Motatapu Adventure (Post-Race Thoughts)Weeeee!!! I'm on a high right now. A really exhausted high, complete with tight muscles, sore legs, and an increasing inability to walk, but a high nonetheless! I just finished my very first marathon, and I feel great!
The
Motatapu Marathon is touted to be one of the most difficult marathons you can run in NZ. And after 3 months of preparation, I successfully completed it today. Having absolutely no clue how long it would take me, I decided to just give it a go and see how it all went.
Here's how it all panned out...
After picking Emily up at the airport on Thursday afternoon, we continued the remaining 5 hours to Clyde where we arrived at 11pm and were relieved to be able to crawl directly into bed. The next morning we both enjoyed a relaxing lye-in (kiwi term for sleep-in) followed by a short 4km run to loosen our muscles and formally end our training for the race. From there we drove into Wanaka, enjoyed a picnic lunch on the waterfront, browsed some of the shops, and met up with Nic and Aaron who now live in the area (in a beautiful home in a little place called Abertown).
It was great to catch up with Nic. A sad reminder of how much I miss the friendships that I had formed with the both Nic's last year, but also a great reminder of how good it feels to catch up with good friends. It was also great to catch up with Aaron and see that he is doing well too. After several hours of filling Nic in on the latest goss from Blenheim and learning about what life is like down in Wanaka, I made my way to bed.
It was an early rise the next morning. I had set the alarm for 5:15 and made a point of making and eating breakfast first -- before showering. I wanted to be absolutely certain that I ate a proper breakfast today to avoid a recurrence of what happened the day of my multi-sport race last year. Aaron (bless his soul) got up at 6:20 to drive me to Glendu Bay, picking up Emily (who was staying at another friend's house) along the way.
The morning was very "fresh". Although it was pitch black, the sky was very clear and the temp was very cold. After queuing for nearly 30 mins, we finally got our turn on the shuttle bus to the start line.
Arriving at Motatapu Station, we were greeted by another queue for the toilets. Figuring that one last bathroom stop was more important than being on-time for the race, I waited out the line. And sure enough, I got to experience the excitement and anticipation of the count-down and gun-start from inside the port-a-loo. However, I was not worried about missing the start... Afterall, I had a 5+ hour race ahead of me! I made sure that my chip registered as I crossed the start line, and then was on my way.
I had to remind myself to slow down. It's amazing how much adrenaline can make you fly at the start of the race. I felt like I was barely putting forth any effort and yet my Garmin told me I was travelling at a pace of 5min 15sec per km. So after settling into a comfortable, slower, groove, I finally opened my eyes up to the scenery around me - and it was breathtaking. Everything seemed to be on a massive scale. The hills were towering over me on both sides, and their beautiful colours contrasted so sharply with the clear blue sky above. After a while I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures and quickly snapped up a few. It's amazing how silly I actually felt stopping in the middle of a race to get out my camera and take some photos.
The first 10km passed by quite quickly in 1hr 5mins, and felt pretty good. At the 5km mark I opened my first gel of the day and ate half of it. It was actually a really nice gel - not too thick, and not too sweet. The first Aid Station of the race was located at the "32 km to go" point and I stopped there for some
Lepin Squeezy and some water. At this point, I had still managed to keep my feet totally dry.
It was not long after this point that I encountered the first river crossing (which turned out to be the first of MANY river crossings of the day). By the time I reached the next Aid Station 8km down the track, I had crossed the same river what seemed to be at least 5 or 6 times, each time freezing my feet and legs to the point of being numb.
It's refreshing, I kept telling myself...
although it hurts, it must be good for my musles! Man was it ever hard to get moving after the third or fourth crossing. It's like all of your energy was sucked away through the numbness in your legs and you had to dig deep to keep running at the other side of each crossing.
Shortly after the "22km to go" mark, I caught up with another runner who had stopped to take a picture. The scenery looked so great that I thought I'd stop and take one too. And while we were at it, we decided we might as well exchange cameras and take pictures of each other. Hence the self-portrat below.
At the half-way point I lapped my Garmin and noted that I had run 21.1km in 2hours 25 minutes.
Perfect! I thought...
Perfectly on target for a 5 hour race. The next 10km were a bit of a struggle, but not as horrible as I was expecting. I did my best to continue running whenever and wherever possible. The nice thing about this race is that there are very few uphill sections that are too difficult to run. As long as you are willing, it is possible to maintain a jogging pace up the majority of the hills. And that's just what I tried to do. Eventually my legs tired, and I realized I was pretty much jogging the flats, plodding the hills, walking the steep sections, and rolling with any downhill that I encountered.
