Marathon Race Report: Sub 3 hours!

So, as Coach directed, I started out slow, doing my first 10K at 7min-6:50 pace. I felt great. The crowds were great. The rain was slowing down. Life was GOOD! I LOVE MARATHONS!

A couple miles later...around the 12 mile mark...I'm realizing that my legs ain't feeling so great and my hamstrings are hurting and I haven't picked up the pace quite enough. At the 1/2 marathon mark, I hit 1:29, which is 2 minutes slower than I wanted to be. I saw Coach around then and he said that I looked strong and that I was the 12th woman. I didn't feel strong. In fact, I felt pretty crappy and was reminiscing about my 21+ long runs where I felt awesome the entire time. I was kind of bumming out, thinking that I wasn't going to even hit the 3 hour mark which was my bare minimum goal. And, then...one of the women in front of me ran off to take a potty break...and I thought, well, maybe I can get in the top ten women. I shortly thereafter passed woman number 11 around mile 14.

From 14 to 20 I struggled and the next woman in sight was way ahead of me. I hit 20 miles at 2:15 and thought if I can just keep a 7:30 pace I can at least hit the 3 hour mark. But, my legs were dying. I had totally hit the wall around mile 16 and felt like the earth's gravitational pull had grown infinitely stronger. But, I didn't want to get home and think that I'd given up on this "one chance." So, I decided to focus on beating the next woman. In quick succession, I passed Ms. 10 and Ms. 9 at mile 21! I passed Ms. 8 somewhere in between 21 and 22. And, Ms. 7 and Ms. 6 died at the mile 23 aid station. I just had to beat Ms. 5....the woman in turquiose ahead of me. I'm not sure what I looked like, but I certainly felt like hell...until one woman screamed: "Number XXX, You are my hero!!" Heart leaping, I picked up the pace and passed Ms. 5 at mile 23.5 and was running scared until the end! For every person that passed me, I'd say a little prayer: please be a man, please be a man!

At mile 26, I was dying...the clock was ticking...and my heart was sinking. While I was at least in the top 5 women, I didn't think I'd make it under the 3-hour mark. As I made the final descent down to the finish at mile 26, I saw my coach and he screamed "you're at 2:58! If you book it down this hill you can make it under three hours!!" AND I RAN MY FREAKING HEART OUT!

I made it with 20 seconds to spare. It was pretty cool getting to stand up on the podium with the winners...

The rest of the day I was unabashedly telling anyone and everyone that I got 5th place. I'm sure that there are some "real" runners that would have been embarrassed to go touting their sub gold finish, but heck! I was just happy to make it to the top five!

I felt so lucky to have awesome support druing the race. I saw my husband, son, father, and mother four times around the course and my coach three times! In my own internal "acceptance" speech for my 5th place and sub-3 hour finish, I can't thank my husband enough for all of his support and altered work schedules and my coach and new running friends for the awesome company and advice!