Yesterday I ran the Nationwide children's Hospital Columbus Marathon. This was my 3rd marathon and it was a big one for me. I mean, aren't they all kind of big ones? This was a really big one. It meant a lot to me, I trained really hard for it, and I had a big old PR goal. 3:35. And honestly, I thought that I was going to make it. I really did.
Yep, I said was. That means that I didn't. Overall I'm ok with it because of how the rest of the day went. I did finish in 3:54, which was an hour and ten minutes faster then the last marathon I ran. That's a pretty big difference in my opinion.
I was prepared for yesterday. I followed my training schedule almost to a tee. There were a few days here and there that I was unable to run, but the bulk of my training was done. One thing I did not do was strength train. I did maybe a total of 5 days of strength training the entire time. I had a lot of issues with it. Coming off of my pregnancy I had serious hip issues, and it hurt like the dickens to bend over, yoga became painful and not fun and this caused leg and back pain, so every time I strength trained I would be in pain for days afterwards. So I didn't even bother. I think I'm ready to change that.
It got cold this week. It has been summer up until like, 2 days ago and then the temperature dropped about 30 degrees average. No joke. I went out a few times last week early to try to acclimate to the change, but it was still a lot warmer last week then yesterday, this weekend was just straight cold. It was perfect running weather overall, but the waiting in the beginning was brutal. We were advised to get to our corals between 6 and 7, and the race started at 730. Understandable, but it was freaking cold. I ended up getting downtown (Abraham dropped me off) about 630, there was no traffic and then it was time to wait. I wore a tank top with a sweatshirt over it, a hat, arm warmers shorts and compression socks. I walked around for a while, hit the bathroom twice, and then found my way to my coral and stood. I think I ended up in some sort of drafty vortex, because it was freaking cold where I was.
I started off about 3 minutes after the gun by ducking under the ropes that held back coral B where some guy was letting us go. I missed the "gun" for coral B, but I never understood the point of gun time since everyone goes off of chip time anyways. It was a really nice smooth start and it was a cloudy sunny day. Beautiful weather, once your legs were moving at least.
Right off the bat I was really thirsty. I drank a bunch of water the few days before, and had some water that morning, but I couldn't stop being thirsty the entire race and drank water at every stop which is very unlike me. I was also really hungry, which was annoying, but I had some energy chews at mile 6, then a cliff shot at mile 9, and felt better after that. I never use those things. I think I will now cause they really subsided my hunger.
I saw my family at the start. Man I love them, then I saw them again at mile 7ish. They had the most awesome race signs ever. I must have smiled for an entire mile after that.
I passed the half marathon marker at 1:50, so if I was able to shave off 5 minutes in my second half, I could get my goal. At that point I still thought I could do it, but my legs were starting the feel very fatigued. Its odd that my muscles would feel fatigued at mile 13 because I had ran it so many times before, so I knew something was off, but I thought I could shake it. It was uphill for the next few miles, so I decided to put my headphones on and just go with it, uphill doesn't really bother me. I was supposed to see my husband again at mile 13, but I never did. I can't imagine navigating through thousands of spectators with 2 small children is easy, so while I was very disappointed, I understood. I topped the hill just past mile 15 and turned to head to grandview. I had ran the last half of the marathon with a friend a few months before, so it was really nice knowing what to expect, but I started to get pains in my hip flexors, so I stopped and stretched for a minute then continued on.
We rounded around campus and got to run through the shoe at mile 17.5, that was pretty cool honestly. Then it was lonely from then on. I mean, there were people there, but I was tired. I felt like I was landing really hard. I kept trying to focus on small quick steps, and I kept pacing myself behind people, then passing them, so I knew I was trucking along, but it got harder and harder. At mile 20 I realized I wouldn't see my family again until the finish, and felt pretty defeated, wishing I had someone to run with. I ran out of air a few times. The first time around 20, the second time around 23 where I actually had to stop and walk. I think it was mental, it has happened during almost every marathon when I start to feel defeated. I start thinking about how I wished I wasn't doing it, and my throat closes up. It literally feels like it is going to swell shut. I was able to run through it the first time, knowing that it had happened before and with the comfort that I wasn't going to die. But the second time, I wasn't feeling good and ended up stopping and walking for about 3 minutes. I walked maybe 3 times total. I knew I wasn't going to make my goal by mile 18, when the clock said 2:35, which means I had 1 hour to run 8.2 miles. I have done 8 miles in about 1:03 before, but that was on a good day for sure.
I saw my parents sitting at mile 24. I stopped and said hi, it was really good to see them. I knew they would be there so it definitely lifted my spirits for the few miles prior to that knowing I would see them soon. Mile 24 was good, I felt strong, but it was a hard one with that it has about 1/2 uphill, and I was spent by mile 25 where there was another strong hill. I ended up seeing my husband at mile 25 1/2 and he ran with me till mile 26 where our kids were standing with his parents. There was no kick in my finish, no pep in my step, only extreme focus to keep one foot moving in front of the other across that line. I clocked at 3:57 and came out with a chip time of 3:54:15. I yelled as I crossed the finish, got my medal and followed the fences around.
I didn't feel good. I was freezing and shaking and my legs wouldn't move and I wanted to fall asleep. I felt the urge to stretch, but it also felt like every muscle in my body was about to charlie horse so I forced myself to keep walking. I walked, very very slowly to where I was going to meet my husband. I felt like telling someone I didn't feel right, but I figured once I saw my family I would feel better, and eventually... eventually, I did.
This race was very hard for me, harder then the others, because I wasn't just doing it to do it anymore. I was doing it stronger and better and more determined then previously in life. Despite the bad that happened, I feel I made amazing strides and I learned a ton about next time.
I'd like to do another marathon soon, maybe early spring, march or so. And I would like to qual this time!!! I have a few things to change then. Next step I would like to do the turkey trot sub 40 minutes.
Till next time...
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