2014 Boston Marathon

Though Boston was not my "A" race of spring and I hadn't been training specifically for a marathon, I'd been excited about it for weeks... First, it's the Boston Marathon!  Second, I had really strong feelings about running after being there and seeing the tragedy unfold last year.  And third, I would be running with an amazing group of friends, with my dad and my husband there to cheer me on.

Packed my lucky shoes and headed up to Boston on Saturday morning

Checked into our hotel and headed to the expo.

After picking up my bib and race packet,
I met up with my family at the Convention Center

Then walked around Boston for a bit

Walked down Bolyston with my family to check out the finish line

On Sunday, I had a lovely brunch with my family and then headed out to Hopkinton to check out the start line before checking into our hotel in Milford.

After dinner, my family dropped me and Brittany off at our hotel, where we met up with Caren and Jennifer.  I stayed at the same hotel last year; it's really convenient to getting to the start but less so for spectators trying to get to the finish, so we had a room for runners while our families stayed in Boston. The only problem was, with the elimination of bag check and no plans to return to Milford following the race, we had to take only things we needed for the race or were willing to part with.  It was a little more work logistically, as we had to sleep in the throwaway clothes that we were planning to leave at the start, pack an extra set of travel size toiletries, etc, but it was worth the hassle to eliminate any unnecessary race day stress.

All decked out in our fancy pajamas aka pre-race throwaway clothes

The great part about staying near the start is that there's no need to get up early to go downtown for bus loading.  Instead, we walked out of the hotel and right onto a shuttle bus at 8:30.  This has multiple advantages, most notably the availability of working plumbing throughout the majority of the morning.  Last year, the hotel bus was able to drop us off right near Athlete's Village, but because of additional security measures, we had to be dropped off at a designated parking area, go through a security checkpoint (wands and people checking bags, similar to most sporting events or concerts), and then take another bus the rest of the way to Hopkinton.  I figured we would still have plenty of time, but an accident on the highway had caused a big traffic jam, and the security checkpoint line went around a block.  The delays caused a slight amount of stress, but not bad.

At that point, my only pre-race concerns were (1) peeing and (2) finding Ellen.  Since we were late to our designated meeting spot and only Jennifer had her phone, I figured the latter wasn't going to happen, but as we made a beeline for the porta-pottys, one of the first people we ran into was Ellen.  Hurray!  We were all together.  My happiness was short-lived, because when I saw the porta-potty lines I was pretty sure either my bladder was going to rupture or I was going to get a ticket for public urination (clearly I had done a good job of hydrating).  Thankfully Caren went to the front and 'encouraged' everyone to be more aggressive in moving our particular line forward, so I have her to thank for the fact that I didn't pee on myself or end up in the hospital.  Yes, I just wrote an entire paragraph about peeing.

As we finally left the bathroom area, they were calling for wave 2 corrals 7-9 to depart Athlete's Village.  My listed corral was 6, but Caren and Britt were in 8 and we wanted to start together, so since you can move back but not up, we all headed over to the big corral 8 sign.

In the corrals and ready for the start

As we walked toward the start line, I realized it had suddenly gotten pretty warm, and wondered if that would be a factor as the day went on.  The thousands of runners around us continued to shuffle along, until we finally crossed the start line and were off. 

Much of the first half of the race is downhill, so we tried to be cautious and start slowly.  The first couple miles clocked of in the 7:50s and then we settled into a pace in the high 7:30s-low 7:40s.  It was a little faster than I'd planned, but I made the decision that I wanted to stick with my friends through Wellesley and would back off the pace after that.  In hindsight, the faster pace most likely played a role in my later struggles, but sharing that experience with my friends was 100% worth it and if I had it to do over, I wouldn't have changed that at all.  

