The first 10 miles or so I felt great, and I was running at a pace that I felt I could hold forever. Around mile 10 though, my stomach started giving me problems. Whenever I took in gels or drank it got irritated. I was running with my coach, who suggested that I hold off on the gels and just try to hydrate as much as my stomach would allow.

By mile 12 or so my legs started getting crampy, so I started taking walk breaks. By mile 18 the agony really began, and I could barely maintain a decent walking pace. I shuffled along from 18-25, taking breaks whenever the pain got so bad that I couldn't move. A few times during this stretch I was in tears because my legs hurt so bad. During this time my mind was also playing tricks on me, because these waves of emotion would hit me out of the blue.

Around mile 25 a teammate from my triathlon team came by on his bike, and he stayed with me until the finish. As soon as I crossed the line they asked if I wanted to go to the medical tent, which I definitely did. I plopped down into a wheelchair they had, and they whisked me off.



Need to be more consistent with my mid-week runs, and obviously I need to figure out why GI issues keep sabotaging my longer races. In general I need to work on my hydration levels, as I should have been better hydrated starting out.

Laid on a stretcher in the medical trailer while the staff checked my vitals, drinking as much water as I could. After about 30 minutes I started to feel okay, so they discharged me.


Dehydration, lack of nutrition during the run.


Given that this was my first marathon I kept saying that my only goal was to finish, but I am very disappointed with my result. But now I know that with proper training and hydration I can conquer the distance, so now I'm itching for a rematch in the fall!