Conquering the Salina Crossroads Marathon: Battling the Elements and Pushing Through

Nick Polanowski (MM16057) – Salina Crossroads Marathon is now in the books!
My alarm was set for 5:15am, but was awaken to the clap of thunder at 4:40am as the weather front had made its way to Salina. The Weather Channel was SPOT ON!
Amy & I laid there listening to the thunder before rolling out of bed at 5:20. We worked through our morning routines as we always do the morning before a race. But something was off; there was a slight rumble within my guts. This was not a good sign nor what a runner wants the morning of a race.
Fast forward, we made our way to the start line. By this time the rain had fully moved in. Thankfully it was still somewhat light at this point, but nonetheless, we were WET!
Starting gun sounded and we were off. I decided to start the race with my rain jacket on. Kept my upper body fairly dry through mile 9, but by this time I was beginning to sweat. Then Mile 11 rolled around and my stomach was not fairing well. It was definitely off and in knots.
At the Half I saw Amy and tossed her my jacket, stripped my shirt off; Ahhh now I was FREE!!!
I pushed through to Mile 15 only losing about 30sec/mile off my pace. At this point I was around a 7:40 pace. Then at 15 I started feeling my snot get thick and energy began waning. Yup, I would say I’m on the front end of catching a cold.
Before I knew it my pace had fallen off to 9min/mi and my shoes felt like I had 5lb dumbells strapped to them as the water & wet began weighing me down. So, I just dialed it back to cruise control as I was also having a hard time keeping my HR below 170, which has become very abnormal for me as my last few marathons I’ve been able to stay in the 140-150’s. So I now knew I was most certainly not 100% and fading fast. I pushed through l, GRINDING!
I made the left turn and there it was, the FINISH about 1000yds away. So, I dug deep, picked my pace back up and made the SPRINT to the finish. As I crossed my left hammie had had enough and said OK, we’re DONE & began to cramp. Perfect Timing as I had MADE IT!
Marathon #15 & State #9.