Well, it's all over <<< 26.2 miles >>> the marathon is complete!
Months of training and preparation and now it's time to wind-down. A bit more than a week ago I posted here about the marathon countdown and shared my three goals with you.
That thing deserves more than a kiss I tell you. ;) I'm happy to share that I beat last year's time by 4.5 minutes. I'm most proud of accomplishing that goal, and of course finishing. I made it to mile 18 before I began getting anxious and a bit doubtful. I began the race lined up with a pace group 10:07/minute miles, with a finishing time of 4.25. Four hours and twenty-five minutes would have shattered my goal and last years time but I wanted to see how long I could stay with them. I knew it wasn't too fast for me, it was just a matter if I could stay the whole race at that pace. During training I tend to slow down at the end (which I know is opposite of what you're supposed to do-but oh well!) When I stopped to grab water at mile 18 I couldn't catch back up with (Lisa) the Pacer. From then on it was my own race.
Let me tell ya, Miles 14-19 are majorly tough. Mentally you know you've just finished the half-way mark and it's kind of the "boring" phase or the dreadful valley-of-death phase that a lot of runner talk about because until you get to 20 miles it doesn't seem like it's going to end. I was experiencing a lot of pain in my left hip and doubting myself a few times and then told myself to just shut up, I worked too hard for this! I'm going to finish this damn thing!
I met some new people on race day. In the morning on the shuttle bus to Grafton HS I sat with a 77-year-old woman that is on her way to her 100-marathon lifelong goal! Yup, she's 67 and this was her 95th marathon. Her name was Jan. Insane. Amazing.
During mile 10 I met a young woman (probably close to my age) named Noel. It was her very first marathon and when I asked her why she was running she explained that last year she was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and since then started accomplishing some things on her bucket-list. Pretty amazing, and she was doing great, in remission and running strong! Really cool story.
So I was able to keep my 10-minute mile page through mile 20, then I started struggling. I wanted to run faster, I really did, and still today I want another stinkin' try. When you get to that point, at least me and my body, I want to run faster so badly and I just can't. It's so hard. Seriously, running a marathon is both physically and mentally so hard. But that's why I do it.
Sports and athletics have always come pretty naturally to me. So to find something more challenging, and actually hard intrigues me and makes me want to push myself. But, I honestly just don't know if I can run a marathon faster than 4:44. lol, I know I don't do any speed training, but I just don't think it's meant to be for me. I run my own race. I'm not competitive and will probably never finish in my age bracket, but all I know is it's hard for me, and that means a really great workout and even awesome-er accomplishment at the end.
It was so uplifting to see family and friends there at the end for me cheering me on. This year, the second time around, I was much more smiley. The experience as a whole was much better than last year. I think last year I started out too fast and literally burned my way through my muscles. I mean, I couldn't even run for a month after that marathon and wondered how people do it and so often. But this time, I took a day off of work afterwards and kept my body in motion, got some sleep and a lot of food and I feel practically 100% already. Within 72 hours I could've ran again....but I'm giving myself a week or so off before I get going...
I even looked into the Chicago marathon to see if there was still room. But it's closed. I considered just giving it a try 2 marathons in a month's time. I'm curious to know if I could've finished it. lol, I know a little bit crazy, but you never know unless you try! I don't know if I'll run anymore marathons, but I know I love the training process & the routine, and I've made some friends in the Striders that I'd definitely like to keep in touch with.
Winter usually brings on some sort of cross training challenge for me like P90X (last year), kick boxing or something...so we'll see what's next. While the fall weather is still nice I'll enjoy a bit more running. Thank you for following me on this journey of my second marathon. 2 marathons complete before 30 years old. Not too shabby, right?!
Good for you Stephanie!! LOVING the photos ... and loving the inspiring people you met!!!!!
Posted by: Julie Tucker-Wolek | 10/12/2013 at 09:46 PM