By then my friend Trey was cramping up every half mile or so, so we kept having to stop. It was too hard on me to keep stopping and starting again, so as we approached mile 20 I took off solo. That wasn't exactly a mistake, but it was super hard. I cruised along for about 2 miles and then crashed. I hit the wall, got overheated, lost my running partner, and my heart started acting up, all around the same time.
The last 4 miles were one the longest, most miserable things I have ever experienced. Because of my heart (I have atrial fibrilation so I have to be careful) I had to stop jogging and walk every minute or two, but it hurt just as much to walk as it did to run and the buildings moved past slower. No matter how fast or slow I moved I felt like the sun was going to bake me alive if I had to stay out in it for one more hour. I had already been on the course for more than 3 hours.
I got an orange slice and some strawberries at mile 22. I have never tasted better fruit and probably never will. It gave me energy for a couple minutes of jogging, which was a huge blessing because my family and a bunch of my friends were right around the corner and I would have felt really bad if I had been walking when I passed them.
After that I still had 3 miles to go. They were painful miles. I don't remember much. For a while I just stared at the bricks passing under my feet, wishing they would go faster. I tried looking ahead but it always depressed me because the next turn was 4 or 5 blocks ahead and I couldn't see it.
People kept cheering but I tuned them out. I really didn't care. However, I was wearing my old high school jersey. It is the only running jersey I own, and it has "Sauk Centre" proudly displayed across the chest. Several times in those last miles I heard people cheering for the Mainstreeters. I knew they had to be from Sauk Centre because nobody else would know the team name, and I didn't dare put my town to shame- so I would start jogging again. Those random people will never know how much they helped me.
Finally, 4 hours and 45 seconds after my "griddle march" began, I crossed the finish line with tears of relief in my eyes.
And your prayers didn't end there.
After finishing I forced myself to drink two bottles of water and a cup of yogurt, attempting to replenish. I felt rotten so I tried to keep walking around, but I couldn't. I laid down under a tree and felt a little better after 10 or 15 minutes. I cautiously sat up to take some Ibuprofene and ended up puking everything out of my body. After that I felt a lot better, but then I was shaking uncontrollably because of the lack of nutrients, carbs, or anything else in my body. Finally, after about 45 minutes, I got another three bottles of water and some food (thanks to friends and family who went to get it for me) and my body got back to mostly normal.
So I want to send out a huge Thank You to God, for giving me the strength to finish and watching over me to keep me safe, to my friends and family who came to watch and support me, and to everyone who said a prayer for me. I heard that more than 30 people went to the hospital from the marathon, and I praise God that I was not one of them. I am a little frustrated that I trained so long and hard and then got nowhere close to my goal time, but mainly I am just happy to be able to say that I finished.
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