Marine Corps Marathon!

First I'll start with the splits from my watch, then the official race splits, and then fun stories from the race!

My watch -
Mile 1 - 8:54.3 (started my watch before the start line! Opps! It was crowded and this split was too slow :(
Mile 2 - 8:40.5
Mile 3 - 8:33.3
Mile 4 - 8:12.4 - too fast!
Mile 5 - 8:21.6
Mile 6 - 8:25.0
Mile 7 - 8:38.0
Mile 8 - 8:23.7
Mile 9 - 8:27.3
Mile 10 -8:27.3
Mile 11 - 8:33.5
Mile 12 - 8:30.4
Mile 13 - 8:41.4
Mile 14 - 8:39.6
Mile 15 - 8:36.7
Mile 16 - 8:44.3 - At this point I was ready to be done. My feet were killing me. The balls of my feet were pretty much bruised at this point and every step hurt. So I decided that I would walk through all the water stops for the next 10miles as a "break!" My splits start to increase, since they are an average of your pace for the mile. So my running was ~8:30, but walking was ~11+.
Mile 17 - 9:03.8
Mile 18 - 9:20.3
Mile 19 - 9:02.9
Mile 20 - 9:31.7
Mile 21 - 9:08.2 - At this point, it was my longest run ever!
Mile 22 - 9:07.4
Mile 23 - 9:12.5
Mile 24 - 9:19.5
Mile 25 - 9:42.5
Mile 26 - 9:13.6
26.2 on my watch had a pace of 8:54.1, which puts my time at 3:51.26, but I wasn't at the finish line! I had to run another 0.27miles with a pace of 9:18.6, putting my time at 3:53:52.6!!
So according to my watch I actually ran 26.47miles - that takes into account weaving in and out of traffic. I think I need to learn to run straight! Send me a comment, if you want to look at my Garmin data - pretty cool to look at!

Official race results -
3:53:48! (so my watch time was only off by 4secs, but my distance was off by 0.27miles!)
3501st overall!
812th female!
192nd in my division

Average pace was 8:56.

5k (3.1miles) - 27:12
10k - 53:23 (breaks down to 26:11 for the 5k)
15k - 1:20:05 (26:42)
20k - 1:46:53 (26:48)
13.1 miles - 1:52:46 (only ~4min slower than my best half marathon time!)
25k - 2:13:55 (27:02)
30k - 2:42:20 (29:35)
35k - 3:11:22 (29:02)
40k - 3:41:05 (30:43)
Finish time - 3:53:48

So the second half split was 2:01:02 - not very good :(

I am very happy with my finish time. I was training for 3:45 and had a goal of finishing under 4hrs. Goal met!
My car now sports a 26.2 sticker! I am super proud of my accomplishment!

It was a very tough race and I really don't think I could have finished without GAH's support. Looking at the course, mile 10.5 and 16 were across from each other, so that was where GAH was going to be. Those two places had a ton of people and I missed him at 10.5, but saw him at 16! I was so tired, my feet really hurt, and my mind was telling me to stop (I think I bruised the balls of my feet, the left foot more than the right.) It was wonderful to see him and re-energizing! Right before I saw GAH, I also saw some friends from Boot Camp! They started cheering "Go E! Go E!" That was awesome and I needed the encouragement! Thank-you :) The rest of the race, GAH would pop up at different places. It was totally surprising and wonderful. Hearing your name makes all the difference in the world. Race course fan are awesome. Extra shout outs to my family and friends tracking me online and sending positive vibes! You guys are awesome!!

I have decided that this will be my first and last marathon. I like running. Love 10mile races and half marathons. I just don't think I am marathon material. During my training, I didn't like any of the long runs after 18miles. They were very hard on me. Running should be fun. 18+ miles is not fun to me.

I also have a little bit of hypoglycemia, so proteins make me happy, sugars make me a mean person. I can't have a sugary breakfast without feeling like crap a few hours later. I need eggs! In general, I would rather have something savory and salty then something sweet. Which leads me to race fuel.....most are some sort of electrolyte replacement. Great, but after 16miles, the whole wheat raisin cinnamon english muffin I ate for breakfast is gone and the sugars are now going on an empty stomach. Not a good feeling. I really should have trained with peanuts or almonds, but hind sight is 20-20. On the other hand, I usually didn't feel that bad after a training run as I did after the marathon. I usually refuel with Greek yogurt, almonds, slices of cheese, and a granola bar within 5min of finishing a run. At the marathon is was ~10min after I finished before I had anything in my hand to eat. They corralled you after the race to get the reflective warming blanket, medal, hand shake with a Marine, and a picture with your medal. Next, walk some more to food! The food was all prepackaged, so I wasn't able to open anything until I sat down, which included more walking to meet up with GAH.

The food box was cute, but the food was gross. The bagel was old and very chewy. I could only get down one bite. Dried edemama beans?! I like edemama, but dried beans are disgusting. They basically turned into saw dust in my mouth. Gross. I did try them again later that night and they were still gross. Even my Aunt thought they were nasty. Next - pretzels and a square of dark chocolate! Yumm! Left in the box was a tube of hummus and a fruit cup - both things that on regular day I would like. But this wasn't a regular day! Remember my last experience with fruit after a race....cookies tossed :( so I wasn't about to eat the fruit. The hummus looked like one of those to-go kids yogurts. At first I was excited, thinking it was yogurt. I like hummus with pita chips and vegetables. I don't want to squeeze hummus into my mouth. Gross! So, I wasn't refueled. I was thirsty, so I kept sucking on the gatorade and water. We walked what felt like another mile to the bag check and that was when the rumbling in my tummy started. I was able to put some warm clothes on and start more walking to the metro. On the way, my stomach rumbling won.... I had to detour to eject all the liquid, pretzels, and chocolate in my stomach. GROSS! This is the second time I have done this after a race and third time overall, so I am sort of pro and finding an out of the way place and not embarrass myself too badly. GAH was very comforting after and helped by caring my bag and getting me home as quickly as possible.

We did stop for lunch at a diner near my Aunt and Uncle's house. The food there was tasty, but I wasn't ready for it and had to visit the bathroom to empty my stomach again :( I was able to finally eat some plain toast before we left the restaurant.

I don't think people who run marathons "regularly" get sick after races. Another reason, I probably am not cut out for 26.2!

The rest of the day and Monday were lazy, with lots of napping and resting. My legs were pretty sore until Friday. I did go to work on Tuesday, but getting around was pretty pathetic. I am sure I looked like an old lady!

Back to my feet - the balls are still sore. I am not sure what to do about this. The first steps in the morning hurt only on the balls, so I am pretty sure it isn't plantar fasciitis. What is it? Running this week hasn't bothered them, but they are still sore. Humm. I am putting arnica lotion on them each morning. They probably just need time....

I am doing a 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and have signed up for 2 races in 2012! A half marathon in March and a 25k (5 x 5k) race in Southern California in April. I am also considering doing the Detroit 1/2 marathon in October. You run to Windsor, Canada on the bridge and come by through the tunnel under the river. Awesome!!! Maybe we can combine it with a hockey game :)

Enjoy!
ELH