Pre-race

It was a rough week at work leading up to the marathon.  I was in the OR until late every day of the week, which meant standing for 9+ hours each day.  I was trending down in preparation for the marathon on Saturday, but my coach still had meaningful workouts planned for the week.  I dug deep, and made them happen.  This meant late evening runs, and eating late at night.  Honestly, I would run for a living (but I’m not good enough to pay the bills 😅) so I didn’t mind suffering a bit.  

I had stomach disturbances my last 2 marathons (refer to Utah & South Carolina) so I was trying a different carb load strategy.  I kept my macronutrients the same, but limited my fiber to less than 10 grams per day.  I realized how much fiber 😳 I had eaten prior to my last 2 marathons as I was meal planning this time.  I think I ate double the amount of fiber I normally do those times.  One banana 🍌 has over 3 grams of fiber!  To keep those parameters, my meals for those 3 days were pretty boring.  It was rice + 2 eggs for breakfast, fruit yogurt with granola, rice + protein for dinner, and my big ass carb load Rice Krispie 😋 for dessert.  For 3 days, it wasn’t bad… but it was a lot of rice 🍚

I had an uneventful trip to Asheville.  I got an Über as I exited the airport, not realizing that I had to walk about a mile to the pick-up location.  My Über driver was super nice, and met me halfway.  There was an accident on the highway, so we took the scenic route into town.  Asheville was flooded and devastated by Hurricane Helene in late September/early October 2024.  I didn’t see anything amiss as we left the airport, and did not notice much until we drove through a part of town at lower elevation.  

I have never been to Asheville, but knew it was becoming a popular travel destination prior to the hurricane.  My driver said the recovery was slow, and it would likely take years before the city would be a semblance of its former glory.  Hotels in the lower elevations were recently re-opened, but did not have water initially.  For a while, portable water had to be driven daily from an hour away.  Many businesses remained closed and caked with mud.  Crews were still working clearing the debris left along the river and strewn on the trees.   Dead bodies and animal carcasses were still being pulled out 😱  I was able to see a glimpse of the river as we crossed, but knew I would be running along it for the marathon.

I arrived at my hotel in downtown Asheville.  Downtown is at a higher elevation, and seemed aesthetically normal.  However, a number of businesses were closed… I presume because they could not survive the economic downturn from the storm.  Downtown had a hippie vibe, and there were a handful of CBD 🌿 stores.  There were a good number of “musicians” playing at the street corners, and a crowd gathered around an amateur hand drum🪘enthusiast group.

My mom and I walked all the downtown streets, and then settled in for the night. 

Post-race

I woke up refreshed and energized.  I was ready to race!  I was a little nervous running 26.2 miles.  My longest run had been 14 miles.  I held on to the fact that I ran a half marathon comfortably at a 7.47’ pace a few weeks prior.  Running twice the distance at around an 8’ pace would be totally doable… right?! 🤨  

My mom and I walked the short 2 blocks to the starting area.  The actual starting line was not visible so we just milled around the general area.  The starting line did not become clear, and it was still pretty ambiguous, until we “lined up.”  There were no corrals, but there were pacers.  I remembered I ran an extra 0.19 miles the last half marathon due to weaving through the crowds after starting with a later corral.  So, I opted to start near the 3:30:00 pacer.

We took off, and the rolling “hills” started immediately.  A fellow 50-state runner had told me he enjoyed the mild, rolling hills when he ran North Carolina.  I was looking forward to those as I don’t mind a little hill work, and they help keep things interesting.  These were not gentle.  Was I being punk’d and this is a Revel run?!  I had a hard time finding my pace the first 13 miles.  I was flying down the downhills, and pulling back my pace on the uphills.  I tried to keep a steady pace effort, but even that was difficult.  

A few things distracted me during the first 13 miles.  This little kid, who was cheering his dad on, tried to run with him when he passed by.  His cute little legs 🥹 only carried him a short distance.  I was surprised to see a number of wild turkeys 🦃 on people’s lawns.  A little past downtown, I passed a restaurant called Little Jumbo.  The name made me think of one of my favorite restaurants in the world, Little Dumbo.  I have fond memories eating at the Macanese Portuguese restaurant in Macau 🇲🇴  This bar was a far departure from the restaurant, but it still made me smile.  Shortly after, there was a Mile 9 Cafe… I thought it would have been cheekier if the race was coursed so we would pass it at mile 9.

The course flattened out after we split from the half marathoners.  Around then, I started feeling blisters under my feet.  I tried to reset my mind by telling myself that this was a new half marathon, hoping to draw some renewed energy/adrenaline 💪🏼  I also thought back on a couple signs I passed earlier… “Run now.  Wine later” and “Your brain is lying to you”

This part took us along the river.  I wish I knew what Asheville looked like before.  The river was dreary.  There were piled trash and tree limbs, trash hanging from trees, closed/abandoned businesses and a playground partially buried in mud.  I could not imagine that this was previously a river teeming with businesses and activities.

