Last weekend, I had my big marathon.
You know, the one I've been training for since the beginning of July.
The one where I trained through severe heat only to be a mere few degrees above freezing at race time. Yep, that one.
The race was through the Quad Cities.
It was 5 races, 4 cities, 3 bridges, 2 states and 1 island.
The old 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
The zero should be the amount of awards I won.
My goal of the race was to come in under 2 hours and I did it with a mere 5 minutes to spare.
Let's break it down.
Mile 1: Ran across a bridge. It was cold but I felt great.
Mile 2: Feeling awesome. Still a little cold but starting to warm the old body up.
Mile 3: Is someone stabbing me in the back with a knife? Am I 90? My hip feels out of place.?
Mile 4: Pains worked themselves out. Feeling good.
Mile 5: Dropping time down to the lower 8's. Maybe I should slow down.
Mile 6: Am I smiling? I've been running for nearly 50 minutes, I can't be smiling. Oh look, a GU pack.
Mile 7: Got a couple swallows of the GU down with the help of a water chaser. Those things are nasty. In awe that I'm running a better pace than I did in my 7 mile race back in July.
Mile 8: Am I lost? Did I miss the half-marathon turn? I can't even fathom running a full marathon.
Mile 9: Running back across a bridge and it's grated. I feel like a thousand people are jumping up and down on my feet.
Mile 10: Holy shit, I still have 3 miles left. I don't think I'll make it.
Mile 11: Found a wet towel, all of my clothes are soaked through and just praying I can make it to the end or at least the next water stop.
Mile 12: ONE.MORE.MILE. I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!
Mile 13: Oh look it's the finish line. I think I'll take off in a dead sprint like I haven't been running for 2 hours. Oh, I think I just heard my husband!
End: Maybe I'll do that again.
Isn't that how every race is? It's so easy to mentally knock myself down in a race and want to quit. I walked at ever water stop to actually get the liquid down and a couple of times when my chest was feeling heavy but other than that I ran.
I know I'll be doing a half again, it was actually kind of fun. A full marathon is not in the near or probably even 5 year future. It would have to be when my kids get old enough that they can fend for themselves while I'm training.
The only thing I wished I had done differently was to suck up the cold at the beginnig of the race and wear a lighter shirt and shorts.
Other than that, I'm pretty proud of my time for it being my first half.
Official Time: 1:54:11
Garmin Stats: 1:54:12
Showing off Bruce.
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