My first marathon...

My first marathon took place last Saturday in Richmond, VA!

Why VA? 2 reasons:
1. Junk Food stops at mile 16 and 22
2. It was on a Saturday so that left Sunday as a true day of rest!

Predicted Weather – 90% chance of rain, heavy at times with cold front following it.
Actual weather – in the 70's, strong wind, no clouds, no rain!

Predicted finish time – I was going for 5 hours and 15 minutes but if something went wrong than 5:30 was the next goal. But secretly I was hoping for 5 hours flat if everything went right!
Actual time – 5:30:55

Predicted running partner – Carolin
Actual running partner – Carolin – thank goodness!

Last but not least I'm proud that I picked the right outfit for this race! A first for me!

Mile 1 – 11
I actually felt fantastic the first 10 miles. Carolin and I had started out in the back but before you knew it we were with the 5 hour pace group. Our first goal was to finish...but if we could do it in 5 hours...we were going for it! So we stayed with them until one of the potty breaks got us a little behind. We picked up the pace to catch them but all of a sudden...I puttered out!

Mile 12
Who knew 'Hell' began at mile 12. I always thought if something bad was going to happen it would be after mile 20. Nope...it began at mile 12 for me! It started out with little toes cramps in the left foot, than the right foot, than it went into calf cramps! It was horrible. This was the first time I experienced any kind of cramping during a race. Luckily I had some electrolyte caps on me. I had trained with taking one an hour and my body was fine with that. So I didn't know how my stomach would handle more than one an hour but the cramps were getting bad. So I up'd the dose to one every ½ hour.

Mile 13 – 16
More cramps but Carolin was such a sweet heart to walk with me and help me through it. We also got to see her husband and friend right before the Lee Bridge. I know that was a boost for her and it was a boost for me. Why? Because as painful as the cramps were...I knew Brandon was on the other side of that bridge! Lee Bridge is where we headed back into town and the bridge was nothing steep but it was a gradual mile long climb! But Brandon was worth it and Carolin kept reminding me. 'You're hot husband is on the other side! How bad do you want to see him?' At that point I wanted to see him really bad! So we made it across the bridge and there was Brandon and the first junk food stop! They had cookies, gummy bears and COKE! I drank 2 cups of that and grabbed a cup of gummy bears. I ate a couple but couldn't get the rest down. So for the next 5 miles I carried a cup of gummy bears! Like a kid, I wasn't about to give up my gummy bears! I eventually remembered that I had pockets in my shorts and stuck the gummy bears there.

Mile 17 – 26.2
The cramps were still there but bearable. I eventually up'd the electrolyte caps to 3 every hour. I also decided to walk the moment the cramps came. When I did that they seemed to go away quickly and I could resume running again. One of the best things on the course...cold orange slices! Bless the man that was handing them out before Lee Bridge and the restaurant passing them out in the 'Up Town' section of the course! Those totally made my day! One of the things I loved most about this course was the crowd support. Even as we blocked traffic people were shouting words of encouragement from their cars! It was awesome. And the neighborhoods were awesome too! Not only did they provide cheers but they provided beer, whiskey, vodka...anything you wanted! It was also around mile 20 that Carolin and I saw the not-so-pretty side to the marathon. Skip the next paragraph if you want to...remember...I warned you!

As we approached the 20 mile mark we overheard a conversation between two guys. The one guy said something like, 'yeah they should be able to call medics or get you a ride back to the finish.' That when Carolin told me to turn around and look! The guy's nipples had bled through his shirt and the blood was running down it! GROSS! After we passed the 20 mile mark we saw a girl up ahead on the sidewalk throwing up! Seriously...down on her hands and knees in the grass...throwing up everything she had! She didn't look too good and since we weren't running for time anymore (yeah - we gave up that 5 hour goal after my legs started cramping). We stopped to see if we could help her. She was thinking that she drank too much water and that's why she was throwing up. We weren't too far from the water stop so she was good to walk back and get some help.

It was also after mile 20 that I started seeing more and more runners walking. Carolin and I also walked a bit but it wasn't as relaxing or as easy as I thought it would be. It was almost harder to walk than to run. By this time my cramps were mild but my quads were screaming! So we pushed ourselves until the last mile. We walked for about ½ mile in an effort to 'look good' at the ending. And guess what...it worked! I had one last calf cramp right before we started the final stretch. Luckily it subsided quickly and we ran to the end!

I missed seeing Brandon at the finish because I was concentrating so hard on not having a cramp at the end! But we had already picked out our spot to meet so I met him there! It was so good to see him! He's been such a good sport through this all. I went through the food tent and picked up at least 5 pizza slices and a bunch of powerade bottles. And after I was done with that...I went back through and picked up some more! Of course I didn't eat it right away...I took it back to the hotel room to eat it later...along with my gummy bears! Yes I carried those gummy bears for 10 miles and they were worth it!

So that's my marathon story. Will I do another one? Oh yeah...I would like to run one without cramps. But I'm sure something else will come up but one day I'll have the perfect marathon story where everything went right – the perfect weather, the perfect outfit, the right fueling strategy, proper hydration, right balance of sodium, electrolytes. It will happen one day.

Oh as a side story....after one of our 20-mile training runs Carolin mentioned that she was really tired. So we thought maybe she needed to fuel more often. Well the following Saturday she told us why she was tired...she was pregnant! Yes my awesome running partner is expecting her first in June! So that's why I had 'predict' and 'actual' running partner. Her first official appointment was the day before the race and the doctor gave her the okay to run it! So whew...I had my running partner with me!

By the way...Carolin's husband took most of the pictures so I'll post them when I get them. So look for another post with marathon pics!