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.

Chevron Houston Marathon - Complete!

My most EXCELLENT Marathon experience ever!!!  Granted this was only my 2nd marathon, but it far exceeded the first.  The stars aligned for me for this race; perfect weather, amazing course, awesome support, great training buddies and armed with the knowledge of do's/don'ts from my 1st marathon.  I was primed and ready to go!

Runner Girl nails are ready!

Four of us signed up to run Houston.  Ashley, Dayspring and myself for the full, Amanda for the half.  Unfortunately Amanda moved to Washington and could no longer attend, so her sister Jenna ran in her place and became our awesome sherpa!  Ashley was unable to make it last min.  We left Saturday morning around 10am to drive to Houston (3 hrs away), the weather was nasty; overcast, cold, rainy.  We stopped at Subway for lunch around 1pm and then Starbucks for a quick pit stop.  We arrived at our hotel around 2pm after battling some slight traffic heading into downtown Houston.  Thankfully the Hilton Americas allowed us early check-in, the awesome thing about our hotel was that it had an attached tunnel to the expo/convention center and the parking garage!!  We didn't have to walk outside in the nasty weather.  :)  Another amazing thing was the race started and ended right next to our hotel and expo center, talk about convenient!  After picking up our bibs and shirts we wandered around for a couple hours.  I found myself some black arm warmers, a nice marathon mug and a lulu marathon endorsed tank (cool gold decal)!

mug and lulu crb

expo shenanigans 1/16/2016

Making Instagram memories

We returned to our hotel room around 4:15 pm, giving us maybe 20 mins of down time before Day and I headed to our Team Beef dinner at Salt Grass.  Dinner was yummy as always; salad, bread, center cut filet, green beans and mashed potatoes.  You could buy alcohol but I didn't want to jinx anything.  Dinner started pretty early, by 5 pm, so we were done and back in our rooms by 7 pm.  Jenna found Pitch Perfect on TV, we sang along with the movie as we stretched and prepared ourselves for race morning.  We hit the sack around 10 pm but I was still wide awake at 11 pm (darn nerves!).  I'm so glad I packed Tylenol PM, I was so anxious I had to take 2 of them to knock myself out.

Day and I at the Team Beef dinner 1/16/2016

I woke up at 5:10 am race morning to start my routine. The temp was 40 degrees at 7 am (felt like 36), with 10 mph winds. By the end of the race it would be 52 degrees (noon) but feel like 68.  Weather.com said it would be sunny and clear, perfect race day conditions! I wore lulu shorts with side pockets to stash my Gu's, beef tank, arm warmers, hydration vest, hat and throwaway zip up hoodie. I ate a piece of toast with peanut butter (yes I brought my toaster from home), drank lots of water and used the restroom 3 times before heading out.  Jenna and I left our hotel room by 6:20 am to line up in corral C.  Day had to leave at 6 am for corral A as it closed by 6:40 am.

Team Beef! Pre-race morning 1/17/2016

Jenna - my fabulous sherpa

the 3 runners

We only waited outside for maybe 20 mins before the race started at 7 am.  We crossed the start line around 7:15 am, and it immediately felt colder (no more huddling around others for body heat), so cold that my hands were freezing!  Around mile 1.5 I had to pick up discarded gloves off the street. I dropped my hoodie around mile 2 and then threw off the gloves at mile 4. I kept my arm warmers on until mile 9. This race was so well supported I was in awe, San Antonio was nothing like this! There were tons of volunteers and bystanders cheering us on the ENTIRE way. The course was mostly flat, with some small hills at miles 12, 13 and 23 (nothing bad). When we ran through the neighborhoods the road was covered by a canopy of trees, beautiful!

