It's taken me almost a week to sit down and write this report. I haven't been blogging recently but there's been some changes in my life recently (quit my job, will be working part time in my new job etc ...) that mean I will be able to blog more hopefully, which means that for my next marathon cycle, I'll have a good record of my training and such.
Anyway, on to my first Marathon race report.
We left for Burlington, VT on Saturday around 9:15 after I had run 2 easy miles that morning and packed basically my whole life. I have a major packing problem, it's bad. We got to VT around 1pm and headed to the expo. I picked up my race packet and then watched a video of the course with my boyfriend and mom. Then we walked around the expo for awhile, I got a very nice sweatshirt and a few other things. After the expo, my mom decided she wanted to figure out where to park the next day so we drove down to the start and played around with the best place to park, the easiest way to get there avoiding traffic etc ... I wasn't sure if they'd drive me in the morning or if I'd take the shuttle from the hotel but we wanted to figure things out. Headed to the hotel to check in after. They had an indoor pool and hot tub so after we got settled in, we headed down there for awhile until my aunt arrived from Canada. My aunt got there around 4ish and we headed over to the mall and did some shopping. My mom was worried about me walking too much but I was fine.
Next up was dinner at UNOs as they have a good gluten free menu and I had been eating gluten free leading up to the race. I got a salad, gluten free veggie pizza and mashed potatoes. It was very good and I ate a lot which is usually really hard for me.
After dinner we had to stop at Kmart as I had forgotten peanut butter for my brown rice toast in the morning and we needed a cooler since our hotel rooms didn't have fridges. Then it was back to the hotel to relax for the night. Just hung out watching the Red Sox, some lacrosse and Roy Halladay's perfect game. I started trying to sleep around 9:30 after having a little crying spell about being nervous. I slept restlessly for the first 2 hours as our room had 2 double beds and the boyfriend and I tried to share one but it sucked. We ended up separating and then later switching so that I would have the better bed. I finally slept continuously from about 11:30pm-5:45am which was good.
Sunday morning, I woke up, tried to force down 2 pieces of brown rice toast and peanut butter (I only managed about 1 piece) and then I got dressed, put sunscreen on, drank gatorade, body glided etc ... We left the hotel around 6:40, parked easily and got to the start area by 7ish. I immediately used a porta potty and then we walked around some, just trying to stay relaxed and focused. Took some pictures (I'm with my mom in the first one and my aunt in the second).
Around 7:30 I used the porta potty again and then headed to the start line around 7:45 and found the 4 hour pace group. I talked to some of the other runners hoping to run around 4 hours and then we were off!
Mile 1: 9:39 - A little slow but it was crowded at the beginning and slightly uphill to start. I felt good, was talking and relaxed.
Mile 2: 8:54 - Made up the time, still going through the town with people out cheering.
Mile 3: 9:05 - On pace, feeling good.
Mile 4: 8:53 - I think this was a downhill heading out of town to the beltway which was so boring.
Mile 5: 9:03 - Just running along
Mile 6: 8:46 - A little too fast, which will hurt me later on. Took a GU Roctane at the end of this mile. I was also carrying a water bottle with Nuun and a propel packet in it.
Mile 7: 8:52 - Still too fast, out on the beltway.
Mile 8: 9:00 - Slight uphill, still feeling good and relaxed.
Mile 9: 8:45 - Back into town, tons of cheering. My mom got a picture of me
I was waving and smiling when I saw them here. I felt good.
Mile 10: 9:32 - Started feeling not so good, I got goosebumps, was freezing, felt out of it and started freaking out. I also had to pee really badly. Lost the pace group on purpose this mile since we were banking a little too much time I thought and decided I'd just use my own pace band that I had made.
10 Mile split - 1:29:52
Mile 11: 9:45 - Finally saw a porta potty just as I was about to pee my pants, also took a salt packet during my pit stop thinking it would help me.
Mile 12: 9:26 - Things continued to go wrong and I walked a little up a hill. Feeling really worried about how I was feeling and if I could do it. I was playing a mental game with myself already! Ugh, the lessons I will learn from this.
Mile 13: 10:08. Still not getting back to where I needed to be. In the woods now I think, with less support. Throw my water bottle away and start using aid stations and walking through them. Trying to tell myself to man up here.
Half marathon split - 1:59:40 - still on pace for a 4 hour marathon but slowly losing it. I'd be happy with sub 4:30 the way I was feeling.
Mile 14: 10:08. I could just not get it together.
Mile 15: 10:42. Included a huge hill on which I spotted my boyfriend, mom and aunt and started crying since I was feeling so defeated (my mom took the picture below before she realized I was crying, it's hilarious to me now). I wanted my gatorade from my mom and she didn't have it. They just told me to go don't stop. Apparently they felt awful because they just pushed me away but I needed it and started to feel better soon although I was doing 4 min run, 1 min walk for awhile after.
Mile 16: 10:56. Feeling better although not great, this part was mostly neighborhoods.
Mile 17: 9:57. Same.
Mile 18: 9:56. Still through neighborhoods, feeling okay, know that I can push myself to finish now and that I'm going to do it.
Mile 19: 9:48.
Mile 20:10:07
20 mile split - 3:10:06. I tell myself now that I can run 6.2 in an hour and will finish sub 4:15 and I'm going to try to get sub 4:10. I also stop walking as much. My right piraformis is killing me but whatever.
Mile 21: 9:47 - hard downhill into the bike path during this mile I think. It killed my quads.
Mile 22: 9:46
Mile 23: 10:06 - ok only about 5K left, I can do this.
Mile 24: 9:52
Mile 25: 10:03
Mile 26: 9:12 - Trying to finish strong, come into the finish area with tons of spectators. See my mom and aunt and go crazy.
. 2 miles: 1:48:22 (8:36 pace)
26.2 miles: 4:10:47 - almost sub 4:10 but not quite. I'll take it though.
Immediately start trying to walk through an incredibly crowded finish area. I wanted a diet coke and got that and then we started walking back to the car as I could not handle the crowds, it was not well organized at all IMO. To get to the car though we had to go up a few hills which sucked but the walking was good for me.
We got back to the hotel and I took a freezing ice bath and then a nice warm shower. We went to the Outback and I ate a ton of bread since I could finally eat gluten! Tasted soooo good.
Spent the rest of the day hanging out, had some Ben and Jerry's, relaxed and then had a restless night of sleep before we headed home Monday. I was sore until Wednesday and did my first post marathon run on Thursday.
So my first marathon is in the books and although it was full of ups and downs, I'm thrilled with it and can't wait to do another. I also have some reflections on training etc ... that I will try and post tomorrow.
