Yeah, that is a lot of exclamation points, but it's a huge deal for me :) Saturday was my very first marathon. Weekend recap:
Friday:
Drove up to Seattle with some of my friends who had signed up for the half marathon. There was horrendous traffic along the way, and we almost didn't make it to the Health & Fitness Expo in time to pick up our packets! Then we got separated, and had trouble locating parking for Qwest Field. Fortunately, we squeaked in with 42 minutes to spare. WHEW!
Friday:
Drove up to Seattle with some of my friends who had signed up for the half marathon. There was horrendous traffic along the way, and we almost didn't make it to the Health & Fitness Expo in time to pick up our packets! Then we got separated, and had trouble locating parking for Qwest Field. Fortunately, we squeaked in with 42 minutes to spare. WHEW!
I'd never been to a pre-race Expo before, and it was AMAZING! Wow. I wish we'd had more time to look around and score free stuff, but we only had time to go in, get our race packets, buy some souvenirs (it's my first marathon, I had to buy some!), and get out. It was late by the time we got to the hotel in downtown Bellevue. We walked to the Cheesecake Factory for some delicious dinner. (Man, I love Cheesecake Factory!) Went back to the hotel, where we got ready for bed but ended up talking and laughing in the dark for awhile, since we were all too excited/nervous :P I was freaking out a little bit, thinking "What if I don't finish?! What if I didn't train well enough?! What if I hit the wall hard?! What if I forget something?!" Fortunately, my boyfriend texted me and said, "Don't freak out. Just run." While that might be pretty obvious to most runners on most days, when I heard it the night before my marathon in the midst of my FREAKOUT mode, it was the perfect reminder. JUST RUN. That's all I needed to do. That's all I could do. I've been obsessively preparing for months, I'm sticking with what works, and I'm going to just run.
SATURDAY:
Woke up at 4:30 am. Threw on my clothes, and panicked because I didn't give myself enough time to double check everything. Got in the car at 5:15. Ate my standard pre-long-run breakfast of oatmeal/protein powder and a banana. Drove to downtown Seattle, parked, took a shuttle bus to the starting area. Realized on the bus that I'd forgotten to take my allergy medicine.
Used the portapotties. Asked the medical tents if they had any kind of allergy medicine (they did not). Grabbed a water bottle and stuck a nuun tablet in it, so I'd have extra electrolyte drink in addition to my fuel belt. Found my corral and the 4:15 pacer and waited. I hoped to finish in 4:15 but realistically just wanted to finish faster that Shia LaBoeuf's LA Marathon time (4:35). Hey, I had to set a goal, and sub 4:35/better than Shia seemed like a fantastic goal. (Most photos courtesy of my friend Carla!)
At 7:21, I crossed the starting line.
Mile 1: Already had to pee again, but decided to put it off til Mile 3. Lost the 4:15 pacer as a result.
Mile 3-8: Met up with my half-marathoning friend and ran with her for awhile at a slightly faster pace. Saw a guy running the half in a full polar bear suit. Saw a guy running in an Elvis suit. Got tired and slowed the pace back down and ran by myself.
Mile 11: Ankles started to hurt a bit. Felt tired. Hoped I would get a second wind.
Miles 20 and 22: Had to battle my mental game about hitting the wall. Freaked out because 22.29 miles was my longest training run.
Miles 17 and 24: GI problems. It wasn't pretty. Almost didn't stop at Mile 24 because I was worried I wouldn't be able to get running again, especially since it was uphill at that point.
Mile 24: Kept running. Felt sick running up the bridge (probably too much water at that point), but fine coming down it. Realized I could do finish AND beat Shia if I kept up the current pace. Felt good, felt strong, and like I'd beaten the wall. Heard my cell phone beeping, knowing it was my family and friends encouraging me (I didn't read the text messages til after I finished)/
Mile 26: I could taste it.
FINISH: Finished strong!
Official chip time: 4:30:50
Just meters from the finish line!
Yay! All done, and it's time to get some post-race beer....
