Now, onto the details of the race itself!
So, this morning, my alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. This is one of the few times that I am willing to drag my butt up at that time. Even when my skating rink was having early skating sessions, I was getting up at 5 a.m. and that bad enough. I'll be honest...I was going on maybe 4 hours of sleep, and it didn't help that I had to pee in the middle of the night, as I had been working a lot on making sure that I was hydrated for this race. Regardless, I got up, showered, and got dressed in my running gear that I had set out the night before. I also ate my bowl of cereal like I've been doing, and made sure that I added lots of vaseline to make sure that I wouldn't chaffe in the race. I packed up my flip belt with my potential running essentials, my filled handheld water bottle, grabbed my drawstring bag from the expo that I had packed the night before, and made my way out the door by 5:45. I made one quick stop at a CVS en route to the start line, to pick up some anti-diarrhea medicine, and I took one, just in case. From there, I made my way to the starting area. By the time, the sun was just starting to rise, and I just knew this would be a beautiful race day.
Once I got to the starting area, I was already warming up, so at last moment, I decided to put my throw away jacket in my drawstring bag, in case I needed it later. I made sure I used the porta-potty (there were about 50 of them in the starting area), then made my way to my starting corral (H), and got a few "before the race" pictures taken. By then, my excitment was building big time. At 7:03, the first wave of runners started, and about every few minutes, another wave went through. One thing that I was not expecting was that my wave didn't get announced. That sorta threw me off a bit, as suddenly people from both corral G and H were running. Oh well....I stepped across the start line, and I was TOTALLY excited about embarking on my first marathon! I was so distracted and excited about stepping across the start line that I TOTALLY forgot to start my watch! So, my timing of my watch ended up being off by about 1/4 mile, but it was still helpful for me during the race in terms of checking my pace as a whole. I just had to remember to check the BOTTOM number (the pace) and not the top number (distance). As that threw me off for a moment a time or two in the race...oops.
For the first few miles, I tried to stay fairly close to the 5 hour pacer. However, she was running MUCH faster than an 11:26 pace (around early 11s instead). I may have started out a bit too fast because of this. After a few miles, I lost sight of her, and basically decided to then ditch my initial 5 hour goal. It was not worth me getting super tired before half way through. In addition, it was taking me a few miles to work out the kinks with my running, including my bladder psyching out my brain by thinking that I had to pee again. Thank goodness this really wasn't the case, but I hate it when my body does that! Once my bladder was all "Just Kidding...keep running, we're good," I was able to focus more on the running.
At mile four, I got to see my brother briefly, and by this time, I had really warmed up, so I quickly game him my jacket, and just ran in a long sleeve shirt and running pants. This ended up being a REALLY good idea as I forget on how much I do warm up with running. I feel like I *should* know this by now, but I guess it was good that I sided on the error of caution. The temps actually felt fantastic...40s, and although it was breezy at times, and I did have some headwind in the race as a whole, I was comfortable with it. Also, since it was cooler, I didn't need to take my fuel as much I had planned. I was able to take it about every six miles or so, and stomached it pretty well. The only slight complication was hearing a bit of sloshing in my stomach when I drank water from the water station with it, but it didn't cause any other problems, and went away after a minute or two.
For the next few miles, I was able to keep a good steady pace, and there were a lot more spectators on the Urbana side of the course (the 1/2 marathon route). I did see one sign at a the beginning of the race that said, "Run as if an airline is about to steal your seat!" That, I thought was pretty funny. Later on, I saw this sign around mile 6.25 that said, "Move it! I'm stuck in my driveway," with this lady that was sitting in front of her house, with her garage door open. I also saw a few signs that said, "Out of a scale of 1-10, you're a 13.1!" I would point to my "First time marathoner" bib, and shout back, "I'm a 26.2!" That caused a few laughs from the people on the sidelines.:) I also took the time to shout out to a few poeple that I knew who were watch, gave people high fives, and provided encouragement for the runners around me. A good chuck of them were first time half marathoners (they had "First Time Half Marathoner" bibs on them), which I thought was super cool! Basically, I was taking in the race atmosphere as much as possible. I had a LONG way to go, so I figured I might as well enjoy it!
The rest of the half course went by pretty easily, although, as expected, mile 10 was long. I also had the brief feeling of feeling kinda bad that I wasn't running with friends, as I was seeing people talking or running with others and what not....kinda wished I had a real life running partner with me in this race. However, I pushed that out of my mind real fast, and by that time, I was approaching a cheering section, heading towards mile 11, which brought my spirits up again, and helped me refocus.
