There were 11 obstacles over the course, the last one being a knee deep mud pit with barbed wire over it forcing you to crawl through the mud. My (luckily old about to be donated) running shoes sucked right off my feet the first 2 steps into the pit. I should have trusted my instincts and cannonballed into the pit.

Spectators lined the length of the mudpit.

Two obstacles worried me the most. First was the 2 story high wall to scale over. There was a rope you could climb, but I hadn’t done that since 6th grade… MANY lbs ago. There were 2x4s every 5 feet or so on the side to climb up. I used a combination of rope and 2×4 to get up and over. Second was “Black Out.”  I am not really fond of the dark at all.  This was a short tent-like structure covered in black plastic in the middle of the woods. It was about knee-high, about 50 yards long. We army crawled through it trying not to run into each other. Every 10 yards or so we ran face-first into plastic flaps hanging down, making us think that we were almost done, only to crawl into another “room.”

Maybe I should have a little more sense, but I was not really nervous about the 2nd to last obstacle–jumping over fire. Twice.

Demonstrating my mad vertical leap over the fire pit.

With me just getting back and Susan being sick I am not sure if either of us would have finished the race. Skipping the race allowed me to get in some easy training and get some work done around the house. It also allowed Susan time to sleep and get better. Even though I wish we could have done the race I think we made the right choice. Now the goal is to get Susan 100% as soon as possible. We have our first ride in the mountain planned for Saturday the 23rd. Her asthma gives her a hard enough time in the mountains without a cold.

My friends Tamara and Bryan from work also did the race with us and they both did good also. This was Tamara’s first triathlon and she looked strong when she finished, even sprinting it out with a guy that was trying to pass her. This was Bryan’s second triathlon and he looked like he felt much better this time. All and all a good race day!

All the dead skin from the chafing has come off of my leg and I have a lot of nice new pink skin. It is itchy and tender but healing much faster than I thought it would. The blister under my left foot was never very bad and is completely better now. The one on my right foot is still very painful and keeps trying to get infected. It is extremely hard to keep a huge blister on the bottom of my foot clean and covered. Hopefully it will be better before long.

Muscle wise we are both fine (I think the bike ride the day after the marathon really helped with that) and ready to get back at it. We swam yesterday and are ready to get back on our bikes as soon as the weather improves a little (it has been cold and rainy the past several days).

It was windy, we rode in a pack a lot, which scared the pee outta me so I did not drink or eat much. I bonked and got crabby. and slow. OK, slower. Paul said he realized how little I had been eating when we passed a bunch of eateries and I commented I wanted everything.  I was really glad we did it, but dang I was glad when we were done. We rolled across the finish line ready for our 2nd medal in 2 days. We were handed a water bottle. I mean, its green and cute, but a water bottle, you know? Sheesh!

BTW–here is a link to my marathon photos: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?PID=&EVENTID=47967&PWD=&ID=61994614&FROM=photos&BIB=6002

Paul’s POV:

AHHH!!! Finally back on the bike. Now this is where I am comfortable! It felt great to be back on the bike after the run on Saturday. It was really windy but we spent most of the time sitting in a large pack so it wasn’t that bad. The times when we were on the front of the pack were a little difficult because of all the wind. It was also a little hard when we weren’t with a group because I was on front all by myself pulling Susan . Susan was nervous riding in the groups but for me it was relaxing and I was back in my element after the long run the day before.

Next Myrtle topic: The food!

Susan’s Point of View

After I left Paul, my pace slowed and I felt more tired. I was just hanging on. I finished w a time of about 5 1/2 hours. Goal #1 was to finish at all so I reached that. It was so cute to see how excited Tripp was to see me at the end. They did not have the metallic space blankets that they usually have at races–they just handed out rain ponchos (weak) and of course, the medal. It is pretty sweet. We will scan it in for you and post it so you can see it.

Paul’s mom and I debated going back out to get Paul. I was not sure how he would take it. We decided to risk it. I ran back in w him the last 500 yards. I was very proud to see him ball up and finish running. It was pretty incredible to see. He is a TOUGH man!

Paul’s Point of View

I am not sure how I made it to the finish line but somehow I did and then went straight to the medical tent. I only had them look at the blisters on my feet and didn’t even worry about the chaffing on my leg. They had these special bandages for blisters and it took 4 of them to cover the blister on my right foot. Susan slower than her stretch goal time but still finished with a great time and I was proud of her. For me the finish had mixed emotions. I was glad that I was able to make it to the finish but mad that blisters and chaffing had made me lose a hour and a half from the pace I started at. If I would have lost the time because I was physically tired I wouldn’t have been happy but at least I would have known that more training would be the answer. In the end I decided to be happy knowing I could make it to the finish line in all that pain. After all I made it 20.2 miles with a serious blister on the bottom of my foot and horrible chaffing on my leg.

