Race Schedule and Results

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Marathon pictures and race report

So marathon photos are up. Sorry that they are so small. I noticed something about myself when I run... look at my thumbs. It's like I'm hailing a cab! EVERY.SINGLE.PICTURE! It's too funny!



Look at this one... I'm like 6 inches off the ground - with BOTH feet! :)

Me and my cutie patootie husband!

So here's the brief race recap -
I'll be honest... I didn't give the race much thought going into it. After the Ironman, I signed up feeling a totally failure and thinking that maybe this would make me feel better. As the month passed between IMLOU and the Columbus Marathon, I drifted further and further away from wanting to run a marathon. I did three long runs - a 13, a 16 and a 20. Between the long runs, I didn't do much. I was checked out. Multiple times I thought about pulling out of the race or even changing my entry to the half. I didn't feel like I was in the shape that I wanted to be in for a marathon or in the right mental state.
With that being said, Saturday was totally calm for a prerace night. I didn't think much about it. We ate some pasta and chicken because that's what we do before long races, but that was it. As I laid down for bed, I started to cry. I was flooded with emotions of the fact that I gave up in Louisville. It's easy for the mind to forget the bad of the day. I don't forget how I felt, but I was just overcome with a sense that I gave up before I was ready and that I possibly could have made it to the finish (in retrospect, I don't think I could have but who knows). I eventually fell asleep, but the 5:30 wake up came early.

We drove to the race site and parked at the start. It was EMPTY. I figured with 15,000 runners, it would be packed. The start and finish are about 4 locks from each other and I think 14,900+ runners decided to park at the finish! Tom and I sat in the care for a while then I realized I needed to pee so we made our way to a portojohn and then sat back in the car. No need to waste energy trying to stay warm. About 7:10 we got out of the car, used the potties again and then made our way to Coral 2. Nightmare... it was packed and they weren't letting anyone in until the race started. People had gotten into the coral but then stopped so there was a huge backup. Someone informed me not to worry about it because our times wouldn't start until we crossed the line. Thanks... but we'd be starting behind the 4:45 pace once we got in. I wanted to start around the 3:45 pace. Ugh. Tom suggested we leave the coral line and move up a bit and try to hop the fence. It worked perfect... tons of room and we were able to join our pace people!

The race started right at 7:30 and we immediately fell into our pace. People were passing us left and right (which is common, we know that, but we are better at pacing ourselves than a lot of people right out of the gate). We didn't have a Garmin on, but could check our times and splits at the mile markers. It was crowded, but the miles ticked by quickly. We hit the 10k spot in 54:28 which was fine. I stopped to pee right before that so even with the stop, we were running a good consistent pace. The course was crowded until about mile 12.9 because the half marathon ran with us to that point and then broke off. It was a nice relief when they split though... much less crowded. The crowd support was awesome the whole day! My feet were starting to burn (some weird new thing that's been happening... I think I need new shoes!) and Tom was complaining that his knees were bothering him. Half way there though ... I knew we'd be fine.

We hit the 13.1 mark at 1:56:06. We had slowed a little, but were fine pace wise. We were eating and drinking and hadn't put our MP3's on yet. Around mile 16, we decided to use the music for a pick me up. I had started to slow. Tom kept running ahead and catching up. Around mile 18 I told him to go. I would gut it out, but I knew that I couldn't maintain the pace for a sub 4 like he could (he's a tough cookie mentally... me, eh, I'm a soft batch when I start to hurt). I hit mile 20 at 3:03:32. I made a pact with myself to run to the aid stations, walk while I drank, stretch if I needed and move on. I wanted to PR... or break 4:10 if at all possible.

Oh but my feet were burning. Bad...

Miles 20-25 were slow. I stuck with my plan but knew that my walking and stretching were slowing my pace. The last 1.2 miles took forever. The crowds were awesome. I saw Meredith and Dave, Brooke and Chris, my mom and dad, Stevi. Everyone was screaming. I knew I had done it... despite my lack of wanting to do this marathon at all, I PRed. I ran the last .1 miles with the biggest smile.

I didn't break 4 hours (which I thought I could this year), but I was super happy with the results. Tom had a great race and I'm so glad that he didn't wait for me... he got his sub 4. I'll get mine... maybe next year, maybe way in the future. I'm not worried about it.

For now, my legs hurt like a son-of-a-gun. Much worse than after my first two Ironman races or any half Ironman. But I have a sense of accomplishment and the disappointment from the whole Ironman thing this year is just a distant memory.

21 comments:

Kristen said...

So excited for you that you PRed. I wish I had been there to see you cross the finish line. I'll make sure I'm there for when you break four hours, which I know won't be too far away. xoxo
P.S. Congrats to Tom too!!!!

track coach and adorable wife said...

I'm glad you decided to do this! It sounds like just what you needed, plus what an awesome time and how fun to do it with your hubs!

Caratunk Girl said...

Hey I run with my thumbs up too!! Congrats on the PR! Too much fun to run that race with your husband.

Unknown said...

Congrats on your race!! Great photos!

Judi said...

congrats! sounds like it did help you with a little pick me up. :0)

Christi said...

You did a great job on this race and I am so excited for you. Enjoy your down time and make sure you rest and recover well!

Unknown said...

Those are some great pics! And the thumbs up is awesome - wonder if I do that? hmmm?

Carolina John said...

Good job! sub-4 hours will come soon enough. But you looked good out there! and it seems like you had fun.

Aimee said...

Woohoo! Congrats on the PR! I know you wanted to break 4, but your time is awesome!

Molly said...

You could give David Blaine a run for his levitation money with that one photo!

congrats on your great finish!

Allison said...

Congratulations on the PR! You never cease to amaze me :)

Alisa said...

Yay PR! It's amazing what we can do when we put our mind to it. Also, you had so much built up strength from IM training, I'm sure that helped contribute to your new PR.

Ending races with a smile is the only way to do it.

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Congrats on the PR!!!! I predict sub 4 on your next one

Kim said...

that picture of both your feet off the ground is AMAZING! nothing beats finishing the season off with a PR! congrats again to both you and tom!

Ron said...

THUMBS UP!! nice job. This experience is going to make so much stronger. I say DO NOT forget it. Remember it, use it as fuel for the fire. You are an awesome athlete and will overcome and when it is all said and done, you will have something valuable.

Anne-Marie said...

Love the pictures! Isn't it such a great feeling when you have an expectedly good race? Way to hang in there and get your sub-4:10 goal!

I had the exact same experience with post-race soreness! I was about 20 times more sore after the Chicago Marathon than I was after IM... my Chicago pace was almost 3 min/mile faster than IM though, so I guess that has something to do with it.

Hope you're enjoying the recovery time... Congrats again to both you and your husband!

Running Diva Mom said...

Hey Colleen! You've won something on my blog -- please check it out and send me your contact info. Congrats, and thanks for following my journey!!

Great race photos! You look awesome ... and so very strong! I'm a thumbs up runner, too. So, I love that you are giving thumbs up for 26.2 miles, too! Congrats on the PR!!!!!!!!

track coach and adorable wife said...

Hey you also won something on my blog, you still have another day to contact me, but then I will have to pick another winner, sorry! But hello lucky!

chris mcpeake said...

congrats on a great race. Way to go

Aunt Nan said...

Thumbs up to you and Tom for a race super well run. I'm so glad that Dad and I made it to the finish line to see you both smiling and crossing with your PR's. You continue to amaze us both.

Niki said...

Congrats on your PR!!