Six months ago, I had no intention of running a marathon anytime soon. I was going to the gym semi-regularly. Judson kept getting sick from the childcare and the workout time after I took the kids to school would eat up my entire morning. The gym wasn't working. My neighbor and I decided to start running. She used to run 6 miles 4 mornings a week. The only time it would work regularly for both of us was at six am. We started in October and by the beginning of November we were up to 6 miles 4 times a week. Getting up that early and working out that hard was brutal, because I still had to function all day without a nap. I decided if I'm going to do all this work, I might as well have a goal, it's pretty much like training for a marathon, just add the long runs on the weekends. I ran a half-marathon 10 years ago and always wanted to run a full, but never got around to it. This was my chance. Dave and I talked about it, he was super supportive. I knew I couldn't do it without his commitment to it, because he was going to have to watch the kids on the weekends while I ran.
My neighbor didn't want to the full, but decided to do the half. Let me just say, she is an AWESOME running partner. It would have been so hard to get up by myself at six am when it was 28 degrees outside and run six miles. And I would not have felt safe running down to the trail by myself in the dark, so I would have had to run around my neighborhood, which would have been super boring. Anyway, we worked the long runs out so that I would get up and run the first four, six, or eight miles by myself and she would run the last 10 with me. We both got our training in. By the time I got to the marathon, I had already run six half-marathons six weeks in a row. Mentally, that helped me a ton.
We ran the Tobacco Road Marathon and Half-Marathon which starts and finishes less than two miles from our houses. How perfect is that? And we run the trail every time we run. It's a familiar place. And it's flat! Her husband dropped us off at the race. He came back with their kids to see her finish with the parking pass (we only had one between us). And then they all came back with Dave and the kids to see me finish. It was awesome!
Here are some random thoughts about the marathon...
I don't like public restrooms. I rarely use them. So the thought of going in a porta potty pretty much made me want to throw up in my mouth. Seriously, my goal was to not have to use a porta potty. I decided that if it came down to it, I was just going to have to go in my pants. Potty. Sweat. At that point, my whole body was drenched, it didn't matter. I managed to hold it in! YAY! That was a big accomplishment. I must say, though, I have never been so jealous of men. Ughh. They just ran off into the woods and went. I was really wishing for male parts during the race.
Running aids are essential to finishing. Ibuprofen is my best friend. I took three before the race, three at mile 8, three at mile 17. There is no way I would have been able to make it without it. And Gu is good, too. I had Gu at miles 6, 11, 16, 21. I like the espresso kind with caffeine. It gets the job done. I drank one or two gulps of water at every stop. I read somewhere that the gu and gatorade don't mix well in your stomach. I believed it and just had water.
The people watching was fantastic! One dude wore a teenage mutant ninja turtle costume. He was fast, too. One man in his mid-60s went a little too far with the spray tan. Seeing everyone else out there in their own mental game was so inspiring. Every person trained and they were working hard to finish, you could see it in their eyes. It kept me going.
My phone is phenomenal! I loved that I could time my own run and pace myself with an app. And have music playing. And text my friends. Getting texts from my friends while I was running really helped at the end. One of my friends texted, "Oprah is on your heals!" I looked down and I was like, "Oooh, she's right, I need to pick it up."
It was totally a mental game. TOTALLY. I read some stuff on Saturday to help me prepare some mental exercises and visualizations to keep me going. I had this arsenal of "stuff to do" when it got tough. I thought about using it at mile 5, 8, and 13. I held off until 19. I really, really, really had to go to the bathroom at 19. So I went through the alphabet and thought of things I was grateful for with every letter. It totally worked. I envisioned people in front of me pulling me along with a rope, and then I would pass them. The last three miles were hard. I was just done. And tired, really tired. Every time I saw a sign on the ground that said, "Go Leslie." I pictured my name. It helped. I was thinking, even the ground is cheering me on. And isn't it so great that I have friends that came out and wrote on the ground for me? Pathetic, but it worked.
I didn't decide to listen to music until 5 minutes before the race. I brought my headphones just in case. It was such a good choice. My playlist was on repeat and I listened to every song twice. The best part was that I crossed the finish line listening to Outloud by Dispatch. It was not planned at all, but the lyrics were perfect! Some of the lines: Would you be the wind to blow me home; I'd be proud if you called my name outloud; Do you suppose I'd come running if you called my name outloud? I suppose I would. And they called my name out loud when I crossed the finish line.
My chip time was 4:25:20, a 10:15 mile pace. I beat Oprah, that was my goal. She had a trainer, I didn't. Her time was 4:29. I am super thrilled with finishing, even more excited about my time. I can see how people love running marathons, it could be addicting. I would love to shave 26 minutes off of my time. I think it's do-able, but not for awhile. I'm running a half-marathon in May with another friend. It will have hills. I'm not looking forward to that part. Meanwhile, my neighbor and I are going to stick to the six mile runs. We'll probably start back up on Wednesday.
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