Are you ready for a race recap that has entirely way too many pictures of me in it?
Of course, you are. You read SR. You already see way too many pictures of me on a daily basis.
I woke up at 6:15am and had plenty of time to drink coffee, go to the bathroom and chill out before the start of the Gansett Marathon. My parents and I walked across the street a couple minutes before the start.
Talking to a running hamburger, NBD.
The race started right on time and we were off running in the sun. The weather was beautiful out, around 55ish degrees but windy.
Since Boston is supposedly going to be 87* (and the race starts at 10am and later) I knew that I would be taking it easy which made me decide to run this race a little harder.
I didn’t have a specific time goal, but I wanted to beat last year’s time of 3:21.
The course is really pretty: running along the bay, past a lighthouse and fishing village.
This was a great race for my parents to be at because it’s so small that they could drive around and see me at a ton of different points without any trouble. My mom was like my personal trainer – handing me gels, water, a bite of an energy bar – and my dad took all these pictures.
She’s got moves like Jagger.
I LOVED having them there and being able to see them so many times really pumped me up.
“Suck it up! Run faster! Fix your eyeliner!”
Isn’t this the cutest picture of my mom?!
My first mile was 7:35 and most of the miles for the first half were around that. I ate a gel at mile 8.75 and passed the halfway mark at 1:39 and then took my second (and last) gel at mile 13.5
The course is a double loop with a 16 and 10 mile loop. I felt great until mile 16ish when I started on the second loop and faced a slight uphill and headwind. I turned on my music at mile 16.5, but 17-21 were tough. And 22-26 got tougher. The headwind just sucked it out of me and I really struggled to stay on pace.
I only brought 2 gels with me because I thought there was supposed to be gels on the course, but I never saw them.
“Feed me gels, I’m hungry!”
Thankfully my mom gave me half an energy bar at mile 18, and I started grabbing Gatorade for extra calories instead of water.
I don’t know if it was the wind, the lack of gels or I was just tired, but the last miles were killer. I guess marathon’s are suppose to be tough, huh?
I crossed the line in 3:18:40, 7th woman.
And this was how I felt afterwards…
What was great about this small race besides getting to see my parents so much was that I met readers Shelby, Jennifer and Katie (did I get names right?) and was able to run and talk with each of them, making the race a lot more fun.
After the race:
And then ShowerPill saved me…
Even though we stayed at the host hotel, check out was a firm 11am. They even had multiples notes saying late checkout would cost $50 extra! But since the race started at 8am, and I’m not amazing, I wasn’t going to be taking a shower in my hotel room before 11am.
So I improvised: I took an “ice bath” in the pool for a bit, rinsed off in the dirty pool showers and then cleaned up with the wipes. It worked well because I was able to get presentable enough to go to lunch with this girl which I told you about last post.
Next up… the Boston Marathon tomorrow!
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{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome job! And good luck at Boston tomorrow! you will rock it! Make sure to bring more gels tmrw
Your parents are so sweet!! They must be so proud of you! Good luck in Boston!
You’re mom was a great ‘crew’! Congrats on beating your time! You smell good from the West side of the country!
Awesome race!
Way to go Sarah!! You are awesome!! Good luck tomorrow I’ll be thinking about ya!
great job! you rocked it. your parents are adorable. did your mom run with you at your pace to give you food, or did you slow down a bit when you saw her?
no, she kept up with me!
I love the pictures of your Mom! So cute! I think you need to hire her as your personal water girl.
I bet your parents loved seeing you so much, too!
Congrats! As always I am so impressed, even though you don’t seem to be
Good luck tomorrow! Cant wait to hear all about it.
P.S I love that your mom was your “personal trainer” and that she was running with you in coat and jeans! Too cute! You gotta love supportive parents. I hope that my mom can come see me run a “race” someday, hopefully sooner than later.
Way to go lady! Truly inspiring! I just need to figure out the trick of mind over body. My brain tens to shut down and give up before I my legs do which hold me back.
Good luck tomorrow!!!
Good luck at Boston tomorrow!
First- thanks for the shout out! Second- you totally rocked those last few miles, even though they pretty much sucked. I was about half dead when you saw me and I had all but checked out of that race about 10 miles back…Third- glad to know I’m not the only one who felt the wind and the slight incline in the end were pretty killer, maybe now my hubs will beleive me;) and last, your mom is adorable and you are so lucky to have her on your crew this week! I hope you guys are having a blast, enjoying new England, and good luck tomorrow!! I’ll be thinking of all of you running Boston in this heat, while I’m at the playground with the kiddos in this heat;)
Awesome race! Good luck at Boston. I love that your mom was your personal assistant and your dad, the paparazzi.
That’s great that your parents were able to be there to support you! Congrats on beating last year’s time, and good luck in Boston and with the rest of your Man Up week!
Many points to make:
-Your mom looks crazy good. Isn’t she over 60? She looks like 45 or something.
-Two gels for a marathon – yeah, I can imagine that didn’t help making the last 6 miles feel good. Weird that they didn’t have any.
-7th woman?! Awesome
-And SUPER LAME of your hotel on checkout. I had a similar experience with my hotel in New Orleans, but I begged and pleaded and they gave me an extra 15 minutes just to shower (our “late checkout” was 12 noon, and even though I finished at 10:50am, it took more than an hour to get back on the shuttle). As if there is some huge rush of customers coming.
my mom just turned 60 and she’s got such great legs sometimes i fly into a jealous rage.
Wow back-to-back marathons! You are amazing. My body would never be able to handle that, it might just literally fall to pieces.