I was fatiguing, and tried to push myself on by thinking of my previous days’ carb load.  I should have plenty of fuel.  I had eaten so much rice 🍚 that I was giving “rice rocket” 🏎️ (i.e. Fast and Furious) a new definition 😂

My self-encouragements and mind games were losing hold around mile 18/19.  I passed my mom 🥳 around that time, which gave me a little boost.  And then we started running down, down, down… at mile 21 😳  This was a turn around, which meant I would soon be running 1.5 miles uphill 🤦🏻‍♀️  Up until that point, I was the #3 female.  I saw the struggle on everyone’s face as they were making the climb.  My pride wanted me to push on, but my sane self told me it was enough.  I started this endeavor to have fun.  Killing myself to place third would not fall in line with that.  I was going to live to run another day… to try to PR at another marathon.  As for my pride… these were all passing strangers.  So when I reached the end of the downhill for the turn around, I started walking.

I was at peace with my decision as soon as I stopped running.  I texted my mom, “I’m spent.  Starting to walk so it may be a while.”  I had a few minor cramps in my left calf.  Serves me right for rolling my eyes and scrolling past an article on how to avoid cramps… because I never get cramps.  Luckily, my punishment was short-lived.  I walked until I felt rested, and then would resume running.  I ignored my watch alerting me that I was behind pace.  I tried to take some pictures of the river for this blog, but my sweat had fogged up the lenses 😂

The course took us past the finish area for one last turn around.  The leading female was making her way to the finish line as I was going out.  She looked miserable and I made to cheer her on.  As I was doing so, I missed the small pile of dried mud and twisted my left ankle 🤕  At least it was the other ankle this time.  It stunned me, but did not hurt as bad as when I sprained my right ankle in July 2024.  I kept trekking on between walk/run without too much pain.  I reminded myself that this was similar to interval training, and I have survived many of them.  I took my final walk about half a mile from the finish line.  I already threw out hopes of running a good time, and I wanted to look good crossing the finish line.  Pictures live on forever…  

During my final walk, a guy asked me if the finish line was up ahead.  I confirmed it was, and he turned around instead of running the last out and back 🤯  I told him it was only 3 miles more, but he kept on walking towards the finish.  There were no timing mats at any of the turn arounds… I wondered if race officials would catch it and disqualify his time.  Nevertheless, he motivated me to start my last run in, if only to put distance between us.  

I crossed with a big smile on my face… the announcers even acknowledged it 🤗  My mom greeted me, and said, “That was fast.  I thought you were walking.”  🤔  I hadn’t looked at the timer nor my watch when I crossed.  I had truly been enjoying the rest of the marathon.  3:33:27!!! 😅  I BQ’d again!!!  My official time was 3:33:52, because it was off gun time since there was no starting mat.  I’m happy I decided to start near the front.

I limped around for a little afterwards before my mom and I took the shuttle back downtown.  We ate at Tupelo Honey, which I had eyed yesterday during our stroll.  I can’t remember the last time I was so excited to eat vegetables.  We headed to the Biltmore after lunch.

Long story short, only tickets to view the gardens and winery were available.  We did the wine tasting, and then decided the 5-mile trip to the gardens would likely be disappointing.  Spring had not yet arrived in Asheville.  We opted to return to the hotel to make the end of social hour at Kimpton.  

I tried getting an Über but had no takers.  We were able to get an estate shuttle driver to agree to take us to the entrance… perhaps we would have better luck getting a ride there.  My mom looked at her map, and said it would be a 15-minute walk from the entrance to our hotel.  I didn’t realize we were so close.  I had run by the back of the Biltmore during my marathon, but could not recall how far it was from downtown.  That didn’t sound so bad… the shuttle arrived, and we told her our plan.  She kept questioning our decision.  After she reached the entrance, perhaps pitying us, she offered to take us to our hotel.  It was a LOT further than 0.6 miles.  Mommy looked at her map again, and it said we were 3 miles away 😂  We certainly lucked out 🍀 

All in all, Asheville is not the boutique city I imagined it would be.  I’m sure it was more charming and fun before Helene.  I loved the people we interacted with.  They were genuinely friendly and helpful.  This race was promoted as a rebuild and endurance of Asheville.  The people of Asheville seem to share this sentiment, and I wish them brighter days to come.

In a way, this marathon was a re-build for me.  I genuinely enjoy running, but sometimes with goals in mind, I lose the joy.  I thoroughly enjoyed the last fifth of this marathon when I let go of all the pressures I put on myself.  I’m looking forward to training again, and my next marathon 😊