#2 Marathon done

So everything that I was afraid for-was not in my head. I guess I had every reason to be afraid it was a marathon for peets sake. Short recap on the race day. I woke up at 3:30 to an alarm-thinking it was time for me to get up for the race, when I looked at the clock on the wall and my phone and they both told me it was still way to early to get up. I was really confused because my phone was set to go off at 5:40. Turns out the Storage alarm was going off at that time and it was still dialed to me-weird. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep after that.

Since I had everything out and ready like normal the morning went smoothly. The race was about a half mile from my hotel so I did a warm up walk (or a wet down walk since it was raining) and then stood in the bathroom line-barely making it with a whole 2 minutes to start before race time.

 The weather was indeed wonderful-I welcomed the rain. I didn't expect the different chafing I would get but that was ok. Mark and the girls were in 3 different areas so of course it was awesome to see them throughout the race. I did my first 6.2 with great time avg: 8:45 by my second 6.2 I was up to a 9:10 and then it all went down hill from there (not literally). I had a mental game plan of breaking my run up into 4 splits with each being a 10k. The goal was to do 13.1 at a 8:50 and 13.1 at a 9:07 pace. I really focused on this until the ol' back started aching and then those darn knees wouldn't bend so well and ached. After that I decided the best thing for me to do was make it through the race feeling good even though I knew I wasn't going to be anywhere near my goal pace. I ended up walking at every water station and letting my knees stretch out for a few seconds. It was a great mental motivator knowing that after every 3-5 miles I might get a little rest. However when I saw my time slip away my heart did ache.

 I really tried to pick it up at the end and get my legs moving faster but I couldn't break the 9minute barrier and decided-why am I killing myself, forget the time, forget the time, forget the time!!!!!!!!!This is the hardest thing for a runner to do I think-mentally try and have fun, not pace. I have to say I enjoyed the run so very much. I loved the scenery, the people, the few spectators, the weather, and almost all of the course. It was fun to see a few familiar faces on the run and to cheer them on as they passed me going the opposite way. You also have to somewhat put on a normal face because you never know when your picture is going to be taken or your family might be.

 I would do this run again in a heart beat-but only if I trained to kick some serious butt. I don't know why after you do good in a race you think you still need to keep up that time but I really need to pick up my game-loose 15 pounds, tone and run like mad. I came in on this run at a 4:15 and my last marathon was a 3:53 so I had a huge decrease in time. That goes to show that you can't eat everything and anything you want as a runner or you will pay for it.

 I don't think I have ever been out of the finish area so quick before. I was ready to be with my family and get back to the hotel so I could get out of my wet clothes and especially my wet shoes. Here I am showing off the prized medal-or glass.

 Part of my support team-loved saige blowing the blow horn, she was always so embarrassed looking to do it.

 When I got back to the hotel I had 5 blisters and some major blood chafing on my inside bikini line-that's a new one. My feet looked like little grapes, all withered. I sat in the cold bath for 10 minutes and then warmed my core back up. My loving husband rubbed my legs and feet for a little bit-ahhh I loved having  personal massage hands with me. Then it was time to move on with the day.

 Since Mark was so emotional at the finish line-he forgot to take a photo of me coming in (woops). He knew my goal and he knew that it was something that would wear at me. I think he was also worried because I had told him to look for me at the 4hour time and as every minute passed he knew something had to have gone wrong. Here I am at the finish line-yes this was much later during the day.

 The afternoon turned out to be so sunny and so we enjoyed checking out the ocean from our hotel balcony. Our hotel was fantastic and we were really able to have that down time that we needed.

 This is really as close as I got to the ocean (from my porch). I didnt' have the energy to walk down there-not when I could look at it from this spot and also from the hot tub. The 2 girls spent about an hour down there writing messages to us and checking out the rocks.

 We actually took this picture when we got to Newport. I decided if I stood in front of it, it would be as if it was welcoming just me, (instead of marathoners).

 Everyone keeps asking how my knees are. Here is the story. I am pretty sure they are ok just extremely sore right now. I haven't ran on them however so I am not for sure yet. I have taken a few days off to recover and plan on trying to get a few miles in within the next few days. I guess that is when I will know for sure what will be happening with my long term race goals. As of now I am trying to talk Mark into going to Georgia with me to do one or to sign up for the Portland. So far I stink at talking him into it-he tells me to first run and then we will see.

What a fantastic Marathon weekend. The only missing piece was my sweet Rylan who had a Ballet performance on the same day. I really wished she could have been with us but hopefully next time things will be planned out better and we will get everything arranged how we should.