The first few miles went by pretty quickly, filled with chatting, dancing, high-fiving spectators, and reading some of the great signs along the course.  Caren, Jenn, and I were all wearing our Bull City Track Club singlets, so countless people shouted, "Go Bull City!" and we thanked every one of them with a woot, fist pump, or wave.  There were so many people!  Despite having a great experience, around mile 10 I was starting to feel warm and thought it definitely felt harder than it should for such an early point in the race.  Mile 10: 7:34. No wonder it felt hard, I was running too fast.  10-15 seconds might not seem like much, but it can make a big difference in a long, difficult race.  I told myself to not to worry and just enjoy the moment, and that was made easier as we ran through Wellesley and I read all of the "Kiss me" signs.  When we crossed the 25k mat, I wished by friends luck and Ellen and Jenn took off, while Caren opted to stick with me at a more relaxed pace through the infamous Newton hills.  

I'd been eating a chocolate cherry shot block every mile starting at mile 3, and all systems seemed fine until about 16.  Suddenly I just couldn't stand the thought of eating anything else, but I didn't feel I was bonking so I wasn't really worried about it.  What did worry me, though, was the heat.  By mile 16, I was taking three cups of water at each aid station: dump one on my head, drink one, dump another one on my head.    

I told myself to not worry about pace through the hills, and though I'd slowed to about 8:05 pace for mile 17, I was passing quite a few people who looked like they felt worse than I did.  And then I hit heartbreak hill.  Last year, I lost track of which hill I was on and thought I had one to go, so when I saw the broken hearts drawn in chalk on the street, I thought, "This is heartbreak? That's it? That wasn't bad at all!" Well, suffice it to say I did not think that this year!  I don't know how they did it, but the hills were bigger this time around ;)  

Happy to have made it to the top of Heartbreak Hill

At 35K, I knew it was definitely not going to be a PR day.  I turned off the lap pace on my watch, deciding to accept a slower pace and just enjoy the last 10K as much as possible.  I high-fived everyone with a hand out, smiled for the photographers, and tried to not look at my watch at all.  

Somewhere around mile 22

I knew my dad, Monte, and Mary were near the 40K sign, and I was able to spot them, which was great.  Since by that point I was pretty much jogging, I'd decided to stop to hug them.  I normally wouldn't want to add extra seconds to my time, but I really wanted them to know how much it meant to me that they were there to support me.  I think they were surprised by that, and Monte yelled, "Go! Go!"  Definitely 15 seconds well spent. 

Mile 24.5

With some energy from seeing my family, the knowledge that I only had a mile and a half to go, and the amazing crowd support, the last mile, though one of my slowest, was also one of my favorites.

The Citgo sign: The end is near!!

Somewhere in the 25th mile, I passed Larry Chloupek.  It is absolutely amazing to see what people can accomplish if they put their minds to something.

Homestretch!

As I made the final turn onto Boylston St, I caught a glimpse of bright orange to my left and looked over to see Jenn.  I yelled over to her, but the crowd noise on Boylston was crazy.  She took off with a sprint to the finish and I thought it would be nice to finish together, so I sped up too.  That lasted about 10 seconds, and I gave up the chase, and finished just behind her in 3:31:41.  Last year I had what felt like a Jimmy V moment... running around looking for someone to hug after they put that medal around my neck, so it was great to have a friend there.  

We collected our medals, ponchos, food bags, and water, and waddled over to the Arlington St Church, where we'd planned to meet up with our families and fast teammates who'd started in wave 1 and long since finished.  

I cannot say enough good things about my 2014 Boston Marathon experience.  I loved almost every second of it (though my quads might beg to differ), and am so glad that I decided to make a return trip.

Bull City Track Club representing in Boston

Two Boston Marathon finishers in the family!

I have the best dad and husband a girl could ask for

It's amazing what a difference a shower can make!

BCTC Reunion at Porter's 

2013 Boston Marathon

Wow.  Well obviously there are a lot more emotions and many things far more important than the actual race than I'd planned on putting into this report, and I think I'll have to write out the end of the day separately, because I am still trying to process everything.  So for now, the actual "race report" portion of my Boston experience...

Monte and I flew into Boston on Saturday afternoon.  After a great carb loading pasta dinner with friends, we drove out to our hotel in Milford, which is only about 15 minutes from Hopkinton.  Sunday we drove out to the start and though to that point I had mostly been nervous about my lack of preparation and in the mindset of "let's just get this over with," being at the starting line really got me excited about the race and the whole experience of my first Boston Marathon.  

