I’m a Marathoner!!!

I came, I saw, I conquered.  After 6 months of training, two days of being a nervous wreck, and over 4 hours of racing, I finished my first marathon.  I’m sure everyone who ran on Saturday had a different experience, but here is my story.

Stats:

Chip time finish:  4:32

Age group # 21/45, Overall by gender #169/324

Temperature during race between 38 and 54 degrees: sunny with no rain, and windy

Total number of participants (in the full/half/5k/2k) about 7500

Course: two 13.1 mile loops, slightly hilly

The night before the race TJ and I stayed at my cousin’s house (a big thank you to them for their hospitality!).  It was only a 20 minute drive from their house, instead of an hour and a half from ours, and I had to pick up my packet there the night before the race anyway.  I tried to go to bed early but I just couldn’t calm down.  I woke up at 3:30 from nightmares about missing the start of the race because I was stuck in the men’s bathroom, and ended up only getting about 4 ½ hours of sleep.

All ready to go!

After forcing down a bagel with peanut butter we were out the door at 6am.  It was so crowded with the 7500 runners that I had a hard time finding the bag drop off.  Because it took me so long I had to ditch the plan of going to the bathroom again so I didn’t miss the starting gun, so let’s just say I paid for that later.

The excitement in the air was phenomenal.  It made me ignore how cold it was.  Runners are generally cool people so it was fun to chat with the runners I was sardined in the corral with and hear their goals.  It always takes a few minutes to actually start moving after the gun goes off (unless you’re at the front of course), but by mile 2 I was pretty well warmed up and was keeping good time with the 4:30 pace runner.  I did well with how I carried my fuel, but next time I will make some adjustments.  Throughout the race I felt good about the timing and amount of fuel and hydration I was consuming.

I saw TJ at mile 9 and he was a great cheerleader.  It always is such a boost when someone you know is cheering for you!  The crowds were pretty good, especially for the first loop.  Once the half-marathoners left the crowds thinned significantly so I had to kick the mental games up a bit.

Besides the aforementioned bathroom issues, I felt strong up through mile 15.  At that point we were treated with gusty head winds during an uphill stretch.  It got so cold that my hands felt like they had the functionality of mittens while I was getting food out of my pockets.  And I got an unexpected cramp, which I ignored.  I chatted with a couple from Utah which helped pass the time.  It all soon passed and by mile 19 I felt fine, albeit tired.

I am thankful to say that I never hit the wall or bonked.  At mile 20 I got to see TJ again!  I made all sorts of poses for him to take pictures of while running passed him and I smiled and said “I hope you got some of that!”  The dude next to TJ joked, “She still has a sense of humor at mile 20!”  My plan from the beginning was to split the race into three parts: the first 10 miles, the second 10 miles, and then the last 10k (6.2 miles).  So when I saw TJ at mile 20 and I felt good enough to kick the pace up a notch I was ecstatic.  Mile 21 I said a prayer of thanksgiving for all the opportunities I have been given, the wonderful support I have, and that I have the health to complete a marathon. 

Mile 20

By mile 22 I could feel the effects of running faster.  I kept the strong pace but it was definitely more difficult.  Quitting was never an option, because then the last 6 months of training would have been for naught.  Pretty soon I could see the turn up ahead where the finish line chute began.  The crowd was great there, shouting out my name (which was printed on the bib) and being very encouraging.  I crossed the finish line beaming!  Then I got a little teary eyed and started hyperventilating and walking like a drunk, but TJ was there to help me.  My body ached.  And my internal organs were not too happy with me either, causing cramping.  It's a good thing the clip of me crossing the finish line ended where it did or you would have had to see all that :).

I felt better after a bit of stretching and of course when I got some more food and liquids in me.  This race had a massage tent afterwards too, which was a life-saver.  It hurt so good.  I got shivery once I stopped running so I was glad I had packed some extra clothes in my bag, including my compression socks, that I could put on over my shorts and singlet.

I know I did something right when I was thinking during the race as well as after that I would want to do another marathon.  Not today, but sometime in the near future.  Somewhere during the last 6 months of training I felt the mental shift where I could readily say that I am an athlete.  As others have inspired me to complete this goal, I hope you too are inspired to be more active so that you can reap  the benefits of health.