Well, I did not have to contend with sun, water issues, or speed concerns. Instead something I never dreamed of worrying about came into play: food poisoning. Two hours after I wrote that last post it came violently into my awareness and Saturday was a day of pretty excruciating discomfort. I've never had food poisoning before and in my adult memory cannot remember feeling such a loss of my own body. I was whimpering and trembling, I blacked out, and had more gory and intense experiences with my malfunctioning digestive system than any of us would like to relive here.
In a heroic act of denial I did insist on going to the Expo to pick up my number and my chip (with disastrous results). The death march into the registration area, Housemate holding me up, with frequent stops to rest and strategize about how we would get back to the car two blocks away, was the closest I got to the marathon and the most triumphant thing I was capable of.
On Monday morning I'm at about 95%. I do feel like I've been kicked down a staircase. I'm still pretty weak but I can, for example, walk around and open a bottle of Gatorade without help. I am even experiencing some sensations that might be hunger, although I have a whole lot of trepidation about food and am not particularly interested in putting any in my body.
Yesterday as I started recovering my physical faculties the emotional disappointment kicked in. Damn, man, this goal has been really important to me for several months now, and after the dumping I was really looking forward to returning to my daily life with a feeling of empowerment, strength, achievement. Instead my experience was of pretty extreme humiliation, weakness, powerlessness. And I have no clue about the marathon at all -- couldn't even get out of the darkened motel room to cheer on Housemate.
Even the horoscope in the glossy women's magazine I was listlessly thumbing through was a bit of a kick in the teeth. Get this:
Ruling planet Jupiter begins its retrograde on the 3rd. Opportunities that seemed within reach vanish, and you wonder if they ever existed at all. Spend the month working hard to make your own luck by actively seeking out the next opportunity, and your efforts will be rewarded by summer.
By summer?!? Cripes -- they never make you wait that long for some bright shiny promise of a windfall or a new romance or a promotion. Somebody, throw me a bone here.
Anyway, it's hard to stay too down as my body comes back to life. I'm really grateful for that. And I've decided to walk 26.2 miles in Portland next weekend. I'm going to wear my number and that damn chip I stumbled in to the expo to get.
http://www.runnersworld.com/home/0,1300,1-75-138-5818,FF.html?site=RunnersWorld
In particular, http://www.hphoustonmarathon.com/
Or, back off into February - Birmingham has a lot of buzz this year since they're hosting the men's Olympic Marathon Trials on Saturday.
As I told you elsewhere, I DNFed my first marathon. (DNF = Did Not Finish or Did Nothing Fatal; DNS = Did Not Start or Did Nothing Stupid, depending on perspective.) I bounced and finished another three weeks later. Neither experience was terribly "fun," but finishing the second was a relief.
Posted by: pjm | January 12, 2004 at 11:19 AM
Yuck! Food poisoning! Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. It is truly awful. I had it once while traveling to Detroit to see the Chicago Bulls play (back when Michael Jordan was playing). I made it to the game, barely. The worst part was being that sick away from my own bed and toilet. I'm glad you are starting to feel better.
I'm so sorry you didn't get to walk after all this preparation and training...what a let down. Hope you can find another marathon soon to make up for it!
Posted by: LawMom | January 12, 2004 at 12:48 PM
What a bummer. I had food poisoning while visint NYC a couple of years ago and was totally disabled. Missed a couple of business meetings and had to cancel a conference talk. Couldn't move for 36 hours. The only good news is that you do feel better ... eventually. So feel better soon! Steve
Posted by: Prof. Bainbridge | January 12, 2004 at 02:25 PM
I just had food poisoning too and it was truly horrible. Sorry you didn't manage the marathon eventually - I was looking forward to reading about it!
Get better soon.
Posted by: Scheherazade Jr | January 12, 2004 at 02:36 PM
Oh, my. My heart goes out to you. Just glad you are okay and on the mend!
My heartbreak marathon training story was preping for LA in 2000. The run was in the first Sunday of March and in the last Saturday of January 2000, I got a tibial stress fracture and had to stop running for 6 months!
In March 2001, I did my first marathon in Los Angeles.
Posted by: Rene | January 12, 2004 at 04:27 PM
I missed a post-college trip to Europe when I came down with mono, then missed a cross-country trip when my then-fiance's dad died, so I know how disappointing it can be to miss out on something you've been planning for a long time. But there are many more opportunities and they often turn out to surpass the ones missed (this applies with equal to boyfriends also) Life is cyclical and things will turn around for you...and anyway, summer is not that far off.
Posted by: Carolyn Elefant | January 12, 2004 at 06:18 PM
I guess my "Go Team Go" cheer of a few days ago had a different meaning for you. Since everyone's sharing their food poisoning experience, here is mine: About 6 years ago I went to a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. I think it was the cheese whiz on the corn chips that did it, but I’ll never know for sure. About 8 hours later I ended up driving myself, weak and fever-confused, from my apartment at the time to the local E/R where they gave me some pills to help stop the madness, which in fact did stop, about 48 hours later. I spent two days in bed and ran track from the bathroom to the bedroom much of the time. I haven’t had cheese whiz since.
Glad your recovery is going swimmingly.
Posted by: Richard Ames | January 12, 2004 at 08:50 PM