Susan’s Point of View

My mood rallied once we dropped off the half marathoners. I think it was just checking my ego and taking it one interval at a time. I saw a T shirt that said, “All things are possible through Christ, who strengthens me.” That became a mantra of sorts. When I have done long training day in the past I have copied poems or bible verses on index cards to focus or unfocus (whichever way you think of it). That was hugely helpful. I felt like I was getting stronger as the miles ticked by. I was on track to hit my 2nd goal: 5 hours 15 minutes as of 19 miles. I slowed a bit through 20 and added a vest (Paul’s mom and sis crewed us and she had a bag of things for me) b/c it was really cold after it had rained on us for about 2 hours. I was still feeling great and looking ahead and all of a sudden I saw Paul. I knew that could not be a good sign. I was not sure what to do, I even considered hanging back and not passing him. OK, a good wife would have considered that option a little longer, but I scampered on up (as much as one can scamper after 21 miles) and greeted him brightly. He was not happy.

Paul’s Point of View

Miles 13 and 14 went well and, while painful, I kept my pace. On mile 15 we went down a slight hill towards the beach and on one of my steps the blister on my right foot exploded. It was so full of fluid that it soaked my sock and with every step I could literally hear my shoe sloshing like I had stepped in a puddle. After a few more steps the blister on my left foot popped also. It was no where near as bad but was just enough to be annoying. Now that the blisters had drained I could feel the skin ripping with every step. I knew I was in big trouble now and wanted to stop but decided to keep going. I was still able to make myself stick with the 4 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking. Although my pace had slowed I was still on track to make it by my “real” goal time (I had a main goal and a stretch goal). At mile 18 the blister on my right foot had filled back up and with every step I could fill the fluid ripping through my skin up the side of my foot but never relieving any of the pressure. All it was doing was making the blister bigger. By this time the chaffing on my leg was also really bad. This is the point when my pace really started to slow bad. I kept the same run/walk interval but at a much slower pace. I had already been dealing with the pain for around 3 hours and by this point I was more mentally drained from the pain than physically drained. Mom was right before mile 20 and I got some more Body Glide but this time all it did was burn my leg and didn’t help with the chaffing any. I tried some more on my foot also but it didn’t help that either. At the mile 20 water stop they had a medical tent and I seriously considered stopping but made myself go on. Right after I got through mile 20 it started getting colder and pouring rain. For the next 2 miles I switched my intervals to running 3 minutes and walking 2. After that I was hurting so bad that I just went to running when ever I could and walking when I couldn’t for the rest of the race. The entire final 6.2 miles all I wanted to do was stop but decided that I had made it this far so I was going to keep going. In the last few miles I knew that I should see Susan soon because I had lost so much time and when I did see her I thought she would be able to make the time she was hoping for, but she said she wouldn’t make it.

Susan’s Point of View

The line for the port-o-lets was so long we just found a dark spot in the trees. Very romantic way to kick off our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple. Then we realized last year this weekend, I was lying on the slopes in Vail w Paul teaching me to ski. At one point I was crying and trying not to let Paul see while the ranger came over and suggested I take the lift down before I hurt myself. As IF I were a quitter… Fast forward to this year…The start of the race is always exciting and I did NOT want to start walking at the first interval beep (my plan was to run 4 min, walk 1 min). I felt great, but had that voice in my head saying, “STICK TO THE PLAN!” I looked ahead a bit and Paul was doing the walk/run thing too. I was proud of him because I thought for sure he would just run. That was about the end of the fun times. My ego and pride quickly pummeled any good feelings I had. People were passing me right and left. I was too hot w my long sleeved top on–too cold w it off. My legs were much more tired than I preferred at about mile 4. I started having a hard time breathing. I even used my inhaler (better when it has not expired, long story). I was crabby and just KNEW everyone around me was wondering what on Earth I was thinking running the full when they were beating me only doing the half. Pride is a very evil thing. I was pretty hateful between 6 and 12 miles. I considered quitting at the half cut off. I knew Paul would not let me hear the end of it if I dropped out. I almost started crying between miles 12 and 13.  I heard Lauren’s voice in my head from Ironman training, “You can’t cry and run at the same time and we have to run so STOP CRYING!” Around the area where the half marathoners cut off I started remembering when I was at that point of the Ironman and Elli started running w me with her cheerleader run carrying my running shoes (I thought I might want to change them, but did not). She was shouting about how excited she was and how good I was doing and how this was so fantastic and I was going to be an Ironman. Then the official yelled at her to get off the course. He acted like she was giving me booster rockets the way he was freaking out. It cracked me up. I could do it this time too!

