Race report

Well, as you all know, I survived. The first 9 miles were pretty good -- after that it was tough all the way, until about 23 miles, when I finally got a second wind. Then it was still tough, but I was able to make myself run a lot more. But stamina wasn't the problem; I was breathing well and wasn't tired in that respect, but my legs were in AWFUL pain. My IT-bands were never sore (and are still feeling good two days later, and I haven't even worn the straps since the race ended), but my right calf began to hurt (remember the first injury I had from marathon training, five months ago? Hasn't bothered me since? Sheesh) and my left quad (the one that was problematic last week) also ached (understatement of the year). My hamstrings were terrible, and they've never been an issue before. I had normal all-over achiness in my legs, but nothing I couldn't handle (if it had been by itself). My toes also hurt a lot -- I think I'm going to lose my big toenails from this, and the second two toenails were just starting to come back but probably won't for a while now -- but, again, that I could put up with. But the longer I went, the harder it was to make my legs keep running, or to start running after I walked. The first two or three running steps were excruciating each time. I was surrounded by people in the same state, though, so anytime I ran at all I passed a ton of people (but anytime I walked they streamed by me the same way). The people around me mostly looked familiar by the end!

For the first 13.1, I pretty much stuck to the 4-minutes-running-one-minute-walking plan, even though I felt silly in the first three miles (though I kept hearing other runners' walk timers go off, which made me feel better). Somewhere past the halfway mark, though, I remember thinking it wasn't SO bad if I didn't start running at 5 minutes, or if I stopped running at 3 minutes, and by 16 miles or so I realized that the timer was pointless if I was walking after a minute and not running until 10, and it was just making me feel guilty. I ended up just walking until I could bear running, then running until I couldn't anymore (which was never more than a minute or so for what seemed like a long, long way). But over the last three miles, which were mostly downhill, I found myself able to run for longer, so I probably ran as much as I walked in terms of time (and more running, in terms of distance).

Remarkable to me is that of roughly 5,000 registrants, only 3,361 people crossed the finish line. I wish I knew how many actually started, but it seems reasonable that only a few people (a hundred or two, anyway) who paid that registration wouldn't actually go through with the race to begin with. So some 1500 or so dropped out. Short of injury, how could that many people just lose the will to go on, given that they'd had the nerve in the first place? Sarah asked me how I kept going when I was so miserable. But I don't know that it ever seriously crossed my mind that I could quit. I kept going because that was what I had to do. If there was anything left in me, I was going to move forward.

The winds were pretty bad in the second half -- at one point when I was back to jogging there was a gust so hard that I wobbled (I was wobbly anyway, though), and I kicked myself in the other leg. Very weird. I'm glad I wasn't wearing a hat. No doubt the windiness contributed to my lack of enthusiasm -- I remember the lake as being the most depressing place in the course (when I'd been looking forward to it!) and that was also probably the windiest (but not where I kicked myself, because I barely ran at ALL around the lake).

But the course was really quite pretty, except for some of the industrial areas (I was sorry we didn't get to do the Ft. McHenry loop like they used to -- construction!); people who described the "ghettos" in race reports I've read were unnecessarily unkind (or don't remember Baltimore in the 80s). Even the poorest neighborhoods were pretty cool -- I love the colorful trim on so many of the houses! There were also very few stretches without people cheering (come to think of it, the lake loop was short on those, too -- another reason it was tough -- though there was at least a water table and food halfway round); I had been told in advance that that would be one of the best parts, and it really was. And there was SO much to eat on the course! In addition to the promised bananas, cereal bars, and gels (ick), there were people with a range of fresh fruit (oranges and grapes were awesome -- I actually turned around to get at the grapes), gummy bears, fruit snacks, swedish fish, Skittles, M&Ms, Twizzlers, and I don't know what-all. And even beer, though I didn't see any takers on that!! I took Skittles early on, but they left my hand sticky and colorful, which I didn't really want, and I got Skittles up my nose when I tried to rinse my mouth out while running, so after that I stuck to the snacks I had planned on (mostly Shot Bloks, but I also ate the sport beans at the lake, which were just perfect at that point) and any fresh fruit I could grab (except bananas, which seemed to be all the wrong texture). And a cereal bar at the lake, since I was actively feeling hungry at that point.

My final time was 5:10:21. The first half I averaged a 10:27 pace (2:17:00 was the split), which was fabulous for half a marathon, and the second half it was 13:14!! Stupid rebellious legs! I'm glad I did it (mostly) and I'm finally recovering (my teeth settled down last night, and I still limp only because of my left quad, but I'm about back to where I was a week ago, so by Saturday I'll be fine again). I really don't think I'll do another marathon, even if I could train injury-free and avoid the leg pain, however, because it's just not that interesting. Five hours of running is a long, dull time. A half marathon would have been all right, but a marathon is simply too much. You'd have to really love the feeling of running for its own sake, and I don't. I'm just thrilled that it's done.

Now I am NOT going to run for SIX WEEKS, and you can quote me on that. Not until November 27. I went swimming today and just did regular laps (a half a mile, which is a lot less exercise than I remember it being) -- my left leg couldn't help with flutter kick but I was surprised to find out that there was no problem with a breast stroke kick! By next week I should be up to bicycling (on a bike or at the gym) but I'm not even going to try it before then. Then I'll ease back into elliptical and other machine exercise as it seems appropriate.