The Portland Marathon has some interesting/difficult emotional issues for me. I ran it in 2007, and was disappointed with how I did at the time. I struggled throughout - I swear that no part of the race was easy for me!
I trained from May 2010 until October 8, 2010 for the 2010 Marathon. I started training after my first miscarriage (if I wasn't going to be pregnant for the summer, I might as well have another challenge!), and was able to run right up until the very last training run, when I had complications with my 2nd pregnancy and was told by my doctors not to run. While it was the right decision, in the end it didn't matter, and on October 15, 2010, we found out that we had lost our 2nd pregnancy - likely the week before the marathon.
After testing, etc, we determined that the problem was likely a progesterone issue, and, when things didn't happen as quickly as they had the past two times, I signed up for the 2011 Portland Marathon. I figured that if I didn't sign up, I wouldn't be able to run, even if I physically was able to. My training this time was less disciplined than the past two times, but I was getting in better shape than I had in the past. I lost 25 pounds, ran 5 half marathons ("Oh, just a half marathon"), and added in yoga, strength training, and mountain biking. In this manner, I managed to avoid getting injured! The one problem was my lack of long runs, but due to a 40-mile hike around Mt Hood, I felt quite confident in the weeks leading up to the race.
Mid-September, JD and I went to Denver for a conference that I was attending. During the second half of our trip, I became just totally exhausted - both physically and mentally. It didn't take much to send me to the verge of tears, and it took several large coffees a day to keep me going. I was trying not to get my hopes up, and JD attributed it to the fact that I was in educational session and networking 8 hrs a day.
When we came back, everything happened according to schedule, so I didn't think much more about my experience in Denver until my period lasted longer than it should have - by 4x! I never took a pregnancy test because my period showed up when it was supposed to. All I can say now is "Thank Goodness!". I'm 99% certain that I had what is called a "chemical pregnancy". The egg was fertilized but never implanted. So my hormones started going crazy and then stopped. In this regard, I'm so happy that I never got the "you're pregnant" test result. But, it did mean that I was somewhat anemic going into the marathon. I ate more red meat in the days leading up to the marathon than I generally do took my vitamins religiously, and just hoped for the best.
... to be continued
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