On Saturday, Elizabeth had a craft fair in the morning and we watched Run, Fat Boy, Run in the evening while I spent much too much time trying to work out how I could attach my race bib to my shorts without bending the timing chip that was attached to it. The weather for race morning was going to be cold (39F, 3C) at the start and warmer (55F, 12C) by 10am so I knew I would be wearing at least two shirts at the start of the race and taking one off later which meant keeping the race number visible at all times was difficult unless I attached the number to my shorts. I eventually worked it out, and with my clothes laid out ready for the morning, I went to bed early.
I got a good nights sleep and woke up before my alarm at 4:45am (which was really 5:45am as the clocks had gone back over night!). I had breakfast, mixed my Gatorade and got dressed well before Steph arrived at 5:45am to pick me up. I even got a chance to see Elizabeth and Jack before we left and headed to Cameron Village to park near the start/finish line. Local knowledge definitely paid off as we had our pick of parking spaces at 6:10am (just 50 minutes before the start of the race) and took a quick walk to the start/finish area to make sure we knew where everything was and get an idea of how cold it was (it was certainly still cold!). We went back to the car, dropped off the clothes we didn't want and after a quick porta-loo stop walked back to the start/finish area and started our warm up at about 6:40am.
We entered the starting corrals at 6:49. I know this because just as we entered the announcer said something that sounded like "1 minute to go everyone... are you ready?". I still have no idea what he was talking about, but it got our heart rates up as nobody was ready to go just yet! 6:50 came and went and we still stood there, so he obviously wasn't talking about the start of the race. We stretched a little and chatted with the runners around us while we made our way close to the 4 hour pace group. Someone sang the national anthem (which a number of runners chatted through) and I realized that I wasn't nervous at all, I was just ready.
 |
| The City of Oaks Marathon Elevation Chart |
Miles 1-3 (8:21, 8:18, 8:26)
A four hour marathon is 9:09/mile. I had a feeling that the four hour group was going to go speeding off at the start and Steph and I had decided at the start that if they went under 8:00 for the first mile we'd let them go, and if they were under 8:30 for the first three miles, we'd let them go. So, when my watch beeped for a 8:26 third mile we had already dropped back and let them go (more on the pace group later...). The miles passed by easily and I removed my gloves after about 1.5 miles and never put them back on for the rest of the race.
Miles 4-7 (10:54, 8:48 (GU), 8:44, 9:13)
We stopped at a porta-loo in mile 4 and then settled in to a more comfortable pace as we looped around downtown and headed out to the 10K finish at Cameron Village. I breezed up the first real "hill" feeling great and just as I thought to myself that I was feeling really good today, Steph said her Plantar Fasciitis had flared up. She was in pain and wasn't going to be able to continue! Plantar Fasciitis is one of those muscle pains that doesn't really go away with stretching (the pain may be reduced for a short time, but it returns quickly) and I knew she was really disappointed that she wouldn't be able to complete the race that she had trained all summer for and that she wouldn't be there to help me run 26.2 miles for the first time. I felt bad for her, she had worked so hard, got through the toughest parts of the training program and now wasn't going to get to run her race. I also felt bad that she felt like she'd let me down in some way. We chatted for a few seconds and she said I should go on without her and that although she'd try to walk the pain off, she knew her race was probably over. She did say that she'd try and run the last few miles with me as we hugged and I headed off on my own.
Miles 8-12 (7:54, 7:58, 8:18 (Salt), 8:27, 8:16 (GU))
I settled in to a rhythm and ran by effort more than pace on my watch during this section of the race as I first passed Rick and Rob who were out cheering for me and then Elizabeth and Jack (complete with signs and a bell to ring) at 8.5 miles and 10.5 miles. It felt great to have people cheering for me and I managed a smile and a wave each time. I kept the effort low and and took advantage of the reasonably flat portion of the race to move along at a decent pace without any real effort and before I knew it, the 4 hour pace group was in sight and then a couple of minutes later, they were right in front of me.
Miles 13-17 (8:55, 8:27, 8:31, 8:42, 8:45)
I passed Elizabeth and Jack again and I picked up my new full water bottle before heading on to Ebenezer Church Road and out to Umstead. I ran with the 4 hour group for a couple of minutes and decided that they were going too slowly for me now. I honestly don't know what they were doing but they seemed to be running 9:20/mile pace at that point and commented that they "were ahead of pace". I decided to run my own race and pushed on on my own on to the toughest part of the course. As the road began to climb I started to break the race down in my head in to manageable portions. I knew that Ebenezer Church was going to be long and started out downhill and then went back up hill, so that was my first section. I passed lots of runners along Ebenezer Church Road and the miles ticked by so quickly that I was caught by surprised when we got to the top and made the turn in to Umstead.
Miles 18-21 (8:21 (GU), 8:45, 9:06 (Salt), 8:38)
I have no doubt that all the training I did on the hills of Umstead gave me a massive advantage in this section of the race. I knew exactly what to expect (I significant downhill section followed by a couple of up hill sections) and I seemed to be on auto-pilot as I passed more runners (lots of them walking at this point) telling myself that if I could get out of the park in one piece, I'd be sure to be under 4 hours at the finish. In fact, at a couple of points in Umstead I was over 6 minutes ahead of 9:00/mile pace and thoughts of a sub 3:50 finish time crossed my mind. However, I had nearly run out of water as I exited the park and I stopped at the water station to fill my water bottle back up.
Mile 22 (10:25)
This mile gets it's own section as it was the point that my body reminded me that this was my first marathon, and it wasn't going to be that easy. The discomfort in my legs (mainly my quads) went from a 2 or 3 straight to an 8 (on a scale of 1-10) during a short downhill section just outside the park and I fought the pain for as long as I could before walking for the first time. I had about 5 miles to go at this point and was 6 minutes ahead of my 9:00/mile pace so I knew I could take a break here for a few seconds and walk for a while, so I did just that. I knew I had two more miles of uphill sections before the flat last couple of miles in to the finish, so I tried as hard as I could to run for as long as possible between the walk breaks. Towards the end of the mile I felt my right quad begin to cramp so I took my last GU and kept moving, knowing that if I stopped it would most likely cramp completely and would really hurt.
Miles 23-24 (10:04, 9:53)
The cramp never arrived and I was able to keep run/walking through the last up hill section on the course, passing my friends Bill & Sue (along with their kids) who had made signs and came out to cheer me on before turning on to Hillsborough Street and meeting Steph who was there to help me get to the finish line. I knew at that point that I not only had my first Marathon finish in my grasp, but that I'd be under 4 hours if I could just push myself to keep going.
Miles 25-26.2 (9:55, 10:30, 1:58)
The pain in my quads had been joined by pain from my calves at this point and each step was painful but the run/walk method seemed to be keeping the pain from getting any worse, and I wasn't really losing all that much time each mile so I kept doing the same thing. Steph and I talked about how each step I was taking was further than I had ever run fore and how amazing it was that I was going to finish my first Marathon in just a few minutes and that the weeks and weeks of training had paid off. The mile 25 sign passed, and then a few minutes later the finish line was in sight. The excitement of finally finishing took over and I pushed through the pain to run towards the finish. I scanned the crowd for Elizabeth and Jack and saw them close to the finish line cheering me on. It was perfect that I got to cross the finish line with Elizabeth, Jack and Steph right there with me as I wouldn't have been able to do it without their support over the last 4 or 5 months. I think I managed a smile as I passed them and crossed the line for a time of 3 hours, 54 minutes 43 seconds.
I came to a stop and had my finishers medal placed around my neck - I had done it, I had run 26.2 miles and I was a Marathoner!
No comments:
Post a Comment