From there we test-drove the route that I'd mapped out for Monte to use on race day, and then took the train from Riverside into Boston.  First stop: packet pickup at Hynes Convention Center.  My stepdad, aunt, and uncle met us there, and my four spectators were great sports as we went through the expo, picked up my packet and checked out the marathon gear.  I bought the official jacket (of course), and some sweet new Boston edition Kinvara 4s, which I might actually save for next year's race.  I also ran into my teammate Nancy, who was set to start in my corral, and after discussing her pace plan - a very conservative start and then consistent miles with the goal of finishing in about 3:25, we decided we'd run together.  With this new plan to have company for the run, I was even more excited and optimistic about the run.   After getting lunch and visiting with the fam for a while, we headed back to our hotel and I proceeded to lay in the bed without sleeping for a few hours, as is usually the case on the night before a big race.

Staying out near the start is a bit challenging logistically, but the upside was that I was able to leave on the hotel shuttle bus at 8:30 and still make it to the start area before 9.  I immediately went to the porta-john line, and then met up with Ellen, Allie, and Sarah near the bag drop bus line.  We heard from Nancy, who was stuck in a bathroom line, and didn't see her at the planned meet up spot, so as we walked to the corrals, I decided to start with Ellen and Allie, who were one corral behind my assigned one.  I thought they'd be going faster than what I had in mind, but figured I'd start with them and just hang in there as long as I could.  After Ellen and I made one last pit stop (behind a rock and dumpster, respectively - we're classy like that), we got into the corral and got ready for the start.  To our pleasant surprise, Nancy and her husband found us in Corral 5, and the five of us started out together.

It was really crowded at the start, of course, and this helped us to keep the first mile in check.  Even with us all in agreement that we should start out slowly, I worried about going out too fast, but we came through the first mile in a little over 8 minutes as planned.  The first few miles to Ashland were downhill and uneventful, and we stuck to the conservative start plan, coming through the 5k at 24:46.  I knew this was downhill and it was so tempting to run faster, but from everything I've read, that is the worst thing you can do on this course.  Keeping that in mind and following the advice of far wiser runners, I shortened my stride and tried to minimize the impact on my quads, hoping that would benefit me later.

The next 5k into Framingham were also conservative and uneventful, and we covered those miles in 24:41.  We then started looking for Monte, and ran by him somewhere around 6.5.  It's always such a good boost for me to see him!  Still feeling good and comfortable, so we hadn't blown it yet!

I ate my first gel, and was feeling really great about my decision to run with my friends.  At that point, the race had flattened out some, and we set about keeping our pace around 7:45.  Right on pace again as we went through the next 5k split in 24:09.  As we came into Natick around mile 10, Allie needed to make a stop and said she'd catch up in a bit, so we continued on as a group of 4.  

Coming through Wellesley was really fun - reading the Kiss Me signs and feeling the energy of the crowds cheering us along.  We did the YMCA, chatted, and I found myself smiling most of the way.  Before we knew it, we crossed the halfway mark.  1:43:05 - right on schedule!  We saw Monte again around mile 14, and were all still feeling great and having a fabulous time!

I ate a second gel, and had a little sloshing and stomach cramping, but nothing major.  I noticed that we'd fallen a bit off of our pace, so I picked it up and just focused on keeping it around 7:45 until the Newton hills.  Nancy and Ellen fell a little behind at that point, but I knew I'd slow on the hills and figured they would catch back up then, so I continued along.  

I think the first of the Newton hills is the worst.  You can see the wave of runners going up, and I thought, "oh crap, I guess the race starts now."  Again I tried to use a shorter quicker stride, and slowed a little, aiming to keep my heart rate and breathing low, because there were several more hills and 8 miles left to go.  Surprisingly,  the hills didn't slow me down as much as I'd expected, and the 5k split at 30k was 24:13.  I knew there were three hills before Heartbreak, but somehow I lost track and as we climbed another hill I noticed a broken heart drawn on the pavement in chalk.  Was this Heartbreak Hill?  As we neared the top, I asked a runner next to me if it was indeed that storied hill, and when she said yes I was shocked!  Wow, that's it??  I'm almost to the top!  On PR pace and it's all downhill?  Can that be right?  I'd made it through the toughest part of the course and the 35k split was 24:47.  

