Wow, was it HOT yesterday!! You know it's a bad sign when you are up at the starting line and it's not even cold! This was only my 2nd full marathon. The first one I did 7 years ago. I am in much better shape now than I was then, however, not only have I been experiencing burnout since my 3 halfs last month, but it's been a stressful month of single-parenting (hubby has been in and out of town on business trips all month), and so I've turned to my coke and chocolate :). So, having not eaten well for the past couple of weeks, I was a little apprehensive about this race, and just hoping to do okay. My goal was 4:00 hrs or under, I did a 4:03. I had the under 4 hour mark until the last 2 miles, but just didn't have it in me to finish it. All things considered, I'm quite pleased with coming this close to my goal. Here are my mileage breakdowns: 1 - 8:57 2 - 8:47 3- 8:31 At this point, I'm feeling like I have to pee. Are you kidding??? I just went at the POP's right before the race started! 4 - 8:30 5 - 8:29 6 - 8:38 REALLY need to pee now. Don't really want to find a bush, but don't want to stand in line at the POP's either. 7 - 8:02 YEAH!! No line at the POP's!! Jump in, take care of business, and I'm back on the road! I've been running with my husband up to this point, but he also needed the pit stop, so I gave him mine and took off. I knew he would catch up :) 8 - 10:10 Veyo hill. I was NOT going to let it conquer me, I ran the whole thing! 9 - 9:00 10 - 8:58 11 - 9:10 Hubby has caught back up to me by this point. We leap frog the next couple of miles. 12 - 8:57 13 - 8:27 14 - 8:50 Hubby leaves me for good by now. (He's reading this and says that doesn't sound very good - LOL) 15 - 8:12 I was looking forward to this point in the race because I had family waiting at the 15 1/2. Great boost to see them there! 16 - 8:51 17 - 8:30 18 - 9:18 Starting to hurt just a little. REALLY thirsty. I looked forward to every aid station and was grabbing both the gatorade and water. Nervous about dehydration with the heat. At this point, there was a mister set up. Walked slowly through it, and the muscles were rejuvinated for another couple of miles. 19 - 10:33 I believe this was the last hill, under the underpass. The heat was really starting to get to me at this point, and I walked part of this hill. 20 - 10:38 21 - 8:31 Wow! How did I go from 2 10 min/milers to this? Guess I caught the downhill. 22 - 10:35 And, this was where I really started to hurt. Every aid station from 21 on, every time I stopped, it hurt. I wanted so bad to just walk, but even walking hurt. My quads were burning, my hips were hurting, and my body was just pounded. I kept looking at my watch, thinking, I'm gonna do this! I'm gonna get under 4 hours! It's only 4 more miles! Piece of cake! 23 - 10:30 24 - 9:59 Another mister here. THANK YOU!!! Once again, walked slowly through it. And, this was where the 4 hour pace team passed me. I watched them go past, telling myself to run and catch up!! But, I just didn't have it in me anymore. 25/26 - 21:51 I missed mile marker 25. I'm sure it was right there at the aid station, but I missed it. .2 - 2:17 I'm getting passed right and left. I know I was not looking good. Just trying to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other so I can finish. And. . .it was over. I stood under the misters till I was soaked at the end. Wishing there was a nice cold river I could go sit in. . .then, I headed in to find me some water. I have never been so thirsty in a race before. That heat was terrible. People were handing out popsicles, ice cream bars, standing in line for coke. . . where is the freaking water?!?! Finally find some and grab two, down the first one and go to sit with the second. It's not that great anyway, it's warm. End up eating the popsicle, because at least it's cold. I stretch some, sit for a good 20 minutes, then get up to walk around and find the hubby. After 40 minutes or so, I finally start to feel a little better. 7 years ago when I ran this race, I was sick at the end and could hardly walk for 3 days. This year, no stomach issues, and, yes, I'm sore, but I'm getting around okay. Even stairs :) Although the 4 1/2 hour car ride home doesn't really help, lol. I beat my last marathon time by a whole hour. And, yes, I think there will now be more full marathons in my future :) | 