running: the dawn

Throughout my race on Sunday I repeated the words “Today is the day.”  I didn’t know beforehand that it would become my mantra.  While I was walking to the starting line I said, “Today is the day I learn who I am.”  While crossing the starting mat I said, “Today is the day I find out what I’m made of.”  During the long uphill between miles 7 and 10 I said, “Today is the day I find out if my training was enough.”  When I was still feeling strong at mile 20 I said, “Today is the day I conquer my goals.”  On Fiesta Island when my strength seemed to leave me I said, “Today is the day I will not give up.”  When I was just a mile from the finish I said, “Today is MY day.”  When I crossed the finish line I said, “Today is the day that I DID IT!”

It was hard. It was hot. It was humid.

I still can’t believe that I did it.  There were so many times during my training that I didn’t think this day ever get here. Then I would fear that it would come but go horribly wrong.

I’m going to do a play-by-play of the day, but for those of you who like to read the last page first here are the numbers:
Half: 1:55:59
Mile 20.5: 3:01:12
Finish Time: 3:58:45
Pace: 9:07

Ok…buckle up, this is a long one…I wanted to include pictures, but I haven’t gotten them onto my computer yet, so look forward to them tomorrow!

The Start

My alarm didn’t even need to go off because I was awake after about 3 hours of restless sleep.  I immediately got up and out of bed to begin the readying process.  Skirt–check.  Gigit–check.  Fuel, handheld, ifitness belt–check, check, and check.  I always get nervous when I put on my pace band.  I took a minute to look through the time for miles 1 through 26.2.  Deep Breath.  Time to go.  I grabbed my Gu Chomps, Luna bar, and headed out the door.

I had a 1.5 mile walk to the starting line.  I actually really enjoyed this time.  It was early enough that the sun wasn’t all the way up (although it was cloudy, so it was hard to tell) and there weren’t many people on the streets yet.  It was very peaceful.  By the time I got to the start I felt ready.  I jumped in the first port-a-john line I found.  I figured, I was 45 minutes before the start, so get this out of the way, then I’d find my way to my corral.

Mr. Dawn called me while I was in line and it was so fabulous to have someone to talk to.  This was the first race ever that I was going to be completely on my own from beginning to end.  It was a bit lonely to not have someone else to nervously chat with.  Mr. Dawn was the perfect fill-in for that.  As we chatted I noticed that while the time was ticking by the line I was in was not getting ANY shorter.  In fact by the time 6:15 (official race start) came around I was still in line.  I didn’t know how long it would be before my corral would be released, so I abandoned my restroom attempt and started jogging in the direction I assumed the start line was.  Once I spotted the sign for my coral, I told the Mr. I loved him and that I’d talk to him at the end.

I slipped in right near the front of my coral as the one before us was being released.  I felt so relieved that I got there in time.  We moved up to the start line and we were off!

Start-Mile 7

My plan was to keep my splits right around 9 minute miles, if I could go a little under and bank time even better.  I did a really good job of checking in with myself to ask if I was feeling good and if I’d be able to sustain.  My big concern was sustainability.  Then of course it’s the constant struggle between wanting to “bank” time when you’re feeling good and not wanting to run out of fuel too early.  I don’t think I’ve mastered this yet…it always good to have something to work on right?

While it was still early we had a nice cloud cover. I noticed, however, that even without the sunshine I seemed to be sweating a lot.  Not necessarily extraordinarily more than normal, but it was fairly noticeable.  I mean, it’s a marathon, you expect to sweat, right?  But even by mile one I felt like I was drenched.  I’m pretty sure that the humidity was already pretty high and this had me worried that I would be losing too much fluid and electrolytes.  I went ahead and took a salt cap and decided that I would do that faithfully throughout the race.

My fuel plan was: Gu every 4 miles, salt every hour, water as needed.  Everything was clicking and I was pretty much ahead of schedule.  I got to see my mom and Ann between miles 4 and 5.  Since I was ahead of my predicted time they weren’t quite ready with the camera and they missed getting a picture.  But it was so great to see them!

Miles 7-10

I knew that these were going to be the first of the worst.  From the elevation chart I knew that starting at mile seven there would be a constant gradual rise for the next 3 miles.  I was mentally prepared for that part.  I just put my head down and kept going.  Since I had banked some time I didn’t worry about those slower miles.  Everything was going well until the half marathoners showed back up…

You see, the course was designed so that we ran with the half marathoners until just before mile four, then we split and they jumped across while we looped around downtown a couple times.  We would rejoin the half-ers on highway 163.  So for us what was mile 10 for them was just past mile four.  This meant that by the time we got to the highway we had “caught up” to the back of the pack half marathoners.  I hadn’t thought much about this while looking at the course, but it turned out to me my #2 most hated parts of the race (#1 coming up later).  The half-ers were walking and covering the road and talking in groups making it very hard to pass them.  So combining the last mile of the uphill with the annoyance of the walker-talkers I entered into a negative head-space.  I was frustrated and getting tired.

