First Marathon Recap

[hurricanedrunk]

I'm a little late on my recap but I figured better late than never. It still feels pretty surreal that I ran a marathon!!!

This past Sunday I ran the Cellcom Marathon in Green Bay WI. It's a local favorite in it's 16 year. Set up was familiar since I ran the half last year but the courses take you to different parts of the city. I started out the race with my running buddy that I met during the training runs. I was so happy to start with a familiar face, it helped qualm my nerves. We ended up being matched really well in pace and ran most of the race together! It was much warmer and humid than anticipated but no rain or thunderstorms as it was predicted for the entire week leading up to Sunday. Temps started off around mid 50's and ended around low 70's which can be tough when most of the training was during much cooler weather. (I think back fondly to the 12 mile training run with the -30 windchill Lol)

The first 5 miles flew by. DH was there cheering me on and he had planned to be at points around 1/2 mile after the text check points (5,10,13.1,5,20) High fived him at mile 5.5 and kept going. Our pace was around 9:30 and it felt pretty good. Ate my first gu around mile 6 and started dumping the left over water on myself to cool down. Passed DH at mile 10ish and after the halfway point. Half time was 2:06:36. Right around mile 15 some of the aches started to happen in my knees and hips but still feeling good. I missed DH at that check point. Still keeping at the 9:30 pace. I put my headphones on around mile 15 which really helped keep the motivation going. At mile 18 my running buddy and I parted ways. She slowed a little and I kept at the 9:30 pace. My main goal was to finish and then to finish under 4:30 so was on track for both. Finally saw DH again after mile 20. Turns out he got a flat tire on his bike. He started walking home to get his other bike and finally got picked up and dropped back off. Poor guy was so worried he wouldn't get back in time for the finish and I joked later that I though maybe he went to the bar.

Mile 22 is where things started to turn for me and the mental aspect became really important. I had some hip pain but suddenly the left hip was not having it. I slowed down and eventually got into a walk/ run rotation. The 4:20 pace group passed me and I tried to stay with them but it didn't last long. I think it was around mile 23 ( I remember looking at my watch and saying okay only 3 miles left) my friend caught back up with me. We stayed together for the last miles, in a run/walk pattern keeping each other motivated and positive. I started to feel light headed a couple of times and dropped a lot of F bombs. Made it to Lambeau Field and ran our victory lap!! Totally missed my parents and H in the stands cheering. Finished with a chip time of 4:29:18 just hitting my goal time.

Afterwords meet up with my parents and H. It was adorable how proud my Mom was. Mowed down a brat, two hard ciders, some other food and went home for a an epic nap. Overall experience was great and I hope to run this one again. Especially since they made the medals into a 3 piece scene that will be from years 2016 and 2017 to complete!!

PDQ here's a photo of me from around mile 20. 

[thom]

That is an awesome marathon!! You did great, and you look so strong in your picture. Many congratulations!

Also -- I thought someone was running the Green Bay full, and I couldn't figure out if I had people confused or what. Glad you posted the recap.

[D2M]

Congrats!! Sounds like a great race. Way to go hitting your goal time and finishing strong!

[fuckyourcouch]

Congrats! Fantastic work and great time

[sadlebred]

Congratulations!!!

[katyintx]

Congratulations! I loved the recap!

This was an option for me next year - do you recommend it?

[Mushe]

Congratulations, and great job!

[labbie]

Nice! You ran a smart race and I'm glad you had a good experience.
Congratulations marathoner!

[hurricanedrunk]

May 20, 2015 11:20:06 GMT -5 katyintx said:

Congratulations! I loved the recap!

This was an option for me next year - do you recommend it?

Yes I enjoyed it! I'm local so I may be a bit biased. Not too many hills, water/Gatorade stations every 1.2 miles. They handed out gu 3 times so no need to carry it. They have text updates throughout so spectators can track you. Plus you get to run through Lambeau! They also had training runs every Saturday leading up to the race with routes and water/Gatorade along the way hosted by a local bar/restaurant. The food afterwords was good too.

One of the biggest complaints I've heard from other runners in the past is a bottleneck when entering/exiting Lambeau. I didn't have issues with this myself nor last year during the half.

[jamalynn]

Congrats! Great job!

[shell24]

You look great! Congrats on your accomplishment!

[cinco]

Congratulations!!!

[ilovecandy]

Congrats

[shauni27]

congratulations! GREAT job!

[sweetiesparkles]

You look awesome!! Congratulations!

I ran the half that day and it was so much fun. My first half.

[bostonmichelle]

Congratulations!!!

[irene adler]

Yay! Congrats! I didn't realize you were near NEW--I grew up there and we should have a meetup with @sweetsparkles next time I visit!

[ktzmoh]

Congratulations! I love reading these recaps and you did amazing!!

[brooke77]

Awesome!!

[itsme]

Sounds like a great run overall! Congrats.

[mrshandy]

Congrats!!! Awesome job with your first marathon! That is a huge accomplishment.