TexasLindsey

The Fort Worth Marathon.  My first.   3:35:01. Average pace 8:12.  My average pace for the first half was 8:10 and for the second half it was 8:13.   I'm qualified for Boston!!  Only needed 3:40. 

Now that I've had time to rest a little, I'm including some more details that I am remembering. 

mile 1	7:57
mile 2	8:17
mile 3	8:18
mile 4	8:19
mile 5	8:15
mile 6	8:10
mile 7	8:05
mile 8	8:05
mile 9	8:24
mile 10	8:11
mile 11	8:02
mile 12	8:13
mile 13	8:01
mile 14	8:07
mile 15	8:04
mile 16	8:14
mile 17	8:03
mile 18	8:14
mile 19	7:56
mile 20	8:07
mile 21	8:34
mile 22	8:15
mile 23	8:10
mile 24	8:24
mile 25	8:43
mile 26	7:59
final .2	7:22

It's surreal.  I did so much better than I thought possible.  I had a "realistic" goal of 3:45 (8:34 pace) and what I considered "highly optimistic" goal of 3:40 (8:23 pace), which is my Boston qualifying time....   BUT NO....  I did it in 3:35:01 (8:12 pace).  I can't believe it. 

I felt great!  The weather was great!  My ipod kept playing the exact perfect song at the exact perfect time.  I had a half marathon PR at the half ... 1:47:something.  My plan was 8:30 a mile.  I went out faster than the plan because 8:15ish just felt like a jog!   

I thought I might pay for it later, but really I felt great the whole way.  At mile 1, I thought it felt like I'd only run about a quarter mile.  At mile 8, I would have guessed by the way I felt, I only had run 3 miles.  As I approached the half, I was thinking I couldn't believe how much energy I still had.  I've run 4 races that were over 12 miles and in all of them I was going slower than this... and in all of them I thought I was about to die at the end...  Amazing.   

Kept waiting for "the wall" and it never came.   Miles 18-21 were probably the worst miles of the race for me but mainly because they were boring... they weren't by a road and there were no spectators... also it was into the sun... but I just concentrated on how great it would be to get in the final miles.  After the race, I was surprised to see I had a 7:56 mile right in the middle of those hard miles.  OK...  I now believe in the taper!  I was really doubting before, but now I'm a believer.

I used 6 caffeine gu's during the race.  Four 25 mg, two 50 mg.  I had to take most of them without water.   There was some kind of issue with the water stops.  After mile 2 there wasn't another one until mile 11!!  The race director and spectators got people out there at water stations in the second half but I didn't know where the stations would be since they weren't there in the first half.   Luckily for me, I had arranged for my husband and Dad to meet me at mile 8, 18, 21 with Nuun.  I only did this because I thought drinking sugary gatoraide would give me stomach issues.  So good thing I planned ahead like this, because the water station issues didn't affect me...  

I really need to figure out how to drink while running.  I only stopped for 10-15 seconds to drink but stopping also cost me some momentum.  There was a girl who I passed at mile 7 and she passed me back at mile 15.  She finished in 3:33.  I can't drink and run like she could.  I think we were going close to the same pace but everytime I stopped to drink, she would get further ahead.  

The second half of the marathon was on track to be faster than the first... I was thinking that I had energy for a big kick that I was waiting until 2 miles to go to unleash... but then at mile 25, I had some kind of nerve issue in my left leg.. sharp pains streaking up along behind my knee and toward my back.  I had to stop and stretch because my leg stopped responding to me and I thought I was going to fall over ...that was the reason mile 25 was 8:43 .... I started thinking that maybe I would have to truck it in at the 8:45 pace the rest of the way....  but then I got pissed and said No Way am I slowing down for THIS... so I sped up!  ...and then Lady GaGa came on my ipod... and then this girl tried to pass me...  all of it just happened at once and it was perfect... I got so determined and at first I was running through the pain but then... the pain went away.  I totally smoked that girl who tried to pass me.   Then I hit the final .2 miles and I smoked everyone in sight.  I have never felt so powerful before in my whole life. 

I can't believe I did this well.   I'm so proud.