XP: Marathon Recap

[bostonmichelle]

So at the convincing of RockNVoll I am reposting this over here.

Also I want to preface with saying thanks for accepting me at the GTGs I went to and thanks for everyone coming over for the GTG I hosted. I wish I had made more GTGs and I'm going to miss the Boston ladies when I move on Saturday. But if I'm around and there is a GTG I will try and make it.

So first off thanks so much to everyone again for your support and love over the past not even 2 years since I started running. I cannot express the gratitude that I have for you girls (and guy!) and you are all so inspirational. I never thought I would ever run a marathon and I finished and want to run more (you created a monster)!!!

So basics, I ran the first 4-5 miles with scm1011 and we hit a hill and I started losing her and the road got narrowed down to 2 people. I was pretty steady, there were some 10 min miles in there and a 9:07 at mile 13(!). I finished in 4:14:14 (should I play the number 4 tonight?). My A goal was 4:15 so I am pretty stoked, my couch thought I might be able to go sub 4:10 but I knew that was pushing it. Also it was cold (like below freezing at the start and snowing at 6 hours!!!!!!!!!!!)

Also the text message alerts sucked giant monkey balls!!!! I think I finally stopped getting them shortly ago for people that finished around the 6 hour mark. Also knowing you girls were probably following me made me not crash and burn as much as I thought I did.

So race breakdown, well organized and amazing first marathon. It was sort of two loops and kind of a mind fuck but I loved knowing what I was coming back to do the second what was coming up ahead. The whole race just flew by and was such an experience. If anyone has any reservations about doing a full marathon, just sign up and do it. It felt like a 4 hour long party and celebration. It was also very bittersweet as I'm moving in under a week and a lot of people from my running group (20 people to be exact plus scm1011) and this was my last hurrah (sort of) and last race with them. Great organization and well run race, there was a bit of an issue with the number of bathrooms/porta potties but we still made it to the start in plenty of time. There was 2000 full marathoners and over 1600 half marathoners. So a medium sized race and I never felt like I couldn't run but was never alone either which was awesome!

So for the nitty gritty of being out there. I felt really good at the beginning and slept well the night before. I got on a bus at the hotel at 6:30am and got to the start area around 6:45 and made my way inside the arena, around 7:30 went out to the porta potties with scm1011 and made it to the start at 7:50 to hear the national anthem and take a gu. It took is about 2 minutes to get to the start but we started right on pace basically, first mile was 9:44. Around mile 2.5 the half marathoners broke off to start heading back on their first loop. I tossed my fleece and headband at this point but kept my gloves (Thankfully I ended up wearing them for probably 22 miles in total). Around mile 4 we saw two hills (looking at the elevation they were about 20 feet but was steep). I lost her at this point because the running portion got closed down to 2 across.

After that I just ran to each water stop and drank some diluted gatorade and walked for a few seconds, I took gu around mile 5.8, 10.4 and then started starving around mile 15. I knew I needed to fuel more so I took one around mile 15 and then I'm pretty sure I took another one at the water stop at mile 15.9. I could not stop shake the feeling of being starving so I started supplementing with my gatorade in my fuel belt.

Some where around mile 15 or so my thighs started burning (I think I need thigh sleeves, where do I get some?). So I started to slow it down a bit. Around mile 18 my left hip and butt started hurting and I was like f***!!!! At mile 18.5-19 or so I caught up with a running group friend. I was shocked to see him out there as he wanted sub 4 hours (spoiler alert he finished after me at 4:16, it was his first and he will tell you he did not put the training in at all like 14 mile obstacle race was his longest run). He was hurting pretty bad at this point so we decided we would run to the mile markers and then walk for 30 seconds to a minute. Cue the cursing.

I honestly thought I slowed way down but looking at my results I honestly didn't by much. We just kept pushing each other thru and I wasn't even thinking about time. I had this cool pace band that I bought at the expo and I knew when I caught him I had about a 2-3 minute cushion so I knew we would be close. We continued our run to a water stop or mile marker, stop to walk, curse a bit, then pick it back up for the last 7ish miles. Around mile 20 I took my final gu but kept up with walking thru the water stops and getting some diluted gatorade. At that point I knew it was a 10k and just 2 laps around the lake (where my running group runs a lot) and we could do it. We just kept chugging along. Mile 25 hit and I just started taking off, somehow the paint just disappeared or I was just numb and couldn't feel it anymore. I hit mile 26 and they announce your name there and up at the finish. So I started picking it up a bit more so I could just be done. Shortly after that I saw one group of friends on the corner just screaming at me that I was looking amazing and I was almost done. Then I got up further and there was a second pack of them including melmel48 and my husband, dad, one of my best friends and her boyfriend and then I was done. I missed my name both times but kept walking thru the shoot and then finally heard my friend's name who I ran the last 7 or so miles with and decided to stop walking and waited for him. Then I got some beer, soup, and hugs all around. Then I went back to the finish area that they were all congregating (and somehow missed scm1011's finish I still feel bad about that but she was right behind me). And stood and cheered for the rest of my friends while eating chicken noodle soup and sipping Not Your Father's Root Beer.

Overall I don't think I could've run a more perfect first marathon. I'm glad I decided to slow down when I did and start incorporating walk breaks when I started hurting. I'm glad I got to do my first with my running group and train all summer. And I want to go run more and I have more goals now. I'm not sure what my next will be but it will be in the spring, I have a few options and opportunities, so I'm going to take a few weeks to recover and think them all over.

Anyone have any idea where to buy thigh sleeves?

Also does anyone else get ravenously hungry during marathons? I didn't have this problem in training. Honestly I was like does anyone have a PB&J or something to eat at mile 15??

[bostonmichelle]

So hitting the road super early (between 4 and 5am) on Saturday. DH is flying up Friday to drive down with me.

97% of my stuff is already down there. I still have some stuff here that didn't make it in the pod for various reasons. And it looks like some won't fit this round so we will get it at Christmas. I need to reorganize boxes here that are going in the car.

We've been doing pretty good long distance. I'm not going to lie its been hard but so much easier with all my friends and family here, thankfully for them I made it thru without a complete break down.

House closed pretty smoothly, not without some hiccups but got the money and now I'm just staring at it in my bank account. We are looking to buy after the new year and have started scouting out neighborhoods and tracking houses.

Work is done!!!!!!!! My last day was last Thursday but I went in yesterday for a few hours to collect my stuff, clean up some things, and get paid Never the less it took longer than expected so my boss and another sole practitioner are taking me out today for lunch And I've already gotten an email from my boss. He is going to pay me hourly to answer email and if needed I will be doing work as needed/as I can handle. Especially since I'm unemployed and a SAHW for the time being.

We also bought a brand spanking new pretty Chevy Traverse which I'm loving way more than I thought I would. Anybody ever looking for a car that seats 8 that isn't a minivan its an awesome car. The third row folds down for the dogs and they have a huge space back there (apx. 4 ft x 4 ft), plus I still have seating for 5.

Some part of me is still in shock that I'm finally here and the move is finally here. I swear we've been planning this for so long and it seemed like it would never get here.

Oh and I've been applying to jobs because I don't think I could be a full time SAHW. But the good part is DH's pay raise was enough (plus reduction in COL) that I do not have to work.

[5kcandlesinthewind]

Congrats, bostonmichelle! Good luck with the drive, and enjoy taking some time to get settled!

[caligirl22]

Big congrats on running your first marathon! You guys both killed it. Amazing job.

Best of luck with the move and settling in to your new area!

[cgpm]

Awesome job!!!