Marathon #15 accomplished! I wasn't sure how the race was going to go with lack of training and last stages of a cold. We arrived Saturday afternoon at the expo to pick up race packets. I LOVE expos! I'm not much for shopping but get me in an expo and I'll shop for hours. I found a cute top from Puma, running visor from Brooks and arm bands to keep warm in the fall/winter weather. After a great homemade dinner with friends it was off to bed for the 5am wake up.
Race day turned out to be perfect running weather - high 50's with overcast...and a few spots of rain on the course. After getting all the "gear" on and eating my standard oatmeal for breakfast it was off to the start line. My friend Adrienne and I jumped in with the 4:10-4:30 crowd with hopes of staying with them until at least the half way mark. At 7:00am the race gun went off and we were on our way through 26.2 miles. I have to say the first two miles were not great. I felt sluggish, dehydrated and nervous about completing the race. Somehow we managed to shake off the race jitters with the help of walking through aid stations, conversation and built up anticipation of a bathroom stop at mile 10. We also came up with mini-goals along the way: bathroom stop at mile 10, half way mark at 13.1, single digit mile count down at 16, getting to the top of the big hill at 17, and finally starting our run 4 minutes/walk 1 at mile 18. The walk/run worked great for the lack of training and my legs felt pretty good until mile 23. From this point on the walk breaks were necessary and I was thankful to see the next mile mark. We did manage to run the last mile in and finished in 4:21! This was far better than either of us expected to complete the race. I have to say it was nice to feel so good after such little training and actually have fun for most of the 26 miles. Huge thanks to Adrienne for all the conversation, strategizing and team work to get through this race!
Laura
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