Kiawah Island Marathon - RunMarathon

The first mile was REALLY crowded - I was surprised to see how slow I ended up going while stuck in the crowd, but decided it was better than starting too fast. My original plan was to keep my HR in Zn 1-2 for the first 6 miles or so, but my HR was a little highter than I had planned. I settled on 171 instead, which seemed to work pretty well.

I divided the race up into 4 mile segments, so that I wouldn't get overwhelmed by the thought of runnign 26.2 miles. This actually worked really well - I'll definately do this next time. I carried a fuel belt with water and HEED, just like in training, and took a small drink every 10 minutes (alternating between water and HEED). At each 4 mile mark, I stopped to walk while eating my gel chased with water - which helped with my mental breakdown of the race into 4 mile segments.

At the half marathon mark, I was right on target - in fact, I think I may have PR'd here (I have to find my last time - it's been a while). It was frustrating to hear all the spectators saying "You're almost there" when I knew I was only almost half-way. There were just so many 1/2 marathoners, that's what most people were seeing. At the turnaround, I was pretty confident I was going to make it under 5 hours - I had over 10 minutes to spare! My back was hurting, so I called Kirk to ask him to bring some creme to the next meeting (15 miles). At the stop, I switched to a new fuelbelt, had him crack my back, and put extra ibprofen creme on my back. I definately lost a few minutes here, but it was really necessary. At around 16, I started to get really warm and had to stop to take off my long-sleeve shirt (again, I know I lost time here, since I had to unpin-repin my number. The weather was annoying here, because then I was cold! I was too hot in my long-sleeve hoodie, but too cold in my singlet. I realized I had a light-weight long-sleeve in my bag at the house, so I called Kirk and asked him if he could drive out and bring it to me. Between 18 & 19 he found me and I switched tops again - yea, I'm pretty sure the extra six minutes could be found in my two "wardrobe changes" and the extra time spent at the fuelbelt switch.

At around 19 or 20, it was started to get pretty hard. I wanted to hit 20 miles at 3:45, which would leave 1:15 for the last 6 miles, but I was a few minutes over when I got there. If I did my math right, I knew I could still make it if I could hold a 12 minute pace - that seemed do-able. The last 3-4 miles killed that pace though. My left leg and hip were really tightening up and I had to stop each mile to stretch. With 2 miles left, I called Kirk to go to the finish. I knew I wasn't going to make 5 hours and I told him it was okay, because I was still going to kill my last time and I was still running. He was being very encouraging and trying to convince me I could still do it, but when I hung up and looked at my watch I knew there was no way I could finish the last 2.2 miles in 20 minutes.

At mile 25, I knew I had a blister on my right pinky toe - darn it! :) I stopped for a second and put chapstick on my toe (wierd - but it works) - so more lost time, but I needed it. That last mile was SO long - I swear the miles get longer after 20! :) I was so happy to make the final turn toward the finish line. I thought maybe I could pick up the pace, but it wasn't possible - at least that means I gave it all I could. I was smiling as I crossed the finish line - yea! I hadn't beat 5 hours, but I had finally finished a marathon HAPPY and in a much better time than previously. I immediately started talking to Kirk about my next marathon and how I'd beat 5 hours then!

More time to build up to race between last triathlon and marathon. Not sure what else I would have done differently during the race - I am pretty happy with my approach.

Walked to get my medal and blanket. Sat down and stretched - switched into comfy shoes and put on a fleece.


Stiffness during the last 6-7 miles.


I liked this race - the double-loop wasn't really a big deal. It was nice recognizing landmarks on the second time around. Although the course was not closed to traffic or bikes, I didn't see any problems with that. In fact, it was nice because my husband was able to bring me a shirt when I needed it! :)