Kiawah Marathon Recap

Okay, so I'm finally posting my recap from my marathon! Sorry, it's long. It was hard for me to describe this day and to keep it as short as possible...here goes.

I had been anticipating this day for months, and it finally got here. The last month and a half seemed to fly by. We ran 20 miles on November 6th and 22 miles on November 20th. Those long runs seemed to be forever ago! I know I had to trust my training, but it made me a little nervous, I have to admit.


I checked the weather Friday night and got even more nervous. The temperature was going to be great for running (40's to low 50's), but it showed rain until early afternoon. Yikes... We passed on a 10 mile run in the rain about a month ago. I remember asking Len that morning, "what if it's raining on December 11th?" I can't really remember what he said but something to the effect that we would just do it or something, but I never really thought that it would rain.

Me with my "What was I thinking??" face before we walked to the start.

We met at 7:20(ish - it took us a while to find each other even though we had a meeting spot). The rain started at about 7:50. Great. At least it wasn't raining too bad, though, so I was glad for that. My husband and Len's family were there with us right until we started - they were such troopers!

Len and I ready to do this and looking really excited...or maybe not so much. Speaking of Len, I have to say, I never would have done this without him. It's really tough getting up at 4:00 or 5:00 three days a week but when you know someone is out there waiting, you just have to...and that saved me. I wouldn't have done it alone. Plus it's really hard to find someone who runs your pace and someone who enjoys your company so very much.... :) Okay, so maybe that was a tad stretch...I better stop now. Thanks, LP.

The last 10 minutes flew by and all the sudden we were off! Here we go. I look like I'm in pain already, but that's just my look of concentration.

I really wanted to stay with Len as long as possible. Sometimes I'm really mentally weak on long runs and need him to keep me motivated. Miles 1-4 went pretty well. The crowd always motivates me (sometimes too much) in the beginning. Miles 4-7 I started to feel a little winded (this is typically when I start to get into my rhythm). I started to realize that unfortunately I was making the same mistake that I did on my last half marathon by starting off too fast. We were running under 10 minute miles and I knew that was too fast for me if I wanted to have anything left in the second half. On my best runs, I start off slower and then speed up. So though I hated it so much, I said good bye to Len somewhere between miles 7 and 8. It had rained on us for most of that time and between that and having to slow down a bit, I started getting a little discouraged. I slowed down to take off my long sleeve shirt. It was all wet and I was plenty warm, so it was good to get it off. I must have looked miserable because some guy came up by me, patted my back and told me to keep on going and that I was doing great. I cannot even tell you how much that motivated me. I wish I could thank him. I needed that so much right then as I was definitely close to tears.

The next few miles were tough but I knew I was going to see Phil close to mile 13 and that kept me going. I almost cried (again) when I saw him. He had a Clif bar, water and my visor for me (even though it had stopped raining now, of course) so I stopped for a minute with him. I was anxious to get started again. I tried eating the bar but it wasn't working. Too chewy and dry. We mostly stop on our training runs to eat a bar quickly and have a drink before we start again. But I didn't want to waste any more time than necessary. I told Phil to tell me I could do this (he said some encouraging words), and then I went on my way.

Seeing Phil and crossing that half way mark was definitely my turning point. I got my second wind and seriously felt great! I looped around at the half way point. I had a nice, steady pace and really started to enjoy myself. I saw Phil again somewhere between miles 14 and 15. He took my Clif bar, long sleeve shirt and ran with me for a minute. Three ladies commented about how great my hubby was to support me like that! I am a lucky girl. I needed to see him then so badly to push me those last miles.

I remember reading Becky's recap on her marathon and how she thought about different people during each mile. I started thinking how even though I was running by myself at this point, it definitely took a lot of amazing people to get me here! There's no way I could have done this by myself. These are some of the people I thought about:

1. My husband. He not only comes to almost all of my races but he watches Jake every Saturday morning (which means never getting to sleep in) and seriously never complains about it.

2. My parents. They support me in everything I do, and they are so proud of me! I think they even tell the person checking them out at the grocery store that their daughter is running a marathon. :) My Dad sent a note with me to read before my marathon. I thought about the things he wrote several times during those miles. It was so incredible to see him at the finish line!! And my dear Mom - she was at home (wishing so badly she could be here) taking care of our little man! I could not ask for better parents (and neighbors!! Told ya, I'm a lucky girl!).

3. My best friend. Even though we haven't had many opportunities lately to run together, she supports me so much. She even drove 4 hours here and back in one day just to see me finish my marathon!

4. My team. Of course. I couldn't have done this without them. We have had fun training for this marathon the last three months. They've kept me laughing and helped me finish every mile I ran.

5. My new blogger friends. I have been so inspired by reading blogs and by comments and suggestions from you all. So thank you!! I thought of you all today, especially those of you who have encouraged me during this amazing journey.

6. And of course my "real life" friends. :) I got so many encouraging comments from all different places and it felt good to know so many people were cheering me on! Thank you!

Miles 13-18 went really well. 18-19 was a little tough for me because it was just a slight incline for a while and the wind was blowing in my face. But, I knew I would be seeing Len shortly and that pushed me to keep going. I saw him and he called out, "Whose idea was this?" Ha. :) Yours, Len!

I was so excited that I was down to single digits. 7 miles? No problem. The 20 mile marker came and I got even more excited. I stopped at most of the water stations to drink a quick cup of water or Gatorade and walk for a minute, but then kept on running. I saw a clock and realized that I'd have to run 10 minute miles for the last 6 miles to get my dream goal of 4:30. My realistic goal was to beat 5 hours, but secretly I hoped to get 4:30. However, I realized it was going to be tough for me to do that with stopping at each water station (there were a lot - thank you, race organizers!). I was disappointed but tried to remind myself that I was less than 6 miles from finishing my first marathon! I tried not to dwell on it but to just keep up a slow and steady pace.

We had somewhere between 2 and 3 miles to go and were turning on the path towards the finish line. I saw someone ahead of me who I recognized...LEN! Oh my goodness...I wanted to finish this race with Len so badly! I caught up to him probably near mile 24 (not exactly sure). We were both hurting by then so we spent the last 2 miles running with short walks in between. Both of our Garmins were ahead of what the course said we had left (quite depressing when we're talking 26.2 miles). We finally saw the 26 mile marker...and the last .2 miles were never ending. But we did it. Len's son ran with him towards the finish line and we wrapped it up ending within 5 seconds of each other. My official time was 4:38:19.

As soon as I crossed the finish line I saw Phil...along with my Dad, best friend and her husband there to support me. I was so excited! What an amazing experience.

Me and Len anxious to sit down!

Me and Dad!! What a great surprise!

Me and my BFF.

One last picture before I take a very hot shower!

This was such an awesome experience! I kept telling my husband that I wanted to enjoy every minute of it. I can say I truly enjoyed just about every minute of it. :)