Holy moly, what a week this has been!! I haven't really stopped since the marathon - I've had track meets and school events to attend to all week. I would have posted at school, but our server has had a lot of problems this week...so here is the race report from my first road marathon!
This was a big family and friends weekend. My mom, dad, sister, and niece were all coming to watch me and my brother-in-law plus my friends Mo and Laura. Mo came and spent the night Thursday night then Friday morning Laura came over and we all went to pick up Michael. My family and the baby were coming up separately and we were going straight to the expo. We stopped at a subway that was located in a gas station and I ordered my usual sandwich and there was something wrong with it - it tasted extremely funky, so needless to say, I was worried about what it would do to my stomach!
The expo was uneventful - we wandered around for a bit and I got to see a former student/soccer player who was running the half. We were all a little nervous about the race - very uncertain about how it would go. Mo ran the half and she had never done anything over six. Laura's hamstring had been bothering her, and I just didn't know what to expect. We ate a pretty relaxing dinner at Olive Garden then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the race. I did have stomach issues that night - but I'm not sure if it was the sandwich, the nerves, or both!
We woke up at 4:45 to the sound of pouring rain! We checked the weather and it looked like it would clear up by the time the race started. The shuttle to the race left from our hotel, so we were downstairs by 5:30 to catch it. The shuttle dropped us off right at the start line, and we immediately went and stood in the porta potty line...and I was prepared this year! I brought a whole roll of toilet paper and I'm glad I did because there was no toilet paper in any of them!
The race started at 7am and we were all in corral 9. I had three goals going into this. My pie in the sky goal was 4:00, my more doable goal was 4:15, and my bottom goal was 4:30. So anything between 4:15 and 4:30 would be great. I didn't wear my ipod because Michael (broinlaw) said he was going to stick with me the whole way. Our corral finally made it to the start at about 7:20 and we took off. Laura, Michael, and myself stayed together for about the first 9 miles and our pace never went above 9:20, which we perfect for us. Nashville is a fun race to run - especially the first half of the race. There are some 20,000 people who run the half, so the first part of the race is filled with all kinds of spectators and you feel like you are running in a parade that is just for you!
My hips were creaking a little bit because of the rain. I was trying to make sure I was drinking enough water and eating. I had a gel at mile six and I refilled my bottle at about that point and dropped a nuun in for some electrolytes. But at about mile 8 my stomach started acting up and I told Michael I was going to have to stop soon. We stopped somewhere during mile 9 and he waited on me, but Laura kept going.
Soon we were at the split for the full and the half and suddenly the road got a bit quieter. My stomach still wasn't feeling the best...Michael gave me a rolaid and it helped some but I knew I would have to stop again. We crossed the mat at the half marathon point at 2:04 and that made me feel somewhat good. I thought surely I can finish by my goal time.
I was still running fairly decently, although our splits were now going around 9:30-9:40. But then I had to stop again at about mile 15. After that stop I did feel better, but the sun was now really starting to come out. The back side of the marathon is very, very hilly and I started to cramp up at mile 17. Mile 17 had a long, steady hill and I was running fine up it...until I was almost to the top and my calves started to ball up - apparently I was not drinking as much as I should have been! So from mile 17 on, anytime I pushed the pace my calves started to cramp...and my mile 24, so were my hamstrings.
But Michael kept me company, stopped when I had to stop, offered to massage the cramps, and just kept me sane in general. Never once did I get frustrated or mad - I just kept going and tried to enjoy the experience as much as possible. Our splits from mile 17 on were in the 10:00s and some in the 11:00s. Mo saw us as we finished and so did our family. I was so happy to see that finish line!
Our final time was 4:31 - one stinking minute over my last goal. Which is disappointing, but I'm just glad I finished. My first road marathon was definitely a fun, interesting experience. I need to figure the bathroom stuff out and I need to drink more as I run so I won't cramp up!
Laura ended up finishing in 4:25 and Mo finished her first half in 2:29 (her goal was 2:30!!), so congrats to all the runners!!
This week I have been practicing a lesson learned from the Stumpjump - I have not run once since the marathon. I took Toddy on a couple of walks, but no running. I plan on running a couple today and tomorrow, then slowly trying to get back into the swing of things. Michael, Patrick, Drew, and I are headed to Chattanooga for a trail marathon at the end of May!
Happy running!
