Running 26 miles is not easy. 3 months ago, I thought it was going to be relatively easy. I had done a few hard things before: long course duathlons, half marathons, half ironmans, long run. Running and training for a 26 miles race would not be has hard a juggling 3 different sports and definitely less time..right?
Wrong. Dead wrong.
I chose a marathon in my hometown if Erie, PA. An incredible city in and of itself. I was combining a race with a visit to my parents and brother on to my marathon. Yes, I chose the marathon first and then considered visiting my parents. I was familiar with the course, it was flat, it is small, and I could stay in my parents house for free and eat for free. Bonus on all accounts.
Jeff and I flew into the Akron/Canton Airport. This area is only famous for 2 things: The Football Hall of Fame and Lebron James. Due to Lebron's recent actions, it is better if you only go there if you like football. You might get an earful if you mention Lebron and how he left the great state of Ohio for Miami (doesn't seem like a difficult choice. It is similar to my decision to live Boulder rather then Cincinnati, Ohio. Needless to say, the city of Cincinnati got over me leaving.)
We jumped into our American rental car where Jeff promptly put it is manual sport gear and started to drive like he was in a rally car. Upon our safe arrival at my parents house, we settled into life on 30 acres, no cell phone reception, and the fact that you have to drive at least 20 minutes to get somewhere. Jeff was enamored by the wildlife which consisted of a some turkeys, a woodchuck that lived in a woodpile, and a wooden fox near the pond used to scare away the geese.
I was relaxed. It was only Thursday. I had 2 days before I had to think about the race. Saturday we went to pick up my number and timing chip. #248. I thought for a second..maybe this is good. Maybe I am going to run 2:48. The next second I thought that was crazy..this is my first marathon. My only goal is to finish. Well..maybe finish faster then 3:30.
Sunday morning at 4.15am. Then 4.30am. Then 4.35am. And finally 4.45am. We set 4 alarms just in case one of them (or 3 of them) failed. We had to be at the race site by 6am for a 7am race start. The instructions for the race said that parking closed at 6am. I still fall for solid time cut off at a race. How many transition area closed on time? None. Never believe that. People were still pulling in at 6.30.
Jeff and I head out for a short warmup. He told me not to warm-up too long because I had a long race ahead of me. Thanks for the wise words. The weather is great. Cool. Borderline raining. Cool breezy. The gentle sounds of beautiful Lake Erie lapping against the dirty beaches. I just wanna start.
I line up with 5 other women. Without trying to look at each other, we check each other out. I am odd man out. They all know each other. I know no one. I like it like that. 7.05 (see races don't start on time) we start running the first of 26 miles. One woman takes off. She had to be running 6.30 pace. I am not falling for that trick. I stick to my plan. Plan are important when running 26 miles.
Miles click off. Still adhering to the plan; No faster then 7.05 for the first 8 miles. I get to mile 6 and start looking for Jeff. He is going to jump in with me around miles 6-8 and run to 25 with me. I am excited to see him and have him with me on my marathon journey. Finally, I see him. But he doesn't see me. I am drafting off some guys and I am tucked in behind him. Suddenly, I pop out with the exuberance of a little kid yelling "I'm here. See me. See me." He falls right in stride with me and we keep rolling.
We keep holding our 7 minute miles. He is coaching me along the way. Encouraging, yet challenging me. The guys I am running with get ahead of me, but again, I stick to the plan. My nutrition is good. I am feeling good. Things are good. We roll through 13.1 miles in about 1.31. Things are looking good. We are on track. Little did I know that just 3 miles ahead, things would not be so good.....
Rock On
JK
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