The Thursday night before the race several inches of freezing rain and sleet fell across the Metroplex. The plummeting temperatures turned the rain and sleet into ice and the area into a giant ice rink. With the race scheduled for Sunday morning and temps forecasted to stay well below freezing into the next week, the race organizers made the (correct) decision on Friday afternoon to cancel the Marathon.
I had "only" been training for 18 weeks but I had been planning for that race for well over a year. In fact, pretty much as soon as I found out in May 2012 that I was pregnant and thus, not going to be racing that winter, I was determined that the 2013 Dallas Marathon would be my first marathon. During just about every training run I thought about how it would feel to see that mile 26 signpost, send the triumphant "here I come!" text to let Kevin know to expect me, to see my family at the finish line and hear the excitement in Daniel's voice as he cheered for me. I'm happy to do my training runs by myself but races are a fun chance to enjoy running with thousands of other people, feel the adrenaline and nervousness of thousands of people waiting for the start gun to go off, enjoy being cheered on by thousands of strangers and read the funny and inspiring signs. Now none of that was going to happen.
I was extremely disappointed but determined to put all that training to use and earn my first marathon medal in 2013, the year my daughter was born. So I took to the internet to see what other races might be a possibility and found a small marathon happening in Dallas the next weekend called Whine Not Another Marathon. With a 50-runner limit it wasn't the big "event race" I wanted, and an 8-loop course around Bachmann Lake wasn't the same as a race through all the scenic parts of Dallas, but it was 26.2 miles long.
After a second taper week, race morning dawned early and I quickly dressed, got ready, and headed to the race site. It was cold and very windy that morning and I got there early enough to park right next to the start line (one benefit of it being a small race) so I waited in my car till it was time to line up. Another benefit of it being a small loop course was that I didn't have to worry too much about what to wear I knew it would be easy to shed or add layers as I warmed up or got colder. I wore shorts and a tech tee (maroon, "Run Aggieland"), calf sleeves and a cap as my base layer and started out with a pullover, gloves, and ear warmer headband.
The course was 8 loops around the lake plus a short out and back at the end. Each loop took us past the start line, the refreshment table, and the porta-potties and a handful of volunteers. Other than those features it was basically a training run with a few other people around.
Lap one went easily and I felt light. I wore 4:15 and 4:30 pace tats since I wasn't quite sure what pace I'd be able to hold. My first few miles I was hitting my splits on the lower end of that and felt great. After lap one I shed the pullover and gloves as I was warming up and the wind hadn't yet gotten strong.
With any long run I use mental tricks to keep myself motivated and this was no differerent. I used laps as my measuring stick rather than miles because 8 laps sounded less intimidating than 26 miles. After the first lap I said, ok that was easy, I can do that 7 more times. After 2 laps, I'm a quarter of the way done and after 3 laps it was 3 down, 5 to go. 4 down was almost halfway, and so on.
I think for any long run the mental aspect is as important as the physical. I've done 8 half marathons now and aside from one with knee pain (note: endurance events good, blood donation good, endurance event a week after blood donation, bad), the hardest race was one where I wasn't mentally prepared and all I could think was how hot it was and "are we there yet?". I used to dedicate each mile of a race to a different person/group to give me focal points. This fall during all those long training runs I realized I didn't really need that "crutch" anymore because I could just run for hours without really having to consciously focus and I could just think about anything or nothing. A big race can provide a lot of distraction and encouragement through the fan support, fellow runners and entertainment but this race had none of that to help me along. The good news was that it turned out I didn't need it, and for that I'm certain I have all those hours of training runs to thank.
I did dedicate one lap though. The race was on December 14, the anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy, and there was a national moment of silence at 9:30ET, so at the start of the 3rd lap at 8:30ish I turned off my music and recited the morning prayer liturgy to myself, naming by name as many of the Sandy Hook victims I could recall. I also wore a "WWDD" bracelet that day in honor of Daniel Barden, whose family talked about his sense of adventure and how he loved running even at his young age.
