Now that the soreness and stiff legs are gone it's about time to do my post-race wrap-up. This past Sunday was the day I'd spent all fall and late summer working toward: the Dallas Marathon!
Saturday night I ate my pasta dinner, laid all my gear and clothes out, and meticulously planned my morning. Sunday the alarm went off at 5am and I was up. I quickly dressed, tiptoed in to kiss the kids, and headed downstairs for a toasted English muffin with almond butter and a 5 hour energy. One nice change from my norm this time was that I had company on race morning. Our friend Lisa, who now lives in Seattle, was running the half (20+ weeks pregnant!) so she stayed with us for the weekend. We finished breakfast and headed downtown and then, as time grew closer, wished each other luck and went to our respective corrals.
Hard to see in the picture, but the Reunion Tower ball had graphics showing a runner, 26.2, and 13.1:
From atop a park bench I could see the start line and the tvs showing the close-up of it. Hearing the gun go off and seeing the fireworks and confetti shoot up into the air, it hit me what I had missed out on last year with the ice storm cancellation. I realized too that even as I planned for this day I half expected it to get cancelled for weather too, so it wasn't till the gun went off that I was finally convinced it was really going to happen. Two seasons worth of work were finally going to come to fruition.
In the start corral:
About 5 minutes after the gun my wave advanced to the start line and my marathon began. Coming in I believed 4:15 was a reasonable target, but my hope was that if I could hold a 9:30-9:40ish pace for the first 18 or so miles, I'd be able to dial it up a little for the duration if I was feeling strong and finish a little faster than my target. I even went so far as to tweak my running playlist on my iPhone for about 2:07 so that if all went to plan, I'd finish the race as the playlist ended its second run.
For about the first 14 miles I felt decent. Not wonderful; I could tell within the first few miles this wasn't going to be one of those magical race days where everything feels perfect. It was a little warm (60s) and humid, even misting lightly, which didn't help. But I was feeling reasonably good and hitting my splits without much trouble and aside from a bathroom break around mile 8, I never stopped even briefly.
And if the rest of the race had gone the same way I'd be writing right now about my triumphant 4:15 finish as "We Are Done" played in my headphones. Alas, that wasn't in the cards. Holding my pace became harder and harder and I began sprinkling in some walk breaks. First after each mile marker, then more frequently than that.
Those last 8 miles or so were rough. I never bonked, never doubted I'd finish, and actually never even doubted I'd earn a PR. I just knew it was going to be a rough time getting there. My legs were tired and my feet were sore. I had hot spots on the balls of my feet and was sure I must be getting blisters. And around 23 miles in I developed a random sharp pain in my left shin (feels fine now, so no clue what that was). I had to power through on mental toughness sometimes because my legs just didn't have it. It didn't help that my GPS was measuring .2 miles ahead of the race markers so my watch would beep to announce another mile done and I'd know that I had .2 more to go before it "counted."
I was frustrated that I hadn't paced well. Disappointed I wouldn't get the time I wanted. I'd see children holding a sign see their parents and get excited and feel jealous that I still had an hour till I got to see my people. I thought to myself that this was like the transition stage of labor, and that the good news was that when it got the hardest that meant the end wasn't far off.
Around mile 20 I called Kevin to update and let him know the pain train was about an hour from the station. He and the kids were on their way downtown and I was looking forward to seeing them. On many of my training runs over the past 2 seasons I'd imagined coming into the finisher chute, hearing the crowds, and looking out to see those familiar faces so it was nice to know that every step brought me closer to them.
Speaking of familiar faces, I was treated to a nice surprise around mile 20 when my friends Anne and Mike were out to cheer me on. It was the perfect pick-me-up at the time I needed it most and it put an extra spring in my step.
A less nice surprise came shortly thereafter when the skies opened up and stormed on us. I was already wet from previous showers that morning but I felt bad knowing Kevin and the kids were getting wet too. I distinctly remember taking inventory around mile 22 or so and determining that my shorts were the only part of me that were dry. Which, if only one thing's going to be dry, isn't a bad one.