About two miles later, I split off from the half marathoner to continue with the full marathon course. This split actually happened way better than I was expecting! I was actually kinda excited to make the split! I just reminded myself that the next time I see the stadium, I will be the one finishing, and focused on making it to mile 13. By this time, I was also starting to take out my list of my student's names, and dedicating parts of the race to them. I was shooting for every mile, but that didn't quite happen, so I kinda dedicated the miles in terms of groups of three or four kids.
The one hard thing about the split through is the feeling that you're now alone. Up until the split, I was with a HUGE group of runners, then I was suddenly by myself, with just a smattering of runners here and there. However, I also had the random thought of, "Okay. The half marathon is done now. Let's just treat this distance as a long run." I put my music on, as the crowds were GREATLY thinned by now, and the police were letting traffic coming through in various intersections. However, I was still feeling good as a whole, was thanking the volunteers, and giving drivers waiting to pass through a thumbs up sign as I ran past them.
The race started getting harder at about mile 15. However, what cool at this point, was thinking back a few weeks when I first ran the 15 miles, then 16, then my 20 miler. I think somewhere around this mark is where my pace started slowing some, but a power song suddenly came up on my ipod, and it boosted my spirits again. I was also making sure that I was walking through aide stations, and still taking my energy gels. I knew that I could make it to mile 20. The real challenge was the last 6 miles. I did keep seeing a group of runners ahead of me, so I wasn't feeling totally alone, and there was one lady, where around this point, we were taking turns in passing each other. I would get ahead of her when she needed a walk break or whatever, and then when I slowed down, she would pass me. It also became a running joke for us. Also, around this point, I was finally remembering to stretch my calves and hamstrings every so often, as I would notice that they would start to cramp just a bit. Once I stretch them breifly, I was good to go in the cramping department. In addition, a few of the aide stations also offered bananas, which I would take a bit or two of, which really helped.
At this point, I was also thinking, "Okay. Make it to 18. Then make it to 20." I briefly thought about how many miles I still had yet to run AFTER the 20, but I wanted to make it to the 20 miles first. I do have to admit that it was a bit hard to see the much faster marathoners make their turn to mile 23, while I was making mine to mile 19. However, I had to remind myself that I will be making that turn as well....just a bit later. I was also getting pretty tired at this point, and decided to take an extra walk break. However, it was really cool to hear this local radio station announcer state my name and that I was a first time marathoner. Yet, there weren't many people around to hear this announcement....this is a part of the course that was pretty scarce in terms of population (and this pretty much continued for the remaining part of the course). However, I just kept pushing forward, and eventually made it to mile 20.
Now, seeing the time clock for the mile 20 marker was pretty cool. I did stop to have my picture taken at it briefly. I had only passsed 20 miles once before, and each step I took after that was a new distance record for me, and was bringing me that much closer to the finish line. I was proud of myself for making it this far, and KNEW that I would be able to finish. The super hard part was the miles after mile 20. I kept pulling out my list of students to dedicate miles to, along with my running buddy, and was really glad to see the scatterings of spectators and people cheering. I swear, the spectators REALLY help with running morale in a race. However, the harder part was that my pace had slowed quite a bit. Running past 20 miles is no joke. It is HARD. I still took walk/stretch breaks through the walk stations. I knew that I was getting closer to finishing, but it still seemed so far away. I know that after 20-21 miles, the last few should seem to be a breeze, but they are not! My brain wasn't done, but my legs were. It wasn't like I was hitting "the wall" per se...my legs were just tired. However, what did REALLY help, was the "Superman" orchestral theme song popped up on my ipod, which I put on full blast, and basically got really into...got super excited again, despite my legs being tired, and pictured myself being Superman, with a cape behind me, flying (or in this case, running) all powerful, even with the headwind that I was now facing. I probably should have played that a few more times during the next mile, but it was GREAT to get that boost.Around the mile 22 area, I saw my brother again, which was really nice. He knew that I was really tired, but it felt good to get a big hug from him. Then, he joked with me by stating, "You're almost there!" Yes, I know I "only" had 4 miles left...but....that was 4.more.miles that I had to complete. I turned around and straight up gave him the finger! I am eternally grateful that he took this is in good stride, as I quickly realized that may not have been a good move on my part (I apologized later, and he was totally fine with it. He really didn't take it seriously).
