Fox Valley Marathon - RunMarathon

RAIN started before the race began and rained til the end!!! Wasn't horrible, I liked it actually and no blisters. Only soaked my shoe stepping in a puddle 1x at about 21 miles.

I ran the race perfectly, just they way I wanted to. I put on my headphones in the beginning and stuck to my strategy which was running no faster than 12 min on the run then 15-16 on the walks. That is very hard to do in the beginning with all the runners and fans. My run/walk ratio was 2:1 (2 min run/1 min walk)

The rain started before the race started and rained throughout the entire race, but never poured which worked perfectly. Rain keeps me cooler. My arms were cold, but my core was just fine.

Up to about mile 7 or 9, the race was pretty uneventful. I stuck to my plan and my pace was about 12:45 min/mile overall ... perfect. Not too fast and not at all drained of energy. At about the 7 or 9 mile mark my quads started to hurt on the slow down to the walk and the take off to the run. This would last the entire race, but only get worse. My friend Mia was out on the course at mile 9 (thankfully I wore the yellow calf sleeves, so everyone saw me coming from way far away). Mia snapped my picture, I gave her a hug and trotted onward. Later, she said I looked awesome. I felt pretty good at that point.

I stayed on pace through the 13.1 mark at about 2:45. I started to get excited that I could possibly run about 5:30 or 5:45, but I still stuck to my plan since there were so many miles left. I figured that about miles 20-22 I could make a decision to push a little if everything was going alright.

Race still stayed on plan, and I felt great, up til about mile 17. Funny, thought I had a little gas . . . wasn't gas, but thankfully not an on course issue. However, I was a 1/2 mile from the last aid station and not sure how far from the next. I ended up walking the next 1.5 miles to get to a porta potty and has massive diarhea. That continued to be a bit of a problem for the next couple miles. Hit the porta potty at about 19 . . . barely. As I was walking trying to find the porta potty, I seriously considered dropping out of the race. My stomach didn't hurt all that much, but the feeling of the bowel issues takes a huge toll and not being sure of whether it would continue to be a problem was an unknown. I thought about grabbing some vasoline knowing I had just wiped off my own going potty, but since there were using tongue depressers to dish it out, it seemed very unsanitary, so I skipped (YES, I got some chafing because of it).

It was about the 3:44 mark, at 17 miles that I dropped my run/walk ratio to 1:1 to give my body a break. The quads were hurting alot. My energy was till 100%, never felt weak or devoid of energy, my body just wasn't feeling as good.

I just keep thinking to myself, MY LORD is this a long distance. I wanted to drop out so many times . . . 11 more miles, 10 more miles, 9 more miles . . . all the way to the end. I just wasn't going to go that far and not get the damn medal!!!

I saw my friend Christine with her dog at about mile 19.5. I finally saw my brother and my Mom at about mile 21 or so. I guess they tried to catch me a different points on the course, but kept missing me. Too bad . .. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't seen them.

After about mile 22 I was pretty much down to mostly a walk. My quads were just hurting way too much and cramping was starting to become an issue. I caught up to a guy named Matt at about 3 miles left we basically walked it in together until the final 0.2. Matt was having massive hip pain (he has never used a foam roller and didn't know what the IT band was). He was very nice. I told Matt before as we entered the final 0.2 and make the turn to the finish we had to run it in because they would snap our picture. We both took off at the turn. My quads were killing and I got 360 degree cramps in my feet and ankles ready to take me down at 50 feet to go. Matt was grunting with every step so I knew he was in pain, but I encouraged him. We both crossed pretty much together, a first marathon for both of us. So cool!!!

My Mom, brother and my Galloway group were all there waiting for us. And the Galloway group was all over the course ALL day cheering us on, they were awesome!!!

I was so proud of myself, yet in so much pain, that I started crying to myself at about 23 miles. It was all just boiling to the top. I knew my Dad who is not around would be so proud, My mom was just amazed at my feat and my brother . . well he thinks I am nuts, but still amazed at what I did.

I have a new appreciation for marathoners, and especially IM's. This was the hardest thing I have ever had to do and it if definitely mostly mental. If I wasn't strong mentally, there is no way I would've pushed myself that hard for so long. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I WILL DO THIS AGAIN IN 3 WEEKS!!! I know this was my training run, but WOW.

I will do the Bank of America marathon because I have to and I am raising money to help kids, but as of right now, I don't know if I will ever do a mary again . . . that could certainly change in a few weeks. 1/2 just seem so much more doable and less painful.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed!

Figure out what affected my stomach and figure out how to not get cramps.

No warm down. Just walked a little bit.


Quad pain - I have been changing my run form the last 2 months, so maybe this long mileage took its toll as my quads have not been properly built up yet. However, it felt better on my heels.

Stomach issues - had soft bowels all week, so not sure if that contributed to the issues. Also, drank regular gatorade on the course for 95% of my hydration. I usually drink gatorade endurance, but that would have meant carrying all kinds of powder with me. So I took a risk and drank from the course. I only started with water at about 22-23 miles. So maybe all the gatorade caused the stomach issues.

Cramps - normal for me, but at least the held off for most of the race.

Toes joint pain - the joints in my first 2 toes were just so pain . . .


I was one of the last to come in, so not much post race activities going on . . .