Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon - Run

I don't even know where to start. So - forgive me for rambling. :)

Met up with Mary Ann before the race, and decided that we would try running together since we had approximately the same goal time. Our first mile was a little fast, but I never really felt like I was pushing the pace at all. Slowed it down after that, and we were pretty good about hitting 10 minute miles for a good chunk of time. There was a quick potty break at around mile 6, but otherwise, we cruised along, walking through water stops but otherwise pushing ahead.

Running through Camp Pendelton base was great -- that was around mile 8 or 9 and it really provided a nice boost. They men and women were out cheering us on, and all I was thinking about was that what I was doing was easy compared to what they were doing.

Just after mile 10, we had to go up and over the Rudee Bridge again ... but this time, the wind was in our faces and FEROCIOUS. The climb up that hill was nasty...this was one of the many spots where running with Mary Ann really paid off, because I wouldn't have even hesitated to walk if she hadn't been there pushing me along.

And then - up the boardwalk - WOW. Again - WINDY. Luckily that was only from 5th street up to 22nd street. One more block and I do believe that I would have thrown myself into the ocean in despair. :)

Around mile 12 saw all my friends! My friend Sue had kicked some major butt on her first half marathon ... I gave her a big hug and then headed back on my way while they went back to the hotel to nap (I was so jealous!).

Finally got to the halfway point, and Mary Ann made a good point -- at that point, the finish line was just two training runs away. One 6-miler against the wind, one 7-miler with the wind at our backs. Good way to look at it!

Fast forward to mile 16 or so. For the past 3 or 4 miles, I knew I was going to be having some problems. By mile 16, things got bad. My intestines were SO not happy with me. Attack of the runner's trots. Damn. Running at a normal pace was all but impossible. I sent Mary Ann ahead without me -- I hated leaving her, but knew I wouldn't be able to keep up.

Okay - by this time, along with the intestinal issues, I was starting to seriously fatigue. Stopping at every port-a-potty didn't help -- I found it really difficult to get going again after having been sitting down. The miles from about 19 on were as difficult as I've ever experienced...I suppose that's the whole "hitting the wall" thing that people talk about. At that point, it wasn't even about wanting to be done, I just wanted to stop. Of course, I knew I couldn't, and there was even still a flicker in the back of my head of really needing to beat the 5 hour mark. So - onward I plodded.

Oooo -- around mile 21 or so -- Coke Classic on the course. Liquid heaven. Sure, probably not the best thing for runner's trots, but at that point, I was stopping at every port-a-potty anyway, so what was the difference, right?

By the last miles, the only thing I was doing was calculating in my head how fast I had to run to break 5 hours. That's all that mattered by that point. And I did it. Pulled out a 10 m/m around the 23 mile mark, one more quick potty break, then trotted it in. "Sprinted" the last .2 with my friends cheering me on. Had about 3.5 minutes to spare, in fact.

Crossed the finish line and wasn't at all prepared for the wave of emotions. The main one? "Thank god I'm finally done". And that it was the hardest thing I've ever done. My friends got to me, and I just broke down -- I'm generally not very emotional, so they didn't even really know what to do with me. :)

And after all this: I'm a marathoner. :) Despite all the whining, I'm pretty proud of myself. :)

Train better. I did all my long runs, but I didn't always get in my weekly runs. Felt like maybe I didn't have enough base mileage.

Figure out what I need to do to avoid runner's trots. This was hard enough, but adding that in really marred this race for me. Probably added a good 10 minutes of strictly port-a-potty time to my time, and that doesn't take into account the fact that I had to slow my pace between the port-a-potty stops.

Walked around trying to kind of gather myself and get my bearings. Went into the beer tent, got a beer for one of my friends that had been out there cheering me on. Then, walked back to the hotel where my friends and I celebrated with some beer and hot tub time!

(oh, and I did ice my quads and take an ice bath before hitting the hot tub, which seemed to help with some of the soreness).


Runner's trots. And not to sound wimpy - the wind really sucked a lot of energy out of me. Essentially there was about 13 straight miles of running into the wind.


This was really a well-run race. The course was flat and scenic. More than enough drink stations and volunteers were out in full-force.