For the past few months, I've been saying that November 6th would be one of the happiest days of my life. Well, I think November 5th at 12:45pm kicked it off. And the feelings of relief, accomplishment, life satisfaction, physical strength (and sore knees) has spilled over into today.
Except for waking up at 4am and never falling back asleep, I got a good night's rest on Friday. Saturday morning was brisk and chilly, but not nearly as cold as it could have been. Honestly, the nervousness never really kicked in at all. Usually those pre-race jitters in the corral are the worst, but this time I was relaxed and ready to start. It definitely helped that my friends Katie and Drew were there with me--I think anytime you have someone there to chat with either before a race or during, you'll feel more relaxed and not think about the crazy fact that you PAID MONEY to be shivering in the cold, at 7am on a Saturday morning, about to run for 4+ hours.
My overall pace was 10:45 min/mile, giving me a finish time of 4h 41m. I think it's funny when you tell people your finish time, and they tentatively ask, "And were you happy with that?" Almost like they wait to congratulate you until they know that you are personally satisfied with that time. So, yes, I am thrilled! My last long training run, the 23 miles, was at an average pace of 11:14, so to shave off 30 seconds per mile, AND to run 3 miles further, was great in my eyes. If you look at the splits between my first and second half, they are almost dead even. The first half was 2:19, and the second half was 2:21. My friend Dan told me that the winner of the marathon was a whole 15 minutes slower during the second half than the first, so I felt accomplished to know that my overall pace was very consistent. What those splits don't tell you is that within the second half of my race, my pace varied a LOT. Anywhere from 11:18 to 9:52, which will be explained later. I'm proud to say that my fastest mile was the last one!
I have to say, I felt that my training prepared me well for the marathon. If I haven't made it clear already, Jeff Galloway is THE man. The only thing I still question is how he says that your race pace will be 2 whole minutes faster than your training pace--for someone with my "magic mile" time, he predicted I should be training at a 12-min pace. But then, his estimate for my marathon pace was 9:52--where does that come from?? Good thing I didn't set out with that goal in mind. Even if that was possible for my body, I think I probably would have felt terrible during the race and missed all the cool parts because I was pushing too hard. Overall, I would recommend Galloway's programs to anyone.
Since a marathon is quite an experience, and it's overwhelming to describe everything that goes on in 4.5 hours, I'm going to sum it up by the high and low points...
Lows first:
1. I have NEVER had this happen during a run, but from pretty early on, my left arm was aching. Newbie runners fall into the trap of tightening their shoulders or holding them up too high when they run, which will make them ache after so many miles of arm swinging. I haven't had that happen in ages, let alone in just one arm. My left shoulder was getting more painful by the minute, almost like a nerve pinch back in my shoulder blade, and traveling all down my arm. My hand was swollen and red--both hands were at first because of the cold temps, but the right one warmed up and was fine--not the left. I got really concerned around mile 9-10 when my hand was practically going numb. I would squeeze it with my other hand and couldn't feel a thing, but my fingerprints would leave indents in the hand, it was that swollen. It eventually subsided, but at the end of the race, as soon as I stopped running, my shoulder KILLED. Just goes to show you, the things that happen during races are sometimes things you couldn't prepare for! I'm just thankful it was my arm, not my leg, so although it was uncomfortable and painful, it didn't affect my speed.
2. Somewhere around mile 14 I hit a wall mentally. Maybe because we had just passed the halfway mark, and as exciting as that was, it was only halfway. It also coincided with 2 miles worth of south on Meridian Street with lots of hills and pavement that was torn up from road construction. That's where the 11-min miles come in. I hadn't used my iPod at all until then, but I suddenly needed it.
Now all the highs:
1. Could the weather have been any more beautiful or perfect for a marathon?! October is a fickle month for running, but November is even more so. It just as easily could have been cold and rainy all day long, but instead it was pure sunshine and a temperature in the mid to high 50's by the time I finished.
2. Having friends to run with. After always running half-marathons alone, I have to say that the company was a welcome change for a full marathon. Even though the 3 of us all split up eventually and had different ending times, over half of the race was spent together.
3. Unexpectedly seeing my husband cheering at the corner of Kessler and College just before mile 13. The race route passed this corner which is just about 2 blocks from my house. (Tempting to just run home and stay there!) We thought for sure Chad would have gone back to bed the second he dropped the 3 of us off downtown, but he surprised us all!
4. Having a women stop to say that I had a beautiful running form. She said it looked like I was just effortlessly gliding...which is not exactly how I feel when I run! During one of my labs in college we studied running gaits, and I was one of the people the professor specifically had everyone observe while she pointed out the quirks in my form (short stride, slight right heel whip...), so a compliment about my form is something I never thought I would hear!
5. The energy surge I got around mile 17. I don't know if it was that I had started using my iPod and was just focusing on running at tempo with the songs or if it was the gel pack at mile 16 that did it, but either way, at mile 17 I was out of my funk and ready to start pushing it. From there on, the miles just ticked by: 8 to go, 7, 6, and then finally, those last 3 that I had never done before.
6. Having the opportunity to cheer on some hurting people that I passed. Not everyone feels good in those last few miles. Since I was lucky to be having a great run, I decided I would be that person that said a few words of encouragement to the strugglers who were walking. Some of the people I passed were clearly in pain--one guy in particular even looked like an experienced marathoner who may have pulled a muscle. All I said were just a few words like "You're doing great! You're almost finished!", but the smiles of thanks that I got back were priceless.
7. Um...finishing? That was the whole goal, after all. Beyond finishing, beating 5 hours was my time goal. I wouldn't be sorely disappointed if it didn't happen, but I would be lying if I said it wouldn't have bugged me. Thankfully, I smoked that :)
8. Having Chad there right at the finish line so that my emotional, post-race self could immediately start crying into his shoulder and saying "It's over! It's over!"
9. Crossing off one of the bigger points on my life's bucket list. This feat has been on that list since high school. I considered taking it off when I realized how hard running was initially. I thought maybe I could settle for just doing a half. But like I've said before, if there's a half, I've gotta do the whole. Beyond being on a bucket list, this was one of my life goals to complete before I have kids. Don't get excited...it will still be awhile :)
10. Running 26.2 miles when I'm 26. This just occurred to me back in October after my birthday, but what better year in life to run a marathon?
The obvious question is, would I ever do one again? It's like I was saying in the post where I compared running to a relationship--you just remember all the awesome parts about it, and at the end of the day, you think "That wasn't that bad!" But, I have to remember all the sacrifices I made during training, and the moments when running was anything but uplifting. I've decided that the only way I would do another marathon would be if my pace dramatically improved to the point where I could shave off about 30 minutes of my time. Since I don't foresee that being the case, I'm happy with one and done!
The rest of the day's activities included a hot bath with a sore muscle relief soak--just over-the-counter stuff, but it was awesome. It loosened up my tight back and hamstrings, and the eucalyptus scent was relaxing! For dinner, Chad and I went to Mama Carolla's to celebrate, then I made great use of that extra hour of sleep--what perfect timing for daylight savings! Today, the only lingering pain is in my knees--no muscle soreness to speak of--but standing up and straightening out my legs is a real chore.
To finish this post, THANK YOU to all of you out there who at any point asked me how my training was going or gave me good luck wishes or other words of encouragement before the race. It's so great to know I have a network of people who support me and who will be waiting to hear about all of my runs.
PS...the 26.2 sticker is already on my car :)
Congratulations, Mechelle-- great job!!
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