Austin Marathon - Complete!

The marathon of my nightmares, the race I had been dreading all season was finally here.  ATX marathon weekend had arrived and I was ready.  It was a good thing my bestie Jenn made us run the new course 2x's as part of our 17 & 21 mile training runs, that really helped mentally and physically prepare us for the hills and course.  But let me back up, how did we get to marathon #3 after having such an amazing #2 that could not be topped???  Well, it was on Jenn's bucket list to run the Austin marathon for her 40th birthday, so of course I was going to support that initiative and I figured I at least had to run the marathon in my home town. We also managed to rope in a lot of the Pfelly's (our neighborhood running group of friends).  7 of us signed up for the marathon and 9 for the half.  My goals were to finish in under 5 hrs with a stretch goal of 4:30, oh and of course not die a horrible death.  Let's do this!!

The beginning of the week was nice and cold, in the high 30s/low 40s for morning runs.  However by Thursday temps had jumped up to 64 degrees in the morning!  The forecast was also calling for rain and high humidity, I kept having flash backs to our horrible weather conditions for 3M .  We were all praying for better weather.  At least all of our runs this week were only 3 & 4 miles, we had some amazing quick short runs and loved that it didn't consume our entire morning.  PLUS it was carb loading week!!!  I made a ton of waffles on Sunday which I ate every morning with sausage links.  I also made chicken and rice for dinner several nights, on Valentine's day I ate drunk noodles (pasta from Thai Spoon) and plenty of bread throughout the week.  Saturday evening was our #teambeef dinner.  We had a very similar meal as our 3M dinner, except this time the beef tenderloin was served warm.  I only had 1 alcoholic drink all week, 1 glass of red wine on Valentine's day.  I was going to try abstaining from alcohol for 2 weeks before the marathon but that didn't happen.

Side note, I realized 4 days after the race that I totally forgot to do my runner nails!  Oh well.

The Expo:
Several of us headed down to the Expo on Friday after lunch.  This year it was at the Palmer Events Center instead of the Austin Convention Center so we couldn't take the metro-rail.  The Expo was OK, unfortunately I didn't find any cheap shoes for me but I did find my marathon coffee mug and an awesome Wonder Woman running tank top!

ATX Marathon runners unite!

We found Ashley!  Crush it!

Expo swag, the marathon bag even came with a pair of running socks!

Saturday was really busy with kids sports in the morning, a baby shower early afternoon, later we dropped Ry off at a friends for a sleep over and took Carsyn to my parents house for the night, then we headed to the Team Beef dinner at 6:30pm.  Dinner consisted of fancy salad, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, angle food cake & berries for dessert and beef tenderloin slices which were served warm instead of cold.  Everything tasted great!  I totally stuffed myself and went back for seconds.  As we were leaving I grabbed a couple of Team Beef signs for the littles to hold up during my race.  We got back home around 8pm so I had plenty of time to get all my race gear ready.  For the first time ever I decided to wear a skirt for a long race.  The Dona Jo skirts are amazing and stay in place so I wasn't concerned about chafing.  I also packed a bag with a change of clothes afterwards since we'd be going straight to lunch after the race.  I packed a couple new Gu's as well, toasted marshmallow and Campfire S'mores (which were awesome by the way!).

I finally hit the hey around 10:30 pm but I guess I was so anxious that I couldn't sleep.  I ended up taking 3 Advil PMs and 2 melatonin pills.  I still woke up every hour starting at 1 am.  My alarm went off at 4:45 am.  Despite the lack of sleep I got up no problem and felt wide awake.  First thing I did was check the weather: 52 degrees, cloudy/overcast, misting the entire time (5-15% change of rain), 93% humidity which dropped to 88% around 11 am, 1-3 mph winds.  This actually made me happy as it was 10 degrees cooler than 3M!  I made myself half a mini bagel with peanut butter for breakfast then drove over to the FP clubhouse to meet the rest of the ladies for our carpool downtown.

