Not in the plan

It’s late and I’m tired with a 6:30 am shuttle to the airport tomorrow but wanted to write about today.
Everything leading up to the race was perfect. Text book. But as marathoners we know we can have that amazing build and that terrible race. Long story short…I collapsed while reaching for my eload bottle at an aid station and DNF’d…with 23 other women. Racing at 2:00 pm in August is quite ridiculous. Temp was about mid 30’s with the humidity. Apparently the start time had to do with tv and a very large sum of money. Hopefully a lesson has been learned. Spectators were guzzling water and looking for shade, ambulances (me included) were whizzing by like crazy, and women were walking and cramping (way to go, Lanni and Mary).
Again, great support from the team. Poor DST had a tough time communicating with the Russians medical folks. I ended up in 3 or 4 ambulances! After much vomiting, sharing some crazy stories about marathoning vs childbirth (?), some tears, and being told nearly half the field dropped, I felt better. I watched the finish and kept fluids down then actually jogged 6 km back to the hotel to meet  Rick and Jonathan. A massage, shower and food has me feeling pretty good in my bed right now. God is good, all the time. Tomorrow starts our vacation on our 12 th anniversary. The break will be good. Then we will see what is next.