By now, some of you...maybe a lot of you, may not want to hear anymore about our marathon in Austin Sunday. Totally understandable! I've been yacking about it for weeks now. But trust...this post will be ALLLLL about the marathon on Sunday. So if you are over it, feel free to click Mr. X in the top right corner. No hurt feelings!
We left on Saturday morning and headed towards Austin. We were originally gonna leave Friday, but changes in work schedules and me feeling crummy made leaving Saturday more reasonable. As always when we travel, I get ummm stressed before we leave.
Side Note: I'm a time management freak of nature. I am also a punctuality cop (thanks Mom). So if we are running even 5 minutes behind, I get uneasy. That's me, can't change it, can be frustrating, whatareyagonnadoaboutit.
So we left a few minutes behind "schedule," and arrived to a VERY rainy and dreary Austin Texas at about 3pm. By rainy, I mean pouring. And we walked/ran into the expo center trying not to get drenched. Picked up our swag bags, and started to shop. Now, the EXPO is a like a huge runner's paradise full of all sorts of gear and stuff that us runners like. Now, I don't really like the EXPO. Why? Crowds. I can't handle the tightly packed booths and tons of people. It freaks me out. And I get all bothered.
Side Note: I sound like a complete crazy so far. And I'm not even a quarter way done. Lets just say...this week, I was battling aching knees, and trying to fend off a cold, all while juggling a crazy schedule. So by Saturday, I was full on frazzled. Normally, I can handle schedule setbacks and crowds. This week, not so much. But in the interest of honesty...
So we left the EXPO. Not before I bought a new pair of Experia socks (it's a tradition). I also looked for a LIVESTRONG shirt to wear to the race, since the team shirt they gave me was too big, but I didn't find anything. Which left me with limited wardrobe options for the race...
So we went to Academy. And my husband bought me a really lovely BRIGHT yellow long sleeve, to compliment my really amazing zebra tights that I had been wanting to wear since Christmas. So I was set!
After our totally predictable and typical trip to Carino's where we order the SAME thing every time (creature of habit...). Followed by our even more predictable trip to Target to buy whole wheat mini bagels, peanut butter, and water for the room (I swear I'm not crazy...just predictable). We were back in our hotel room by 730pm. By 9, I was a pumpkin, and ready for bed. 5am comes early!
Since we stayed at a hotel within walking distance of the start line, it was much less hectic than trying to drive and park like we had before in San Antonio. It was actually nice to be all dressed and ready, and then have a nice 10 min walk to get to the crowds. We checked our gear, found a short port-o-potty line (this is an amazing amazing thing...), and we literally hopped in line with the 3:55 pace group at 6:55 am, 5 minutes to start. So I didn't really have time to analyze anything, because we were just right on time. Before I knew it, we were running. And the craziest 4 hours of my life started.
Now you may say, since I've done this before, how can it be that crazy. And I could read back to my old posts and probably read that I said that San Antonio 26.2 in November was crazy. Trust. This race was nuts. Sure, it starts off all nice and rosy with THOUSANDS of people cheering for you on the way out. Nice flat road, bands playing, cool weather, etc. But about mile 2. BAM! You start climbing. And then climbing, and climbing some more. Maybe its because we run in flat South Texas. But those hills, the relentless, rolling, keep going and going, and going hills, DID NOT STOP for the first 13 miles. You'd start to think it would be ok, because you'd come down hill for what seemed just like a few seconds, but then again...OH, another hill. And there were a ton of turns getting in and around the downtown area. And turns mean one thing for me.
Added mileage. Because inevitably, at every race, even though you are supposed to line up with the group that goes at your pace (example: We wanted to finish in 4 hours, we lined up with the 3:55 hour group. Amanda wanted to run a 10 min mile, she lined up with the 10 min mile group) people just line up, whereever they are.
***Why line up with your pace group? This keeps you from going too fast too quick and burning out, or, from slowing down people that are attempting to go faster than you. That is what it's designed to do...but it never works...
We lined up with 3:55 pacers, and there were people walking in front of me. So you spend the first 4 miles or so trying to get around all of the people that are not moving as fast, so it causes sort of a bottleneck effect. When turns come, since there's so many people, we usually end up going on the outside of the turn to get around. This adds distance. So just like last time, by the time the race was over, I had run 26.44 miles...not 26.2. So a lot of turns in the beginning quickly added a mileage, by mile 6, my watch was off by .10. Oh well, when I do it again, I'm going to line up with the 2:55 pacers (if ya can't beat em', join em')!
So hills, and turns...oh and shoe laces. Never had my shoe laces ever come untied during ANY race. Within the first 7 miles. Yup. 3 times. The 3rd time, I got frustrated and tied the left one tight and in a double knot. Up to mile 9, Kristofor and I were pacing right next to each other. At about 9.5, my left knee (which is NOT my bad knee...) started to hurt. Why? My damn shoe was too damn tight. So I pulled over and fixed it, and told Kristofor to keep going. So before mile 10, I was no longer with my hubby. It was just me, and a bunch of strangers.
