I can't believe it's been 7 weeks since my marathon. I honestly thought it was six until I just counted again.
I haven't posted at all because I haven't really been running all that much since then. The one thing I was not prepared for was the long recovery. After my halfs, I'm usually down miles for a week, maybe two, but then am able to pick right back up where I left off within mere days. After my marathon, I took a few days off, but felt amazing (I was barely sore at all the next day, it was awesome), but did a lot of crosstraining and definitely came back too strong too early. Coming off of that high, I wanted to be amazing and fast and run PR's in all of my other distances. I knew I was in the best shape of my life, but my body had different ideas. Running was painful and while mentally I wanted to keep pushing, I just couldn't do it. Couple that with the fact that it's SPRING (my favorite time of year to run after the cold winter) and I was upset that I was hurting a lot.
I eventually cut back, scrapped my plans for a spring half in favor of a 10k. I'm trying to take it easy and work in more cross-training. I have a half relay with Brooke on May 23 and the Baltimore 10 miler on June 19. My big goal right now is to do really well in that. In my mind I think I have this ability to be super-fast. It's just finding the right training balance that will actually get me to that point.
Marathon Recap:
I ran in 4 hours (4:00:08). I was completely amazed and so proud of myself at the end. After a cold, wet winter, it was unseasonably warm. While the rest of the world told me how lucky I was to have such a nice day, I would have traded the 70s for 50s. I didn't want to complain, after all I had been through, it could have been much worse. It was definitely a shock to my system though after doing the majority of my training runs in freezing temps. I think that had it been cooler (or had I remembered at Mile 21 and not 23 how amazing a cup of water to the head felt), I would have broken four hours. But I'm in no way upset with my time and know that NEXT race (there will be one), I will go under.
I ended up running with a girl, Jen, from my flag football team from about Mile 9 to Mile 13 and then for the last 4-5 miles. It was amazing to have her support at the end. I would have tanked a lot harder had she not been there. My splits were decent, steady 9 minute miles for the first 20 and then a really slow final 10k (my final pace was 9:10). I know that in future races, I'll be ready for the wall and my splits will even out. The first half of the race is great, and I encourage all of my running buddies to run at least the half. You go through so many awesome places in DC and it goes by incredibly quickly. I did look forward to the second half, though, once the half-marathoners finished and the crowd thinned out. It was kind of surreal to go around the back of RFK with only a handful of people. I thought to myself "so this is it, I'm half way done". Miles 13-18 went by very quickly. I like to credit this to the fact that during my second pass of the Capital, I heckled some Tea Partiers. Armed with a large anti-Obama poster, I proclaimed "Go Obama" as I ran by. Someone across the street heard me, and began retorting with his Republican rhetoric. I came back with "Are you really going to yell at someone running a marathon?" to which the marathon spectators cheered. Ironic since the protest was over health care. Maybe if more Americans could run marathons, we wouldn't be in such sad shape as a country. Shortly after, I saw Matt, Matt and Mackenzie. There was a race photographer about a half a mile later. My mom remarked that she thought that picture was taken from the first half of my race, I explained I was 16+ miles in at that point, but my glee from supporting my president made me look good. Miles 18-20 were along the SW waterfront. Highlights included running over 395 where a plethora of cones blocked the on-ramps. I found it amusing at the lengths they took. The waterfront miles were flat and pretty. My best race pictures were along the river before approaching Nationals stadium. The last 10k was tough. The course was flat, but it was really sunny and hot, with no breeze, no shade and very few spectators. I had lost Jen at mile 13, but as my pace slackened, she caught up to me. As we navigated the final hills, she pushed me to finish strong. At the last water stop (Mile 25), a volunteer yelled as people ran by "Only 10 minutes left!" As we passed, he exclaimed, "but not you two, you're going a lot faster than that!" I did finish the last .2 miles strong, frantically trying to get under 4 hours. I wish I could have gotten in 9 seconds faster, but over 26.2 miles, 9 seconds is really nothing. I heard Brooke yelling for me at the end, and she hung out with me while I gathered my water, pretzel and Powerade.
I wore my medal around DC as Matt, Matt, Mackenzie and I went to Free Rita's Day and carried it in my purse for the next week. I wear my shirt to the gym a lot, especially on days I'm feeling extra lethargic.
The fact that I've run a marathon still hasn't sunk in, and maybe it never will. While it is certainly an incredible feat that so few people can boast accomplishing, to me, it was just another challenge. Lined up next... getting faster so I can go under four hours next time and then someday BQ-ing. Zack asked me if I was going to go for 50/50. It would be cool, although I did start in the one place that is not a real state.
