my first marathon

Short version: I did it! Finished in 4:35:35 and according to my Garmin I ran 26.6 miles. Gotta learn to run the tangents! ;) I never asked myself "why are you doing this?" and I never said "I'm not doing this again." Notice I titled my post "my first marathon"...God willing there will be more. I'm scheduled for NYC in November & am debating running Detroit 2 weeks before that.

Long version:

We left Friday night for Cleveland. Saturday morning we got up & took the kids downtown for the kids' run....they had a blast! It was pretty crazy, especially with the 3 & under group - a lot of them cried for their parents so a lot of parents ran with them. My children were so excited to have a number & I kept telling them when they finished they would get a medal so they each took off when it was their turn to race. Matthew fell not far from the start, but he got right up & then ran around a whole group that had fallen on top of each other. He didn't seem bothered by his fall at all, so I was proud. (He was born with bilateral clubfoot & is still "overcorrected" so runs with his toes out. I am just thrilled he runs!) They were SO proud of their medals.

We left the kids' races and went to the expo. I didn't think the expo was very good but I got my number and shirt, looked around at the vendors but didn't buy anything! That afternoon we drove the route just so I would kind of know where I was going and also to look for parks/playgrounds around that David could take the kiddos to play while they also watched the race. Got to bed late Saturday night, but I figured I would be too anxious to sleep anyway. Turns out I slept great.

Woke up at 5:45, ate breakfast, got dressed, took some things down to our car, and headed to the start line. I found the 4:30 pace group & planned to run with/near them. I run/walk so I knew I wouldn't be with them the whole time. I ended up staying with them until the 6 mile marker when I really had to pee. Of course there was a line for port-a-potties but I had been on the lookout for a place to sneak off & pee & hadn't seen one, so I got in line. I ended up wasting 4.5 minutes in line! ARGH!

Around mile 8 another runner kind of pushed me sideways to get my attention, then pointed off the route. I turned to see David & Matthew running toward the course...David was trying to get to that street with the kids to watch & didn't really make it in time. I ran over & gave them hugs and went on. Around mile 11 I saw them again - he said I looked strong & I told him I felt great. Around 12.5 the half marathoners split off and the course suddenly felt empty. I wasn't really prepared for that feeling. Around mile 13 I had to pee again but I didn't have to wait in line! YAY! (You know, every second counts!) Around mile 19 I saw David & the kiddos again - I told him I'd make it 7 more miles and he said they'd see me there. Right after that I had to pee AGAIN! I stood in line for a couple of minutes but then was on my way.

All along I kept noticing my pace and I was right on to finish in 4:30. I guess I got slower because when my Garmin showed 4:00 I was at the 23 mile marker. Garmin showed I had run 23.37 miles at that point, so I knew I still had 3.2 miles to go. I knew there was NO WAY I was going to run 3.2 miles in 30 minutes and I just starte sobbing. I was doing that heaving sob that comes from deep down in your belly, you know the one? I can't really describe it but I'm sure you would know if you could hear the sound effects. Anyway, trying to run while crying like that doesn't work very well so I took a walk break. I gave myself a really stern talking to and got myself under control. I had to tell myself that it didn't matter if I didn't finish in under 4:30, I was going to finish that damn race & I should be proud of myself for accomplishing that, no matter how long it took. I walked for 3 minutes and was finally not sobbing anymore so I could breathe & run. I took off, felt great the last 3 miles, got high fives from David & the children as I approached the finish line, and crossed it at 4:35:35.

As soon as I crossed the finish line and got my medal I could feel tears coming but another runner who had just finished too looked at me & said "congratulations" and all the emotion kind of disappeared. I congratulated him on his finish and wandered off for chocolate milk & pretzels. (apparently they had bananas but ran out before the 4:00 mark!)

I found David & the kiddos, we went back to the hotel so I could shower and then we headed to Kalahari, an indoor waterpark. We stopped pretty often for me to walk around and when we got the park I felt pretty good. We got in the lazy river & the wave pool, but also rode some of the waterslides. Even climbing the stairs I felt pretty good. My quads were a little sore but not too bad, and nowhere else hurt. Monday morning I felt stiff getting out of bed but once I was up & moving I felt good. I think the waterpark really helped in my recovery. Monday afternoon I had a massage at the hotel spa, that was pure heaven. Tuesday we spent more time at the park & in the water, and we came home Tuesday night.

I have mixed emotions about this race. I am proud of myself because it is a huge accomplishment, but I'm also frustrated that I didn't make that 4:30 goal. I really thought I could, and honestly, if I hadn't had to stop to pee, I could have done it. So, any runners out there reading this....how do I not pee during a race?