I was definitely starting to feel it, but just in a 'my legs are tired' way, not a 'I might die, need to walk, or maybe vomit' kind of way, so that was great.  I calculated that I could average a 9 minute mile and still re-qualify, and was sort of amazed given my lack of preparation for this race.  Since I've been focused on triathlon training in preparation for the Raleigh Ironman 70.3, my running volume has been pretty low - staying in the 35 mile a week range - and I did only one 18 mile long run.  To see a potential PR as a possibility with only 5k to go was surprising to say the least!

From the time I could see the Citgo sign, through the turn onto Hereford, I just kept waiting for something to go terribly wrong, and didn't want to push myself too soon.  I also kept waiting for Ellen, Allie, and Nancy to go flying by with a strong finishing kick as I just held my steady pace, but to my surprise I didn't see them again.  I heard Alan yell, "Go Kara" and it was so nice to know that they were there for this race, and I thought about how my mom would be cheering like crazy, and that she probably was from heaven.  Definitely a bittersweet moment.

Making the final turn onto Boylston was awesome.  I tried to pick it up a little, but despite my effort I only managed to go slightly faster.  I concentrated on taking it all in... the crowds, the runners, the finish line of the freakin' Boston Marathon!!  It was definitely a highlight of my running career, and I crossed the finish line in 3:26:02 (average pace of 7:52/mile).  A PR of over two minutes on the toughest course I've run to date.  And I'd run a negative split (by only a few seconds, but still!)... could not have been happier.  I waited for Nancy, who came in just behind me, and then made my way though the finish area, collecting my water, gatorade, snack bag, and mylar blanket.  When they put the medal around my neck, I almost cried - running Boston was such a big goal, and to have run the majority of it with my friends, finish with a personal best marathon time, and still feel relatively good... wow.  I couldn't have imagined a better race day.  Of course that was soon to change, but I will save that post for another time...

Congratulations to everyone who ran today - the BCTC put in some really stellar performances and came out with a bunch of shiny new PRs, and I am so proud of all of you and happy to be a part of such a great group of people.  

Palm Beaches Marathon

This weekend I went down to Palm Beach for the Palm Beaches Marathon, my replacement marathon for NYC.  Despite the recent knee injury and a bit of running apathy of late, I was bound and determined to run a marathon before this season was over.  First and foremost, I have to give a huge THANK YOU to my friend Caroline, who really helped me out with the logistics and let me crash her annual Palm Beach race trip.

(C - I honestly can't thank you enough for making this fall marathon happen despite what seemed like an unending barrage of obstacles)

After spending Saturday morning boating on the Intercoastal, we went over to packet pickup, stopped by Publix for provisions, had a nice carb-loading dinner at the condo and got to bed at a reasonable hour.  On Sunday morning I woke up a bit before my 4:00 alarm, showered, had coffee and a powerbar, and was ready to go before our scheduled 5:15 departure.  We left a little ahead of schedule and got to the race with plenty of time to spare, which was great because I was freaking out enough and it helped that we had plenty of time for porta potty stops and a quick tour of the start-finish area before the 6:30 start.  At that time the weather was pleasant, and it was nice to not be freezing while waiting to run.

We lined up between the 3:25 and 3:30 pace groups, listened to the anthem, and off we went.  Bill was going to run the first part of the race with me until the half and full marathon split, and though at first I was worried that I lost him in the crowded start, I was soon assured that he had my six.  My knee was a little stiff for the first mile, but it loosened up and by the second mile it wasn't bothering me at all.  I took this as a good sign and hoped that the 4 days of rest before the marathon had done some good.  

The course went north for about 3 miles before turning around and going back toward the start, both right along the water.  We passed the 3:25 group just after the turnaround, and saw Ron and Caroline just behind us as we made our way south along the waterfront.  We kept pace in the low 7:40s while watching a lovely sunrise over the water, and I felt really comfortable.  There was a pretty strong crosswind, but it felt nice and I thought it was definitely better than battling stifling humidity.  After 6.5 we continued south past the start, staying along the water and dealing with the wind the whole time.  It started to get warm pretty quickly once the sun was up, and I worried that might be a problem as the race progressed.  The good news, though, was that my knee still felt fine.

I opened a Gu at mile 8, and ate it a bit at a time over each of the next 3 water stops.  I also drank water at each of the aid stations, which were a mile to a mile a half apart.  Bill turned around at mile 9 to finish the half, and I continued along, trying to keep my pace in the 7:40s.  Around mile 10, my knee stopped cooperating.  At that point it was more of an annoying ache than pain, but it kept getting worse.  I decided I would keep going and hope for the best, but after crossing the halfway point I needed to make a bathroom stop.  For some reason it felt worse after the brief stop, and I realized it was going to be a long way back.  We continued south until about mile 16, passing through some lovely neighborhoods with homes that I could only afford if I win Powerball one of these days.  As we approached the turnaround we could see the leaders heading back, and I realized that there were only 4 or 5 women ahead of me, despite the pit stop and the fact that my pace had slowed to around 8 minute miles.  

I tried to enjoy the scenery to take my mind off the worsening knee pain, but found myself just staring at the watch and thinking about how much farther I still had to go.  Shortly after the turn around, the 3:25 pace group passed me, and though they offered some words of encouragement as they went by, to me it was just a visual sign of my marathon goal getting out of sight.  That was depressing and I started to wonder if running through this pain was even worth it now that I knew I wouldn't hit my goal time or even PR.  By mile 18 the pain was bad enough that I could tell it was impacting my gait, and I decided that I should adjust my goal and just try to requalify for Boston - 3:35.  This seemed reasonable given the decent first half, but just after mile 20 the 3:35 pacer (who was by then running by himself) went by.  I guess I was obviously limping because he slowed down as he passed to ask if I needed a medical tent and offered to help get me a ride back to the finish.   Though I had been seriously considering this option, I told him that I thought I could make it and really wanted to finish, and he suggested trying some walk-jog intervals.  So I started to walk.  It helped a little, but even walking my knee still really hurt, and the thought of dropping out of the race was going through my mind on a loop. 

The miles went by soooo slowly.  Periodically I would start to jog, thinking even if it hurt more, at least it wouldn't hurt for as long.  But inevitably that made it worse and my little attempts at running were short-lived.  By then it was hot, even my back-up time goal was long gone, and I was pretty miserable.  There weren't many spectators on the course, and the few that I did see as well as the volunteers at the water stations were very cheerful, but their well-intentioned cheers ("Great job!" "Keep going!" "Looking good") almost seemed offensive.  One volunteer was sitting on a curb, and as I walked though the aid station drinking some water she said, "way to go, you look great!"  I think I actually laughed at that point and then told her that she wasn't a very good liar but I appreciated the effort.  I hope she didn't think I was being sarcastic, because I really meant it.  Another spectator was sitting on his lawn and told me I was the 16th woman.  Seriously?  This should have been a little encouraging, I think, but instead I just thought about how well I should be doing and that I would be finishing soon if I had not wussed out and slowed to a walk.

After mile 24 I knew I would at least complete the race, and took that mile to psych myself up to run the last mile.  So when I got to mile marker 25 I started to jog, and though it wasn't fast or pretty, I managed to make it to 26.  Shorty after that last mile marker, I could see the finish line and heard Caroline, Ron, and Bill cheering me on.  It's amazing what a little support from friends and the sight of the finish line can do!  That little boost was enough to help me pick up the pace for the last few meters, and I crossed the finish line in 3:48 and change - as Ron put it, a PW (personal worst).  

Based on the finish line photos, I think I might have a future in acting, because I certainly look a lot happier than I felt!  I was however, glad it was over, and tried to tell myself that finishing in itself was an accomplishment (sadly I still haven't convinced myself of that).

I would like to say that I was happy with my effort or learned something useful from the experience, but right now I can't say that is true.  It just feels like all of the marathon training efforts through the fall were for naught.  I've also decided to take a break from the marathon distance for a while, (though I am going to "run" Boston in April, I have no intentions of racing it) and my goal of running a sub-3:25 marathon will have to wait until at least 2014.  In the meantime, I am going to take a short break from running, until kicking of my half ironman training in January.  Hopefully by then the knee will be healed, and so will my spirits…

On a happier note... this marathon weekend was fun except for the running!  Good company, good food, lots of laughs, and the beach really help take the edge off a miserable race!

Thank you again, Caroline!

Marathon de Paris Race Report

It's been such a great day!  The Marathon de Paris starts later than most (8:45), so it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit more than usual.  I got up at 6:15, showered, had my standard power bar and two cups of coffee, and headed out for the Champs Elysees around 7:30.  I selected our hotel in part because it was very close to my start corral.  With a hour to spare, I said goodbye to Monte and headed into the corral.  My goal for today was to run a solid 22 miles, stop at the 35k wine and cheese aid station that I've heard about, then decide how to handle the last 4 miles based on how I was feeling.  Hopefully I'd end up with a decent time, but mainly I just wanted to enjoy this experience.  It was a bit cold (upper 30s) waiting around at the start, but would be mostly cloudy and in the mid-40s throughout the race - very good racing weather!


The color coded corral system for this race was done in 15 minute increments, and I was in blue (3:30).  Unlike the other races I've done, there were dividers between the corrals and someone was checking bibs to be sure that everyone went where they were supposed to, and this was very well done.  Once I was in, I saw that there were only 2 porta johns in the corral (one on each side) and got into the line.  The line didn't seem to move at all and I'm not sure why they would only put two for roughly 4,000 people in the blue group.  With about 10 minutes to go, I realized I wouldn't make it, and thought about squatting in the porta urinal.  But that had a line too.  Ugh.  Not the best note on which to start a long race.  I took a look at the huge mass of runners behind me and the Arc de Triomphe in the background and tried to take my mind off of it.

The elites went off on time at 8:45 and they delayed each additional wave a bit to allow for runners to spread out.  Our corral moved up and went out in the 4th wave, just a few minutes before 9.  This was the first time I've run a race where there were a ton of people around, both running and cheering, and it really was a great experience.  I saw Monte around the 1 km marker, waved, and settled right into my target pace.  I spent the first few miles trying to both enjoy the sites, spectators, and experience and also spot a porta john.  The map said that the water/aid stations would be every 5k, so I just had to make it another 3 miles... I stayed on the far left to have some space to run and also to be able to hop off the course once I found a place to use the restroom.  Went through the first aid station and nothing!  Fortunately I spotted one around 3.5 miles, and even though there were 2 people waiting I hopped in the line.  I lost about 2 minutes here, but it was certainly worth it to not have to pee anymore!  Since I've spent all of this time talking about peeing and porta johns, I'll say one last thing on the subject and move on (I promise!)... this marathon is usually 80-90% men, and I think it is organized with men in mind.  At one point we ran by a park and every tree (there had to be at least 20) had a guy peeing on it.  Same with the walls in the tunnels.  It's really not fair!  Fortunately, this is the last bodily function section of this race report - unlike Miami, I had no GI issues and there were no stops late in the race.  Thank goodness!

Ok, back to the race... we left the center of Paris, passing Place de la Concorde, the Louvre, and the Hotel de Ville.  After the pit stop, I had gotten behind my pace group and had to do a bit of maneuvering to get through a bunch of runners who were going a bit slower than I wanted.  I caught back up to the people running 7:45ish pace more quickly than I expected, and settle back in.  It was a very scenic route, and we passed Chateau de Vincennes around mile 7 where there were a bunch of kids high-fiving everyone, and (thanks to the personalized bibs) spectators cheering, "Allez, Car-Ah!" and "Bravo!"  I loved having the crowd support!  Speaking of crowd support, Monte really is fantastic about supporting me in all my races, and ran around Paris in the cold and taking the metro all over the city to see me.  I saw him for a second time a little before mile 8, as we made the turn to head back into the heart of Paris.  I ate a gu at mile 9, knowing the 3rd aid station would be coming up soon.  The aid stations were only on one side, so it was a bit of a pain to weave through all the people to get to the right since I was running on the left for most of the race, but I didn't want to miss any more.  They had small bottles so it was easy to grab one and sip on it over a mile or two, instead of trying to chug out of a little cup.  They also had oranges and bananas, and the peels were everywhere so it was a bit slippery and I saw a few people slip but thankfully I was not one of them!


The next few miles ran through parks and neighborhoods, and I was feeling pretty good as I hit halfway in about 1:44.  At mile 14 we passed back by the Bastille, which was the first of several landmarks I recognize in central Paris.  I stopped to take a picture of this and a few other sites, including Ile de la Cite (mile 17) and the Eiffel Tower (mile 18).  I don't think I lost that much time on these little stops, and since I didn't have a certain time goal it seemed worth it... the pictures came out really well considering I just took my little point and shoot, so I am happy with my decision!

 

It goes by quickly when you have views like these!

I saw Monte at mile 17.5 and he gave me an packet of chomps.  I ate these over the next couple of miles with water from the 30k aid station and started to contemplate what I was going to do at the 35k wine stop. Should I stop as planned or keep going?  I felt really good, and was on pace to come close to or even beat my time from Miami.  It turned out to be a moot point - I slowed down to investigate, only to find apple juice and cake instead of wine and cheese!  Not what I had in mind, and not worth stopping, so on I went.  I had slowed a little from miles 19-22 thinking I my "race" would be coming to an end with a glass of wine and an easy jog in, but now that I decided to run through it I picked up the pace again.   Mile 25 was my one of the fastest and I could not believe that I actually felt good at this point in the race.  In both of the marathons I've run previously, the last three miles were miserable... I could not keep my pace, was counting the seconds to when it would be over, and spent those last miles questioning why on earth I'd signed up for this.  But today was completely different.  My legs were tired of course, but no bonk, no cramps, no wishing for it to be over.  I was tempted to pick it up for the last mile, but held back until I had a half mile to go.  I ran the last mile or two behind a tall guy who was dodging around fading runners/walkers and I just stayed behind him.  Once we made the final turn I made a move to go by him and when he saw me he picked it up even more.  So a race to the finish it was!  Instead of dragging myself through the finish line, I sprinted (or at least ran at a pace that felt like a sprint at the time) and I think that may have been the highlight of the race.  I feel like mentally I've crossed a barrier now, knowing that it is possible for a marathon to be fun for the entire distance and not miserable at the end!  

Splits: 

1 - 7:45

2 - 7:46

3 - 7:48

(-2:00)

4 - 7:49

5 - 7:44

6 - 7:41

7 - 7:44

8 - 7:44

9 - 7:45

10 - 7:53

11 - 7:44

12 - 7:47

13 - 7:55

14 - 7:48

15 - 7:53

16 - 7:46

17 - 7:47

18 - 7:57

19 - 8:05

20 - 7:57

21 - 8:01

22 - 8:01

23 - 7:48

24 - 7:49

25 - 7:43

26 - 7:44

.43 - 3:00 

Watch stats:

Total time: 3:26:24

Total distance: 26.43 miles

Average pace: 7:49

Calories: 2,996

Official time: 3:28:22

Nervous ramblings with 10 days to go...

Our trip to Europe is fast approaching, and I am getting a bit nervous about going into this marathon so under-prepared.  For both of my previous marathons, I had a training plan, stuck to it, and felt confident that I'd put in the mileage.  But the last few months have been pretty unfocused... sort of getting into triathlon training, sort of training for the Tobacco Road Half, and sort of training for Paris.  Other than the 6-hour, 25-mile pacing effort at the Umstead 100 last weekend, I've only put in one legitimate long run since Miami (18 miles in 2:30 two weeks ago).  I'm guessing the lack of long training combined with a much lower total volume (28-35 miles a week) probably doesn't bode well for me. On the upside, the lower mileage did give me more time and energy for cross-training, so hopefully my general fitness can carry me through this one.  Well, that and the wine and cheese stop at the 35K mark!