Clif Notes version: I ran Richmond. Fast. Much faster than I thought I could! And it was awesome. But I took no pictures. Oops.
I decided last Sunday to enter the Richmond marathon. I actually wavered a bit about this decision. Before this fall, I'd never DNS'd a race. Never. No matter what - sick, injured, or chomping at the bit - I showed up at the start line. But this fall, I DNS'd three (yes 3!) races!
While I had good reasons for those decisions, I was starting to get a little bit of a complex about it. Should I enter another race? Was it the right decision? Would I end up not starting again? But eventually, the wavering is what made the decision for me. I needed to get out there and toe the line at least once this fall. So I entered. It was a good race, as Patrick and my dad were running the half; a family friend, Ned, was running the full.
The week prior to the race was crazy busy at work because our team was working off site on a big project. It was a long week, but it worked out well since I was tapering. I didn't have much time to run or obsess about the race. I ran 5mi on Monday, 3mi on Tuesday, took rest days on Wed and Thurs, and ran 2mi on Fri. I lucked out, and our team finished early on Friday afternoon. I called Patrick to meet me at home, and we jumped into the car around 1:30pm to head down to Richmond. There was a bit of traffic, but we made it there by 4:30.
We hit up the expo for numbers and packets. Dad and Ned had much longer drives, so we grabbed their things and headed to the hotel to meet them. We stayed at the Embassy Suites, and I just want to give them a big round of applause. The hotel looked a little sketchy on the outside, but was great inside and their employees were awesome. They hosted a reception (with food and drinks) from 5-7pm and helped us find restaurants in the area. When I forgot a phone charger, the girl working the front desk lent me hers for the night! And when we got back from the race after the mandatory checkout time, the cleaning lady let us in to shower anyways. All around, great service.
But back to Friday. Dad arrived around 7pm and we met him at the Olive Garden. Yes, there are better Italian restaurants in Richmond, but Olive Garden was the only place with gluten free pasta options. It wasn't bad...a minor wait, wine, not terrible pasta. Good enough for the night before the race.
Sitting at dinner, I had a sudden realization. I turned to Patrick and said "oh man, I have to run
really far tomorrow!" He started laughing. "Did you just realize that?" he asked. Yes, actually. The week had been busy and I had not been focusing on my race at all...it snuck up on me! But I still didn't feel any race nerves. I still didn't have any expectations and wasn't stressed at all. I thought 4 hours was a reasonable expectation. Anything faster than that was just icing on the cake. I went to bed around 10:30 and conked out...no nervous wake ups in the middle of the night.
We woke up at 5am on Saturday morning and did the usual - coffee, bathroom, coffee, bathroom, body glide, gear. We met my dad and Ned in the lobby and headed downtown. I ate a sweet potato with pb and raisins on the drive over. The half marathon started 30min before the marathon, so Patrick went to hit the porta potties while I dropped out bags at bag check, and ate a banana. I met Patrick and Dad in the two hour corral to wish them luck before they started, then headed to the marathon start line.
I was standing at the start line between the 3:15 and 4:00 pacers, when the 3:35 pacer walked up and said hello. We chatted for a few minutes and he gave a few of us a quick brief on his plan - to keep a steady effort, not waste energy dodging people in the beginning miles and not waste energy on the hills. He seemed so confident and self-assured. "Don't worry about it, just stick with us," he said. "We'll get you to the finish on time."
Then he asked me "Are you with us?" Everything just felt right - beautiful, cold, crisp, sunny weather, pretty course, fresh legs, and the opportunity right in front of me. And I said "Yes. Oh, I guess I'm committed now!"
The 3:35 pace group was going to be running an 8:12min/mi pace. I had no idea how that would feel. But I did know that my lack of confidence could easily and swiftly be my downfall. I told myself to leave the entire mental aspect of this race behind, and focus solely on the mile, the minute, the moment I was in. The only thinking I planned to do was think "stick with the pacer, stick with the pacer." Everything needed to be focused on physically getting the job done.
A girl sang the national anthem, and with that thought, we were off!
Miles 1-5 (8:23, 8:03, 7:58, 8:13, 8:08): I honestly didn't even see these splits until I plugged in my Garmin today. I knew our pace would be a little off in the first few miles due to the crowds, and I didn't want to psych myself out. I worked on settling in behind the pacers, finding a good place and a good groove. I talked with a nice girl (hi AK!) for a bit, but didn't wasn't feeling very chatty. I alternated between listening to music and listening to the conversations around me. The pace felt fine, but the HUGE questioned loomed over my head -- was this
sustainable?? Every time I heard that voice in my head, I literally told myself to shut up. I also thought about my friend, Becca, an awesome marathoner and great coach. She has told me time and time again that I could do this. So when my negative voice creeped up, I asked myself what Becca would say and listened to those thoughts. Coach Becca was in my head this whole race.
