Ok, guess I should start at the beginning of the day. I should have written this post earlier, but I've been a little marathon-ed out, so better late than never. And fair warning...this is gonna be a long post. So sit back, relax, and hope you enjoy! :)
Thursday, October 4th
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| Ready to make a plan! |
This day started Marathon Weekend with the logistics meeting. After work my parents, my friend Dan and I all went to Lapellah for some food and to plan out the marathon cheering plan. Dan volunteered to be the driver for the day so we were planning out the different spots where my cheering section would cheer me on. Always helpful to know when you will see supporters, gives you something to look forward to.
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| Very serious discussion regarding cheering locations. |
Friday, October 5th
Packet Pick Up Day!!! This was making it very real. After work Mom and I drove into Portland to pick up my packet. I had three missions: 1) get bib/packet 2) get new running headband 3) get some GU and Powershots.
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| Got my running bib! |
We made our way upstairs to the bib pick up and I got mine! I was so excited...until I noticed the "W" on my bib. W is for walkers. I went and asked if I was supposed to have the W even though I was a runner (albeit a slow one). They said since my estimated time was over 6 hours I was grouped with the walkers. I was kind of bummed, but nothing I could do about it, so oh well!
Then mom and I checked out the expo and found my new running headband (sparkly orange for my Beavs) and my GU and Powershots.
We got home and Dad had already made my favorite and lucky pre-race meal... fettuccine alfredo and teriyaki chicken. :)
Saturday, October 6th
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| Carbo loading on the way home from the Beavs game! |
Today was a bit crazy, not the typical pre-marathon day, but in the end I am glad I was busy all day so that I didn't have to think about the race the next day! My parents and I headed to Corvallis to meet up with my brother and cheer on the Beavs. I was trying to eat healthy and drink lots of water all week, so at the game I went to the concession stand wanting to purchase an ice water. Good grief, what a chore that was! Let's put it this way, they wouldn't give me tap water, so I had to buy bottled water, but since I wanted ice with it, I had to buy a cup with ice too. My ice water cost me $7. Ridiculous. Oh well. Anyway, the game started at 3pm (which we won - GO BEAVS!!!) so it wasn't until about 8pm when we were able to get on the road and head home. Since Dad had made my pre-race meal the day before, I reheated a bit of it at my brothers house so I could carbo load on the way home. :) We finally got home around 10 or 10:30pm, so I spent a few minutes laying everything out for the morning and went to get a good nights sleep.
Sunday, October 7th
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| Heading out to the race. |
Once we parked I needed to figure out how to get to my starting corral. We took a few wrong turns and after a bit I just decided to say goodbye to my cheering squad and that I would find it on my own. Whether he would admit to this or not, my dad hates walking in large groups of people... like HATES it. I just decided to say goodbye to them early so I could find my starting spot and they could get out of the crowd a bit and find the first designated cheering spot.
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| Saying bye before the race with Momma and Poppa Dubs |
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| The driver for the day, my friend Dan |
After saying goodbye to my cheering squad, I wandered around trying to find where I was supposed to go. After about 5-10 minutes I finally found my corral, the slow Walkers corral. :) From then, there was about 20 minutes until the race started, and then a wait until my corral got to the start line. Just waiting in the corral my nerves were still there, but I was getting so excited. I just wanted the time to pass faster so I could get started.
At about 7:15am my corral finally crossed the start line, and I was off and running in my first marathon.
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| The starting line |
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| First time seeing the cheering section, mile 1.5! |
I should mention that it was a beautiful Portland fall day. Sunny, crisp, no rain, and in the high 60's. It could not have been better running weather. About 1.5 miles in I knew I was going to see my cheering section for the first time. I kept looking and looking and finally I saw them! A quick wave, smile and I was off.
I got about 3 miles in to the race before I realized I had to go to the bathroom. In all the races I've ever run, I've never had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the race before. But I figured I better go now, since I still had such a long way to go. Get it over with instead of thinking about it the whole time. I saw a few Port A Podies but there were lines and I didn't want to waste time waiting in line, so I ran on and figured I would use the first ones I saw with no lines. Then it got to be around mile 4.5 when I knew I would see my cheering section again, so I didn't want to stop before I saw them. So I kept running more and was on the lookout for my cheering section. Finally I see them up ahead. I start waving at them, they don't see me. I literally had to yell at them when I was right in front of them for them to notice me! :)
After I passed my cheering section again all I could focus on was finding a bathroom. I found one about .25 miles down the route and took a quick detour to use the restroom. After I got that out of the way I was off and running again.
Even though I was only about 5 miles in I was feeling really really good. I figured it was the adrenaline and that it would pass, but I was enjoying it while I could. I wasn't able to complete my training plan as thoroughly as I had hoped, so in the weeks leading up to the marathon I tried to come up with a good plan to preserve as much energy as possible, and not use it all up too early. So my plan was:
- For the first 10 miles I would run 2-2.25 miles then walk .25 miles
- For miles 11-20 I would run 1.25-1.5 miles then walk .25 miles
- For miles 20-26.2 I would run .75-1 mile then walk .25 miles, but honestly at that point I was going to be happy to still have my legs moving.
I was able to stick to my plan fairly well, which I really think helped to conserve some energy in the end.
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| My cheering section: Mirranda and Dan! |
The next section of the race was an out and back through the industrial area. Not the prettiest part of the race by far. It is kind of fun to run this part though because you are running past other runners going the other way, so you either get inspiration from the people going faster than you, or you get encouragement from you going faster than others. The back part of the out and back was a little difficult only because the sun was coming up and was right in my eyes. The out and back was good though because at the end of it I knew I would be done with the first 10 miles, and I would get to see my cheering section again.
