Marathon!

Marathons require so much less gear than triathlons!

After my normal race-morning breakfast of oatmeal with a banana (and dark-chocolate cocoa instead of brown sugar), I headed to downtown Nashville for the pre-race festivities. They had some massage tables set up and were getting athletes ready for the race. I got there early enough not to have to wait and ended up with the same lady who’d worked on me after the Purity 10K. What are the chances? They also had bananas, Cytomax, water, muffins, cookies, and bars. I couldn’t believe how many people were eating what was there; didn’t they have a pre-race plan? Oh, well. I headed toward my corral around 6:40 (after twice visiting a port-a-potty! And running into Larkin) and looked for a 3:40 marathon pace group. The only pacer in my corral was a 1:45 half marathon (3:30 marathon), so I thought I’d just stay with him for as long as I could and go from there.

The start line...Corral 1 is off!

Some guy asked if it made the marathon easier following a 1:45 pacer; I said I hoped so!

I stayed with the pacer for the first 8 miles, which I hit at 64 minutes. Perfect! First 4 splits:

• 15:18
• 16:06
• 16:06
• 17:03

After 8, I knew I had another 8 to go on my own (3 still with the half-marathoners and 5 through the most boring part of the route: MetroCenter) and then 4 more back on the road before I’d meet up with Anna and run the final 6 with her. I hit the half at a very respectable 1:49—perfect for a 3:40 finish if I could continue running that pace!

• 00:17:07
• 00:18:16
• 00:09:26
• 1:49 at the half
• 00:07:47
• 00:19:24

The next 4 were harder than I’d hoped and I ended up walking through all the aid stations. I desperately wanted to hit mile 20 at 10:15 (I just missed). I didn’t realize that we’d meet up with the half-marathoners again just before mile 20 (their mile 12) and it got quite congested. But the new route meant that we didn’t get as close to the finish line as we had in the previous years. I actually enjoyed this new route. They did add a hill during mile 3 on Demonbreun, but I barely noticed it.

The elevation as advertised on the website

• 00:09:38
• 00:11:57
• 00:21:38

Anna said she was a good spotter, but we chose a corner to meet at so that I could look for her, too. She saw me almost 0.2 miles before I reached her, and I was so happy to see her! We made our way toward Shelby Park (my other least favorite part) and I was watching the clock thinking I could still make 4 hours. Yet I couldn’t keep myself running for the whole time, even though we could see all the mile markers. The route through Shelby Park was almost 1.5 miles shorter than it was last year, and I was so happy. Around mile 25, I saw my teammates (Jay, Brian, Laura, Karin, and another rider), and they rode most of the last mile with me. So great! Then just before the finish line I saw Will and Nancy. Wonderful! I turned the corner and tried to pick it up as much as possible; I managed to pass one girl in the final tenth.

• 00:09:58
• 00:10:40
• 00:10:03
• 00:10:42
• 00:11:04
• 00:10:47
• 00:01:54
• 4:07:54 total

After I finished, I headed straight for the med tent to get some ice and tape for my ridiculous blisters (Will said one looked like another toe!). I would like to figure out a way to quit getting blisters. I saw Anna and Josh walking past and asked one of the girls spreading ice water on my legs (they wouldn’t do massages; I have no idea why) to run and get her. We walked through the finishers area, got a finishers picture, got whatever swag was there (drinks, bagels, pretzels, etc.), and headed toward the gear bags.

Sweet finishers medals, with an X for the tenth year and guitars for Music City

We ran into Will, got my clean clothes, and as I sat down to put my sandals on I got a cramp. I never get cramps…it was the weirdest thing on the outside of my upper thigh.

I had parked at the start line (I like to have access to my car), so Will and Nancy drove me back there. I tried to relax when I got home and forced myself to ice my feet again and then lay down with my feet/legs up for an hour. I’ll probably be happy tomorrow, but I didn’t sleep at all. Naps are so overrated!

The whole time, I was thinking about two verses.

1. Proverbs 24:10 “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”
2. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

My strength is small, especially if I try to do something on my own. But Christ’s strength surpasses anything I could ever even imagine, and I drew on that strength throughout the whole race. No, I didn’t qualify for Boston; I didn’t even make it under 4 hours. But I did my best and tried to glorify God throughout the whole race. I did not faint, and I made it one step closer to finishing under 4 hours and eventually qualifying for Boston (3:40).

Oh, and I set a 9-minute PR. Awesome!

Official splits
2009:
Bib. Time... O'all SexPl DivPl Pace Ttldiv Ttlsex 5 Km. 10 Km 10 Mi.. Half... 20 Mi
4156 4:07:53 714.. 171.. 59... 9:28 469... 1801.. 24:16 49:15 1:21:47 1:52:17 3:02:43

2008:
Bib.. Time... O'all SexPl DivPl Pace Ttldiv Ttlsex 5K... 6Mi.. 10Mi... Half... 20Mi
14252 4:16:40 1848. 577.. 167.. 9:48 479... 1926.. 27:50 52:51 1:28:41 1:58:28 3:08:09

2009 total finishers: 4136
2008 total finishers: 4401

OK, so I like statistics. Here are some from Saturday's race compared to the same race in 2008:

2009 Time ................ 2008 Time
4:07:53 .................. 4:16:40

2009 Age group place ..... 2008 Age group place
59 of 469 (top 12.5%) .... 167 of 479 (top 34%)

2009 Sex place ........... 2008 Sex place
171 of 1801 (top 9%) ..... 577 of 1926 (top 30%)

2009 Overall place ....... 2008 Overall place
714 of 4136 (top 17%) .... 1848 of 4401 (top 42%)

So I didn't only cut off 9 minutes, I beat 20% or more people!

The route and elevation from mapmyrun

Psalm 115:1 "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth."
Proverbs 25:28 "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls."