There was some drama before the race. Ross wanted to gamble it all and not ride the bus. He figured worse case scenario we would run about a mile to the start line with all the road closures. Then I realized I forgot my bib at my aunt's house 5 minutes after we left. So we had to turn around and a cop yelled at my Dad for going the wrong way on a partially shut down road. Lucky he didn't get a ticket.....Then some lights flashed as he sped through an intersection and now I will be getting a ticket because it was my car...To make things worse a road my Dad thought we could take was closed off. Marieta, my Mom, and I convinced him to talk to the cop patrolling the road and see if we could find a way closer to the course. The cop said our best bet was to run the 2.5 miles to start line from that point. It was around 6:10 at this point with a 6:30 race start. I accepted out fate and was ready to start jogging to the start. My Dad was still convinced he could find a closer path and was mad "we made him" talk to the cop. I told him its not that big of a deal but running an extra 2.5 miles was really going to suck for him. I left him as he was still arguing with my Mom.
As I began my slow jog towards the start I made a decision to not let my Dad stress me out and shrugged it all off. I even enjoyed the jog a little bit. It was dark with a full moon. Fireworks were going off and then the race started. The runners cruised past me as I ran the opposite direction looking for a bathroom. I spent some time in the bathroom, set up my airpods and watch and mentally checked in for the race. I'm 90% sure I was the last person to start the race. My Dad even started before me.
It was hard not to run super fast with 2,000 runners in front of me but I found a good 6:45-7:00 pace. I passed my Dad on the only climb of the race. I was locked in on hitting conservative low 7 minute miles. It took a while to find that. At the half way point I convinced my brain I was doing a reset on everything. Every mile behind me did not matter. I was in a new race, a much more tiring race. As the miles went by I was still feeling comfy. I was expecting Marieta and my Mom to get me some electrolyte drinks between miles 13-17. I wasn't sure when it was going to happen but I was excited for it. Then around mile 18 I saw my car off to the side of the course and they hadn't seen me yet. So I yelled "Marieta" and they just weren't ready to help me and I wasn't going to stop for them (I was rolling). Once again I found myself accepting my fate and that I wasn't going to get the drinks I planned on. I was a little nervous that the aid station materials weren't going to be sufficient for me. Luckily, right around mile 20 Marieta was there with my drinks. Marieta was a freaking bad a and popped open the tab to my Mt. Dew energy drink as she was handing it to me. Then I said "give me both" and she ran to catch up and give me my electrolyte drink. I enjoyed the taste of pure energy in a can. I probably spilled half of it on my face. I was ready to hammer down the last 6 miles and see how close to 3 hours I could get. Mile 21 was not kind to me. I felt a little pulsating in my quad and I thought, "this is my nightmare!" Charleston and STG memories came swirling back in my mind. I saw myself lying on the ground with baseball sized cramps in my quads. I heard the voice of Coleman making fun of me for falling over. I slowed down to hopefully alleviate the chance of my cramping. Any time I accelerated I could feel my body wanting to seize up. So I settled for 7:30-7:40s for the last couple of miles. I knew if I tried to hammer down and run the way I wanted, there was a good chance I would cramp up. Then I would end up running like a 3:20-3:30 marathon. So I coasted to the finish to secure a sub 3:10 marathon. I think it was the right move. Overall I think this was my best marathon ever! Beaver was faster by time but today there was no falling apart. I didn't walk once and I kept all my miles under 8 minutes.
1. 6:44
2. 6:57
3. 6:56
4. 6:51
5. 7:30 (uphill)
6. 7:19
7. 6:48
8. 7:04
9. 6:53
10. 6:50
11. 7:00
12. 6:59
13. 6:57
14. 7:02
15. 7:05
16. 7:04
17. 7:08
18. 7:05
19. 7:00
20. 7:00
21. 7:25
22. 7:27
23. 7:55
24. 7:41
25. 7:40
26. 7:40
.36. 2:37
3:08:49/7:10 mile pace
Mtn Dew 11/100
Next steps:
-Rest up! I need to let my body recover from all these marathons of the past year.
-Focus on coaching for track! I just want to run with the kids without worrying about additional miles.
-Lose weight. I want to be down in the low 160s before I run another marathon.
-Get ready for the Beaver Marathon and be ready to crush on August 5th!
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