THE TUNNEL LIGHT MARATHON

MY SECOND BOSTON QUALIFIER

9/15/2019

Over the past 2-3 years Phillip has been talking about the Jack & Jill Marathon in Washington, suggesting to anyone who would listen that it would be a great race and a likely Boston Qualifier. When it came time to sign up, he was successful at convincing me and his running pal Alli Shofe to take the journey with him and we all signed up for the Tunnel Light Marathon, which is the last of 4 races run on the same course each year.

2018 was his year to be X-Treme

Phillip and Alli ran the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February 2018, with hopes and good reason to expect Boston qualifiers for 2019 based on their training and fitness level. The day however did not go as planned due to a strong head wind and some errors in pacing when Phillip left his watch on Treadmill setting at race start. They were both very disappointed with the result but agreed that they would try again, but not that year.

Phillip and I were going to Sweden in August 2018 for his attempt at finishing the inaugural Swedeman X-Tri. He spent the rest of the year focused on triathlon training and we were very happy with the adventure and travel to Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Our plans for the trip to Seattle took shape slowly over the better part of the year, we all registered and found our VRBO on Lake Kathleen in Renton in March. We invited several other friends to join us but only Alli’s friend Allana Ratliff was able to come. The last day of our trip 9/17/19 would be Alli’s 40th Birthday and we all wanted the trip (and the race) to be a special birthday memory!

We arrived in Seattle on Wednesday 9/11 and Alli and Allana arrived Thursday night 9/12. We did the usual sightseeing stuff in Seattle on Friday (Space Needle, Public Market, the original Starbucks) and kept Saturday low key with packet pick up, a trip to Snoqualmie Falls and lunch before hitting the hot tub and playing Monopoly while eating pizza. We were all in bed shortly after 9:00 pm and with the help of a Benadryl I was able to sleep pretty well.

My alarm went off at 4:00 am and my goal was to be finished eating breakfast by 5:00. I ate the meal I had practiced the most through this training cycle: 2 gluten free blueberry waffles topped with a banana and 100% maple syrup, 8 oz Tart Cherry juice, 2 cups coffee with lactose free chocolate milk and sugar, and a few swigs of Gatorade. I took my Runners Essential Vitamins, Caltrate + D and Dexilant. I did not have any difficulty getting it all in and moving through my digestive system as planned before race start.

We left the house at 6:15 am and arrived at the trailhead/race start a little after 7:00. It was upper 40s and a light rain. I had a light rain jacket, gloves and my headlamp to wear at the start of the race. We stayed in the rental car till 7:45, other than quick trips to the porta-potty. We took a picture or 2, took hands and asked God to go with us on our respective runs- I could feel His presence on the mountain! Allana and I watched Phillip and Alli take off in wave 1 and 10 minutes later it was my turn!

I was beyond excited for this race and felt very good in both body and mind. I did not do any warm up or dynamics and later thought I should have done them. We started to a verbal count down, did a little loop in the parking lot and headed to the Tunnel.

"Get comfortable being uncomfortable," "Take a risk," and "I believe you you can run a sub 4:00 hour marathon," are some of the things coach said to me on the phone the day before the race. His words are powerful. They have a way of bringing a wishful thought (and a hope) from my mind to my heart, where I start to believe that it's possible.

Tunnel Light Marathon is my 6th time running this distance since 2016. Coach is the first one to remind me when I said to him "I will never run a marathon and why would I want to do that!" I can honestly say I now love training for and running marathons! Funny thing about my journey is that the shift in my thinking came about very slowly as I ran long, slow miles in training. Each training cycle has strengthened my heart and muscles and challenged my doubting mind, bringing me to this beautiful downhill trail in Washington state where I ran with joy, smiling and praising God all the way down the mountain.

As a dietitian, I am constantly tweaking my nutrition plan based on the research and my own experience. It is very much a trial and error process as I practice my nutrition and hydration strategies in every long run over the course of a training cycle. In preparation for Tunnel Light, I cut out almost all alcohol and "junk calories" in order to reduce body fat. I was very intentional about everything I ate and drank for 3 days prior to the race with a carbohydrate loading goal of 10 grams carbs/Kg/day. My most successful nutrition strategies on race day: 750 calories at breakfast, eaten 3 hours before race start; 2 Runners Essentials Daily Vitamins (taken on race day and every day since January 2019); a handheld bottle with 1/2 strength Gatorade which I sipped for the first 13 miles, then sips of water and Gatorade from Aid stations every 2.5 miles; 7 gels consumed at mile 0 and every 4 miles thereafter, achieving my goal of 45 grams of total carbohydrate per hour consumed while racing.

What did I learn from this race? I learned that when I run with a joy-filled heart, praising God, focusing on the beauty in nature, encouraging others, and celebrating the speed and hard work of our running family - ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!