Since I was WAY too much in my own head for this race and didn't notice a whole lot going on around me, I'm going to do this a little bit differently by just exploring the good and the bad of my day.
The good:
1. Before I even started the race, I was on my way through the gate to get to my corral and I noticed out of the corner of my eye a woman walking next to me. I turned to look at her and it was Docket_Rocket! I have never met her, but recognized her from her avatars right away. I introduced myself and she was also with RVDowning, who she introduced me to. The three of us hung out together until right before the start of the race. It was great to meet them! I'm so sorry about her DNF and I never did get RVDowning's real name, so don't know how he did. Well, I hope!
2. The weather was absolutely perfect running weather for me. Some people thought it was a bit warm near the end, but for me it was just great and not a cloud in the sky.
3. I met my B goal of getting sub 4:10 which puts me less than 10 minutes away from a BQ starting in October 2014.
4. I PR'd by 11 minutes and came in the top 23% of my AG and top 25% of all women. My time was 4:09:24
5. I actually like some of my race photos.
The bad:
1. Garmins, as a lot of us know, are kind of useless in Chicago until at least mile 4. I depend on average pace a lot, so that made things challenging.
2. There was supposed to be a 4:10 pacer in my corral, but I could not find him. I was really invested in starting with a pacer as I know I don't pace myself well and the Garmin wasn't going to help me, so that really threw me and lead to point 3 below.
3. I went out entirely too fast and started the slow fade at about mile 16. I wouldn't call it a death march, but I positive split by 7 minutes.
4. Even though I knew I was going too fast, I KEPT DOING IT AND I KNOW BETTER!!! This is what is really upsetting me most of all. I need to really learn that I have limits and learn better self control.
5. I did not make my A goal of sub 4:07 which I think I could have done if I hadn't run the first half so damn fast.
If I'm being very honest, though there is a lot of positive to take from this race and I did have a great weekend in Chicago with friends and family, right at this moment I'm beating myself up for the mistakes I shouldn't have made. I'm hoping some of that will fade and I will be able to look at it as a learning experience rather than a disappointment.
Thanks for reading. This seems a bit self indulgent so I apologize for that, but it sort of felt good to type it out.
Congrats on meeting your goal! It was a pleasure meeting you and to talk to you for a while. Hope the FE pic makes it into marathonfoto.
RVD finished but slower than he wanted.
Again, congrats!!!
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
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Caretaker/Overlook Hotel
Very cool!! Not self-indulgent at all. You ran a friggin marathon in 4:09. Heck, you ran a marathon AT ALL!! Indulge as much as you want!
Very cool you got to FE & w/ D-money, our resident bad ass, no less!!
A PR ta' boot?? Well done!!
Now, you just to post them pics!!
Randy
Congrats on the PR! I liked the way you summed up the good and bad.
This seems a bit self indulgent so I apologize for that, but it sort of felt good to type it out.
Sheeit girl, self indulgent? You must have not read any of my race reports!
Do not beat yourself up over the lack of a 4:10 pacer. Often times, they go out just as fast as you would have. As it is, you ran your race albeit it a tad bit too fast, which is much better than following someone else and having them screw you up!
Having said all of that, item # 5 of the good list makes it all not so bad!
Congratulations and great job on the PR! An 11-minute PR is awesome, no matter how you look at it. You only finished a couple minutes behind your A goal, despite the mistakes you made... and going out too fast (and knowing better) is a mistake that most marathon runners have made at one point or another, so don't beat yourself up too much! Sounds like you had a fun weekend.
Congrats on the huge PR. Don't beat yourself up, you did great! Keep at it and you'll get that BQ.
Congrats on the PR, and a 7 minute back end split isn't bad at all.
I am glad you were able to get your PR yesterday! Congratulations!
I haven't run one, but it seems like pacing a marathon is such a tough thing to do because even 10 seconds too far in either direction can have such huge consequences. For shorter distances it is easier to adjust on the fly, I think. And if GPS isn't helping- yikes! But you ran your race and had a PR, too! BQ is within striking distance!
Antipodean
A superb result! Congratulations! I also enjoyed the RR and the positive/negative take. Because there's always good and bad, right. I don't know how many marathons you've run previously, but an 11 minute PR is amazing stuff! Do you have the next one planned, and will you be trying to BQ?
Julie
"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
~ Sir Edmund Hillary
The greatest success of all! Looking forward to seeing one as your new avi!
I don't know your history, but 7 min pos split doesn't sound too bad to me. (I was almost happy with 6 min on my last one, as it was an improvement over the previous 16.) Sucks not being able to find the pacer, but sounds like overall a good race -- top 25% is impressive!
Dave
My PB marathon was a 7 minute positive split. The pace felt so easy... till about mile 22 when the wheels came off. I may have run faster with a more conservative approach but in looking back my endurance [aerobic mileage base] was seriously lacking and it's quite possible I would have faded regardless. That was 30 years ago. I eventually learned to pace myself correctly over 26 miles but I was never able to duplicate that feeling of flying for 22 miles. It's one of my enduring memories. It sounds like you banked some good memories this past weekend.
Congrats.
Youth Has No Age. ~ Picasso / 1st road race: Charleston Distance Run 15 Miler - 1974 / profile
That's an awesome ranking and finish time, lady, congratulations! And I took a peak at your pictures (don't worry, I'm not a dangerous stalker) and I agree with you, you look absolutely beautiful! I wish we could have met in Chicago, we would have had many stories of our races to share. Let's make it a goal of ours to meet in the future.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Nice time, Great results AND a good picture. Congrats to you.
I can see how not finding your pacer just minutes before a race could cause a major freak out especially since you were relying on that pacer. Sounds like you handled it very well.
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Traci
Congrats! You had a big PR, a great weekend with friends. It's a win/win!!