Mile 1 - 9:23, Mile 2 - 9:23, Mile 3 - 9:29, Mile 4 - 9:20, Mile 5 - 9:40, Mile 6 - 9:36, Mile 7 - 9:27, Mile 8 - 9:29

Freezing at the start

my attempt at a picture WHILE running

Somewhere around mile 7 I think

My feet started hurting around mile 9 or 10, but I think that's because we were running on concrete instead of asphalt.  Mile 12 was the 1st and only slight hill I really remember, that was also when I felt my first trickle of sweat down my face, though I'm pretty sure I was sweating the entire time.  I felt great passing mile 13, half way done!  I was making good time on my pace until mile 17/18, that's when it started to get hard and my hips/thighs started to burn.  My two middle toes on my right foot were rubbing wrong in my sock and were in distress since mile 15, they were going numb...but I refused to stop.

Mile 9 - 9:30, Mile 10 - 9:30, Mile 11 - 9:21, Mile 12 - 9:48, Mile 13 - 9:37, Mile 14 - 9:44, Mile 15 - 9:37

By mile 20 I could feel my pace dropping, I couldn't sustain under a 10 pace.  My strategy was to run 9:30's until at least mile 15, stay under a 10 pace until mile 20, and then I knew 20+ I would go over a 10 pace but hoped to keep it under an 11 pace.  So far I was correct in how I'd perform and when I hit mile 20 I just kept telling myself to keep moving, sustain, don't stop!  I did get a slight cramp on my right side around mile 21 or 22.  I just had to run through it and eventually it went away.

Mile 16 - 9:48, Mile 17 - 9:49, Mile 18 - 9:50, Mile 19 - 9:55, Mile 20 - 10:07, Mile 21 - 10:07, Mile 22 - 10:14 

somewhere around mile 23

The last 4 miles were the worst, mentally and physically.  I had trained to 22 miles so I knew I could do it, I just had to stay focused.  I really wanted to walk and had to keep telling myself "NO, I must sustain, do not stop, everyone knows you can do this, everyone's watching you!".  I recognized my surroundings by mile 24 (from the course video) and started to perk up again, I only had 2 more miles to go!  I was ecstatic when I hit mile 25...only 1.2 to go, screw my last Gu! When we got closer to the finish I saw the 1/2 mile marker sign and was elated! So close!! I was picking up speed (just a little bit).  Then I saw a sign for a 1/4 mile, yipee!  We turned a corner and there was the finish!!!  OMG OMG OMG I'm here, I'm home!!

Mile 23 - 10:24, Mile 24 - 10:39, Mile 25 - 10:39, Mile 26 - 10:19, last 0.45 - 4:06 (9:10 pace)

When I crossed that finish line I let all the emotions wash over me. I started to sniffle/cry/sob. Some guy looked over at me all concerned and I told him "it's OK, these are tears of joy"...joy to be finished, joy to hit my goal, joy that the pain of running was over!  Hallelujah, give me my MEDAL!

Houston chip time: 4:18:51 in 26.2 mi (9:52 pace) - PR baby!
My Garmin: 4:18:50 in 26.45 mi (9:47 pace)

Video, it should start at timestamp 3:33:10

The volunteers immediately ushered us into the expo hall where we had our pictures taken, received water and picked up our finisher shirt and mug.  I also went to the free massage area to have my lower back and legs worked on.  I really wasn't hungry so I skipped the free HEB breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc) and just went with the free banana that I worked so hard for...

finish line, 1/17/2016

Official finish picture

Inside the expo, recovering, waiting for my free massage

Results

medal and finishers mug

I'm thrilled about my performance. I totally redeemed my 1st marathon experience and earned myself a 34 min PR!  I was more confident, stronger and better prepared my 2nd time around.

Jenna was amazing.  Not only did she run the half but she was an excellent sherpa for me and Day.  After I finished my massage Jenna met me outside the expo with my flip flops, took off my shoes and sweaty socks, carried all my stuff back to the hotel room and even got me a chocolate milk!  After dropping me off she went back for Day.  Day finished in 3:25, qualifying for Boston.  She was at the expo longer than me as she had to go to the medical tent to put ice on her foot.  After showering and checking out of the hotel we stopped at a little Tex-Mex place just outside of Houston for a celebratory drink and sustenance.  We made it home around 6 pm.

Very late lunch and DRINKS!

I was sore for about 3-4 days, the 2nd day being the worst.  By Thursday I was doing much better and Friday I was able to do a short recovery run with very little tenderness.  My 2 middle toes on my right foot are still a little wonky and tend to go numb when I run over 3 miles.  I also noticed about a week later that the outer upper side of my left foot feels bruised.  Marathons wreck you!  However so far I haven't had any toenails turn black or fall off and no blisters.  Winning!!

Some of my favorite signs I read along the race:

• 26.2 miles on a bike lasts only 90 mins (yeah yeah rub it in)
• Your car's being towed (IE run faster!)
• If you think running's hard try being this cute (held up by tiny cute kids)
• Chuck Norris never ran a marathon!
• I do Netflix marathons!
• Hey girl, I'm waiting for you, run faster (~Ryan Gosling w/o shirt)
• Power up, hit here (Nintendo Mario star or mushroom)
• May the course be with you!  (Yeah Star Wars!)
• I like your stamina call me!

Signs I didn't see but heard about...too funny not to post!:

• "If you collapse, I'll pause your Garmin"
• "Keep running or I'll vote for Trump!"
• "You just burned 2000 extra a calories...hello deep fried Oreo"
• "I don't do marathons, but I do a marathoner" (I saw this on a shirt at the expo)
•  "No more early Saturday runs means more Friday sex!" haha, that was solid.  Of course I ran all my long runs Friday morning :)
• "Are you guys chasing a squirrel?"

Race prep:
What I ate:  I carb loaded 4-5 days before the marathon and tried not to drink any alcohol 2 weeks before (I caved and had 1 drink the Sunday before the race, 1 week before).  I ate lots of waffles and syrup, pasta and baked potatoes.  The day before the race I had subway for lunch, 1 Gatorade and some pretzels for snack. For the Team Beef dinner I ate 1/2 a salad (beware of roughage!), bread, center cut filet, green beans and mashed potatoes.  Breakfast the day of the race was 1 piece of toast 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 had my hydration vest so I didn't have to stop at any water stops.
What I wore:  Lulu shorts w/ side pockets, beef tank top, stuff your bra (more pockets!), arm warmers (wore for the 1st time), Garmin watch, fitbit, hat, glasses, hydration vest, Brooks Glycerin shoes (sz 9.5), spenco earthbound insoles, wrightsocks double layer and throwaway zip up hoodie.  I should have brought throw away gloves, it was so cold they were needed the first 3-4 miles.  I went up 1/2 a size in my shoe which saved my toes, more room.
Other items I carried:  Cell phone, 7 Gu's, mp3 player, hotel keycard, chapstick (used only at beg of race), small glide (didn't use).

San Antonio Marathon - Complete!

I completed my first (and only??) marathon and met my goals!!  Finished in under 5 hours and injury free!  It was a very rough run; those last 6 miles were brutal, my feet hurt the entire run, I got a side cramp around mile 16 and the back half of the marathon was desolate (very little crowd support).  I'm also not sure why this was called a rock n roll marathon as I swear I only saw maybe 5 bands total.  However long story short, IT.IS.DONE!  Check one off my bucket list.  :)  A big thank you to all my running and bootcamp buddies.  I wouldn't have been able to do it without you!

I could barely contain my excitement the week leading up to the marathon.  I followed my training plan religiously and had made it through without injuring myself; no broken hips, or fractured feet or IT band issues (which are all my usual downfalls).  I ate lean when I could (meats and veggies), carb loaded the week before, and was on an alcohol moratorium 2 weeks before the race.  I was ready.

Runner girl nails!

At the expo

Thanks to Amanda and her marathon check list I had everything I needed for my big day.  The hubby and I drove down to SA the day before, hit up the Expo and purchased a few items, and then checked into our hotel room.  We stayed at the Courtyard San Antonio Riverwalk as it was only 1 mile away from the start line.  Since we got there first I made sure the front desk put Pete, Laura and Danielle in adjoining rooms.  We barely had enough time to take a shower before heading down to Texas Land & Cattle for our Team Beef dinner.  As Pete was a Beef Tip in training for Team Beef, he was able to invite us along.  I'll be a Beef Tip next year!  After dinner we made a quick stop at a very shady quickie mart for some water and then headed back to our rooms.  Pete had purchased a 'buffer' (really awesome massage thingamajig) from the Expo so we spent the next couple of hours buffing our legs, Malek took one for the team and ended up buffing off the hair on his legs.  Around 10:30pm I called it a night and headed to bed.

