so i'm finally feeling settled back into normal life after the past two weeks of traveling. it was a fun two weeks though, and i am finally able to say i finished a marathon!
T and i flew to San Diego Friday night May 29th to check in to our hotel, get settled, and try to get some rest before the big day. Saturday we walked over to the Expo right when it opened in an effort to avoid the crowds, because it was a madhouse at the Expo at the PF Chang's Rock N Roll Half Marathon we did in Phoenix in January, and we wanted to be able to actually walk around and see things. In Phoenix, there were so many people you could barely move let alone stop to look at anything the vendors were selling. I picked up a new pair of running sunglasses (Rudy Project Maskeryna) in the amber color, which I love. my other sunglasses don't fit so well under a visor, but these fit perfectly. (not that i needed them for the marathon, however!) it was overcast and very drizzly on saturday, so we grabbed some lunch and headed back to our hotel. we wanted to try to rest our legs as much as possible, so we spent the day watching movies and reading in bed. (made it through book two of the Twilight series!) we turned in early since we had a 3:45 am wake up time.
i actually managed to get some sleep, but the alarm still went off too early. we showered, ate our breakfast of whole wheat english muffins with peanut butter and bananas, drank a little gatorade, and headed off to catch the hotel's shuttle to the start line. we didn't want to bring any extra stuff with us to the marathon, which unfortunately meant no camera, so we only have this photo of us in the hotel room before we left! (i need to buy the professional ones that were taken during the race.)
we arrived at the starting line and there were already tons of people there- and by tons i mean thousands! it was freezing (keep in mind, i'm from arizona!) but i knew i'd warm up once we started. i wore an old long sleeve t-shirt until the race started, with the plan to ditch it once i started running. we made a quick stop at the porta potties and then waited with the other runners until it was time to start. T was running in a corral with a faster finish time than i was, so we said our goodbyes and he headed off. i was really nervous at this point, and wishing that I could run as fast as T so that i could be with him instead of by myself. I was feeling jealous of all the groups that were at the race and the fact they had friends and people to run with.
before i knew it, the race began and we were off!!! the race started off running through the city, and the streets were pretty wet and slick so i paid extra attention to make sure i didn't go skidding off and fall. i warmed up really quickly, and the temperature was pretty perfect. it was very overcast and probably about 60 if i had to guess, which was a nice change from the 85 degree and sunny weather i'm used to running in! the first five miles passed in the blink of an eye. i was really excited at this point and just kept thinking to myself, "i'm running a MARATHON! i'm DOING IT!" it just seemed so incredible to me that little old me was running a marathon, and five months of training was finally coming into play.
miles one through 16 felt so good. i was running my normal 10 minute mile pace, and i felt strong and relaxed. i ate sport beans at miles 5 and 10 and 15, and did water at every aid station and cytomax with water every other aid station. however, at mile 17, everything started falling apart. my legs suddenly got so heavy and stiff, i felt like i was running through quicksand, my breathing was really fast, and i couldn't get enough to drink. i remember seeing a big hill coming up at this point (i was not prepared for how hilly the SD course was), and i felt really discouraged. i took a walk break around mile 18 to get up the hill and use some of the mental exercises i'd learned in the Non-Runner's Marathon Training book so that i could try to get it together mentally. i knew that i could finish the darn thing- i just needed to re-focus. i started running again and made it to mile 21, when i had to walk some more because i was just dying. i kept drinking a lot at every aid station, and i just kept telling myself i had to keep going- that i'd come this far and could surely grind out five more miles. i ran-walked until mile 22, and then decided i was being a baby, and i needed to stop walking and do the damn thing.
at around mile 25, i came around a corner where some marines were standing guard because the race finished on the marine base and there were obvious concerns with the large amount of people there and security issues. i heard one of them clap and say, "you've got about five more minutes- you can do it" and that gave me the push i needed to haul it to the finish line. i saw the finish line and heard the announcer say over the loudspeaker, "you're almost there- sprint and give it all you've got!" so i did.
i somehow managed to find T in all of the madness at the finish line. he'd finished in 4:19:xx and i'd finished in 5:11:xx. he gave me a mylar sheet and we wrapped ourselves up and hobbled off to find our shuttle back to our hotel. after showers, we headed to TGIFriday's for burgers, fries, and booze. it was the perfect way to celebrate our first marathon!
i'm happy that i finished, but i have to be honest and say i'm a little disappointed in my time and the fact i had walk towards the end. in looking back and analyzing my training, i realize it was totally predictable and i should have expected it. i did not do enough long runs during my training. as you can see from my marathon mondays posts, the longest runs i did were 16 milers, and there were only a couple of them. i struggled with motivation and backed off my mileage a bit towards the end (which was not smart), so i never did the 18 miler my plan called for, and in thinking about it, i definitely needed to get a 20 miler in there too. so it shouldn't have been surprising to me that i started struggling during the race right where my solid training ended- at mile 16.
this may also sound strange, but i wasn't prepared for how lonely i would feel out there. T and i don't really run together (we start together, and he waits for me to finish, but we don't run side by side because he's so much faster than i am.) so i knew what it was like to run alone, and while i normally like and prefer running alone, for some reason during that race i just wanted a familar face nearby or someone to give me a pep talk when i was really struggling. being out there by myself certainly forced me to dig deep and find my own motivation!
as another aside, i will now forever associate the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" with this marathon. it seemed like everywhere i passed, someone had a radio on playing that song! it also came on my ipod three times during the race! (i don't know what was going on with my shuffle feature.) I had to laugh because at one point i passed a stage where the band had just stopped playing to take a break, and they turned on a stereo and "Start Me Up" started playing!
before the race, people told me i would get addicted to running marathons. i won't go so far as to say that i'm addicted, but i definitely have a taste and want more! T and i are going to run another marathon in 2010- we just need to decide when and what city. i know i can do better than this initial performance. i also want to find a marathon that is not a Rock N Roll marathon. it was fun to be out there with all the people and the music, but i think i'd like to find one that is smaller. because so many people run the Rock N Roll marathons, there is a lot of weaving and dodging going on, and i think it might be better to run in a smaller marathon where you don't have to do that as much and there is more space between runners.
so i'm happy that i finished- and i'm proud of myself for what i accomplished- but i'm also looking forward to doing another one and improving my time even more. 2010, look out!
i've been doing short easy runs the past couple of weeks to let my legs recover. we are now getting ready to start training for the SOMA Half Ironman in Tempe in October 2009- it's a 2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. i'm really looking forward to adding in cycling to my swimming and running regimine- it's time to mix things up!
