Kiawah Island Marathon - RunMarathon


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Kiawah Island, South Carolina
United States
42F / 6C
Overcast
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got up about 6:00 - Ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and a banana - Drank a couple of cups of coffee and a part of a bottle of water...
Event warmup:

Not much "warm up" really... Walked the half mile over to the conference center and starting line - Wondered around the place with the wife, and finally sat against one of the walls and did a little people watching... When they announced 10 minutes till start time, I moved out of the center with everyone else (A premonition of what the first three miles would be like) The only pace signs they had were 6, 7, 8 and walkers - I crammed in with all the people behind the 8 minute group that consisted of about a billion of us who were running less than 8 minute miles, cranked up the iPhone, and when everyone started moving forward, I went with the flow...
Run
  • 4h 45m 43s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 10m 55s  min/mile
Comments:

The first three miles was like a triathlon swim - Bumping, clawing, zig-zagging in attempt to get into some kind of rhythm - Just about the time I got out of the crowd and found a group running about the pace I wanted to go, I had to pee really bad - The porta-potties all had lines waiting, and I was actually beginning to look for a palm tree I could duck behind. At about mile 6 I saw a construction site just off the course that had a porta-pottie beside it -- I ducked in there and felt MUCH better...

Going out was into about an 18 mile per hour cross-wind, but, I stayed on the down-wind side of the crowd, so I was sheltered from most of the wind. After the turn-around and heading back in on the path, the banging began anew... I was weaving around people the whole way back in... I had to make one more stop for the porta-potti coming back in.

My wife met me at the turn-around just after all the half folks pealed off toward their finish and swapped fuel belts with me. Then I headed out on the second loop... Kinda' bitter sweet. It was nice to have the majority of the folks off the course, but it was also a little mental challenging realizing they were all finished and I still had to do it all over again. The wind going out had picked up and was pretty tough, but I just cranked up the music and kept going for round two...

As I got toward the turnaround at about mile 18 or 19, I started thinking about all the horror stories I'd heard about the final six miles. I had only run 20 miles as my longest run, so I really didn't know what to expect after twenty. I hit twenty, took one stride, and told myself that every step after this was a victory in that it was the farthest I'd ever run...

I called my wife at mile 23 and told her I was about 35 minutes out and she got kind of emotional on me and started telling me how proud she was and such... I asked her to save that until I crossed because I needed all the emotional strength I could muster to finish that last 3 miles...

I picked up the pace and started passing a bunch of folks. I really hadn't known how fast to pace myself since I'd not run this far before - I was tired, and my knee was hurting a little, but I was still able to hold onto a faster pace the last three miles than I had in any of the previous 23.

I rounded the turn, saw the finish line, heard the guy call my name, looked for, and found, my wife (Best fan in the world I might add!), I crossed running as fast as I could go.

I guy put the finishers medal around my neck, another put one of those space blankets around me, and, I all of a sudden thought, "Dang! I'm tired!!" I sat in one of those chairs right at the finish line for a minute or two and watched a few more people crass the finish line. Then my wife and I went inside and I found a big, comfortable chair, flopped down for about 15 minutes, and ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and banana my wife had in her bag, drank a bottle of water.

We went inside the area where the band, food, and full marathon finishers were, but none of the food looked appetizing to me at all. We stayed in there for about 10 minutes, and then headed back to the condo. That's when I realized how tired my body really was. i was actually hobbling the whole way back [Between sore muscles, and some chaffing]

I got in a hot tub of water, soaked a few minutes, then, just lay on the couch, drank a bunch of water, and chilled the rest of the day. That night I ate some ribs, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Went to bed about 9:30 and slept soundly all night (But, I usually sleep well anyway.)

Next morning, other than a little soreness in my right knee, I felt good to go, and drove the 6 hour trip home through the rain...
What would you do differently?:

Maybe run a faster pace? But, I just wanted to finished the first one injury free and get the experience. I might run the next one faster - Might not... Who knows?
Post race
Warm down:

Guess I already added it in the run report...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Never having done a full marathon before...

Event comments:

I'll probably go back to Kiawah one day and do it again... I'm already thinking of a full I can do Mayish, and then Rocket City next December...




Last updated: 2009-11-03 12:00 AM
Running
04:45:43 | 26.2 miles | 10m 55s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Course: The full was an out and back loop that went through a gated golf community and some salt marshes - out on the road, and back mostly on the bike path...
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4