Marathon Thoughts

I promised to come back and give more of a play-by-play of the marathon.

I got up at 4:30, allowing enough time for my morning coffee and a piece of toast.  It was actually meant to be two pieces, but I forgot one in the toaster so I didn't eat that until the next day.

We were in the car by 5:30 and the wipers were going back and forth.  Shaun tried to keep the mood light for me and I was not really nervous, more just ready.  Ready to quit talking about and training for it and ready to just do it!

Having Shaun there to maneuver the city and drop me at the door and hold onto my bag were all such a big help and made the time prior to start go smoothly.

At start time, and for the duration of the morning, the rain had stopped and was a gray mist, and just the right temperature. After an unexplained delay at the starting line (which allowed me to see my family one last time) we were off.

Two guys, who reminded me of the muppet critics, were doing nervous laughs and hurdling the cones. I wondered how many miles they'd be laughing.

There were a surprising number of hills considering it'd been advertised as a flat course.  Nothing to do but take each one as they came.  I chose to stay with the pace leader for 4:15.  I felt confident I could do this time and the pace felt perfect.

The early miles peeled off with ease.  My biggest concern was trying to manage my food and liquid intake.  I wanted to do a gel every hour, washed down with water.  I tried Gatorade a couple times, but it would take a 1/4 mile to be feeling ok after it.

At Mile 9 I saw a spectator who was sitting in a wheelchair....legs completely gone.  Thank you Lord, for these legs that allow me to do so many things I love.

Mile 11ish I passed through a water station and saw that my pace leader was finished.  What??  That was a bummer to lose him because I didn't have a terribly accurate way to assess my pace.  Plus, I didn't have anyone pushing me.

Coincidentally, maybe not, this is about when I started feeling like I was giving an effort.  I had hoped to get to Mile 15 before it was not all fun and games.  I kept saying the words on my arm over and over and also thinking of my family, hoping I'd see them along the route again.

By Mile 20 I was saying Jesus, help me.  Jesus help me....outloud  :)  This is also when a couple girls and I started trading encouragements as we'd take turns passing each other.

At Mile 21, at the top of (yet) another hill, I saw Shaun and the kids with big smiles and cheers.  YAY! I felt ok there but it all went downhill fast.  I was fighting....hard.  At times, the only thing that kept me going was knowing that that was the best way to be done.

When I saw Mile 23 I had a little tantrum.  THREE more miles??  You have GOT to be kidding me!!

As I was coming up to the end, Shaun put Aiden over the fence so he could run the last little bit with me.  I tried to slow down for him, but it was hard to stop.

I finished 13.1 miles: 2:06:32, 26.2 miles: 4:38:57, Average pace: 10:39, Sex/Total: 398/616 Division/Total: 131/186 F3039

My finish time was very disappointing, though I won't dwell on it.  It's 20 minutes slower than I know I was capable of and 10 minutes past the threshold I put in place for myself.  Overall, the race was harder than I had imagined, or at least I thought I was a little more prepared.

I love to run on the treadmill, its what I've always done, but the difference, over this many miles was a factor.

For 18 weeks, since January 7th, I've been training, six days a week, five of those running.  I missed several days, two because I was way sick, two because the gym was closed due to snow (so I shoveled for 6 hours instead :), and one day I completely blew off...stomped my foot and said I won't go!, shut off my alarm and went back to bed....I still regret that day.

I've spent this week mulling it all over, deciding what's next, thankful to be alive and living!  Once again, thank you all for your love and support.  I am a blessed girl!

I'll leave you with this belly-hurting, albeit slightly inappropriate video: