My First 26.2 Mile Run

At the finish line: post race!

MARATHON DATE: February 16, 2014

LOCATION: Birmingham, AL

 WEATHER: 37 degrees F at the 7am start of the race, warming to near 53 degrees at the finish

CLOTHING: Visor, ear warmer, sunglasses, 1 t-shirt, arm warmers, capri's and compression sleeves, with smart-wool socks and my Hoka one one's--the clothing selection was perfect for the temperatures

 RACE GOAL: Stay consistent the entire race and feel strong at the finish, not completely exhausted, targeting 9:45/mile pace (4 hours 15 min)

ACTUAL RACE FINISH: 4:15:05
                                               (9:45 average pace/mile)

Hoka Club

                                     (28th of 72 in age group, 424 out of over 1000 people, 114 out of the women)
                                      10k: 56:29  (9:21 pace)
                                      15k: 1:24:46 (9:26 pace)
                                      25k: 2:22:17 (9:28 pace)
                                      30k: 2:47:18 (9:47 pace)

HEART RATE: Average was 156, consistently 150-160 when I would check.

NUTRITION: I wore a belt with three 7oz bottles of Cytomax (electrolyte drink) and one 7-ounce bottle of water.  I also had one pack of Honey Stinger chews.  I took Gu Gels approx. mile 4, 8, 11,14,18,22.  My First gu was strawberry banana, third was salted carmel and all others were vanilla bean w caffeine.  I would take gel and follow that with a shot of water.  I didn't have a set plan before the race, but a general idea of what I might do--essentially a gel every 3-4 miles and cytomax or honey stinger chews in-between.  I didn't have any issues, but could have had a better plan.

TRAINING: Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan (HERE)  This was the 'easiest' plan I could find.  I pretty much stuck to the plan, I never did much speed work in this training.  I swam for cross training.

MARATHON TALES

Travel companions and wonderful friends

Almost 10 years ago, I put running a marathon on my to-do list in life.  About a year ago, I was ready to take it off my list, there was no need for me to do that, it was crazy to put your body through that.  This past fall, after signing up for an Ironman, I began to wonder if I should do a marathon, so I would 'know what it feels like'.  After some persuasion from friends, on October 31, 2013, Rob and I signed up for the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, AL.  Rob and I enjoyed our long runs together and had many friends join us along the way... training over the winter was a little rough, with the cold weather, but we did it! Let's go to the race.

Pre-race photo

We traveled with our wonderful friends, Ed and Britta and we arrived the day before the race to check in. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, which was a 5 minute walk from the race start, I highly suggest that for future races.  I never had to use the nasty porta-potties before the race, because we stayed in the warm hotel until the last minute.  The night before the race we went to a hole in the wall Italian restaurant called Giuseppe's Cafe.  Thanks to my wonderful friend Marcia and her husband for calling ahead to make reservations at this restaurant that had like 8 tables!  Carbo-load--I had a caesar salad and chicken fettuccine alfredo, which I didn't eat a ton of the sauce and that was a smart choice.

My view before the start

RACE DAY
Note: This might be boring, because everything went well!  
Surprisingly, I had a great night sleep, woke up on my own a little before 5am.  As my usual race routine, I sat in bed and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (that I made before going to bed), I had a banana and downed some water--pre-race meal at its finest.  We left the hotel around 6:40am for the 7:03am race start--this was plenty of time!  We started the race around the 9 minute pace and of course, we passed many people in the first few miles.  Since my longest training run was 20 miles, I realized that I didn't really have a nutrition plan in place for the last 6 miles, but I made it work fine.

The course is set-up as a 2 loop course--with the majority of the race being people who are running the 1/2 marathon, which is one loop.  The first loop was crowded, but not unbearable.  Rob and I ran together and saw the 4:15 pacers and so we decided that we would try and run with that group. Turns out that pacer was inconsistent and was running an 8:45/mile pace so they could walk through aid stations--sounds like a terrible idea to me... if I'm going to run that fast, I'd want to finish closer to 4 hours.  We decided not to run with that group and Rob and I ran together the first 8 miles and then he went on ahead, which turns out, we were within about a minute of each other the whole race.

The 2nd loop was less crowded and fairly quiet, a number of the spectators left, I was thankful for my head phones and only had one bathroom stop around mile 14.  I felt great after the 1st loop from miles 13 to 17, until the hills began.  I slowed down more than I should have, but wasn't really thinking about pace.  Some of my favorite signs I saw along side the road were, "Your running better than congress" and "smile if you aren't wearing underwear" and many folks were cheer, "Go random stranger!"

I looked at my garmin around mile 20.2, and almost felt emotional as I realized I was going where I hadn't gone before--my longest training run was 20 miles.  I saw a sign that said, "There are doors in walls that you can push through," and I did.  My play listed ended around Mile 23--no more music, just silence, again, I didn't realize that my playlist had an end to it, since I've never ran longer than 20 miles. My lack of music turned out okay--the last song was "It is well" and so my mantra to the finish line became, "It is well with my soul..."and I was full of joy the final miles!  The BUTS (Birmingham Ultra Trail Society) had a cheering station at mile 23, which I knew from my first loop that I could look forward to them. Oh my, did they step it up that second loop!!?  I felt like I was at the finish line there was so much encouragement, cheering, dancing and fun people!  I think they were serving beer and pancakes that day.  They have inspired me to try and do the same at local races in Chattanooga--they were a huge blessing.

Celebration together at the finish!

The course flattened out a little after mile 23, but I couldn't see to dig deep, I was consistently hitting about 10 minute/mile pace.  At mile 25.2, I rounded the corner for the final mile and I felt strong, I dug in to finish with a final 9:23 min/mile, finishing in 4:15:05... right on target of my goal--without a pacer!

I really enjoyed this race, I never had a point where I hurt bad, and that was my goal, I wanted to finish the race feel good and not blowing up.  With this mentality, I was running again about 7 days later without any problems.  I have learned to believe in myself, I've learned that I can do more than I ever imagined and I'm so thankful that I have the desire in me to go where I've never been.  I believe that if you set a goal, if you stay healthy, focused and determined, you can get there.  People often see me as someone who is physically fit, which I am thankful for, but it is only because I set goals and I stay committed.  I encourage you to find that goal within and go for it, I believe in you, and it's time for you to believe in yourself and your abilities to reach your goals.

My post-race reward

Should have, could have, would have?  Yah, I totally thing I could have pushed myself more and had a better time, but I wanted a great first marathon experience and I definitely enjoyed every mile, my motto was, "smile every mile!"

When is my next marathon?  Ironman Chattanooga...2014, I wonder how that marathon will go, I'm sure it will be different, and I'm sure it will be something I've never experienced before and I'm excited.  I plan to eat donuts afterwards too.