Notes
Hey, I'm officially a marathoner!
Whew...what a race!
I wasn't overly nervous about the race, but had a worry come up the night before when my calf tightened up all day. It continued into race day. Also, ended up getting 2 hours of sleep the night before, due to a an angry couple in the room adjacent to ours.
On race day, everything went smoothly. One plus to lack of sleep is that it wasn't very hard to get myself up and get ready. Got up from bed around 4:40am (gasp) and was awake enough to take a shower and leave by 5:20am. We made it to the area around 5:45 and apparently beat the mad rush for parking and porta-potties. We met up with CJ and ZIta and then Teresa, Jamie and Greg. Gave good luck hugs and then parted ways to our relative starting areas.
This was a very well planned race...I judge this by how close to the race I can still grab a porta-potty. While CJ, Greg and I were lined, 10 minutes before the race, I had a sudden urge to make sure my bladder was empty. :) I hopped over the fence, and was in a porta-potty in 30 seconds...then back in line after another 30 seconds.
First Half
As expected the environment was awesome...marching bands, parties, jazz singers, more parties! CJ and I ran pretty much the first half together. We started out together for the first mile, then I pulled ahead for a bit. Then CJ caught up and pulled ahead for a bit until a downhill where I caught up. We pretty much ran miles 8-12 together. That made the first half breeze by. Luckily my calf muscle loosened up around mile 3, but I didn't feel too comfortable until maybe mile 6. I felt really really good at the split at 11. I was a little nervous going out too fast (check out intervals 11-12) on the downhill...but I figured I banked a ton of time because by my watch, my average pace by mile 13 was around 8:50.
Mile 13-20
I was still feeling good by mile 14. I had a relayer come up to me by random who asked me what distance I'm doing today. I told him the full and he just gave some random words of encouragement. He was like, "Great job...You're doing really well! Keep it up!" and kept going. That was cool. Another person was trying to get a course layout from a volunteer who had no idea. I ran up to him, and basically gave him the rundown for the rest of the race. (I could have just said, it pretty much just sucks from here...instead, I gave him the layout from 15 on.) He was really appreciative. I think just talking to these random people allowed me to keep going.
By mile 16, the hill came up...Not a steep hill...but the really long and consistent one. I swear when we ran it the first time, it only lasted maybe a mile and a half. I felt like I ran through it without too much problem (slowing down to a 9:04 pace) and then recovered. It must have taken more out of me than I thought, 'cuz there were some rolling hills that I apparently forgot about (or just didn't notice) at 18-20....I started to feel myself dwindle quite a bit more, but just kept thinking that I have so much time in the bank. (By mile 20, my total pace on my watch was 9:00) So I convinced myself that I could run quite a bit slower and still come out easily under 4.
Oh one thing to note was how discouraging it was to hear the beep of my watch on each lap go off about .2 mile ahead of the mile marker. Not even close enough to see the actual marker. T said this is probably due to all the weaving and also I'm guessing not running the tangents. Well, I was about .2 off...This will come into play for my final time.
Miles 20-24
I felt relatively "ok" up until 21. I think it was the excitement of running farther than I had run before. I tried to keep my head in the game by saying it's only a 10k from here...but that felt a little disheartening still. By mile 21, I started to really feel it. Muscles that I didn't know existed started tightening. I now know what they mean by "willing" your way to the finish line. Basically it felt like at any point in time, any one muscle could just cramp up and end this race quickly. I knew if I had stopped at any point, it would have been over. By mile 23, I started to pick up the pace again, but then I felt a tightness, which I'm guessing was my stomach (or maybe my heart, but since I still live, I'm guessing it was stomach) that kept me from being able to take a full deep breath. I instantly slowed down, just in case...and it luckily went away. Even with the slowness, my average pace on the watch was 9:02...plenty of time in the bank!
Mile 24-26
Everyone told me by mile 24, all the pain starts to go away and you start feeling that you can do it. Well, the pain didn't go away...but I did try to run a bit faster on the downhills. We started to get back into the downtown area and the bands were playing and the crowds were cheering....but the tightness in my legs kept increasing. I felt like I could make it, but with each step, it felt like a muscle was gonna cramp and any moment. Seeing people stop and walk kept me going forward beyond reason. No stopping....keep going!
Mile 26-26.2
It was pretty disheartening to see 26.2 on my watch, and find out that I still had .2 more to go. This must have been the longest .2 miles of my life. I couldn't see the end...Everything hurts...every muscle in my calves, hamstring, quads, my feet, even my freaking shoulder (sup with that?) I knew it was coming to an end, but just before the last turn was yet another hill. Wasn't sure if I could keep running up it...I just wanted to stop and make it all go away (it doesn't, btw...it keeps hurting...so don't let that be an excuse) I couldn't even focus on the cheering or the crowds...just the pain and not seeing the end. Everything felt dark and gray, quiet, and numb...
...and then all of a sudden, I entered the stadium. The entire stadium was bright as day. It was packed. The environment went from quiet to absolute celebration. Crowds were cheering and the glorious finish line was ahead. I couldn't muster up any more effort to get there quicker...but I saw the mat, crossed it and finally had the sense of accomplishment that I had thought it would be. Not sure if it was because I thought the pain would finally stop or that I was finally a marathoner...but the environment was just absolutely amazing.
Yes, picking a hilly marathon was probably not very smart for my first marathon...but that ending made it all worthwhile.
Well, when it was all done, I was so confident that I was well under 4 hours. My watch said my final pace was 9:04. When I checked my time in the updates, I had just barely made my goal..at 3:59:29. yeesh...that was a lot closer than I thought it was gonna be...glad I didn't let myself give in to reason. That's a lot of weaving around.
Note:
I hit almost every water stop along the way.
I ate nummies at mile 6, 13 and 18.
Watch distance: 26.48
Watch pace: 9:04