Marathon Recap: Part II

Hopefully you weren't too bored with part I of the race recap! Here is a post with more details!

When we left off last time, I mentioned that it started to pretty much pour when we were starting... While the rain did let up a bit at times, it consistently rained the entire race. I stepped in a puddle right away so my feet were sopping wet from the beginning. So wet that every step I took, water would shoot out of the mesh toe covering of my shoes. No joke.

Miraculously, I got no blisters.

I did not lose a toe nail.

And I did not chafe.

I do not know how this is possible. I did cover my feet with body glide on race morning and every time I saw Vaseline at an aid station, I grabbed a gob and rubbed it on my inner thighs and on my upper arms where they sort of 'swipe' my sports bra top.

I guess you can say that you lose all sense of modesty when you are running a marathon. I mean, when else in life is it acceptable to take a gob of Vaseline and rub down your inner thighs in public... right?

Oh and the whole fuel thing? It wasn't an issue at all. I think the adrenaline took over or something, so I actually drank the Ultima crap and did not puke. Score 1 for Lisa. I carried 32 oz of gatorade in my running belt but only drank maybe 4 ounces around mile 23 when I needed a 'treat' to get me through to the end. I tried to drink a 1/2 cup of ultima and a 1/2 cup of water at every aid station. Since it was raining and sort of cool, I didn't really 'feel' thirsty, but I knew I had to keep hydrating or I would definitely pay for it later in the race.

So now for the splits and a little commentary when necessary...

We started in a thick pack of runners so my pace was a bit slow to start, which was probably for the best as it gave me a chance to warm up.

Mile 1: 10:45
Mile 2: 10:34

Around this point, I split off from Amber. My legs were itching for speed. Amber stayed with the 4:30 pace group (sort of, they were behind us at this point), and I forged ahead.

Mile 3: 9:57

After mile 3, I decided to put my head phones on. I hadn't planned to run with my headphones on as you can't really connect with the spectators as well, but it was so mentally grueling for me to run in the rain, I needed the music to distract me!

Mile 4: 9:04 (now that is more like it!)
Mile 5: 9:17
Mile 6: 9:30
Mile 7: 9:22

I really started to hit my 'sweet spot' during these miles and had that "I could run forever feeling... or at least for 26.2 miles". At the same time, I kept asking myself, "Am I seriously running 26.2 miles today?" The race just came so quickly, I was still kind of in shock that it was race day!

Mile 8: 9:28
Mile 9: 9:59 (Bathroom break #1)
Mile 10: 9:13
Mile 11: 9:29
Mile 12: 9:53
Mile 13: 9:28
Mile 14: 9:45
Mile 15: 9:33
Mile 16: 9:54

I was starting to "feel" the miles at this point, but still felt strong. I knew that the mile to come was going to be one of the tougher ones as you have a huge hill that brings you to a bridge - sort of like a never ending on-ramp I guess you could say? I wanted to walk so many times during this mile, but I just focused on the person that this mile was dedicated to (one of my best friends that is pregnant) and would NOT let myself walk.

Mile 17: 10:29 - slow split but I just tackled a huge hill so I will not complain
Mile 18: 9:54
Mile 19: 10:01
Mile 20: 10:09

When I hit mile 20, I actually felt better than I did compared to how I felt when I finished my 20 mile training run. My hip flexors were not bothering me and I still felt like my legs had plenty of energy.

Mile 21: 11:10 - another bathroom break!
Mile 22: 10:03
Mile 23: 9:59

At this point, I was REALLY ready for the race to be done. I was exhausted. I could FEEL every. single. step. My knees were starting to ache a bit and my quads were so tight, but I kept pushing ahead. I kept telling myself - it's only another 5k! At this point, I knew I was going to come in under 4:30, which made it easier for me to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Mile 24: 10:35
Mile 25: 9:57
Mile 26: 9:56
The final .2 (or .48 according to my Garmin): 4:46

Total time - 4:22:10 - average pace of 6 mph

I pushed myself to run as hard as I could those last couple of miles and am proud of the fact that I had sub-10 minute miles, even if it was just barely below 10.

It felt great to cross the finish line. I raised my arms in the air in triumph! Hopefully the race photographer caught that.

Now that the marathon is behind me, it's sort of surreal to think about. Even though there were moments during the race where I struggled, in general, I really felt great. It was a completely different experience from my 2006 marathon when I walked most of the last 6 miles.

Since I hit my time goal, and kind of blew it out of the water, I feel like I can hang up my marathon shoes. I enjoyed the training process and it was awesome to share it with Amber, but it's also super time consuming.

I could eat my words, but I really think that was my 2nd and last marathon. I proved to myself that I could do it again and do it much faster.

Now, I'd like to focus on a more well-rounded work out schedule. I am not hanging up my racing shoes; instead, I will shift my focus to my 1/2 marathon and will work on training for a sub-2 hour half in 2011 hopefully.

Once again, thanks for following along with me and encouraging me along the way. I really appreciated every encouraging comment, email, black berry message, and facebook post! Having you all there, cheering us on from afar, meant the world to me!

And that concludes the marathon recap!! I will probably post some race photos once they are available!

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! Any big plans? Tonight I am having dinner at a French restaurant that I have always wanted to try and then will go to a orchestra concert. I definitely plan on enjoying a glass of wine with dinner which is something I haven't done for the last 3 weeks (except on Sunday night when Amber and I toasted to our successful races!)