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| I felt a lot better than I look in this photo. 10 miles down! |
I stopped to say hi to my cheering section for a couple minutes, and get some water and more Powershots. Mirranda had also joined my cheering squad by this point so I wanted to say a quick hi to her. I'm so glad I took some of the Powershots with me because I thought I would get more in a few miles, but as it turns out I didn't. That story to come :)
As I ran through miles 10-12 I was still feeling good, still had lots of energy. About mile 12 I rounded the corner and saw my friend Michelle! I ran over, gave her a quick semi-sweaty hug and was on my way. She was supposed to meet the other members of my cheering section at that spot, but I was too speedy and got there before they did. This is not the first time that this happened.
I knew that the hardest mile of the race was coming up, and I thought that I was going to see my friends and family before then to get an energy recharge, but I must have miscalculated the stops in my head because I didn't see them again until many miles later!
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| Roughly mile 17. Just finishing the huge hill and going over St. Johns bridge. |
About half a mile after I started running again I felt some pain in my toes, my pinky toes to be specific. I knew that I was getting blisters on them, but I was so used to getting blisters there that I was just running through it. Not this time though. Nope. The blister on my left pinky toe burst. It was so painful I had to stop running and for a few minutes didn't know if I was going to be able to run anymore. I walked for a couple minutes and then just powered through. It hurt a bit, but the more I kept going the less it was painful.
I was coming up to mile 18 and the intersection where my cheering section was supposed to be waiting for me. I was so looking forward to seeing them, having just made it through the tough hill and the blister popping. Mile 18 came....and went... mile 18.5 came...and went. I was so disappointed. I texted my friend Dan to tell him I was at mile 18.5. He responded with "we will see you around mile 20-21. You're doing great".
What I had suspected was happening. I was running faster than expected, they had stopped for lunch and didn't make it to the stop on time. What I learned after the race is that it was mass panic when Dan got my text. They thought they had a lot more time. They all had to get their food to go in order to meet me at the next spot on time.
So after waiting for about 6 miles or so to see them, I was going to have to wait another 2-3 miles. These ended up being the hardest 3 miles of the whole race. I was a bit discouraged when I didn't see cheering section, plus it was getting close to the mileage that I had never run before. 18.5 miles was the farthest I had gone in training, so I was very nervous about anything past that. It was also during this time that the blister on my right pinky toe popped and again I was in some severe pain for about a mile or so. But once I hit mile 20 I knew two things: 1) I WAS going to see friendly faces soon and 2) only a measly 6.2 miles to go!  |
| Here I come, about mile 21.5 |
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| Jody, Mom, Michelle and I. I felt so good I could even smile and wave! :) |
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| Jody running with me to meet the other part of the group. |
At this point I knew I only had a little over 4 miles to go. After 22 miles, 4 miles is nothing! I was feeling really good still, at least much better than I expected. I'm pretty sure it was the adrenaline of being so close to finishing my first marathon, but I didn't care what it was, I was almost done!
The best part of the last few miles is that most of it is downhill. So you get some extra momentum taking you to the finish line. Plus, you start to get back into downtown Portland, so you know you are getting close. And finally, all the people telling you that you are almost there. People who are cheering racers on have such an impact on the runners, especially the ones they don't even know. It is amazing to run a race and see all the support you get from the spectators.
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| Only about .2 to go! Finishing strong! |
I made a bee line, ok a very slow bee line, for my finishers medal, and finishers shirt. Next was to make my way out of the finishers area to meet up with my family and friends. As soon as I saw my parents I just wanted to start sobbing, I was so emotional. Then the rest of my friends made it over. I still couldn't believe that I had finished, and even better, I was so thankful to have such wonderful friends who would spend their Sunday standing outside watching people run by. I really have the best friends ever.
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| Seeing my family for the first time after finishing! |
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| The best friends a girl could ask for! |
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| With Momma and Poppa Dubs |
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| I FINISHED!!! |
I officially finished in 6 hours, 9 minutes and 23 seconds. I was just hoping to finish period, and then maybe finish in less than 6 hours and 30 min, so I was thrilled with my time. Plus, I figure without three bathroom stops and saying hi to my friends and family, I would have finished in less than 6 hours :).
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| L-R: Cath, Jeremy, Michelle, Momma Dubs, Poppa Dubs, me, and Dan |
After the marathon I went home, iced, showered and tried to sleep. I couldn't though, I was too excited about what I had just done. I still couldn't believe it. Later in the evening I went out to my favorite restaurant to celebrate with my parents and friends. It was the perfect way to end the perfect race day.
This was the perfect way to run my first marathon. Had wonderful support from my friends and family, had great weather, race was wonderfully organized, it was just fantastic.
People always joke that you should sign up for your 2nd marathon before you run your 1st, because after you are done you will wonder why you ever signed up for it in the first place. I didn't find that to be true. I had difficult training days, but on race day I loved it. I was walking mostly normal later that day. I would have signed up for another marathon that same day. It was such a rewarding experience, especially being something I never thought I would have the ability to do. I will definitely run another one again.
The day after the race I saw a tweet from Bart Yasso who asked his followers how their runs went that weekend. I replied saying I had finished my first full marathon, and he wrote back saying "Congratulations, you are a marathoner". Yep, that's right, Bart Yasso told me I'm a marathoner. And I am. I'm slower than I want to be. I will never win a race. But I am a marathoner.
It was so much fun to follow your journey and then to read this recap of the race itself! I am so amazed by your grit and determination, Vanessa!
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