Tag Archives: stomachlessrunner

Chevron Houston Marathon – 10 Days Before Race Day

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What a fun and exciting time before a marathon. I’ve finished my time-consuming, daunting long weekend training runs already. I’m just coasting on my shorter distance runs, playing with some faster paces to see what my body might be capable of. The tough training is now behind me with only the race itself ahead. I’ve built in extra pounds (119-122 lbs) to burn during the race. I’m downright giddy.

This year’s marathon was meant to be. Yesterday afternoon, it all started with an IM from a coworker. She saw me on a FB posting by the Chevron Houston Marathon with the title “10 Days to Go!”. Sure enough, there I am! This was a shot taken from my half marathon finish last year. So now, the girl who runs without a stomach has become one of many cover faces for the race! If only I could get the marathon to share my story to advocate for gastric cancer awareness.

So, let’s go do this!  Right now, the forecast is looking like it might be really hot. Current weather forecast models predict a 63 start temp. That might make for an extremely hot race. Then again, this is Houston. If you just wait 2 hours, the temperature might drop 20 degrees. We have spent the “winter” running our A/C one night, then running the fireplace the next. Fingers crossed we are blessed with a nice little cold front before race day. And if worse comes to worse, I will run with a sports bra and show off my sweet gastrectomy scar. Shout out to Dr. Paul Mansfield for one of the straightest and most beautiful little scars ever!

My family has blocked off the morning to support me. My husband has thoughtfully helped me build my strategy. We believe that mentally I should stay with the 3:30 pacer. My left IT band is causing me some concern, and I don’t know how well it will hold out. If halfway through the race I am feeling strong, I will always have the 3:20 pacer as my rabbit to catch. Bear in mind, 3:21 is my PR. Let’s go negative splits next Sunday! Here is the medal awaiting yet another milestone in post-gastrectomy life, motivation to cross that long-awaited finished line.

 

 

 

A Beautiful Race

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Sunday, Jan 17, the city of Houston hosted the Chevron Houston Full Marathon and the Aramco Half Marathon. It was a beautiful day with perfect running weather, no breeze, 40s-50s during the race, and a clear blue sky once the sun rose.Half Marathon marne

I was yet again blessed to participate in the half marathon. I was extremely disappointed with my race results last year because of my iron deficiency. This year I am in full health. But as I stood in Corral B unable to start in Corral A with my friends, a little part of me was kind of bummed out. Luckily the pre-race excitement was the main emotion I felt as I stood there just smiling about the day.

So, God always has a plan. I started talking to the fellow runner randomly beside me in the corral. His name is Andy, and I learned he was about to race in his first ever half marathon after having open heart surgery within the last year to repair a 100% blocked vein to his heart, commonly referred to as the “widow maker” since most people don’t survive the blockage. He had trained for the half marathon with his teenage daughter who is a cross country runner. But the morning of the race, she was in a wheelchair because they recently discovered she has something called POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome)

My jaw was hanging open just listening to his story. Starting, as well as racing this half marathon, clearly was a giant milestone in his life. These races are more than just feet pounding the pavement. For me, as well as so many others, the race is a line in the sand or a triumph we’ve accomplished. I didn’t race with him for more than a few miles but was able to look up his results afterwards. He crushed it exactly the way he wanted to. The human capacity to overcome obstacles and soar with even more appreciation for life is amazing.

One of the big reasons I started this blog in the first place was during the hours of searching online for post-gastrectomy capabilities. I couldn’t find any resources sharing about their abilities in athletic adventures. I went into my surgery following a marathon PR since I wasn’t sure if my running career was over or not. This year, I feel like screaming to the world, “I’m back!!!!!!!!!!”. Once I sorted out what vitamin supplementation I need to do and packed on quite a few extra pounds, I was able to run just as well as I have run with a stomach.

My husband and children waited for me near the finish line. They also met a man whose young daughter had just survived ovarian cancer. They felt blessed just to share stories with one another and what this race meant for the people overcoming their personal obstacle. He took the photos I posted as I was squinting to see and wave at my ever-supporting, wonderful family.

Half Marathon marne 2

I ran my half marathon in 1:39:15. This was only a minute off from my best half marathon time (with a stomach). My running days are far from over, stomach or not.