We came up on the point in the race where the road splits. Half marathoners go one way, and Full marathoners go another. Mile 11 or so. And I thought about it. I thought about taking the half. Evidently so did about 250 other people because they bailed out too! Kristofor said when I finished that he was worried that I would bail out. But I didn't. I stayed on course. Even when about a quarter mile down the road there was a sign that said "13.1 TURN BACK"...it crossed my mind. NOOOOOOO! I kept going.
Kristofor had said mile 13-16 was hilly. Yeah. That was treacherous. But through all the hills, one thing remained. And this is one thing I had NOT experienced in a Full Marathon. Crowd support! In San Antonio, after you pass the half marathon split, you go away from downtown, and its pretty much 13 or so very lonely quiet miles. McAllen was 26 lonely miles. Austin, 26 ROWDY miles. There were people everywhere! In the thousands. With signs, and fruit, and candy, and beer, and you name it. They came out in busloads. There was water and medical attention at every single mile. I cannot say enough about the course support. They showed up for us. And about no less than 50 people yelled at me about my zebra tights.
MY. TIGHTS. WERE. SUPER. POPULAR. And I was the only person I saw wearing them. So I kinda stood out!
Coming into the water stop at mile 16. I got elbowed in the rib cage by an older gentleman. Being 4'10" tall, I am the perfect height to take elbows in the face or the body. And it happened. And it knocked the wind out of me. So I stopped for a bit. Tried to stretch, teared up a little, and then tried to start again. But I was having a rough go. And then I saw the most miraculous, amazing thing I've ever seen. And although, I won't go into detail, I can tell you, it completely renewed my energy and strength. Adrenaline ran like ice through my veins, and I started running again, and it was all gravy from there.
Mile 20 came and went, and we were given a bit of a downhill into the last 6 miles. It started getting a little hot with the sun out at around 10am. Up until that point, my long sleeve and head band had been a great choice. But about mile 23, I was getting really sweaty and starting to fatigue. So, I stripped. While running. I took off my long sleeve and my head band, and ran the last 3.1 in my sports bra and zebra tights. So my pictures look pretty ridiculous. I'm holding my clothes. I couldn't tie them around my waist because it covered my number, then I wouldn't be able to find my pictures (they send you your pictures and identify you by your bib number...). I didn't care. I felt better. I never take good race pictures anyways. I always look like a sweaty, really pale, really bloaty mess. Not cute. Such is life.
The 3:55 pace group had passed me up at about mile 19, but I was still in front of the 4 hour pacers...until mile 24.5ish. And I stayed with them. I was cutting it close for my goal. At mile 26, you have to go uphill to do the last .2. It was like a cruel joke. I had to stop right before to stretch my legs before I powered up. I finished right next to the 4 hour pacers, even though my official time is about 4:01:25. BUT, since I had run 26.2 before I crossed the finish line, I stopped my watch...
Gosh I don't give myself any room do I? I made it in just a hair under my goal time! Now I realize, to qualify for Boston, I have to have an OFFICIAL 3:40 time. So I know, that what my watch says won't count unless its under that. But for this race, I'm good with it! I'm even better with the fact that I finished with an 8:05 pace, so I still had enough juice to kick it up.
Kristofor called me about 2 minutes after I finished and took my pictures at the end. I met him and my sister and her boyfriend at Jamba Juice, and the eating ensued! I am so thankful that I had my husband and my sister there at the end! Kris had finished about 10 minutes before me...(feel free to jab at me, I've been hearing it for days now...)!
Since Sunday, I've been pretty useless! My legs are still VERY sore. In addition, because I used my WHOLE body to get up all those hills, my arms, chest, back, stomach...yeah, its all sore. But it was worth it! And I'm happy to be done with it. No more FULL marathons for a while (Fall maybe?). Even though, I think we are going to do a half and a relay in March. I start our Spring Running Team Session soon, so that will take up my running time!
If this weekend taught me anything, its that really, really, really, this stuff is all mental. And I've said that before. But it is. In an article I read today, it said "the moment you let your head get out of it, your heart goes with it." And that is so completely 100% true. If you start to doubt, you have to squash it. Or it will eat you alive. There were so many moments, especially at mile 16, when I wanted out. When I really really wanted to quit. But I'm headstrong, and I said NO. I think that applies in all areas of life. When it matters, when you've worked for something, be headstrong. Don't just give in and let it go. If you want to lose weight, lose weight. Don't let the brownies kill you. If you want to run, RUN. Don't let the doubts of "I can't run" get you. You'll never get anywhere if you don't believe that you can do it. Sometimes believing is the hardest part of it all. But it's worth it when you do!
Ok, I'm off of my soap box now. So thanks for taking this journey with me! I know I started writing this in the summer to document my 2nd marathon. Now I just finished number 3! It can be done!
A huge congratulations goes out to my friend Amanda, who conquered her first Full. I can't say it enough. She BELIEVED, and she did it. I was so proud of her performance and her faithfulness throughout training. Thank YOU for letting us help you get there! It was all you girl! I know this is not the last time for her. And I CANNOT WAIT to get more of my girls across that 26.2 finish line. I KNOW that you can do it!
Thanks for cheering me on!
Lacy