Day's husband was nice enough to drive us downtown so we didn't have to worry about parking.  We left the hood around 5:30 am and arrived at the start line around 6 am.  Plenty of time for stretching, pictures and potties.  My body knew it was a race day and I went to the bathroom 2x's before even leaving my house, then again when we got downtown.  After pictures we headed to the corrals and lined up with the 4:25 pacer, I ate my 1st Gu and waited for the race to start.  The gun sounded and we started to make our way to the start line, it took us 10 mins to finally cross the start line.  The start line had some awesome colored lights and smoke displays.  So exciting!! I couldn't believe race day was actually here and we were gonna do this!

Pfelly's running ATX!  4/18/2018

In the start line, Ready or Not here we go!

Our strategy was to go slow...running between a 9:50/10 pace the entire race.  The first 3 miles were at an incline and we had to painfully force ourselves to slow down and fight our starting adrenaline to prevent burn out.  Miles 4 & 5 were down hill and we ended up going a little faster, I had to keep telling ourselves to slow down.  At mile 6 we passed the team beef cheer station, GO BEEF.  When we hit mile 8 we mentally reset as that is where we started both training runs in preparation for the marathon.  We were feeling good and knew we could finish it!

Mile 1 - 9:57, M2 - 9:46, M3 - 9:36, M4 - 9:24, M5 - 9:26, M6 - 9:35, M7 - 9:42, M8 - 9:49

At mile 6, waving on #TeamBeef!

Miles 8 & 9 took us up Lake Austin Blvd, past Hula Hut, and then we turned onto Enfield for miles 10-12.  Enfield is very hilly and I was concerned how'd I do since I didn't have fresh legs.  Amazingly enough the hills didn't even bother us, we were ready for them!  We took that final King of the Hill on Enfield like a boss and passed the half marathoners split off and continued left onto Guadalupe.  It was at this point Jenn spend up a little and pushed ahead of me, I stayed at my 9:50 pace but always had her in my sights.  At this point I put my headphones on and listened to music while trying to spot our family and friends cheering for us.  Guadalupe was a nice straight away to 45th street.  I loved that I could recognize my surrounds and knew what to expect out of the course.  Somewhere around mile 17th was my first sighting of my family!  The hubby came out with the littles and my dad to cheer me on with their home made signs.  I saw them again around mile 18.5 and gave them high fives, no stopping for me!

M9 - 9:46, M10 - 9:47, M11 - 9:41, M12 - 9:45, M13 - 10:05 (recovery from that last hill), M14 - 9:46, M15 - 9:51, M16 - 9:50, M17 - 10:01, M18 - 10:01, M19 - 10:08

The signs my family held up for me during the race.

Somewhere around mile 18/19 I think

Having a grand ol' time

Usually around mile 17/18 my hips start to burn, however this time I noticed everything still felt pretty good.  No hip issues, lungs felt great, breathing was easy.  The only thing that hurt was the bottoms of my feet from slapping the ground and of course my knees were aching/sore (fairly typical for this distance).  At mile 20 we passed another water stop and I saw my previous boss passing out water, I was able to get his attention in time for him to wish me good luck before I was gone.  Miles 21-22 was another straight away, then we had a short stint on 5th street before turning onto Cesar Chavez.  I had been waiting for this road!  I knew the end was near as we only had about 3 miles to go.  I can do this, there's only a 5K left!!  I caught up and passed Michelle just after mile marker 23, close to the gas station.  Around mile 24 I saw Jason, he ran with me for a bit and tried to get a video but it didn't save.  I was in such a good mood, giving 2 thumbs up and super excited to almost be done.  FINALLY we hit Waller street/mile 25, those 2 miles to that street felt like forever!  At this point I briefly caught up with Jenn and gave her some encouragement before she sped up, I also skipped my last Gu.  We were within a few seconds of each other as we were winding ourselves through the last few turns.  Then came 11th street and the final doozy of a hill (how mean to put this hill right before the finish!).  I realized once we hit the incline that I still had energy to burn!  I turned it on and kicked it up that hill, the rush of knowing the finish was only 0.4 miles away had my adrenaline soaring and increased my speed,  Jenn was only 20 seconds behind me.  I turned the corner and there was my family!! I could see them right in front of the finish.  I sped over for a quick high five and flew across that finish line.  OMG!!!!  I was done, I felt great, we had survive and I had beaten all the goals I set for myself.  🏃 

M20 - 9:58, M21 - 10:05, M22 - 10:18, M23 - 10:25, M24 - 10:15, M25 - 10:24, M26 - 10:15, Last 0.36 miles - 3:36 (9:56 pace)

My official race time was 4:21:11 (9:58 pace), I was so close to beating my Houston PR of 4:18:51 (9:52 pace) and Austin was a tougher course by far!  

