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Comments: This was my first marathon, and my biggest fear was going out too hard and blowing up and having a miserable second half. I knew I needed to take it very conservatively for the first half. I knew I shouldn't get caught up in trying to keep a particular pace, but I would have loved to run a 4:15. Yeah, that didn't happen. Nor did a 4:30, but I quickly realized that I just needed to worry about finishing than worry about pacing. I stayed with the 4:30 pace group for a while, but then I just did my own thing. The first thing I noticed right from the start was that my heartrate was NOT cooperating. I get race anxiety that majorly affects my heartrate, so today was no different. It was a lot higher than it should have been, and it played a part for the rest of the race. All I could do was watch it and back off if things got too high. At the start line, I realized that I should have used the porta-potty one last time, so I knew I'd have to go out on the course somewhere. The lines were too long during the first few miles, and it seemed like every time I got to an aid station, I was so distracted by getting water that I would forget to look for the bathrooms! I finally peed at mile 11!! I couldn't believe I ran that long with that much pee in me :) The race was pretty uneventful for me. I definitely ran the gamut of emotions. I was so thankful that I was ABLE to be there running a marathon. I thought about my family and the fact that I'm the first person in my family to ever do anything like this. I got really depressed a few times when I saw big groups of spectators cheering for thier family member or friend and I had no one there for me and felt really alone. I focused on taking sips of gel from my flask every now and then and drinking water to stay hydrated. Mostly, I just ticked off milestones - 10K, 1/2 mary, 16 miles (10 miles to go!), then 20 miles, then I got beyond the farthest I've ever run in a training run and just wondered how my body would feel. The legs were sore and starting to get heavy. My lower back was starting to tighten up. But other than that, everything was about as ok as I could expect. I was just dreading those last 6 miles everyone talks about! I thoguht I had prepared myself for how bad the last miles would be, but I had no idea! Talk about being so close yet so far away! But for me, it was really the last 3 miles that were so horrible. There were SO many people walking and man, it was tempting to walk too. My legs hurt so badly - I reached a realm of pain I'd never felt before. But every time I'd see someone walking, I'd say "uh uh - not me. I'm NOT walking in the last 3 miles of a marathon. I've made it this far, and I have basically nothing left to run compared to how far I've already come." Plus, I just didn't want the memory hanging over me of having to walk in my first marathon. So, the last 3 miles were excruciating, but it's during those moments that I learn the most about myself and how I can steel myself against the pain and just push through it. The lsst 3 miles were slow, but I kept going. I'm proud of myself. Mile 1: 10:24 / Avg HR 139 Mile 2: 10:11 / Avg HR 151 Mile 3: 10:14 / Avg HR 153 Mile 4: 10:16 / Avg HR 154 Mile 5: 10:18 / Avg HR 155 Mile 6: 10:18 / Avg HR 156 Mile 7: 10:17 / Avg HR 156 Mile 8: 10:18 / Avg HR 158 Mile 9: 10:18 / Avg HR 157 Mile 10: 10:25 / Avg HR 159 Mile 11: 10:34 / Avg HR 157 (Bathroom break!) Mile 12: 10:07 / Avg HR 159 Mile 13: 10:13 / Avg HR 161 Mile 14: 10:21 / Avg HR 163 Mile 15: 10:32 / Avg HR 163 Mile 16: 10:41 / Avg HR 164 Mile 17: 10:43 / Avg HR 164 Mile 18: 10:39 / Avg HR 163 Mile 19: 10:22 / Avg HR 163 Mile 20: 10:24 / Avg HR 163 Mile 21: 10:35 / Avg HR 164 Mile 22: 11:08 / Avg HR 161 Mile 23: 10:52 / Avg HR 161 Mile 24: 11:24 / Avg HR 160 Mile 25: 11:06 / Avg HR 161 MIle 26: 10:40 / Avg HR 162 What would you do differently?: Pee closer to the start. Other than that, I think the race went pretty well and was about what I expected.  Post race
Warm down: It actually hurt worse to walk! I had a medical volunteer approach me at the end because I must have looked horrible. She kept on asking me if I was dizzy. I just told her my legs didn't want to work anymore. I kept looking for those Spenco sandals that I heard they gave away last year. Those would have felt so good to change into. Nope. No Spencos. I got my chip removed, grabbed a popsicle and an emergency blanket, went to bag check to get my stuff and drove back to my hotel where I basically just laid in a coma for the rest of the day. I did go to the convenience store and get 2 bags of ice for an ice bath. I tried THREE TIMES to get in that ice bath and I couldn't take it. I'd get my feet in and start lowering my body into it, and my calves would immediately cramp so badly I was in tears and close to screaming. I figured that I put myself through enough pain that day, I couldn't take anymore! I sacrificed a couple of days of better recovery for sparing myself the icy hell of that bathtub. Plus, when you start screaming in a hotel, people tend to call the police. What limited your ability to perform faster: Genetics. I'm just a slow runner, so I knew I wouldn't have a blazing fast marathon! I need to work on that whole race anxiety thing because it really does affect my HR. Event comments: Great race, lots of volunteers, nice flat course. I just don't know if I'd do another January marathon because of Colorado weather and training in the snow. I would suggest they not have the packet pickup/expo in downtown Phoenix. The $30 parking fees close to the expo were beyond ridiculous, and I felt like I was driving in NYC with the gridlocked traffic. Last updated: 2007-12-13 12:00 AM
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United States
Elite Racing Inc.
60F / 16C
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = F 30-34
Age Group Rank = 217/471
I got up at 4:15, ate oatmeal and made my pre-race peanut butter and jelly bagel to take with me. Drove to the finish line to park my car and take the shuttles to the start line. The race instructions said to get there 2 hours early because of the shuttle lines. Um, there were no lines and hardly anyone there yet! But I guess I'd rather be early than late. I didn't need any added stress. Got to the start area and was thankful that I brought all my warm clothes with me. I was erroneously thinking they'd have a tent or portable heaters or something where you could keep warm during the 1.75 hour wait I had to endure before the race started. Nope. Just thousands of runners milling around trying not to freeze their fat-free asses off. I drank some decaf coffee they provided and just sat on a wall and talked to some people around me. Visited the porta-potties, then headed over to bag check to check my clothes. Stripping down to my running skirt and short sleeve shirt (I had a throw-away Cherry Creek Sneak long sleeve shirt over it that I tossed later) was quite torturous at 40 degrees, but I knew I'd warm up quickly. My teeth were chattering.
I mostly just warmed up my jaw talking to people. I knew I'd take it out slow, so I didn't really warm up other than jumping up and down trying to keep from freezing. Lined up with my corral and it was time to start. It was a little surreal because I just kept thinking 26.2....26.2....26.2. I knew I'd be out there a long time. Mostly I was worried about the last 6 miles that everyone talks about and the fact that my longest training run was 3:15, so anything beyond that was uncharted territory for me. I was also worried about my feet. I had to walk SO FAR through downtown the day before to get to packet pickup because of the masses of people doing the same thing that I got blisters!! Here I was lining up for a marathon with blisters. Great. I just hoped that they wouldn't give me problems.