Sorry, I have very few pictures, none from the race itself. So this could very possibly be my lamest race recap yet.
I got home from Washington late Friday night and was in bed by midnight. Wake up came early at 4:15. Along with some cold medicine, copious amounts of coffee were consumed.
I left the house at 5:30 and was parking at Camp Pendleton Marine base around 6:15am. I had to pick up my bib but that only took a second. The race started at 7:10 so an hour before I ate a Clif bar – my standard race breakfast.
When we started, it was kinda cold out but I knew it’d warm up quickly. too quickly.
I really tried to start out slower than usual and looking back, I should have paced myself slower even more. I started running about 7:50-8 min/miles.
Besides being a little worried about the heat, (it was suppose to be in the 70′s Saturday), I felt fine, a little tired maybe. I took my first McSick gel at mile 10 and crossed the halfway point at 1:45. perfect.
I took my next nastygel at mile 15. At 18 The Great Ache started, where every body part south of your hips hurts. But it really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I was just tired.
The course was all paved roads or fire roads, but it was rolling hills the whole time which wore me out. I took my 3rd shot of vomitgel at 19.5 and the last one at 22.5. The last 5 miles were really hard and REALLY slow for me. I ran them at 9 min pace. I just completely ran out of energy.
My time was 3:35:33, 7th woman and 28th overall, 2nd in my age division. About 5 minutes slower than I was hoping to finish but it’s ok, I guess. It happens. Had I been able to run the last 5 miles at pace, I would have ended up around 3:30 where I wanted to.
(Back in the car after the race)
It’s interesting that the LA Marathon last month was really a mental battle for me, and this race wasn’t like that- it was all physical. I simply ran out of gas.
I was there mentally, but I didn’t bring the energy physically. I suppose when you combine the two, that’s when you get a PR or a dream race.
When I got home McJamie was waiting at the door with a champagne flute in hand. seriously. Have I said lately that I love this guy?!
He poured me a glass, took off my shoes for me and then went and got me french fries while I took a bath. And then cleaned and washed my car! He might not show up to the start of the race, but he sure knows how to throw a finish line party.
(Prosecco, by the way, is the Italian version of champagne. This bottle came from Trader Joe’s and is about $6. I think it’s pretty tasty myself)
Best of luck to everyone running Boston today! I’m supremely jealous of ya’ll, but I’ll be there April 2011 fosho. Hillary, today is called Marathon Monday because the Boston Marathon is held today on a Monday. I believe it’s the only race to do so.
