Pain in the Butt

I have been watching YouTube vidoes of the Boston Marathon course (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKzYA39PSRY). So much so that I actual get motion sickness because I watch them over and over.  I also have come across the sick obsession of watching videos of people crossing marathon finish lines and then collapsing since their legs don't work anymore. What can I say? I like to feel prepared. So today, I finally, finally, finally decided to run from Chesnut Hill to Wellsely so I could experience the course and the heartbreak hills.

When I woke up, it was cold and rainy but I wanted to start off with a positive attitude. I drove to Boston College and parked my car and started off on what was planned as a 20 mile run. The first 10-12 miles were fantastic. Yes, I said fantastic. I was actually smiling as I was visualizing myself on marathon day. To add to this, there were also loads of people on the same route in Boston Marathon gear, running in groups and chatting while they ran their own 20 miles. I felt good; so much better then last week's run. And then.....

SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH. Pain.in.the.butt. Pain. Real, shooting, omg, "I'm gonna cry" pain. Right at mile 13. 

My left buttock (i hate that word) has been tender the last few weeks but this was unlike the pain I had experienced before. I stopped. I stretched, I drank water, I stretched some more, I even walked a little. I started to jog slowly but the pain was too much. If people driving by were watching me they would have thought I had a wooden leg because that's what I looked like. The pain started at my booty and then slid down to the back of my knee. Now, I pride myself on being a tough cookie but, holy shit, this was unbearable. I couldn't run, I could barely walk and the pouring, cold rain and the runners whizzing by me made it all the more worse. That, and the fact that my car was still 7 miles away and I had no cell phone and no numbers memorized to even call for help.  Now, don't make fun of me, but, I started to cry. Cry because I felt defeated, because I had felt so good to start and I felt so bad at that point and because I thought to myself, "What if this happens when I run the marathon?" 

It was at this point I was shivering from being soaking wet and crying because I still had 5 miles to limp home and because I felt like I was failing, when I heard, "Hey Miss, you ok? You look like you're in pain." I turned around and there was a friendly looking man. He told me his name was Ruben ("like the sandwich with an accent on the 'e'") and he was part of the Parkway Runners club. He had a Boston marathon jacket on and a kind face. As soon as I looked at him, I started crying and telling him I couldn't walk and where the pain was. He gave me some gatorade and pretzels and told me he'd be happy to drive me to my car. He told his runner group 'manager' that he was taking me to my car (which made me realize he was legit and I wouldn't be the next girl on the side of a milk carton) and he drove me the last 5 miles of my route. He told me he had run 14 marathons and suggested that I never run two 20 mile runs on back to back weekends because it doesn't give my body enough time to recover and then it'll be more prone to injury. He gave me lots of tips and, best of all, made me feel a lot better when I was feeling very defeated. Ruben was, literally, my angel today. He kinda saved me.

So, I know this blog is long, might make me look like a cry baby and doesn't put the positive spin on training for this marathon like I'd hoped when I started my run today. But, not every day is a good day.  If this were a boxing match (and sometimes it felt like it was), I'd say the marathon punched me out today. But, hey, all I can do is get in the ring and fight my hardest. A quote I read this week said, "Failure is not the falling down, failure is the staying down." So, no matter how many times I get punched out in this race, I will always get back up, even if I have to crawl to the Finish like this dude (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aF0nnmdfTA)....