2007 ING GA Marathon

BEFORE PIC
I didn't sleep well last night (as expected), normal for before a BIG race. You can see the nerves in my face :~[ Before the start of the race, the director of Walk Through the Bible gave a good, short devotional and prayed. I couldn't believe they let him do that, but I was so happy they did -- I needed it! My running partner ran her own pace and I ran/walked mine. I think she pulled away some time around mile 4 maybe. I can't really remember if it was before or after the split where the 1/2 marathoners go one way and the full marathoners go the other (at mile 4) -- I think it was probably before that though.

The weather here is supposed to hit an all time high (close to 90) for this day today I heard -- it was HOT! A lot of people were really struggling and I was one of them. By mile 13 I was cramping badly in my cafes, above and just to the side of the knees -- must be some little muscle there, in the back of my upper leg, in the top of one of my feet, even in my abdomen. I don't think my side has hurt like that from running since I was in elementary school. I think I hit mile 13 in just a little over 2 hours. The next 13 miles would take me 3 hours, with a lot of walking. The cramps were BAD! I'd never experience that in any of our training runs, but they were like 20 degrees -- NOTHING like today. I haven't seen my "official" chip time, but I crossed the finish line at like 5:09. An hour more than I had anticipated or hoped for. I ran that last mile with a couple of guys who were wearing pace team bibs for 3:40 and 3:50 -- they were crossing the finish line at 5+ also, like me. My running partner and I actually signed up for the 4:00 pace team but I wasn't about to wear the bib just in case I ended up crossing the line at 5:00 or something crazy like that. I'm SO GLAD I didn't wear it! I saw somebody that had ripped theirs off and all that was left was the safety pins :~O Guess they were struggling too. There were A LOT of people struggling in the latter stages of the race. It was probably the toughest thing I've ever done. Even tougher than the 3-Day.

I accidental turned off my Forerunner at 1:02 -- I kept looking at it and it kept saying 1:02, then I realised it was saying the same thing every time I looked at it -- I thought I was doing awesome -- it was actually like 1:37 :~O That is very disappointing to me that I will not have that data to upload to my computer and analyze and save to compare with future runs.

It's tough running w/o someone to talk to. So, I quoted all the scripture I could quote to myself. I was surprised at how the Lord brought verses back to my memory from even when I was in elementary school, I think. I wondered how much more I would be able to quote if I spent some time memorizing. I sang hymns (in my mind). As I ran through Piedmont Park I sang Beulah Land -- I thought I was gong to DIE! It was SO NICE to see my best friend there and hand off my Fuel Belt to him.

PIEDMONT PARK

My running partner's unofficial chip time was like 4:10. I'll be interested in seeing the times of the Kenyans. They usually run a marathon in a little over 2 hours. Wonder if that will hold true with the heat today -- of course, it wasn't as hot at 9:00 a.m. as it was at noon.

My running partner asked me a little while ago if I'd do it again. I said, "Yes." It couldn't be any worse that it was today :~) I hope. I really can't imagine doing one in unfamiliar territory though. It was tough enough making our way around downtown -- and we've lived here all our lives.

We got a really nice inaugural race medal. I saw the Kenyan and his trophy -- bumped into him after the race -- don't know WHAT he was still doing hanging around.

The party at the end seemed to be somewhat disorganized but that didn't really matter -- I just wanted to get home :~)

AFTER PIC

Iced my feet on the way home. Soaked my legs in cold water for 10 minutes when I got home (may do that again tonight), took a hot shower, ate a little lunch, took Advil, and rested the afternoon away... Will go to church tonight and hope I don't like cramp up during the message or that they don't get up and down too much :~O

A REALLY neat thing -- My best friend got a text message with my official chip time at the following points:

I just got my "official" chip times and they are as follows:
at 6.1 miles 57:09, 9:11 pace (would have liked this to be 55:00)
at 13.1 miles (1/2 way) 2:08:38, 9:48 pace (would have liked this to be 2:00)
at 20 miles 3:37:45, 10:53 pace -- That's pretty good, not 4:00 good but still good, considering (my best time in our 20-mile training runs was 3:17 -- that would have been nice)
at 26.2 miles (the finish line) 5:08:56, 11:46 pace (this should have been right around 4:00)

That last 6 miles took me 1 1/2 hours YIKES! There in lies the problem!!!
5:08:56 not quite a qualifying run for Boston like I expected but I guess you could say it was a PB since this is my first marathon. It can only get better from here...

Actually, I never felt like I "hit the wall". I never felt like I had depleted all of my resources. It was just those lousy leg cramps! If it hadn't been for the leg cramps I think I would have done great, I think the whole race would have been enjoyable (the first 13 miles were) -- and that is just so odd because I've never experienced cramps like that before. I thing it was a combination of the heat and the fact that I was so tense. The weather, I know, is uncontrollable but I do need to find a way to relax and not be so tense. I think I had been tense for like a whole week. Maybe too much anticipation, too much Blogging about it -- who really knows?

BTW -- The Kenyan won in 2:19, a PB for him too. He was nice enough to say it wasn't about winning, and that everyone who crosses the finish line is a winner. How nice of him :~) w/ his 5:19 mile pace -- Unbelievable!!!