Shamrock 2013
My mom came to visit me this weekend and to watch me run my
second marathon. The night before the race we met my running group for a pasta
party. The whole weekend it kept raining on and off. It was suppose to be cold
and rainy for the Marathon on Sunday. It rained all night on Saturday. When I
woke up on Sunday, it had stopped and it looked like it was drying up. I
actually didn’t feel too bad outside. I chose to wear my compression capris,
with a green tank top and matching green lined windbreaker(for St. Patty's day
of course). I also had my head warmer and gloves. At the expo I ended up buying
one of those belts that you put your gu in the loops and was able to put your
race bib thru the hooks so you don't have to keep putting holes in your race
tops. I have never run with this, but I thought I'd give it a try!
We got to the start line, and it was colder than what I thought it was going to be, especially with the wind. I was glad to have brought my head warmer and gloves. I told my mom to meet me at mile twelve, just in case I would get too warm and I could give her any layers I didn't need any more. That certainly was not the case!
I started out in corral 1, which I was happy about. I always feel like I will do better when I start out in corral one, because the clock time and your time is very close. Also, I don't have to weave in and out of a bunch of people to get my stride. As soon as I started, I thought I had to go to the bathroom. I didn’t know if it was just nerves, or because it was so cold and windy. I stopped thinking about it so much and put my focus toward the road and my music. And within two miles, that feeling went away.
We got to the start line, and it was colder than what I thought it was going to be, especially with the wind. I was glad to have brought my head warmer and gloves. I told my mom to meet me at mile twelve, just in case I would get too warm and I could give her any layers I didn't need any more. That certainly was not the case!
I started out in corral 1, which I was happy about. I always feel like I will do better when I start out in corral one, because the clock time and your time is very close. Also, I don't have to weave in and out of a bunch of people to get my stride. As soon as I started, I thought I had to go to the bathroom. I didn’t know if it was just nerves, or because it was so cold and windy. I stopped thinking about it so much and put my focus toward the road and my music. And within two miles, that feeling went away.
So my goal the whole time was to beat my time for Disney, which was 4 hours. I
kept saying to myself, all you need to do is a minute better and you got it!
This race I actually had a GPS to gage my pace. The one screen has time and
distance, and the other one has calories and pace. The first half of the
marathon was going very well. I was afraid to look at my pace, in fear that I
would be going too fast and feel like I would need to slow down, so I wouldn't
hit that wall that runners always talk about. I looked at my watch, passing
mile 13.1 and realized that had I been doing the half marathon. I would have PR
at 1:46. I was feeling pretty good. I thought to myself, there is no way of
being able to keep this pace for another 13.1. Also, another thing that scared
me was not being far behind the 3:35 pacer the whole race. But I even surprised
myself for the second half. I ended up doing only a minute more, finishing in
1:47.
It was such a great feeling, crossing the finish line and seeing my mom and friends cheering me on! I’m looking forward to signing up for my next race. But in the meantime, I will relax a bit and enjoy my accomplishment!
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We received fleece blankets as we crossed the finish line |
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