Damaris said I should write a race report.  The problem with that is that the whole thing is rather a blur to me and even a day later doesn’t quite make sense.

I ran my 6^th marathon yesterday in Sarasota.  I hadn’t planned to run the marathon.  I hadn’t even known for sure that I was running the race until last weekend as we’d hoped that Christian would beat steep odds and manage to qualify as an individual for the state cross country meet which was the same day.  Even then, I was registered for the half.  I had not done anything that resembled marathon training.  My longest run since my last marathon has been 15 miles.  Shoot, I didn’t even get a long run in last weekend.

I have been a little stressed out about totally not running related stuff.  I just ran a PR half marathon two weeks ago and didn’t figure I’d be able to do it again – especially not on a course that was on a 1/2 mile loop.  The whole thing was meant to be a training run to be certain that my mind wasn’t totally cracked for signing up for an indoor marathon in January.  I wasn’t going to race anyway.  Why not just do the full?  Yeah, there was no chance of a PR.  If I could just get a good solid 20 miles in, I could either step off the course or walk the final 10k.  If I finished at all, it would for certain be a personal worst.

Except it wasn’t.

The morning is mostly flashes to me - none of it is completely clear to me.  An alarm at 4:45.  A long drive to Sarasota.  I spotted Damaris in her inknburn and got a big hug (I am so special!) before the race started.  I wished I’d thought to bring a camera to get a picture of the two of us.  Before I knew it, the race had started.  I feared I’d hate the loops but instead enjoyed the rhythm and predictability of it.  I watched the other runners.  I enjoyed the coolish morning.  About five miles in, I realized my pace was really much faster than it should be.  I’m going to die I thought.  But I knew that going in, so I just held on.  And at 10 miles, my pace was still 9:13.  A friend showed up taking pictures at about the halfway point and I am smiling and relaxed in most of them – which is how I felt.   But my Garmin was showing much different things than it had in my last many marathons.  About 16 miles in, I was told I was right behind the lead runner (it was a very small race) but I was feeling some fatigue and the terrain was tearing up my feet.  She looked much stronger than I felt but I passed her for about 10 seconds just to say I did.  At 20 miles, I was still way under PR pace but I knew the walking was coming.  At 22 miles there was some confusion about which lap I was on.  I was annoyed by the prospect of having to do an extra mile so I went ahead and started walking then.  It was corrected the next time I went through.  But it’s hard to ramp back up once you’ve started walking.  I fell off PR pace during mile 23 (I think.)  Since a PR was not a goal, I chose not to get upset about it or even to try to fight the last two miles.  I ran when I felt like it.  I walked when I wanted.  I talked to runners and to volunteers who were urging me on, but I just kept shaking my head saying “It’s ok – I didn’t train for this.”  So when I crossed lap 52 and the clock said 4:19:25, I was in a bit of shock.  That was my second fastest marathon – my first being quite a long time ago.  And then they told me I was the third female overall and I just looked at them like they were nut.  It was a very small race, but are you kidding me?  I DIDN’T TRAIN FOR THIS!  The race director who had approved my switch on Wednesday night was grinning ear to ear saying yes, I really was 3^rd female.  Yes, I really did just run 4:19.   Come have some water and beer.  I couldn’t stick around.  I waited til the next time Damaris passed by so I could say goodbye.  And then I drove home thinking – 1. I really need a Diet Coke and 2. Did that really just happen?

I am no longer in need of caffeine but am still a little flummoxed by my result yesterday.  I decided after Cleveland that I was not well suited for training plans and said I’d run another marathon when and if I was ready.  Obviously, I’d admitted I’d do another marathon when I signed up for Icebreaker.  But I really did not expect to ever really run one for time again.  And I really didn’t set out to.  It just kind of happened.  And that's kind of awesome.

Wow! Congrats on 3rd female!

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.  Glad it all worked out, and gave you a nice pleasant surprise.  Congrats!!

I could tell it was a great day for you by the way you kept passing every 2 loops.  You looked strong all throughout.  Congrats!

I could tell it was a great day for you by the way you kept passing every 2 loops.  You looked strong all throughout.  Congrats!

I'm pretty sure that is an exaggeration.  Now there were two girls running together that it seemed like I did that to.  They were fans of my outfit and they would say "There goes shorts again..." every time I passed them which I found terribly amusing.  I've never worn the denim inb before and I was very amused by the reaction to them.  I had two people before the race ask if they could touch the shorts cause they just couldn't get over tech shorts that looked denim.

Congrats! I wonder if you ran so well because you weren't putting pressure on yourself to PR and because you didn't go into this with expectations.  I think the mental game is a big part of it and maybe not stressing over time is exactly what you need to relax and run strong without letting the voices in your head cause you to doubt yourself.

Looking forward to seeing what you do at Icebreaker. I will be there cheering you on for sure!

See, running in loops does not make you loopy.    Finishing with a second best time ever and 3rd female overall, however, may do that when it's not expected.

That's a lot of running!  Nice job overcoming your issues and getting the 4 stars!