Seattle Marathon Post Race Review

Morning Wake-Up Call: My husband and I stayed over at my parent's house so we could drive to the race together. I woke up at 5am. Had my coffee and an egg and bagel sandwich. It was hard to eat because my stomach is always so upset on race days, but I knew I had to eat the whole thing. I'm glad I did.

Off to the Races: The traffic wasn't too bad and we got to the race at 7:15 with an hour to spare. The weather wasn't too bad. A little misty, not too cold.

There They Go: I was feeling really good about this race. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't know what was in store for me a few hours after the gun went off. Our plan was to stick to the 4:45 pacer group, it was a great plan until my knee started to hurt. We also trained using a 4:1 run/walk interval. But we wanted to not stop at the beginning, it's too hard to do that with so many people around and it's too exciting. We stayed with the pacer group up until about mile 7. It was a perfect pace, I wish I could have kept it up.

Mile 13: "If I signed up for the half, I'd be done!!" The first words out of my mouth. I knew that my husband and aunt and uncle would be waiting for us here, so that got me more motivated. My knee at this point was killing me. I have been going to PT for my hip, and that didn't even hurt, but my stupid knee HURT. I am pretty sure it is due to my tight IT band.

It was wonderful to see my family at this point. I really needed it!

Miles 14-20: Didn't feel too bad, except my knee hurt. We were doing our intervals and we just kept running along. We both made potty stops. Boy did it feel good to sit down! Oh, yeah! The last half of the race was all hills. Steep hills, long hills and hills in between. I knew it would be hard but this just about killed me. And it really wasn't the going up part that was hard, the painful part was trying to run down them! OUCH!!!!

Miles 20-24: Hurting pretty bad at this point. Everything, my feet, my knees my hips. My PT says I am hyper mobile in my joints and I keep reading that running is really painful for those of us that are hyper mobile. I would like to trade bodies with a speedy runner to see if they hurt as much as I do!

Miles 24-26: The most difficult and challenging of the whole experience! I am so glad my mom was with me to keep me going. I kept crying because my knee hurt so bad and I just wanted to be done, I didn't want to go another two miles. My mom and I crossed the finish line together and I cried. I cried because I was glad I finished. I cried because I hurt so bad. I cried because I got to do this with my mom and not too many daughters out there can say that their 59 year old mom is a marathoner!!

As you can see in these pictures I look like I am in pain, I could not even force a decent smile!! I tried, but my smile muscles wouldn't work either!

Things I learned:

1. Moderate hills mean "there are lots of them, train for it!"

2. I felt great with my nutrition plan, didn't feel hungry once during the course. Definitely sticking to this!

3. I don't need to use walk/run ratios, just walk at the water stops every two miles.

4. Don't train using your own modified training plan, use a tried and true training plan, created by someone who knows what they are doing! ;)

5. You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to!

6. Even though I didn't meet my time goal, I still finished and the next marathon I do I will get a better time, because the course will be flat ;)

Overall experience: I had fun. I don't think I will sign up for this race again. Mostly because of the time of year. You can't depend on the weather. We really lucked out and it was perfect. It was a challenging course. If I do this one again, I have to work on hills!!

Seattle Marathon Health and Fitness Expo

My mom and I headed to the Seattle Marathon packet pick-up and Health and Fitness expo this morning. We were really early which meant that we were about 15th in line to pick up our bibs and chips and head over to the expo to pick up our swag quickly without many people around.

For some reason I was hoping the the expo was going to be great. You know, we are running 26.2 miles so the expo has got to bigger and better than any other expo right? Wrong. Same old thing you always see, nothing too impressive. We got our free samples and looked at all the cool gear that of course I wanted but didn't get.

I did buy mom and I the obligatory "26.2" sticker to put on our cars after we finish the race. I know it's kind of cheesy, but it's well deserved!

I found some super cute shirts with great quotes on them. I really wanted to buy one, but I really don't need another t-shirt I probably won't wear very much. So, a picture will do just fine!

I liked this marathon quote the best! My mom and I had to get a picture together with this one!

I told my husband that he has to make signs for us. He didn't seem enthused about taking on this project. So we went ahead and made some for him! Aren't we nice?

I'm excited for the race on Sunday and can't wait to be finished! It's been a long process to get here, but I know we can do this for sure! Marathons are fun... or so I've heard!!

Happy Running!

Not much going on these days!

Well it now gets dark around here at about 4pm. It's icky! I've been really laying low in terms of exercising. I just don't want to injure myself even more and I want to continue to run for the rest of my life so it's not worth it to me to push through pain. I went to PT yesterday and she congratulated me on my resting. I am eager to run our race next weekend, take some more rest and start fresh again. My mom and I already have our next marathon planned, although we have not signed up just yet.

T-minus 11 days!

Getting so close to race day! I am excited, nervous and as ready as I am going to be. I have been taking it real easy the past few days as directed by my PT. Perhaps too easy and it makes me worried? But nothing like a real taper to get you to the finish line!

"Back off the running and exercise classes"

Says my physical therapist! At my last appointment I kept telling her my hip hurt during and after dance class, running, zumba, and the elliptical. She told me to listen to myself talk and to just take a break once and for all. It's so hard for me to do, but I know I need to do it so I don't injure myself further. She reminded me that I have done my training for my marathon and I will finish, but I want to meet my goal of a 4:30 or under marathon time! It's so frustrating!

This weekend I am meeting up with my mom to go on a very quick 3 mile run and have some coffee (of course!!) afterwards. Only two more weeks to go until race day! I have even sent out a mass email begging friends and family to come and cheer us on. Hopefully some will show up and surprise us!!

Happy Running!

Marathon Swimming

Yesterday I was watching the Art of the Athlete and they were featuring Diana Nyad, Marathon Swimmer. She is amazing! She swam from the Caribbean Islands to Florida, which is something like 103 miles! That is a TRUE marathon swim.

For a swim to be considered a marathon swim it has to be over 15 miles, you cannot have contact with a boat and you can't wear a wetsuit. My husband asked if I would ever do something like that. I immediately shook my head no, but part of me is considering trying something like that at some point in my life. I have even (very briefly) considered the Manhattan Island Marathon swim (around Manhattan Island). Maybe after this running marathon I will have to think about what to do next!


Training: Nothing like starting PT 3 weeks before your first marathon! My hip has been killing me, I hope I can get this worked out before the race. My mom and I completed our last long run and I was in some pain despite having bettered our long run time by 12 minutes!

My husband also asked me if I ever thought I would ever be running a marathon. I again sad no! A few years ago I would curse the ground I ran on. I could barely run 10 feet without huffing and puffing and hating every minute of it. It's been a long running road, but here we are running our first marathon!