Jack and Jill Marathon 2019
I have let myself down and the folks that follow me over the past couple of years by not sharing my adventures. Not sure if it has been from all the issues I have had or not meeting my goals or just my inverted side, yes I have this side to me sometimes!
The end of 2018 was packed with many let downs. First was my second sinus surgery and worst of all vestibular neuritis – say that fast 5 times!
Vestibular neuritis is an inner ear disorder that may cause a person to experience such symptoms as sudden, severe vertigo (spinning/swaying sensation), dizziness, balance problems, nausea and vomiting.
I could go into this topic for a complete blog post but I will cut to the details. I couldn’t drive for three solid weeks and couldn’t ride my bike for about six weeks, life changing!!! According to my specialist I will have to deal with this for years to come, but I have advanced rapidly in my therapy. But I’m still fighting symptoms!
December 2018 I ran Dallas White Rock for the third year in a row and I ran a Boston Qualifier for 2019 with a time of 3:08, however registration was already closed for 2019. And then I found out that Boston had changed the qualifying time to a 3:05 for my age group! After I finished this race I was so dizzy I could barely walk but despite this I felt like I had the perfect day with a strong finish!
Without my winter training on the bike or running I put on some weight, 192lbs NAKED! The heaviest I had been in my life. Inspired by Beach Body Leader, Juleah Brooks I started writing down my weight and watching what I ate a little closer and also thinking of how daily working out is so good for my body, mind, and soul. Shout out to you girl for inspiring so many and keeping to the plan! It is the same plan I have, you write down a goal and chase after it!
I love running the OKC Memorial Marathon and was glad to get back out on a new course. My run was ok but I really didn’t have the fitness needed, however it was great in my training block leading up to the Jack and Jill Marathon. Then I moved back to my love of Mountain Biking. I had skipped many bike races in the fall and the spring but I just couldn’t miss my favorite Ouachita Challenge 2019. Even though I didn’t race well, I knew this was a good building block for me moving forward to fitness goal and getting closer to a BQ, Boston Qualifier. I had managed to work my way down to 173 lbs – ALMOST A 20 lb DROP!
Sorry for the long background, but I felt it was essential since I haven’t been blogged about races in a long time stemming from the frustration of no motivation, drive and all kinds of sickness.
Jack and Jill Marathon – Northbend, WA – July 2019
We got off the shuttle bus at the top of the mountain at 6:28 am and the race started at 6:30. I ran to get in the port-a-jon line, but Kristin said heck with the port-a-jon and headed to the woods. Then we still had about a ¼ of a mile to run to get to the start, my mind was racing as I didn’t want to miss the start. I wasn’t so much worried about missing the start as they have chip timing but the dilemma is you head into a 2.5 mile tunnel a little over ¼ mile into the race. I didn’t want to get trapped in the back and have trouble passing in the tunnel! Yes I did say 2.5 MILES of tunnel, so bring a headlamp if you run this marathon. Starting temp was 49ish and in the tunnel was around 45ish. It was amazing but I didn’t have gloves and was only running in a singlet. I loved not worrying about my pace at the beginning of the race because of the tunnel. It was very quiet with footsteps echoing throughout the tunnel. The footing was small gravel and dirt and 90% of my training is on the Frisco Trail in Poteau, an old railroad trail, which is the same surface. But this old railroad path was 26.2 miles going down a mountain dropping 2500 feet. So yes downhill the complete way with only a 15 foot climb at mile 8!
We came out of the tunnel and dropped our headlamps and I hit the first aid station and felt like I was flying. I then begin to look at my watch wondering if it would find satellite soon and start giving me some accurate mile splits.
I hit the 10k mark at 6:30 average pace. The last few 5k’s I ran were at 6:15 pace so this was a little scary but I could tell my heart was low and my pace was doing ok.
There were not a lot of runners to talk to so I was just took in the amazing views of the trees and mountains on this overcast morning.
Half Marathon Marker 1:28:30, I missed a box of gels they had and I was little sad because I was really wanting a couple. Thankfully I had 5 packed but I knew if things went south I would start slamming them. The sun began to break through the clouds off and on, and you could feel the temps change. Often running from the sun to the shade would cause a drop of 8 to10 degrees. When you would curve into a massive forest and hear waterfalls and the water running or crossing a bridge would have to be my favorite parts of the race! Over this gradual descent you would always be looking at the next corner, curve or forest. It really helped to keep my mind off of (this hurts, you didn’t train enough, you could blowup any second!)
Mile 20 (The Wall) – We dropped into a couple steep hills that were short and this was when I knew my quads were totally trashed! I had been looking at my splits around 18 and I knew I was slowing, but with my training base of miles this was sure to happen. The next 3 miles my mind was in a place of “you got this” and my body was like “no you need to slow down!” I lost about 30 seconds per mile from mile 20 to 23 and if I was looking at 3 more miles at this pace I wasn’t going to qualify for Boston with a 3:05. I needed just about 7 minute per mile pace and with a 7:28 at mile 23 my mind was beginning to see Boston 2020 slip away! But my running buddies before the race said, “Take your mind to your happy place,” a place that says, “You got this!” I begin remembering the past few months of training and my mind took me to long runs with Stevie & Jenny Chitwood and my amazing wife Kristin. Thinking, “Stevie could only run about 5 miles at a time last year and he is going to be right behind me today in his first full marathon! Knowing that the hardest devoted fitness chicks in Leflore County would be kicking my shoes as they put in the work and miles to be major veteran Boston Qualifiers! Picturing an early morning run with my son Stihl on the Frisco Trail and how he wanted to race the last ¼ mile and I couldn’t beat him no matter how hard I tried! Pounding miles with gallons upon gallons of sweat! My mind said, “You might not get this chance on that trail with this weather to get a BQ, so forget it and run!” I somehow got my body to give me 3 hard miles! But not without the most pain I have had at the finish of a marathon, mostly because normally I would slow down.
Mile 26 – With 2 tenths of a mile to go there was a lady standing on the corner right before the mile 26 sign. She said, “You are amazing, “Your almost there, you got this!” she was screaming. I couldn’t see the finish line and my watch mileage had been all over the charts from the beginning with the long tunnel! But that lady was my hero. Because as I finally turned the slow long last corner I saw 50 different state flags flying and lots of folks cheering. The announcer said, “Josh Snyder, Poteau, OK you just qualified for Boston Marathon!
After the marathon we went to Seattle and hung out. We had plenty of laughs at how blown up my quads were! We drove our cool rental Jeep onto Washington State’s Ferry and into the Olympic National Forest. We spent several days hiking, cliff jumping, cold water soaking, waterfall hunting, fishing, ocean gazing and my wives favorite detour from the plan, Off ROAD JEEPING!
It is so pretty in Washington I can’t explain it. The mountains are steep and the tree’s are huge! I could sit in the wild and drink coffee for hours in Seattle’s outer regions.
My wife is the best planner for a vacation and has had the details for this trip nailed down for months. Plus she writes training plans and is probably the most driven, amazing women I know! I love you and thank you for planning such am amazing trip that would take me 10 blogs to explain the adventures and memories we made and I can’t wait to make a million more with you! Happy 16thanniversary!