Miles 11-20

I was so excited to crest the hill and coast down the other side.  I clocked a couple pretty easy fast miles, then eased back to my goal pace.  I was still feeling awesome.  I had been worried that since I didn’t get a chance to use the restroom before the race I would need to stop somewhere along the course.  I kept an eye out for the port-a-johns without lines and every time I passed one I would do an inventory to see if I needed to stop.  The answer always came back negative, so I just kept plugging along.  These were definitely my “cruise control” miles.  I don’t remember much about this part of the race.  I knew I had slowed down some, but I was still on track to finishing around 3:50-3:55.  This kept my spirits high and a smile on my face.

I was so excited to get to mile 20.  There’s something so magical about seeing the mile markers that all start with a 2!  Also I knew that the runningskirts.com girls were going to be somewhere around mile 20 and I was looking forward to some “skirt support.”  They did not disappoint.  They were cheering for everyone, but I felt extra special when they spotted me in my skirt and they lit up.  It was like being part of a family!  So fun.

Warning.  True Confessions of a Marathoner…
***If you have a weak stomach, or have no interest in hearing the TMI moments of marathoning just skip down to the next section***

Just past the runningskirts.com otter pop stand things started to really get interesting.  With NO WARNING whatsoever I started to pee.  It was so unreal.  There had been no signals, no urgency, no nothing! It was truly out of control.  I wondered if I should stop running and/or move off to the side.  I worried that I would have irritation and chaffing.  My water bottle was full, and I just decided to spray my legs off and keep going.  It was so embarrassing.  I knew that it was obvious that the liquid I was producing was not just sweat.  I kept telling myself that I was among friends and that no one would judge me.

Seriously.  I just peed on myself!  I mean common…

I decided that it made me super hard core and that I wouldn’t let it slow me down.

Fiesta Island=Death

I was running strong and feeling good.  Then we turned the corner and headed out to Fiesta Island.  The sun had peaked out around mile 11 and had been shining strong without a cloud in the sky.  I’d taken note of the sun, but didn’t feel like it was killing me.  That is UNTIL I got out on the island.  Once out there, it was like the sun had magic energy-sapping powers.  There were no trees for shade and not even a breath of wind.  The will to run slowly started to leave me.

I’ve never been a “throw water on myself” type of runner.  That’s how faded I was.  I was grabbing cup after cup of water and dumping it on my head, the backs of my legs, my neck, everywhere!  They were also handing out sponges soaked in ice water which was amazing!  I was able to not just get the water, but wipe the salty-sweat from my face.  I LOVED the sponges.

No matter what I did though, it seemed like I couldn’t will myself to move any faster.  My pace started falling into the high 9′s and low 10′s.  Around mile 24 I just caved in and walked.  I knew that I still had a little extra time to play with but I was still freaking out.  How could I possibly be walking? It was so devastating.  The little monsters of doubt and negativity started giving me a list of excuses to explain why I didn’t finish within my goals.  The sun in out.  This island is ridiculous.  Those half-ers cost me precious minutes.  I only slept 3 hours….and the list went on…

After about a quarter mile of walking I knew that if I didn’t get my butt in gear my goals would be gone.  I decided that there was no excuse in the world that would be enough for me to be satisfied with not meeting my goals.  I wanted to do what I set out to do.  I had worked too hard and come too far to just give up now.  I picked it back up and by the time I reached mile 25 I knew I was almost off the dreadful Island and so near the end I just kicked up my heels and pushed with all I had.

The End

I knew it was going to be close.  I had eaten up most of my time cushion and had to get back in control of my emotions, my legs, and my focus.  As I left the terrible Island behind me I felt the breeze coming off the ocean and it was just the boost that I needed.  I got my pace back under 9 and just headed towards the line.

I raised my hands as I crossed the finish mat and then immediately stopped GG.  Glancing down I saw 3:58:xx!!!!  I took a picture with my phone, sent it to Mr. Dawn with the words “We did it!!!!” As soon as the picture was sent my phone started ringing.  It was my dad!  He’d been watching my splits online and had the finish line streaming.  He knew that I had made it under four and was so proud of me.  I started crying immediately.  I couldn’t believe that I’d done it!

I got in line to take my picture in front of the Rock ‘n’ Roll sign and then called my mom so I could find her.  We had no problem meeting up and of course when I saw her I started crying all over.  She claims that I kept saying “I’m amazing!” over and over again.  I don’t remember this.  But I can believe it

Getting Home

The worst part about the experience overall was trying to get back to Mudville Flats.  There was no parking allowed at the finish line.  Instead everyone had to be shuttled in and that implies of course that everyone had to be shuttled OUT.  We stood in a snaking Disney-style line for over an hour and a half waiting for our turn on the buses.  But we survived.  We finally made it back to the hotel and I got to indulge in an ice bath, shower, and pizza.  Yummy!!!!

And…that’s the story of how I ran a marathon in under 4 hours.  Thanks for all the support and encouragement!!!  I feel like this was a community effort because I know that I never would have been able to do it without all of my family, friends, and blogging world.  THANK YOU ALL!!!

p.s. tomorrow I will hopefully have pictured and stats from GG the garmin…

**stay tuned for the next step in this crazy journey…