Marathon Race Report

I DID IT!  I managed to finish my first marathon on Sunday Sept 22nd.  It's one of those things that has been in the back of my mind for a long time and this just seemed like the perfect time to go for it!  I was warned that the training was long, intensive, and would take me away from my family for long periods of time on the weekends.  All of that proved true.  I'll just say that I'm not sure how anyone who works full time can train for a marathon.  I think it was only possible for me because I'm only working 20 hours a week.  Some days I was out running as the sun came up, some evenings I was out running as the sun was setting.  Some runs were on the gym treadmill as James attended the daycare or kids fitness classes.  And then others were late at night on my home treadmill after the kids went to bed.  It got challenging to find time for some of the runs as the distances increased and they days grew shorter, with less available sunlight hours.  I'm relieved to say the training paid off and I was able to make it 26.2 miles on race day.

bottom left sign was my mother's 

The family and I headed into the Quad Cities the day before the race and checked into our hotel room.  Of course the first thing we had to do was swim in the pool.  I remember as a kid that the hotel pool was almost the best part of a vacation and the same rings true for my boys.  After a quick swim, we dropped the kids off with grandma and grandpa Pearce then headed to packet pickup.  After getting my packet and buying a few things at the expo, Kye and I stayed to eat the pasta dinner - I needed a good carb load if I wanted to survive the distance ahead of me!  The featured speaker at dinner was Dane Rauschenberg.  He's written a couple of books and is most known for running 52 marathons in 52 weeks back in 2006.  His talk was entertaining and inspiring.

The following morning, my mother picked me up from the hotel bright and early and took me to the race.  I had been stressing over my attire for the past couple of weeks.  I had a favorite running outfit that I knew felt good for long runs, but it was a tank top and shorts.  However, the week before the race, the weather turned cooler and they predicted about 45 degrees at start time.  I knew there was no way that outfit was going to keep me warm at that temperature.  I'd read about people wearing warm-up clothes and then throwing them off at the start of the race or in the first few miles as they warmed up so that is just what I did.  I bought a $2 sweatshirt from Goodwill and was warm enough to toss it off just before the gun went off. (All the discarded clothing items are then donated to local charities)

As usual, with all the nerves and excitement, I started off too fast.  I had to keep reminding myself that many of the runners were only doing a 1/2 marathon or part of a marathon relay (meaning they were only doing 5-6 miles).  Part of the fun was trying to locate my mom along the race course- kind of like Where's Waldo.  She had mentioned a few spots where she'd try to be so it was a nice distraction to be on the lookout for her.  The marathon course was very scenic.  It skirted both the Illinois side and Iowa side of the Mississippi River.  We also went across three different bridges and all around Arsenal Island.  The strangest part was running across the I-74 bridge.  It is a suspension bridge and is was moving up and down with the weight off all the runners, giving me a bit of a sea sick feeling.  The worst part of the race was the last 6 miles.  My longest training run was 20 miles so I knew the end would be tough.  It was made even harder because of how the course was setup.  After coming off the Arsenal Island, we had to run out 3miles and then back 3 miles to finish.  While running out the 3 miles you can see all the runners ahead of you who are ready to finish and I so badly wanted to be on that side of the road. 

At around mile 23 I started calculating my time and pace and knew that if I could keep a steady pace to the end then I could finish in 4 hours 30 minutes.  That time had been a goal for me so I really wanted to make it happen but my body was getting so tired.  I really wanted to walk by that point but it actually hurt my legs more to walk than to jog.  I kept a slow, steady jog going and then around mile 25 the 4:30 pacer passed me.  (A pacer is someone who signs up for the race and promises to keep a steady pace the entire way.  If a runner has a goal time then if they stick with the pacer they should finish at their goal time)  I really wanted to just give up after the pacer passed me, but I dug in deep and decided that I could tuck in just a few steps behind her so that I could finish at 4:30.  I was able to do just that and was happy with my finish time. 

Some people have asked me "what's next?"  and I'm just not sure yet.  My next goal will likely be to work on speed and improve my 5K time.  After the race my body felt beat up.  By the following morning, all my muscles were really stiff and sore.  I took the whole week off from running and let my body recover.

Thanks to all the friends and family who supported me all year long as I worked to cross both "1/2 marathon" and "full marathon" off my bucket list!  Oh, and I proudly applied my "26.2" sticker to my vehicle as soon as I could :)