Danielle (sherpa), Laura and myself on way to Team Beef dinner

Goof balls.  My hubby Malek (2nd sherpa) and Pete

I woke up the next morning around 5:30am to begin my pre-race rituals.  I must have been nervous because I went to the restroom 3 times before we even left our rooms!  And thank goodness I had brought bagels and peanut butter (and a knife) as the hotel restaurant didn't open until after 7am.  By 6:45am I was 'gently' pushing Pete out the door so we could make our way to the start line.  Unfortunately we didn't make it out of the hotel until close to 7am, which made for a very tight timeline.  We had just made it to the Alamodome around 7:20am-ish when we heard the national anthem.  We had to rush down some stairs, jump over a wall (to avoid other runners and a bottleneck at a staircase) and run up a street to get to the start line (that was our warm-up).  They had already released the wheelchair participants when we found our corral and jumped in at 7:29am.  Talk about down to the wire!  At 7:30 they started releasing the corrals every few mins.  Laura joined my corral so we could run together.  We were stoked!  The music, the vibe, it was surreal!  We were actually here.  Time for all our training to pay off.  We had no idea what we were really in for...

pre-race hotel room pic

In our corral, ready to go! 12/7/2014

It was 53 degrees when we started, warmer than I would have liked as I was hoping for low 40s.  Thankfully it was overcast for the entire race.  I wore shorts and a tank top, hat, glasses, mp3 player, 7 Gu's and my hydration vest.  I had my phone in the back pocket so Malek could track me via GPS.  We crossed the start line around 7:50am, HERE WE GO!  I could hear Amanda and Jenn in my head telling me not to rush, so I made sure to run between a 9:45-10 pace.  There was so much going on I didn't even turn my mp3 player on until after the 5K split.  Unfortunately at mile 2 both feet started to hurt.  :(  This had NEVER happened to me on any of my training runs.  The bottom of both feet just ached, and I could feel my big toe on my right foot rubbing.  This was going to be a LONG and painful race.

We encountered our first hill halfway through mile 5.  Thankfully this big hill was at the beginning of the race and we totally conquered it.  We saw Ashley at this point (she was running the half) and we high fived each other as we passed.  Danielle and Malek found us around mile 7 and cheered us on.

Mile 1 - 9:32, Mile 2 - 9:26, Mile 3 - 9:51, Mile 4 - 9:58, Mile 5 - 9:49 (hill), Mile 6 - 10:19 (hill), Mile 7 - 9:51

Mile 7 - feeling good

I don't remember too much about the individual miles after that, some of the roads were kinda sketchy and uneven, and we passed some pretty shady houses on cinder blocks with dogs tied to chains in the front yard.  There was excellent crowd support for the first half of the marathon.  As we approached mile 12 (where the half split off from the full) Laura made a quick decision to run the full marathon.  I'm so glad she did because after the half marathon runners split off everything changed.  The course became desolate.  The crowds and the energy disappeared.  We only saw 3 other marathon runners in front of us, it was like we weren't even in a race anymore.  Where did everybody go?

Mile 8 - 9:37, Mile 9 - 10:01, Mile 10 - 10:07, Mile 11 - 10:16, Mile 12 - 10:10, Mile 13 - 10:44

Miles 13-16 were rough.  We started feeling warm and both of us were experiencing feet pain.  WTF, seriously why was this happening!?  This never happened on my training runs.  At mile 14 I told Laura that this race was not panning out how I thought it would and that I would probably end up walking towards the end, I already knew my pace was suffering.  She was in the same boat, after mile 14 it just got worse.  I ended up with a side cramp around mile 16 (ugh!) and when I saw Malek at mile 16.5 I finally walked...and cried.  I WAS MISERABLE.  I told him not to ever let me sign up for another marathon again.  At mile 17 I started experiencing lower back pain.  At least by this point we caught up with the rest of the marathoners, miles 18-20 felt like a race again with all the people.