Then, mile 24....those inclines. I know I practiced running on them MANY times over the course of my training, and I knew they were going to be rough as heck, but it still didn't make them easier. I hated those inclines right then....didn't like them during training, and liked them even worse during the race. However, I knew that the only way to get to that finish line was to get my butt up and over those things. My legs are beyond done at this point, and this was serious mind over matter here. I DID get up the one incline, but had to take another walk break to get up the next one. However, I got over that one too, and then proceeded to make my way to cross the intersection.
Just past the intersection, I there was a third incline, which I managed, and thankfully, there's just a normal road after the turn. A few blocks later, I see mile 25!!!! That's when it hit me that I REALLY was going to finish! I know that I had stated to myself and other runners after mile 20, "Hey! We're going to make it!" However, seeing the mile 25 marker was when it really began to hit home. I actually almost cried in front of one of the volunteers and a group of spectators. I crossed that final intersection, and moments later, the stadium came into view! OMG...I WAS GOING TO FINISH!!! AHHHH!!!!!
At this point, I didn't really have much in the energy tank to start to run faster, so I pretty much just kept my pace. I one of my top power songs, which lasted until I made that final turn to head straight down into the stadium. I put my ipod away, and just throughly enjoyed the feeling of FINALLY finishing my first marathon. I made that FINAL turn, and....OMG.....THERE'S THE FINISH LINE! RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!! EVERYTHING about this training and this race made it 100% worth seeing THAT finish line, and knowing that I was literally seconds and feet away from crossing it!!! I started crying! I couldn't help it! I was so freaking proud of myself for finishing!!! The next thing I know is that I CROSSED THE LINE!!!!! I DID IT!!!!! I'M A MARATHONER!!!! I was so overcome with emotion that I started crying tears of joy. One of the guys I run with in my running club here saw me finish, and hugged me. I couldn't helped it, I was crying in his arms. He asked me if I was okay, and needed a medic. I told him I was totally alright, just totally emotional, and was crying happy tears. I don't remember if he said anything to me, but I do know that he was SUPER proud of me. I then got medal, then was introduced to Dick Beardsly, who was the guest speaker at the pasta feed last night (which I went to), and he gave me a huge hug. I think I even cried on his shoulder a bit. lol. He then looked at me, face to face, and stated that he was SUPER proud of me, as what I have just done is something most people do NOT accomplish, and yet, I.DID.IT. One of the stadium announcers was on the field, right next to me, at the time, and he witnessed some of the emotion going on from me at the time. So, he decided to turn the mike on, and dd a briefly interview with me, which was heard through the whole stadium. I was still in such shock and amazement, that I almost didn't know what to say. I know that I was asked about what was the hardest thing about the race, and I stated that it was the training (which is true), but it made it so worth it in the end.
After that was a bit of challenge as I needed to stretch, and find out where my brother was, he didn't see me cross the finish. So I try to get myself down gently onto the astroturf, but kinda fell instead. I was totally fine, but that was a quick realization. By this time, I was also given my race blanket, and one of those aluminum blanket things, and some additonal water. I didn't need the blanket, but the initial stretching felt really good.....sore...but really good. I got a text from my brother, and he met me near the field, and got a "marathon finisher" photo of me (I also had a few of those photos taken by the marathon photographers themselves). Then, there was the challenge of going up the stairs to get my checked bag. That was a bit of adventure to get up, but I made it. I got my bag, and decided that I didn't really need to change, as I was going straight home, and wasn't cold. I then met up with my brother, and made the trip back to my apartment, under the surreal fealing that I just finished a marathon. I know it sounds weird, but it really is a surreal feeling! Of course, I'm still over the moon about this emotionally, but it IS very surreal, as I was thinking, "Gosh, I did THAT?! For real? WHOA!"
Now that I'm back at home, I'm now starting the recovery proccess. I have rolled out some, but have QUICKLY learned that it's super easy for my muscles to cramp up. I haven't slept at all (yet), but I suspect that's from the caffiene in my fuel. I know that I really need to work on rehydrating again, majorly get in some good food, and be prepared to be SUPER sore these next few days. I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow, which is going to hurt so good. I will need it to releave the lactic acid build up, and get blood flowing better. In the meantime, I will be having a celebration dinner, with a WELL deserved margartia! Cheers!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment