My 6th marathon!!! I am so happy :). I never thought I would make it to even the first one and now I am done with number 6. I love this distance, there is something about getting to mile 20 and reaching deep within for the next 6.
The day was a perfect day for running, perfect sunshine, perfect temperature. Unfortunately, my body wasn't perfect that day. I had stomach cramps starting at mile 3 and they didn't go away til the very end. At mile 19, I had to stop and finally get some ibuprofen for the pain. The ibuprofen worked, my tummy got feeling better and I was able to push through to the end.
The race was truly a wonderful race, if it hadn't been for my tummy, I would have had the perfect race. I crossed the line with a full heart and it is the first time that I didn't want to cry while crossing the line, I was actually so happy and still had so much energy in me, I really felt that I could have gone for at least another couple of miles.
Personal log of the marathon:
Miles 1-5: Took my first GU 15 minutes before the race. Hubby, my brother-in-law and I lined up with the 3:30 group. Everything was alright, it was a little chilly so I wore my sweater and arm warmers. I had to shed my sweater at mile 2. I saw a few of my friends running and I chatted with a few of them for a little bit as I continued on. At mile 3, my tummy started cramping, I tried to ignore it but I kept going. It slowed me down a little but I continued on. At mile 5, I took my second GU and downed some water. It made my tummy feel worse. The pain felt like a rock was pounding in my tummy over and over. I wanted some crackers, something to make me feel better but there was nothing of the kind around.
Mile 6-10: Around mile 8, I felt lonely, last year at this point my hubby and I were running together in that area and this time around, I was all alone and my tummy was aching and I really wanted him around. I wanted someone to talk to and tell him that my tummy was not feeling well. I took a little bit of powerade to see if it would help with the tummy. It didn't.
Mile 11-15: The half mark! I was in pain. My tummy just wanted me to stop and I wanted to stop but I am too stubborn or rather my head is too stubborn and I kept going. A little slower but I forged forward. The small incline is at this point and I told myself that if I went up it without walking that I could stop for a bit and see if my tummy felt better. I ran! I ran like my life depended on it and I climbed the hill. Then I saw the Blue Gods--the blue plastic outhouse! I decided to make a stop. As I came out, I saw my awesome friend Lee, she was there to cheer us runners on and she will never know it but she was Heaven sent. I needed her at that moment. I needed her words of encouragement, her smile, her positive energy. She told me that my hubby was just up ahead and made me realize that after cresting the hill that it was all downhill from there....I had this in the bag. She waved good bye and sent me off and I ran up the rest of the hill. I took a GU (the last one I took), downed some water. My tummy burned as I downed the GU so I knew I didn't want anymore of it. I ate some oranges to settle my tummy--they worked.
Mile 16-20: It started to get super hot. I wanted some water on my head. My arms felt like they were on fire from the sun--yah, I forgot to put sunscreen and I could feel the sun burning me. Went around the reservoir bridge and then I saw him. I saw my hubby from far away and I wanted to be next to him. I wanted a running buddy, my legs just took off down the hill. He was still far away, about 1/2 a mile away. I kept turning the legs....eyes on my target, a 5'5" blue eyed blonde hunk! Then, I finally caught him but I wasn't happy, he was in pain. He had to start walking as his calves were cramping. I waved him goodbye and I kept going. My brother-in-law was up ahead and I wanted to see how he was doing. I kept on running and my tummy started hurting me again. I needed something. I needed some meds! The next aid stop had a medical tent and I asked them for some ibuprofen, it took them about a minute to find it and record my number, there was no water around, the water was before the medical tent and no I wasn't going to run back to get water, so I took the ibuprofen with me and kept running. At mile 19, I got some water and downed the ibuprofen. I saw my brother-in-law next and we talked for a second, I told him Sam was behind and having a few troubles with his calves.
Miles 21-26.2: The ibuprofen started working and the tummy cramps diminished. I ran, I ran like I have never ran before at the end of a marathon. I looked at my garmin and realized that I couldn't come close to my desired goal of 3:35 but I could still finish close to my time from last year. I felt strong, my legs were not tired, my arms were not tired, my feet were feeling great and thanks to the ibuprofen my tummy was feeling better too. I ran and I kept going and going. I have never passed people at the end but this time around, I was passing people from mile 22 on.
The end, I love the end of this marathon, a straight chute for the last 1/2 mile or so. I pushed and pushed and kept going, my Garmin read close to 3:40 and it was close enough to my time last year (3:41:12). At this point, I just wanted to come as close to last year as possible. I pushed to the end and finished in 3:40:57, official time 3:41:07.
The finisher's corral, my favorite spot, lots of goodies to eat exactly when you are starving. I loaded up on some bread--heavenly bread, then I downed about 6 smoothies, oranges, banana, more bread, more smoothies, then more bread. I got a massage, I then iced my left ITB, stretched and kept eating. I waited for my hubby and for my BIL. My BIL came through and we chatted, we waited for my hubby but he didn't come so I went out of the corral to find my niece who was watching my children. My kiddos had a race at 12:30 so I needed to get them to the start of their race.
After I got the kiddos to their race, I came back to the corral and I saw my hubby. He was there and he looked great! His calves had hurt him from mile 17 on but he wasn't about to stop, instead, he took it easy and walked when he needed and ran a little here and there. He says it was one of the most comfortable marathons ever :).
We walked over to the kids race and we got there just as they were taking off. The organizers gave us some bells to cheer the little ones and we were ringing them for all we were worth. We rang the bells as the little ones came through. My son was one of the first 10 to come through. My little Nyah did awesome too and came in with a bunch of kiddos her age.
The marathon and the 1K were awesome! Our little family participated and we all had fun and gave our all. We are not too big and not too tough but when we work together we got the right stuff, go Phelps family!
My splits