OBX Marathon!
My goal was to finish.
My next goal was to finish around 4 hours. Based on my training, I figured it would be around 4 hours and 10 minutes.
I can’t lie on here, I want the Under-4 hour Marathon. I just know I will train better next time!
Maybe I was hoping for the Flying Pirate Gods to sweep away the pain at Mile 22 and push me across the finish line. However, a goal for your first marathon when you have trained less than 8 weeks and your knees feel as though they have torn ligaments, should be to FINISH and FINISH STRONG! That goal is accomplished!
It feels amazing to have completed this 26.2 miles in 4:20! I learned to just have fun and remind yourself that training for a marathon is more than many will ever do, completing a marathon is even more elite, and finishing anywhere in the vicinity of your “goal” time is OUTSTANDING!
Mile by mile breakdown of each mile’s pace goes a little bit like this …
Mile 1: 6:53 min
Mile 2: 7:03
Mile 3: 7:07 ( 5k in 20 minutes 3 sec) Personal Record !
Mile 4: 7: 30 ( First water sips)
Mile 5: 7:32
Mile 6: 7:50 ( 10k in 43 minutes ) ( not a Personal Record)
Mile 8: First Hammer Gel Packet, some more water
Mile 10: 8:03 (1 hr 15 min)
Mile 12: 7:55 (1 hr 31 min) ( Gu Packet #2 )
Mile 13: 8:02 (13.1 miles in 1 hr 43 min) ( PR! Last year was 1:50 ). It felt fantastic at this point- 13.5 in the photo
Mile 14: 8:40 (1 hr 52 min) ( Hammer Gel, Gatorade)
Mile 15: 9:00 (2 hr 1 min) (Still feeling fine)
Mile 17: Pain Freeze Gel at the Med stop, Hammer Gel #2
Mile 18: 11:40 (2 hr 32 min) ( Left hip hurting bad! Stopped at the med station for pain freeze gel)
Mile 20…
Love how strong my legs LOOK … they didn’t feel that great
Mile 21: 13:00 ( 3 hr 9 min) ( Mentally fine, Physically feeling run down) Gu Packet # 3
Mile 21- Mile 22: The start of the bridge !
Mile 22: Gatorade stop- Too big of a gulp. BIG HILL on the bridge- So Gorgeous! Ran the whole way up!
Mile 23: Stomach does not like me nor does my knee, walked for maybe 2 minutes.
Mile 24: 12:40 ( 3 hr 47 min) ( Thinking, okay 2 miles in 20 minutes, Not going to get under 4 hrs but I just want to finish!)
Mile 25: Couldn’t see the finish line, my body was not moving as fast as I was telling it to!
… Finished 26.2 in 4 hr 17 minutes
Finally found a place to stretch after- it took forever though because the finish ling was designed poorly and the crowd was unyeilding (okay downright rude) to runners!
I will (someday) get a sub 4 hour marathon, despite assuring everyone this would be my first and last full. I actually have another hopeful goal of winning a HALF MARATHON…in the future. This goal I realize again is a reach but you have to set your expectations high for yourself, right? As long as my body holds up this aerobic capacity I’ve started to gain, I will attempt it.
Yes, I have always been involved with sports or fitness in one way or another but it was A MARATHON!? I never thought I would be able to say I ran a MARATHON! I had no idea how to keep track of training for that or how to fuel up the “right way” so I thought keeping track on a blog was pretty cool and functional.
To be perfectly honest, it was much harder than I thought it would be! Bumping up 8 mile regular runs to 10, 12, then 14 seemed easy enough. Unfortunately, I didn’t really start training as I should until the last week of September due to my knees AND stomach issues. I trained for 8 weeks and waited until the last day to register for the non-refundable race fee and hotel room!
Check out my Training Log Here
So now I am going to talk more about training and things I want to remember for next time! Maybe this will help anyone who also wants to run this race in the future!
Some things I liked:
-My dinner the night before! I had about 8 ounces of grilled salmon and grilled asparagus! Not really any carbs. I can’t really do carbs. I had munched through-out the day apples, protein bar, rice cakes, etc. to up my intake slowly but I trained “Gluten Free” which I will blog about soon too!
-I loosened up in the Indoor Pool at the hotel the evening before- felt really good!
-My intake of Hammer Gels/ Gu was right on. The race had what they said they would have!
-The first 13.1 miles was banging! Loved the terrain! Mile 10 was sand/trail, Mile 11-13 was soft, mulchy trail and hilly! This photo is from 13.5 miles and 1 hr 48 minutes in…
-My breakfast was perfect! Timing, size and content perfection! I woke up at 4:30. Microwaved oatmeal, added a banana and lots of peanut butter and chobani 2% pineapple. I ate half the oats and half the yogurt. Couldn’t manage anymore. I made coffee at this time, and drank it first thing when I woke up later at 5:50am. I downed three packets of Vega too (one the night before, one with breakfast, and one after coffee). LOVE VEGA SPORT OPTIMIZER !!!
-The med stations had pain freeze gel and petroleum jelly!
-Amazing scenery- Marsh trail early on, Wright Memorial was stunning,
-Clothing: Wore a dry fit tank, race day dry fit shirt, throw away long sleeve, throw away sweatshirt, awesome marathon socks
- Weather!! Started at 51* … breezy…. sunny… End 64*
-Race Volunteers / Cheering Crowds: I said “Thank You” to everyone I could along the way, even though I didn’t know them. It takes alot to come out and cheer people on in chilly weather on a sunday morning!
Some things I could try differently:
-I had only had Hammer Gels and some Gatorade until Mile 22, when I burped stomach acid (ew gross I know, but this is my blog and my way of remembering what not to do next time!!). So I know fuel wise, I was depleted. Based on how I felt and performed, I probably could have done better if I had taken in more fuel. Note to self: Mile 15- 16 I should have eaten something more than gel, maybe a protein gel of sorts ?
- Clothing: I decided to wear shorts instead of pants as I had planned. After Mile 6, it was great BUT… because I unexpectedly started 5 waves back from the initial gun, I had warmed up, cooled down, and pulled something in my left butt cheek area on the first few strides. It stayed with me and got worse the ENTIRE 26.2 miles. Maybe extra spandex underneath next time or an outer throw away layer.
- Sleep: I could NOT sleep! I was too excited and my mind was racing till about 11:30 the night before despite turning the lights out at 9:30! I woke up at 3:44, worried I slept in… Mad that I woke up… Woke up at 4:30 to eat breakfast… Went back to sleep till 5:50… 5 hours of sleep is not enough but I’m not sure how to not be excited…. ?
-The day before I had to pack, up and down stairs, in and out of hotel room, walking around/to/from the Race Expo… I was NOT off my feet as much as I chould have been!!! Evidence of this is walking across the street to watch sunset the night before…
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