile runs leading up to this race
without feeling sore day after. Yea...i'll be waddling awhile. Rough
tough course. But...I FINISHED!!!!! 4 marathons down, 3 to go!!!!!
I'm grateful I finished. Not everyone who ran the course today was able
to finish the 26.2 miles. Several had to settle for finishing the half
marathon. After the race I came back, showered, blow dried hair, hung
in the library for 1.5 hrs till dinner. Ate dinner and then went to
lounge to hear Thom give a quick congrats to all. Then was in the
library having a celebratory drink....that is, till I slipped away cuz
I just had to journal and send this off, send a quick victory email to
my friends and family. I'll keep celebrating and being thankful for all
the support you have given me. Your well wishes, your comments, your
positive energy and prayers sent my way. They made a big difference.
Thank you. Until next time.
Christine |
In other news, I finally got around to running
outside in the snowy winter wonderland that is presently Boston this
past Sunday (Jan 3rd). Since the weather got chilly, I had taken refuge
on the gym treadmill for training runs. But that's not ideal, seeing as
how I'll be running outside in the cold soon. So I decided the sooner I
get used to freezing, the better. So I ran 13 miles through snow
without my ipod (don't think I'll have that on race day either).
Temperature was 25 degrees. I've been told Antarctica's temperatures on
King George Island, where the marathon is held, range from 0-30
degrees. 
