For those of you not interested in hearing a complete break down of my marathon experience, here it is in a nutshell:
- I did it! (I'm sure you'd already figured that part out from the beginning of this post...)
- I had a great time! (Everyone should visit Charleston, SC at least once!)
- I'm super pleased with my finish time! (4 hours, 41 minutes, 55 seconds)
- I'm not opposed to the idea of doing another one. (Yikes. I just put that in writing!)
There you have it.
If you don't want to read on for the play-by-play and nitty gritty details, I completely understand.
Really.
Don't feel obligated to read more.
It could be a long post with too much information...
Still here?
Alrighty then.
I flew to Charlotte Thursday evening to meet my sister and spend the night...except for we didn't spend the night because a snow storm was on its way. (Trust me, the last 30 minutes of turbulence on the flight convinced me that we did indeed need to head further south.) The last thing we needed was to get stuck in Charlotte where there's little to no snow removal! Instead, we drove to Columbia, SC in the rain to spend the night. Friday morning we leisurely drove on to Charleston, SC.
We prepped our race outfits for the next day, going through the checklist of what we needed to check to have at the finish line (fresh socks, shoes, shirt,...) and what we needed to carry in our new FlipBelts. (My generous sister had purchased each of us a flipbelt for the race after I showed her the site. The belts are amazing and a race must have!) The predicted starting temperature of 30 degrees threw me a bit in deciding on exactly what to wear, especially knowing it would quickly warm up to 60 while we ran. I decided layers were the best plan of attack.
We had dinner at a near by restaurant, knowing that grilled tilapia, potatoes, and veggies would be a good choice for a pre-race meal. That evening we watched a movie in our hotel room, read, and tried to get a good night's rest before the big race! (Neither of us are great sleepers, so the emphasis is again on "tried".) The morning of the race we got up, dressed, and drove back to Burke Middle High School. A plus about starting at the school? Indoor bathrooms. Lots of indoor bathrooms. Neither of us realized how close we were to starting race time as we milled through the runners and sought out the 4:30 pace group. We'd barely gotten into our place when the countdown to run was on! (Probably a great thing: less time for nerves!)
The beginning of the race was really congested with lots of runners and very little space to move or pass each other. For the first 10 miles of the race, the half and the full marathon runners were set to be together before the course divided. We settled into a steady pace, keeping the Pace Leaders in sight. The beginning of the course was beautiful!
Around mile 14, I noticed my watch was dead. Yep. Dead. Turns out it only had an 8 hour charge and I'd forgotten to charge it! Not being able to see my pace and time made me more aware of just listening to my body and enjoying the run. My sister and I ran together for almost 17 miles before she got ahead of me. We were making great time and I really wanted her to PR during this marathon. I shouted to her, "Don't you dare wait for me!" and settled into running at a comfortable pace and continuing on.
I talked to a few people as I ran (one guy and 5 of his friends had driven from Canada for the race!). From mile 18 on, I ran with a friendly art history professor from Georgia (Hi Dinah!). She was running her third marathon and recovering from plantar fasciitus. We carried on a great conversation the rest of the race, spurring each other on to finish strong. She suggested we walk through each water stop and I gladly obliged. For the last 5 stops we grabbed a cup (or 2) of gatorade, drank up while walking to the trash can, then got back to running. I think these small breaks really helped me. At each mile marker, we listened closely to our time and were thrilled to hear how well we were doing! Finishing under 4:45 wasn't a problem for us and we were stoked! At mile 26, a volunteer held out a bag of candy offering us pieces. When she said "gummy bears" I knew she was an angel sent from heaven! She put several in my hand. Dinah and I both sprinted the last .2 miles to the finish line, smiling and congratulating each other on a fantastic run.
I met up with my sister soon after who had indeed finished with a Personal Record. It was such a moving experience to share my first marathon with her! We picked up our checked bags: Dry tops and Nike flip flops have never felt so good! We gingerly sat on a curb and ate a bowl of shrimp-n-grits. Neither of us were sure we could stomach it, but after one bite it all seemed to disappear quickly! We checked our official finish times (mine didn't actually show up on the site until that night!) and boarded the shuttle bus back to the start line. I think I smiled the rest of the day thinking about this amazing accomplishment.
I won't bore you any longer with the run-down of the rest of the day, but cupcakes and a wonderful seafood dinner were just some of our food rewards! Was I sore the next day? Some, but not nearly what I expected to be thanks to compression socks worn after the race until the next morning. My quads were still sore on Monday but by Tuesday I felt great!
Will I run another marathon?
Yes.
There. I said it.
#runteacherrun
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| thanks to PBC Sports Photography for pic! |
I won't bore you any longer with the run-down of the rest of the day, but cupcakes and a wonderful seafood dinner were just some of our food rewards! Was I sore the next day? Some, but not nearly what I expected to be thanks to compression socks worn after the race until the next morning. My quads were still sore on Monday but by Tuesday I felt great!
Will I run another marathon?
Yes.
There. I said it.
#runteacherrun
That was really a good event and lots of people must of cooperated. There are people keep on asking the best eye doctor irmo sc for their eye care concern.
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