Paul’s Point of View

During the first 2 miles of the run my legs were feeling really good and it was also hard for me to do the run/walk. I knew from training that my feet and knees would not take it for the whole race if I tried to run the whole thing so I decided to stick to the plan. Through those first 2 miles my pace was OK, not fast and not slow but I wanted to take my time warming up because I knew it was going to be a long day. Once I got into mile 3 I started feeling even better and started picking up the pace. From miles 3 through 6 I was feeling great and about 15 minutes ahead of the best time I thought I could do. Then around mile 6 my legs started chaffing a little and the bottom of my right foot was bothering me. I thought my sock had a wrinkle in it, and that was what was bothering my foot, so I pulled it up a little to see if that would help but it didn’t. “No big deal” I thought, I was still feeling great, I was way ahead of my pace and I knew my mom would be at mile 10. We had given her some extra Body Glide so I could put some more on and everything would be fine. When I got to my mom I put the Body Glide on my leg and that felt good then I reached down into my sock to put some on my foot and felt the biggest blister I had ever had. When I started going again my chaffing was feeling better but it didn’t help my blister at all. I knew the rest of the day was going to be extremely painful because the blister was on the bottom of my foot so I landed on it with every step. By now my left foot was also getting a blister on the bottom but it wasn’t as bad. I decided not to panic because all it would do is waste energy; my pace was still really good and my legs felt great. At 13.1 I was still on a great pace with my legs feeling great but in a LOT of pain from the blisters and chaffing, by that point the Body Glide wasn’t helping my legs any more. At this point I was thinking that I was either going to make it in my fastest projected time or at least be close, even with the pain.

20 hours later Paul mounted the bike and pulled me through 20 mph winds that gusted even higher throughout the 63 mile ride. He has 4 inch blisters broken open on the bottom of both feet plus a patch about 5×5 inches on his inner thigh that I think is 2nd degree burned from his shorts (friction burn from chafing?), plus the usual muscle fatigue.

We came home to Barton having pooped on our bed (again) so I started washing bedclothes. Then the washer started leaking water.  Luckily we have tomorrow off. Interval napping was the original plan, but now we will be doing first aid on Paul and the washing machine! We plan to post more about the race, but we both finished both races and that was our first goal.  Thank you to Paul’s mom, grandmother, Biz, Roy, Becca and Tripp for coming out to support us!

EDIT 02/19/2009 by Paul:

Thankfully it looks like the washer is fine. It has moved itself back to the wall and I think that was making the hose leak. We moved it back out some and it hasn’t leaked since.

The forecast has changed for this Saturday at Myrtle Beach from what they were calling for earlier. Now they are saying a low of 46,  a high of 57 and a 70% chance of thunder showers. This ought to be fun!

We are both taking it easy as we both feel pretty beat leading into marathon week. We both have foot pain, although mine is longer standing and on the upswing IMHO. Paul has been feeling sick for about 5 days. I actually got him to take some medicine tonight. Probably only b/c I told him it was what I took during the Ironman when I had his same symptoms. We plan to take our multi-vitamins each day and each active culture yogurt. Lauren tells me 90% of your immune system is in your GI tract. Keep it healthy people!!

Thankfully the marathon is only 9 days away because we are both ready to stop running in this weather. The weather is suppose to get better starting this weekend and we are looking forward to that. It is suppose to be 65 on Sunday so we are planning on riding between 30 and 40 miles. We have hardly been on our bikes at all because of the weather so the 63 mile ride the day after the marathon should be fun. As of right now they are saying it will be a low of 44 and a high of 61 and no rain in Myrtle Beach on the day of the marathon (which is slightly warmer than they were saying when I looked earlier this morning) so we are crossing our fingers that that forecast holds up.

On another note, I went and saw a doctor about my foot problem and he said I have sesamoiditis (which hurts like crazy!!!). He said that it was common for people with arches as high as mine to have this problem. He also said that I am “not exactly a small marathon runner”, which I thought was funny, and that contributes to the problem. He made me some temporary orthodics to see if they help and if they do he is going to make me some perminant ones. I haven’t done a long run in them yet but so far they seem to be working which my feet are VERY happy about. He also thinks that my knee problems are coming from instability because of my feet so he thinks the orthodics will help with that also.

Yesterday morning we did the Greensboro Gobbler, a 5K running race at Country Park in Greensboro. The race was at 9am and when we left the house it was 30 degrees out so I wasn’t exactly excited (I like cold weather I just don’t like working out in it for some reason). There were 1063 people in the race so it was PACKED in the park but it was still a fun run. The park has a lot of hills so it isn’t exactly the best race for us Clydesdales and Athenas but Susan and I both had a good race. The race was two laps around the park and by the second time around the hills were slowing me down more than I would have liked. In the end I was slower than I wanted to be but it was still my fastest time ever in a race (although I have been faster in some training runs), I was even fast enough to lap a lot of people so I was happy with it. Susan also had her best time ever in a 5K so she was happy. I wasn’t surprised with her time because she has been running really good lately. I keep telling her she is faster now but she doesn’t want to admit it.

So for Valentine’s we will be running a marathon and our recovery the next day will be to do a 63 mile bike ride. Are we crazy? The answer to that is obviously, yes! We plan on using the training from all this to do the White Lake Half Iron distance race in May so at least we have a good reason behind torturing ourselves .