Mile after mile, lap after lap, the scenery never changed. Every 3 miles I'd refill my water bottle or grab some Gatorade (and special thanks to the awesome volunteers and one fellow Texag-er in particular who came out when I posted about the race) and every 40ish minutes I'd take in either a GU gel or bag of Sport Beans. Occasionally I'd be running alongside another runner but 99% of the time it was just me putting one foot in front of the other, again and again and again.
Physically I did reasonably well. I started feeling a hot spot on the ball of my right foot around halfway in and my legs started to feel rubbery around mile 18 or so but other than those mild discomorts nothing really hurt. Holding the pace became increasingly difficult and my pace steadily slowed as the miles progressed but I think that was somewhat mental as the monotony of an 8 loop course with no crowd support, scenery, or borrowed enthusiasm from fellow racers set in. Nutrition-wise everything went well too as I managed to successfully walk that line of not letting the tank get empty or assaulting my GI tract with too much at once.
As the morning went on the wind really picked up and it began to feel much colder. Somewhere around lap 6 I put my gloves back on. I never had taken off the headband and now I was glad to have it. I debated putting the pullover back on but decided against it because 1) it would take too long and 2) I wanted my Run Aggieland shirt for my finisher picture because priorities, right?
At mile 20 I called Kevin to tell him I was about an hour out and he and the kids left the house to come meet me at the finish line. As I was about halfway through my final lap he texted that they were at the finish line. Knowing that every step brought me closer to my cheering section brought a little extra spring to my step. After completing my 8th lap I passed by them and headed out for the out and back which was just starting a 9th lap and running to a turnaround point. The return leg of it was nice as runners heading out for their next laps congratulated me and cheered me on.
I had told Kevin that since it was such a small race, if there wasn't another runner right behind me then I wanted Daniel to join me as I crossed the finish line. I had meant for him to get Daniel out of the stroller and run across with me but we had a miscommunication and Daniel was still in the stroller so, with him cheering "run faster Mommy!" I pushed his stroller across the finish line. 4:41 and 26.2 miles after I'd departed the start line early that morning, I was a marathoner.
Being such a small race, there was no official photographer so I don't have a picture of my finish. The only picture I have of the event at all is this one of me and Daniel afterward. Between the calf sleeves and ear warmers you can see that fashion was really a major consideration for me ;)
Edit: the day after I posted this the race uploaded some pictures. Here's one of me on the course:
So when all was said and done I did achieve my goal of becoming a marathoner during 2013 and fully living up to my "run a household, run a business, run a marathon" mantra. I would have loved for the Dallas Marathon to happen but I'm certain this race was much harder than Dallas would have been, so knowing I could do 26.2 under these conditions sends me into my future marathons with a huge confidence boost. If I can run 26.2 miles with minimal support, a boring loop course, and no crowd support, how much faster can I be with a fully supported race through a scenic route with thousands of other runners and huge crowd support? I'll get my chance to find out soon enough.
This race showed I had the mental aspect of the marathon under control. It would have been easy to fixate on how cold it was, how boring it was, how this wasn't what I originally signed up for, the total lack of crowd support, etc, but I didn't. I was able to stay just focused enough to mind my pace without fixating and turning it into 4 hours of "are we there yet?" And while I didn't get the "big race" crowd experience, the 3 most important people were there at the finish line and I got to not only see them but include Daniel in my finish in a way I couldn't have at a big race.
In another month and a half I'll get to try to improve on my time and get the big race marathon experience in the Cowtown Marathon. It should be a fun morning with more than 10,000 racers, tens of thousands of fans, a scenic course that hits all the scenic spots in Fort Worth, and mile markers, aid stands, and a huge afterparty with food, drinks, and entertainment. The Whine Not race showed I don't need all of that to run 26.2 miles, but it'll sure be fun to have it.
Between now and then I'll have 2 more smaller races to report on: the Jingle Bell Run just before Christmas and the Bold in the Cold 15k I'm doing this Saturday.