All was good though. I was feeling remarkably good, feeling well hydrated, properly nourished, and in generally good spirits. Along the way I was thinking about how much finishing a marathon (and finishing in a good time) was that of a mental game. I found myself on several occasions talking out loud to myself.
Keep going, Heather. You can do it. Just keep moving. One foot in front of the other.The race had a significant turning point when I hit "10km to go". Just before I encountered the sign-post telling me there were 10km left in the race, I passed by a race volunteer standing at a gate cheering us along. "You're doing great! Only 10km to go," he said. I smiled and said "thanks", immediately followed by a yelp of pain. "Are you alright?" he asked. After realizing what had happened I responded with "Yes, I think so. Just got a wee cramp in my leg".
I didn't realize that this was the start of a painful experience that would last the remainder of the race. For whatever reason (unknown to me), my calf muscles decided to cramp up and they would not stop cramping. What was most frustrating about it was the fact that I actually *felt* good, apart from the debilitating cramps that would send my muscles into a spasm, cause my back to arch in pain, and me to yelp out a few profanities each time they struck. I was fairly certain that if the cramps were not there, that my last 10km might have been the fastest 10km of the whole race. I was actually feeling that good.
But alas... there was not much I could do about it. All I could do was keep plodding along, being very mindful of my footing in an attempt to reduce the number of muscle spasms. After each cramp I would walk for a few mins and then continue plodding along some more. I chugged as much powerade from my bladder as I could possibly intake and tried to stomach the muesli bar that I had started to nibble on. It was a slow process and definitely mentally challenging, but all I could really do. Along the way I met some guy who could tell I was cramping and he suggested I try some salt tablets for the next race. He claimed that magnesium pills can help out with muscle cramping. If only he had some on him at the time!
This cramping did provide me with more convenient excuses to stop for pictures, so that's exactly what I did.
When I hit the last Aid Station at the "6km to go" mark I was greeted by some of the most enthusiastic and friendly volunteers you could find. Music blasting, cheering galore, and a large spread of cookies and
Moro bars for the taking. I did my best to dissolve the cookie in my mouth, but couldn't stomach the Moro bar so I stuffed it in my pack pocket for "reserves" in case I needed it before the finish.
From this point onwards it was primarily downhill. A tough way to finish a race, but not a bad way either. My legs appreciated the downhills because I could pick up some decent speed (passing a number of people on the way!) and give my cramping muscles a rest while I utilized different ones. It wasn't until I'd hit the next section of uphill when the cramps would kick in again.
I'd say the hardest section of this entire race was the last 2km and this was purely a result of how many river crossings there were. I swear I had to cross water at least 50 times! Each time equally as painful due to the temperature of the water. Just when you thought you had thawed out your numb legs, you were back in the water - sometimes as deep as thigh-high. My cramping legs could barely handle the shock and I gritted my teeth and groaned with pain each time.
Somewhere in the midst of all these river crossings I spotted my friend, Stan, who was out photographing the competitors. I said hi, gave a big wave for the camera, and took a quick pic when I got to the other side (thanks to Stan for sending me these pics and saving me the $25 it would have cost for me to order them!).
I met a friendly American guy while wading through one of the long sections of water who was also having trouble with cramping and we ended up running the rest of the way together.
It sure felt good to hit the end. Not only did it mean the end of the river crossings, but it also provided us with a whole slew of cheering fans and supporters. The cheering was fantastic and stretched out a decent distance (nothing like what you'd find at a race in Canada, but by far the best cheering crowd I've encountered in the races I've done so far in NZ). The energy in the air was enough to bring a huge smile to my face and with that, I put the push on to the end. My smile turned to a grit while I strained to fight the muscle spasms that continued to make an appearance, but then quickly turned back to a smile when I saw the time on the finishing clock – 4hrs : 58mins! I was ecstatic! I was going to finish in less than 5 hours! Waaaaahoooo!!!
What a satisfying feeling. I had set out to simply finish the race, and I finished with a time that I was very pleased with -- faster than the previous year's average of 5:01. Later on I discovered that my chip time proved to be even better - 4hours 55mins. And... if I start to get really technical and factor in the fact that I stopped for anywhere from 5-10 mins for photographs, and lost anywhere from 5-10 mins in the last 10km of the race due to cramping, I theoretically could have potentially finished this race in closer to 4:35 or 4:40.
But enough with the excuses. I'm just so pleased to be done and with how it all panned out. It was a fabulous day, I couldn’t have asked for better weather, and it was so nice to have Nic there at the finish line to share the experience with.
On a side-note: It’s taken me a few hours to type this since I stopped for a dinner break in-between. I am now starting to feel the pain set in. Wow!... Am I ever having difficulty walking. What a remarkably satisfying feeling! Can’t wait to see how I feel tomorrow!
