26.2- an extension of ‘We’re Marathoners!’

I had an upset stomach all week leading up to the race. I started eating things that I was used to hoping that it would help. I also thought that I may have become allergic to something. Finally on Friday I realized that it was just race nerves. I was surprised because I didn’t think I was nervous. After all, I followed the whole training program and even ran 1- 20 miler beforehand.

NSET (the organization that I run with) held a meeting Thursday night leading up to the race to discuss the course and what to expect. This made it even more real to me and I was definitely freaking out! Finally on Saturday I was able to calm myself down as I knew that I had done everything I could to prepare and it was now time for the training to pay off.

One good thing about the California International Marathon is they have designated pacers for various finish times. The pacers are seasonal runners who help marathoners reach their goals by maintaining a pace throughout the race. They carry a stick with a marker on the top that has the finish time on one side and the average time per minute on the other. My friend Erin and I decided we were going to stick with the 4 hour pace group.

The first 6 miles were difficult in the sense that there were so many people around and we had to constantly weave between and around other runners. Many of which were trying to stick with the pacer. I heard one of the pacers say that he was planning on getting the group in exactly at the 4 hours mark. This got me thinking. Our pace group was far enough back from the startling line that we didn’t even cross it until 2 minutes after the gun went off. I really wanted to run across the finish line with the clock saying under 4 hours, not 4:02 and I found myself slowly pulling farther and father in front of the group. Erin and I ran together with the same thoughts in mind for 23 miles.

There were 5 NSET support stations at miles 6, 10, 13, 20 and 25. And my mom and brother were going to meet us at miles 6, 13, 20 and 26. It really made the run enjoyable and gave me something to look forward to at each point. I even made a chart in advance to carry with me to help with pacing,  when to take Gu’s and when to look for my family and the support crew. Here is the chart:

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Throughout the run I just tried take it all in, enjoy it and not take it too seriously. I took 5 gels, 1 IB  profin, 1 salt packet, drank 40 oz water and wore a running angel pin and a magic bracelet for good luck. I also put some really good music and a few pod casts on my i-pod. I never reached one point where I questioned what I was doing. And thankfully I never hit “the wall”. I ran all 26.2 miles without stopping. I just kept telling myself to put equal effort up and down the hills and not to stop because it might be difficult to start again.

Boy was I right. I crossed the finish line with a clock time of 3:58:54 and a gun time of 3:55:50! As soon as I stopped running I immediately had “piano legs” as my co-worker would say. They were so stiff that is was super hard to walk. I saw Andy and Rob right after I finished, stopped to say hello and congratulations, but had to keep moving. It was pretty painful and shocking how something can be so instant. Once everyone was finished we had to walk several blocks back to the hotel. Walking was tough and very slow going.

Overall it was a great experience albeit by far the toughest thing I have ever done. It was an overwhelming experience to accomplish something I have always wanted to do, but never quite sure of my capabilities and drive to complete it. I only imagioned myself doing it once and then feeling satisfied, but that is was I said about a half marathon which I have already completed four of. I can definitely see myself running another marathon, but for now cross that one off the bucket list!