Mile 14 - 10:35, Mile 15 - 10:36, Mile 16 - 10:58 (side cramp), Mile 17 - 11:15, Mile 18 - 13:27 (walked), Mile 19 - 11:08, Mile 20 - 10:59

Mile 16/17 - miserable, hit my wall.  I'm actually crying here...

Mile 16/17, side cramp, sherpa meeting.  I cried when I saw my hubby

Walking for a bit helped calm me down and mentally regain control.  We started running again and didn't stop until we hit mile 20.  For almost all of mile 21 we walked (and ate my last Gu).  I didn't feel bad at all about walking as I noticed all the other marathoners were doing the same thing.  After mile 21 I told myself I'd only walk up hills and run the flats and declines.  Laura and I broke away from each other around mile 21.  I think there were 2 or 3 more hills on the last 6 miles.  Those last 6 miles were brutal, not to mention they were on this concrete path along a river in some park...very little support and the runners had thinned out again.  Finally around mile 23 I told myself no more walking and I pushed myself to jog in the last 3 miles.  It finally felt like I was back in a race the last 2 miles as we made our way back into town.

Mile 21 - 17:10 (walked), Mile 22 - 11:43, Mile 23 - 14:00 (walked up a hill), Mile 24 - 12:04

I can't even begin to describe how I felt when I saw that finish line, I was thrilled!  I could see it from about half a mile away and I was just overcome with joy and relief.  I remember asking a bystander if that was really the finish line.  'YES' they said.  Finally, the end was in sight!  I have never been so relieved to complete something and JUST BE DONE!  I saw Malek and Danielle just a few feet in front of the finish, gave them a high five and propelled myself across that finish line!

Mile 25 - 12:00, Mile 26 - 11:51, last 0.48 - 10:59 pace

My official chip time was 4:52:57 at an 11:11 pace, based off 26.2 miles.
My garmin showed I ran 26.48 miles in 4:52:57, which averages out to an 11:03 pace overall.

trying to smile and wave...took a lot of energy

Finish line ahead

official finish line

I'm a marathoner!  Oh the pain!!!

We survived

medal, time, bib

Video of me crossing the finish line

It was 60 degrees when I finished and my entire body ached.  I found Pete in the recovery zone and we headed to the medical tent so I could have bags of ice taped to my hips and calves.  Malek showed up shortly after that to congratulate us and then we found Laura and Danielle just a few minutes later.  Thank goodness our sherpas parked close so we didn't have to walk very far.  Making our way back up to our hotel room was painful, my feet were killing me!  We got back a little after 1pm and barely had enough time to shower and gather our belongings before we had to check out at 2pm.  To celebrate we all went to Las Palapas for sustenance; margaritas and all the queso we wanted!

I was sore until Friday, mainly my thighs, day 2 was the worst.  I also had blisters under both big toe nails (ewwww).  I'm pretty sure I'll lose the toenail on my right big toe.  I had told myself I'd never run another marathon...3 days later us girls were talking about when we could compete in our next marathon and how we could improve our times.  Pain will pass, pride will last.  Bring it!

Sweat + Sacrifice = Success
All this for a lousy banana!
Run like you stole something!
No one ever drowned in sweat.
You must do the thing you think you cannot do.  ~Eleanor Roosevelt


Race prep:
What I ate:  Steak, mashed potatoes and broccoli the night before, lots and lots of water!  Breakfast consisted of half a bagel with peanut butter, water.  I ate a gu every 5 miles during the race as well as one right before it started.  As I had my hydration vest I didn't have to stop at any water stops, Malek met me at mile 17 to give me an extra water bottle just in case I drained my pack.
What I wore:  Nike shorts, tank top, garmin watch, hat, glasses, hydration vest, asics gel nimbus shoes sz 9 (which were shot after this marathon, and apparently too small), wrightsocks double layer.
Other items I carried:  Cell phone, 7 Gu's, mp3 player.