And reading this amazing aritcle on Deena Kastor and her review on the London Marathon I have realized that everyone has a bad marathon and Paris was mine. On May 4th I will be entering the lottery for the London Marathon. So I am either CRAZY and FOOLISH...or I have now become a MARATHON RUNNER.
Read below to on Deena Kastor experience.
Kastor felled by cramps, tightness, allergy
After an arduous two-day journey to London via Paris, Deena Kastor's trip from the start at Blackheath to the finish line on The Mall of today's Virgin London Marathon was even more unpleasant. The American had a rare off-day, struggling to finish 18th in 2:36:20. It was the slowest time for any marathon she had completed in her career since taking up the event in 2001.
By David Monti, Special to Universal Sports | Posted: Apr 25, 9:59a ET | Updated: Apr 25, 10:59a ET
LONDON -- After an arduous two-day journey to London via Paris, Deena Kastor's trip from the start at Blackheath to the finish line on The Mall of Sunday's Virgin London Marathon was even more unpleasant.
The American marathon record holder, who won the London race in 2006, had a rare off-day, struggling to the finish line in 18th place in 2:36:20. It was the slowest time for any marathon she had completed in her career since taking up the event in 2001.
"I felt terrible right from the start," Kastor said in an exclusive interview after the race. "I tucked in and just thought I needed to shake out travel and tightness. I felt very tight and stiff at the beginning of the race, and it never shook out."
Kastor, 37, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., was running in the main pack through the first 5 kilometers. Wearing a black racing uniform with a black cap to keep the unexpected rain out of her eyes, she was running on pace for a low-2:20's marathon. But by the time the lead pack hit 10 kilometers, Kastor was no longer visible on the BBC's race coverage. The event's timing system showed that she was 33 seconds back and running alone.
"I was cramping and tight in my back and my legs from probably about mile-6," Kastor explained. "Then at that point thinking like that felt like the half-way point was pretty discouraging. I looked up at the (lead) truck at one point when the pack was leaving me and I saw that their third mile was 5:05. And I said, 'OK, I'll just stay steady at this pace and maybe some people would start to fall off the pack and I can start reeling people back in.'"
But things would only get worse for the 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medallist. After crossing Tower Bridge alone, and passing the half-way check-point in 1:13:41, Kastor was now behind the leaders by two minutes and 46 seconds. As she crossed the bridge she looked at the Guoman Tower Hotel just a few meters away to her right and started to think about dropping out.
"I just didn't think I could even finish the race," she said. "It was actually a terrible morning to run by the hotel on two occasions, the half-way point and the 22-mile point. At both of those times I had to fight with myself to keep moving as opposed to dipping into the hotel to shower up and catch some sleep, or something. I did not have it today and I have no idea why."
The tightness in her legs and back and the muscle cramping were bad enough, but Kastor now had a new problem. She began to have some kind of an allergic reaction.
"At about the half-way point I started to get really hot and itchy," she said. "I've had problems with exercise-induced allergies before, and the last time I had that kind of systemic response was six years ago at Stanford where I broke out in hives. I thought it was strawberries, and I stopped eating strawberries. But I had it in the race today and I had to go to the medical tent after the race to get some antihistamines to calm my skin down. Just a really off day in so many ways."
But Kastor would not quit. She had last dropped out of a marathon in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when a bone in her foot snapped, and refused to give up today.
"I just didn't want to drop out of another race," Kastor said. "I dropped out of New York before, I was forced to drop out of Beijing, and I don't want to ever have to do that unless it's dire circumstances. If I could keep moving forward, I wanted to commit to that finish line. I put too much work into this race to not get there."
Although disappointed, Kastor chose to take a philosophical approach to today's setback. The marathon, she agreed, is a monster which can never be fully tamed.
"I think that's why we come back to the marathon over, and over, and over again because we feel like just tweak something in our training, or change our race strategy that we can get there a little more brilliantly the next time. It keeps us coming back."
Kastor's next marathon will be the ING New York City Marathon in November. This will be my 3rd Marathon..so Deena I will see you there ;)
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