Finally mile marker 26 appeared and only two tenths of a mile separated me from the finish. It hadn't been the day I was hoping for but I had become a 2-time marathoner and despite my struggles, managed to PR by over 9 minutes. Oh, and then there were the medals. Yes, medals plural. One of the reasons I was so determined to do this race was that I wouldn't just receive the medal I earned for 2014, I'd get my 2013 medal I should have earned last December. And because I did the Rock N Roll Dallas half in March I also got the "Dallas Duo" medal.
Not a bad haul for a morning's work:
What worked, what didn't
Warning: I'm making these notes for my reference more than anything else. Feel free to stop reading as soon as it gets boring ;)
What went well:
- Happy tummy: I've had stomach issues on race days in the past but this day brought no side stitches, upset tummy or other GI issues. While this was good news in its own right it also bodes well for my next major event because I used the marathon as another chance to test drive the Perpetuem solids I plan to use for that event. Also, what I ate in the hours and days before the race seem to have worked well. I wasn't dumb enough to eat ghost pepper chips the day before the race again. That's a mistake you only make once ;)
- Hydration: I also chose to wear my Fuel Belt rather than my usual handhold. I chose that for 2 reasons: 1. I got to use the electrolyte tab solution I like rather than the sugary Gatorade offered on course and 2. I find when I take cups of fluids on the course I drink too much at one, and I do much better taking smaller amounts more often. It worked well as my stomach was happy, but the slight headache I developed tells me I should have taken in a little more water than I did, especially on such a humid day. But headache aside this was as good as my stomach has felt on an event in a long time, and definitely a good blueprint for the future.
- Recovery: Despite feeling rough on the course itself I've felt pretty good since. The rest of the day I felt like I'd been hit by a truck but every day since has been better and better. I felt good enough from Tuesday on that I could have gotten up and run but decided to give myself a break and waited all the way till Friday before getting back out there ;) I wasn't 100% but it felt great to get back out there. Wednesday at my deep tissue massage (which of course felt awesome) my therapist put his blood pressure cuff on my wrist and was impressed that my resting heart rate 3 days after a marathon was a low 47 BPM, about my normal. So all of that tells me that my body was definitely in shape to run this distance.
- Happy feet: While they hurt that day, they were fine afterward. Not a single blister, nails are fine (I can only assume the people who lose toenails must not cut them short enough?).
What I need to change:
In a word, speed. While I was prepared for the distance my training did not prepare me to run it at that speed. This race made it very clear to me that while sheer mileage has value, if I really want to get faster and be able to run the pace I want and feel strong doing it, I need to be a lot more intentional about my training runs. As Tom Cruise's Top Gun character said, "I feel the need. The need...for speed!" Time to add some speedwork to my regimen.
On a related note, pace awareness. I need to do a lot more pace-based training so I learn better what my goal pace feels like. I had to check my watch too often.
Looking ahead, it might actually be to my benefit that I didn't train harder for this race. Last year I finished marathon season physically and mentally tired and went on to be sidelined with shin splits. I recovered physically but just didn't have the passion for much of the year. But this year late December finds me physically and mentally fresh and eager to tackle the next challenges.
The next event on the calendar is the Rock N Roll half in late March. It's my favorite half marathon and a fast course. I've already mapped out a training plan for it that will hopefully lead me to a PR there. But that plan is a little tentative in that I need to ensure that it compliments my larger goal for next year.
So what's my big event for 2015? Well, that's another post for another day, but for now I'll say it fulfills another longtime goal of mine for a challenging new distance. I'm excited looking ahead to it and haven't been so nervous/excited to hit the "submit" button on my registration since that first White Rock Half in 2011 that started it all. The Dallas Marathon may not have been the day I hoped for but I think it'll prove to be a big step on the way to this goal and seen in that light, it was a good day indeed.
