The Ogden Marathon was May 19th.
Official time: 3:45:56, a PR!
The Good:
- I ran the entire race. Usually towards the end, I walk a little due to cramps and fatigue, but this time I stayed strong both physically and mentally and ran to the end.
- No cramps - which is great since this marathon has a good amount of downhill. My right quad threatened to cramp but never did. The electrolyte pills I take during the marathon seem to have stopped the cramping I experience towards the end of the race.
- No bathroom breaks. I despise bathroom breaks during a marathon and I'm glad I didn't have to stop at all.
- Took in a gu around miles 3 and 8. Swallowed electrolyte pills every five miles. Ate two bites of Clif bar twice later in the marathon. FYI: When you're using all your energy running, it's hard to chew and swallow. But when those bars hit my stomach, my body was much happier.
- First time I've ran this marathon and I loved the course! Especially liked the downhill towards the end.
The Bad:
- I was going for a BQ time {my BQ time is anything under 3:40. 3:39:59? I'll take it!}but didn't get it. I can't be too upset with myself though considering all the good things that happened.
- It was downright cold at the start. I was shivering and used a lot of energy to try and stay warm.
- Next time I'm going for a time goal, I'll wear a pace band. I was trying to remember important split times {half, 20 mile, etc} from memory and wasn't too good at it.
- I'm a mess after a marathon. I have to spend a good amount of time in the porta-pottie and I feel like curling up in a ball and dying. But once I get showered and fed, I don't feel like dying so much.
Utah Valley Marathon was June 9th
Official time: 4:02:34
Since this was my 11th marathon, here are eleven random thoughts about the marathon:
- Woke up at 2:30 a.m. for this race. Southbound traffic was busy for that time of the morning - a lot of crazy people up early heading to Provo to run. {There was also a half-marathon and 10k)
- The bus that took us to the start of the marathon was the slowest bus ever. There were probably eight buses that passed us. Lots of comments from other runners like, "Is it the bus or the driver?" "He needs to downshift." Luckily, we got there before the race started and I even had extra time to use the porta-pottie.
- Since we're talking about porta-potties, I dislike them with a passion. But if you're going to be a marathon runner, you have to get used to those puppies. And those good ol' porta-potties have provided me with lots of embarrassing moments. Yesterday was one of them. After the race, the porta-pottie is my second home. I was sitting down and the door flies open. I screamed because it startled me and I'm pretty sure the little girl who opened the door got a good scare. Gotta love those porta-potties.
- It was CRAZY windy. Major, major headwind until around mile 20. I had to hold my hat on through a few gusts and one lady that I was running behind, lost her hat and she chose to run back and get it. If that was my hat, I would have let it rest in peace.
- Running uphill, into the wind is completely exhausting.
- I'm not convinced I like pacers. Before the start, I grouped myself with the 3:40 pacer and talked with him for a minute. When the gun went off to start the race, he ran to the side of the road and sprinted forward. I thought to myself, "What is he doing?" There are so many people at the start of the race that there was no way I could keep up with him. I couldn't get around all the people. Finally, I did catch him and he was running around a 7:30 to 7:38 pace. A fast pace to start the race when our average pace should be around 8:20. I should learn to ignore the pacers and run my own race.
- I'm thankful for the volunteers who hand you water, gatorade and gu. They're friendly and they cheer you on. It takes a lot of volunteers to pull off a marathon and they're always so happy to be up early in the morning dealing with all the sweaty runners.
- During a marathon, I never question why I'm running. I love running. But when things start to get hard, I wonder why the race has to be 26.2 miles. Couldn't it stop at mile 20.2? Or even mile 23.2 would be fine with me.
- At mile 23, I hit the wall big time. I was exhausted and there was nothing left in the tank. Zero. Zilch. I told myself that I'd just walk the rest of the way. I walked from mile 23 to 24. Then when I hit mile 24, I talked myself into running again and ran to the finish.
- I drank some chocolate milk at the finish. The best chocolate milk I've ever tasted.
- I love running!