Miles 6-10 (8:11, 8:04, 8:02, 8:13, 7:51): As I settled in, things started to feel better. Not just better, but
do-able! The pacers checked in with all of us, making sure we were eating and doing well. I started picturing myself crossing the finish line under 3:35...a BQ!! It started becoming real. I was literally running a BQ pace! I was working hard and having a blast!
Miles 11-15 (8:08, 8:10, 8:11, 7:59): And then there were two hills. In all fairness, they weren't
that big. But I was working hard, and the hills weren't helping. It was also getting a bit warmer and sunnier. I pulled off my beanie and rolled down my sleeves. I veered to the side to hit the aid stations, but the pacers didn't, so I had to sprint to catch back up with them. This was hard, physically and mentally. I started thinking seriously about slowing down. We weren't even half way! But then I reminded myself of the 50k this summer. During that race, I really learned how my body could go from hating me to loving running, just with the passage of time and distance. So I turned on my music, stuck with the pacers and tried to ride out this bad patch.
It totally worked!! A couple miles later, I was rocking and rolling, dreaming about my magic BQ finish. The pacers knew we were getting bored, and started playing the alphabet game with us, which was cute and much appreciated.
Miles 16-20 (7:57, 7:56, 8:18, 8:08, 8:06): At mile 16, I thought...just 10mi left. I run 10mi before work. I can do this. Then around mile 17, we hit the bridge. And the bridge was hard. It wasn't high, but it was long and windy, and I could see how far it stretched in front of us. That was mentally difficult, so I tucked behind a group to draft where I could, started singing in my head and pretended there was no bridge. It seemed to take
forever but eventually, we got across.
Miles 21-26.2 (8:16, 8:32, 8:52, 8:51, 9:09, 9:35, last 0.2 @ 7:07 pace): At mile 21, the pace group started to split up a big. One group picked up the pace a bit, and a few of us stayed back. I was hurting, but not giving up. At mile 21, I tried to take my last Gu, but one bite and it almost came back up (ew). I tossed it. The pacer tried chatting with me to distract me, but I couldn't concentrate at all. He asked what I was listening to...and I literally had no answer. I was listening to music, but couldn't figure out what it was!
In the middle of mile 22, I grabbed a cup of Powerade, trying to replace some of the calories I didn't get from my tossed Gu. That almost came back up. I literally staggered to the side of the road, hands on knees...and luckily did not toss my cookies. But when that happened, the pace group went on without me.
I was on my own.
I realize that sounds dramatic. At mile 22, it felt dramatic. My legs were tree trunks. I told myself to run faster, tried to force my legs...but they wouldn't move any quicker. I wanted to walk
so badly. But I did some fuzzy-brained-mile-22-math and realized that if I could just run even 8's, I could still come in under 3:35. So I tried. But I couldn't do it.
I have no regrets about these miles. Yes, they were slower. But they weren't slow because I gave up. They were slower because I was running a
hard race. When I saw 3:35 slip out of my grasp, I kept running as hard as I could. I was struggling with nausea, and retched at mile 24 (almost on some poor short girl!) but kept going. I didn't stop, I didn't walk, I didn't "oh no, I missed a BQ!" I shoved that thought out of my mind and kept moving.
Thankfully, at mile 25.5 we turned a corner and it was all downhill to the finish. I picked it up and tried not to trip. Downhill running is
really hard at the end of a marathon! I ran by my dad and Patrick, and they were waving and cheering as I made my way across the finish line in 3:37:45.
Overall: I am thrilled by this race. It was a 13 minute PR!! But even more exciting to me was my mental game. Yes, the last 6mi hurt like crazy. But I never gave up. Multiple times, I questioned my ability to do this...and instead of giving in to the doubt and fear, I pressed on. I left everything out on that course, and never gave up. Like the Oiselle motto says "
go fast, take chances."
I am bummed to have missed Boston by less than 3 minutes. But I can't complain. I didn't do the work for a BQ. I haven't been doing speedwork. I haven't run over 40mi/week since September. Given the lack of training, I am thrilled to have come close. I know, with real training and higher mileage, sub-3:30 is absolutely do-able. Perhaps in Richmond next year?
And super awesome congrats to my dad and Patrick who rocked the half marathon...and Ned, who ran a 3:09 (!!!!).
