Rockenmama's NJ Marathon Report (Read 710 times)

What went wrong. Well I went to dinner with a bunch of friends and ended up going to a pasta buffet. First off pasta has NEVER worked well for me. I tried it the night before my first half marathon I ended up getting so sick during the marathon as well as afterwards (I’m sure there were other factors involved). After that I swore off pasta before any race or long run. Anyway it had been a long day and we had walked a ways to get to this place in the cold wind that instead of waiting to eat somewhere else afterwards I just decided to take a chance. Race day. I bought a hat the day before cause thunderstorms were predicted for race day. Now I’ve never ever ran with a hat before so this was going to be something new. Anyways I had made plans to meet Michelle down in the lobby around 6:45 or so and that went as plan. Wasn’t long before we all headed out to get in our corals. TALK about not easy! It was so crowded when I got around the 4:30 pace group I noticed Michelle wasn’t around. Talk about panicking. Well I figured she would head to the 4 hour pace group and I was right. Finally race started and everyone started the march to the starting line. Now the plan was to do 9:00 minute miles or so for the first 20 (nothing slower than 9:15) then kick it up a notch. First mile was right on target, however we did speed up a bit for the next 3 miles or so. Weather was good (a little warmer than I was prepared for) with no signs of it raining. Good thing I wore my hat lol. Got into my shot blocks around between mile 6-7, though I only had one. I’ve been having problems with the shot blocks during my long runs when I have more than one at a time. Run was going smooth, though Michelle was having a hard time slowing down and sticking with me. Something about chatting with others who are going faster and next thing you know she’s pacing along with them. I think around mile 7 is when NJ Joe passed me and saw Michelle and said Hi . Not sure which mile marker it was when Michelle had to use the porta pot. We kind of made a deal that I would keep running and she would catch up to me. I wouldn’t of made that deal if I didn’t know for certain that later I would be the one using the porta pot and trying to catch up. The spectators really helped make this course. It was nice hearing people call out go rockenmom and go maniac. I think it was around mile 8 or so that we started pacing with the 4 hour pacers. They were going a bit faster than the 9:09 they were supposed to hold. Surprised me a bit but figured if the pacer was right on then we only needed to beat her by 26 seconds. I had another gel around mile 9-10 and not long after mile 11 my stomach started hurting. Nothing too bad, figured it would ease up. It was nice coming back to the board walk to end the first loop. Seing the spectators and hearing all the cheering (more for the half marathoners that were about to finish). My stomach had eased up a bit so I was feeling good. We finished the first half in 2:01:23. By mile 14 my stomach was starting to hurt again . By then I had finished 3 of my shot blocks. We were still right behind ( literally ) the 4 hour pace group and I was having thoughts of what to do . By 14.5 miles I couldn’t keep up with Michelle and deal with my stomach so I slowly slowed down and close to mile 15 I yelled to Michelle to go ahead. She was still right behind the 4 hour pace group and looking strong. Figured if she stuck with them that if they paced like they were supposed to and if she could keep the pace she would have no problem accomplishing her goal. By mile 18 I was getting bad enough cramps that I was holding my stomach. I’ll never forget the porta stop at mile 18 cause that was when I considered DNFing. One thing I was sooooooo glad about during this race is they had PLENTY of porta johns and NO lines!! Finally got back “slogging” not really paying attention to anything other than focusing on continuing. I walked through the next few water stops and used the porta john a couple more times. By then I had no clue what time it was, what my pace was, though I do recall thinking that I was probably going to finish around 4:20 or so (seemed like forever since I had seen Michelle) Around mile 23 or so my stomach started calming down. HALLELUJAH I was back in. The relief I felt was undescribable. Of course that’s around the time I started feeling the burning on my feet. Nothing like running on concrete/asphault and COMPLETELY FLAT to make your feet start talking. I didn’t care it was much better than what I had dealt with for the last 7 or so miles. Got the biggest surprise of my life around mile 24. MICHELLE! I was like YOU ARE NOT supposed to be here! You are SUPPOSED to be crossing the finish line. At this time I still thought it was a bit later than it was, I also half expected her to be closer to 3:52. Well turns out she couldn’t keep the pace and had slowed down. I have a feeling that she passed the 4 hour pace group instead of sticking right behind them (I’ll have to ask and find out). Well even though it meant she wasn’t going to reach her goal I was so happy to see her. I still hadn’t seen my family and was kind of upset by that. The closer we got to the beach the faster I started going. By mile 25 I was all smiles and hauling ass (at least it felt that way) The nice thing about this course is you can see the finish line well before you hit mile 26. Mile 26 was probably my fastest mile. I was feeling strong and was very happy with that fact. The crowd helped keep that feeling. I finally saw my family right before crossing the finish line. WHAT a GREAT SIGHT!!! Oh and passing people left and right at the end NEVER gets old!! Finish time was 4:03:08 MUCH better than I had expected. It turned out that 3 of the 4 other racers had gotten sick and later that evening one of the racers dd’s got super sick. One thing I will never do is have pasta again before a race. Also I think shot blocks are a thing of the past for me. Time to find something else.

Nice job on pushing past the cramping and pain to a strong finish! Looks like the 5K finished at the same time/place as the marathon? That guy in sweats (is that Mark Cuban?) and the lady next to you most likely didn't run 26 miles in 4:03.

YaYs!!!!!

Too bad about the the stomach issues, but way to tough it out rockenmama. Despite all of the problems the second half you still almost ran an even split. Very nice.

Too bad about the the stomach issues, but way to tough it out rockenmama. Despite all of the problems the second half you still almost ran an even split. Very nice.

Thanks MrPhin That's the best part of it! I struggled for at least 6 miles of the marathon. So the fact that I ran almost even splits means alot to me.

CONGRATULATIONS for making it through Pam! The end was exactly as I'd expect from you. Glad you and Michelle could share the race together too.

CONGRATULATIONS for making it through Pam! The end was exactly as I'd expect from you. Glad you and Michelle could share the race together too.

Thanks Joni!!! I just wish I hadn't had the pasta and I had done a better job pacing so that Michelle and I could have finished under 4 hours. I

I ALWAYS have rice or Phad Thai. I also didn't have my "normal" pre race food ( I had a whole wheat bagel) I normally have a bowl of cereal with a cup of coffee with French Vanilla creamer, both of which I did not have . Breakfast food is my FAV post race food!!!