My Garmin said I ran 26.36 miles in 4:21:13 (9:55 pace).

feelin good

Coming in hot and happy!

Excited to cross the finish line!

The 3 amigos

We did it!  ATX marathoners!!!

Worked my butt off for this medal!

tracking results

Splits from my Garmin

Jenn and I downed a couple bottles of water as we worked our way out of the finishers  corral.  Our families were waiting for us at the very end.  I was so happy to see my littles and excited that they were able to witness me run this race.  Since this event was sponsored by High Five they had a beer garden at the end!  I had 4 free beers to drink, which I shared with the hubby and my dad.  I did manage to grab 2 snack bags at the end of the race which I gave to the littles as they were hungry.  By this point I was starting to shiver from the cold and my right knee briefly locked up for about 5 mins.  It was still around 55 degrees and overcast and my body temp was dropping rapidly.  Thankfully the hubby brought my change of clothes with him so I went into a nearby restaurant to change.  We met up with Day and Shelley in the beer garden and finished our beers while Malek went to get the car.  He picked us up not too far from the finish and we headed to Pint House Pizza for a celebratory drink(s) and food with everyone.

Celebratory lunch at Pint House Pizza

The medal is also a belt buckle!

I'm super stocked with my time and performance. The weather was awesome!! 52 degrees, overcast and misting the entire time. I even had energy at the end to kick it up that last hill and finish strong!! I couldn't have done it without my training partners Jennifer and Michelle. And big kudos to my hubby for navigating traffic and road blocks to bring my dad and the littles out to see me race! I loved seeing the signs they made for me.  All the support from my friends on the course made this race an amazing experience.

the day after - coffee in my race mug

My thighs were sore for 4 days after the race.  By Thursday I could finally get up and down without groaning and felt mostly normal.  My inner most toe on my right foot was a little tender, it had obviously been rubbing up against my toe box.  However thankfully I didn't get any blisters or black toenails.  AND I had almost zero chafing and none of it was on my inner thighs!!!  I only chafed a tiny bit on the inside of my right arm from rubbing on my pack, and then a little on my backside where I think my pack rubbed on my skirt tag.  Other than that I was practically unscathed!

I did go for a run on Friday, but it was horrible and my knees protested the entire 2 miles.  I ran again on Sunday and am happy to report everything felt back to normal. 

Race prep:
What I ate:  I carb loaded 7 days before the marathon and tried not to drink any alcohol 1 week before (I caved and had 1 drink on Valentine's day).  I ate lots of waffles and syrup for breakfast, pasta and chicken & rice.  The day before the race I drank lots of water and tea. Saturday evening was the Team Beef dinner, we had salad, bread, beef tenderloin slices, grilled veggies, mashed potatoes and angel food cake with berries for dessert.  Breakfast the day of the race was 1/2 a mini bagel with peanut butter and water.  I ate a Gu every 5 miles during the race and one Gu 10 mins before the race started, I did skip my last Gu which would have been at mile 25.  I had my hydration vest so I didn't have to stop at any water stops.
What I wore:  Dona Jo skirt w/ side pockets, beef tank top, stuff your bra (more pockets!), hat, Garmin Vivoactive HR watch, hydration vest, Brooks Glycerin shoes (sz 10), spenco earthbound insoles and wrightsocks double layer socks.  I went up another 1/2 size in my shoes from a 9.5 to size 10.
Other items I carried:  Cell phone, 6 Gu's, mp3 player, sun glasses, chapstick.