I love that your parents were able to be there to help you out and cheer you on! So cool!
Best of luck in tomorrow’s race!!!
Congratulations — you’re pretty inspiring!
Will be looking for those yellow shoes tomorrow!
Great crew! Congrats on breaking your record!
Nice job…especially in a Gu-deprived state! Your mom is beautiful! Hope Boston goes well for you
Congrats on an amazing race!!
When I qualified for Boston, my parents were there supporting me (also at a super small race) and it meant the WORLD to me, so I can imagine how great it must have felt during your marathon.
Great Job! Love that you share your family with us!
You are really something else. I admire your drive to run and your ability to do it well. Good luck tomorrow.
Wow! You totally did awesome! Best of luck to you tomorrow–try not to make too many Kenyans cry when you zoom past them at the finish!
good luck tomorrow in Boston. You’re such an inspiration!
awesome! 7 is my lucky number! Good luck tomorrow!
I am new to reading your blog and I love it!! Good luck tomorrow and be safe.
You’re making Man Up Week seem easy!!! Get lots of rest and KICK A$$ tomorrow!!!
Have a great day tomorrow!
Great job! I love the action shots of your mom lol. Good luck in Boston tomorrow! Hopefully the weather reports magically turn out to be wrong.
Congratulations on another wonderful race, you are such a strong runner. So cute that your parents could be there cheering you on, I would love that. And your Mom looks like she is 30 in that one picture, so cute.
Is it just me or is simply ridiculous that the host hotel for a marathon would have a firm 11 a.m. checkout? If I was the RD, I’d be working with another hotel next time or would have tied up that issue beforehand. I’m betting no one got a shower that day.
Good luck at Boston; looks like the heat may present some challenges!
And we’ve one in the pocket! Congrats SR!
Taking cue from you, I did my own “Man Up” this past weekend – 2 5ks on Saturday. Nothing awesome unlike yours but I was so glad to have pushed myself.
Great job! Awesome.
If I can make a comment on your adds…those khols ads at the bottom are KILLING me. They are the worst when reading on an iPhone or iPad. Love your blog. Totally get that you would want to sell some ad space and make a bit of cash doing what you love. Go for it. But the khols add…please, please find a way to get that flashy, hard to not click on accidentally add off the bottom of the screen!!! Almost bad enough to make me visit much less frequently:(
Awesome
Job Sarah!!! Love all the photos and how awesome is your mom to bring you all that stuff! Love it!!! Can’t waiter see how Boston goes:) xoxoox H
Congrats!
Best of luck in Boston! Can’t wait for the recap!
You need to do a post on your super cute Mom! Tell us her secrets to looking so great:) Seriously! It would be a great read…
Good luck in the heat tomorrow. I ran a half yesterday in warm weather and it really sucked (1h43m46s and I thought I’d comfortably go under 1h40m. Grrrr). I’m sure you will be great, you always are.
Just amazing! Good luck in Boston. And the course in RI was beautiful.
The Kidless Kronicles
Great run! Shelby blogs at eatdrinkandrun.com, by the way. =)
Have I mentioned your mom is so cute? Oh, I did. Ok, nevermind then.
Nice job and your mom looks like she if flying in some of those photos! Too cute
Good luck at Boston today!
Ha! You totally fooled me! I had no idea you were unshowered. Looks like those things really do work!
Dang, one down with a great time! Nothing is worse than a headwind when you are pushing through the wall. Your mother is adorable!
You are a rockstar mama, congrats! The Gansett course looks beautiful. You are going to do awesome in Boston this morning, praying for strong happy running for you!
There are many of reasons that I like this post:
1. I hope that some day I can be the kind of parents like your parents. There’s nothing any better than seeing your child accomplish something they love so much!
2. Such an amazing person and I just can’t fathom doing what you do! We all have things that we can do that other people can’t, but just know you are AWESOME!
3. Love your pictures- even the ones that you are in. What a beautiful place to run!
4. How fun it must have been for your dad to take all of those pics.
Great job and great post!!!
Great recap! I loved all the pictures! How awesome that your parents could be there and be your pitcrew!
Sounds like the race needs a new host hotel.
Shelby from Eatdrinkandrun! Love her writing — if you haven’t been to her blog, you should check it out
Your mom is so cute! I think that is really awesome she was your gu-crew.
And we’ve all been there post-race…I once had a great 10 mile race then half way on the hour drive home, had to pull over and puke. Good times.
ANYWAY…congrats on a great race!
SR! You rock!
I ran my first half yesterday and I’m officially addicted.
Thank you for everything!
How do I go about getting in your readers race pics posts?
I love the closeness of your family and that your parents are so supportive. I really enjoy the posts that involve your family because of this.
Great job on the race!
You are amazing. That time is great!! Congrats! Can’t wait to see how you feel after man up week!!
Great job! As inspiring as always. Can’t wait to hear about Boston!!!!!!!
Iwas just going to type skinny runner into the baa tracking…it probably wouldn’t work, hope you enjoyed the race today
NICE work! I can’t believe you finished in that time with all the wind and lack of gels. AMAZING
Spoiler Alert: I’m SO happy to see you didn’t die from the heat today!!!! You are so badass I don’t know how you did Boston today!!!! VERY impressive!!!!!!
Awesome job!! I always bring one extra gel just in case ii don’t see them on the course. But you pushed through it, you rock!
Those pictures of your mom with you on the course crack me up! So cute!! Congrats!!
I saw you just ahead of me for the first part of the race but you are too speedy and you sped up and I died! Wish I had gotten the chance to meet you!
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