Checking the weather beforehand, I knew it was going to be a perfect running day. 40° for the start, 50° by the half and 60° for my finish. To make race morning easier, I tagged along with the YMCA's running group, who were meeting at a gal's home only a short walk from the start. Perfectly warmed up from the walk, I started the race without my warming garbage bags, but with my gloves and sleeves made from thigh-high socks with the foot cut off. While we missed the pre-race revelries, I was part of the pack for the start and crossed the start line 3 minutes after the starting gun went off.
I ran the first half of my race with some friends from church, Jessica (who was pregnant, running her first half!), and Brooke joined us for the first mile before work. At the first mile, Brooke said that we had just run a 7 something mile! That didn't sound right, but my watch said the same thing. Coming up to mile 2 I noticed my watch still said only 7 and some. What?!?! Yes, I realized that I hadn't started my stopwatch, I had switched back to the time. The stopwatch and the interval timer were started at mile 2.
There's not much to say about the first 6.5 miles. It was a pleasant run with a friend. We chatted, noticed those that were on similar intervals or paces around us, and just plain enjoyed ourselves. The only important thing to note was, by the third water stop, I had already confused myself with my fueling plan vs. water stations vs. walking intervals. It sounds silly. I had been training with water, an Endurolyte (Hammer electrolyte pill) and amino pills every 2 miles and Huckleberry Gel every 4th. Suddenly, I couldn't recall if the water stop at 3.5 miles was my "4" or the next one. Adding to my confusion, I had only run 3:1 intervals (run three minutes, walk one minute ala Jeff Galloway), twice. I liked doing them that way, and enjoyed the company, so choose to use them with Jessica for the race. Except, intervals don't magically line up with the mile markers or the water stops. Hence my fueling confusion.
At 6.5 miles Jessica (and about everyone else, 1041 runners) turned around to finish the Half, and I continued with the few (143 runners) running the full marathon course. I talked with a gal, and then let her continue without me as I thought I would try to continue the intervals. After another estimated interval, around mile 7.5, I fell into step with a pair that stopped running after some beeping. When I discovered they were doing 3:1 intervals, I asked if I could join them and now had conversation, motivation, and a beeping timer for my run.
Another enjoyable 6.5 miles went by. It was fun chatting with Christine and Reynaldo. Our little group would regularly pass and be passed by two other groups of gals, and it was nice to chat with everyone we saw and cheer on the runners already on their way back. In no time at all, we were at the turnaround/half-way point. At mile 14 I noticed that my lower back was getting sore. I had warned my new running mates that mile 16 was always a rough one in my training runs, but as we went thru it my legs were feeling alright. I think the gloves and sleeves finally came off around this time, too.
By mile 18, my back was hurting enough that it was rough to start up on the run intervals, and when the beep for the walk intervals occurred I kept stopping to try and stretch it. Christine and Rey gave me so much encouragement and talked me thru. Somewhere in there I thought I was getting a second wind, which didn't last. I was starting to lag behind on the run intervals, but was able to catch up during the walks.
Around mile 22 Christine realized that if we could continue at this pace, we could achieve a 4:50 marathon, my "everything went perfect" goal. Except, this was also where we met "The Hill". For the first time, I was walking on the run interval, but my new partners slowed down their walks and gave me a lot of encouragement, and I caught up. I was able to stay "with" them for another mile before they pulled too far ahead on a run interval for me to keep up. I walked a lot of mile 23. While I tried to keep myself "running" a little more for mile 24, I kept stopping (and sitting) to try and stretch my back and legs. At the final water station at mile 25 I told myself it was my last sit down and I would run most of my final mile.
Then I saw the mile 26 marker, the turn to the main road. I could hear the cheers of the crowd at the finish. I saw the huge boards with messages of love and pictures of the children who's adoptions had been achieved because of this race last year. After the boards I saw my family cheering for me.
