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Comments: Obviously with 16,000 runners it was a little congested at the beginning. But I really didn't have much trouble after I crossed the start line. I felt pretty fast the first couple of miles, except for the major hill. I think I was just under 10:00 miles for those two. It was really cool running through Bricktown and such. However, since it was so so so cold, my fingers went completely numb even before the race began. It took over 20 minutes for the blood to start moving through them. So the first 20 minutes they were numb and I couldn't feel them at all, but after that, they buzzed and were tingly for awhile, then all was well. Felt great after about mile 3, it usually takes that long for me to really warm up. I was carrying NUUN water so I didn't have to stop at the first couple of aid stations. I did stop after those to grab some regular water, but I did not have to stop running. At mile 8, I kind of hit a wall. I was fatigued and could feel my legs slowing down. My stomach growled, so I got out my GU and slammed it (right before the GU aid station, ha!). That really helped. Once I hit mile 10, I made a very concious effort to step it up. My only goal was to beat the time from my only other half marathon (2 hours 23 minutes). I was trying to do the calculations in my head and realized I needed up step it up. I felt like I was booking it, but I don't think I got very much faster from this effort. At the 12-mile marker, I decided to really "sprint" it in (I'm not sure it was a sprint by any means, but it sure felt like it). My legs and butt hurt pretty bad, but in my head I told myself it was only one more mile. When I saw the finishing chute, I was still calculating in my head... not exactly sure I would beat my time yet. Kicked it even more and just kept sprinting. It was a long straight-a-way from when you first got sight of the finish line. LOTS of people cheering and cow-belling... glanced down and finally realized I would beat my time. Huge smiles, almost a tear, and I was done. What would you do differently?: More runs past 8 miles. This seems to be my wall.  Post race
Warm down: Grabbed a silver blanket thing becuase I knew I would freeze up immediately. Walked a bit and finally decided to just stop. My legs hurt. When I started walking again, Tom found me quickly. He looked SOOOO cold, poor baby. We grabbed some cookies, got our photo taken and found the gear bag. Found out that Tom ran in just over 1 hour 30 minutes - this was his first half marathon! I was SOOOO proud of him, I can't belive he did so well! Really, I am so impressed and... proud! Went back up to the bleachers at the finish line to watch for Jason coming in (he did the full marathon). Saw the women's winner come in, just 30 seconds away from breaking the course record. Jason came in looking strong at just over 3 hours. Amazing. Headed back to the bus as we didn't really know anyone else coming in. Walking into the hotel I told Tom that even though I beat my time from last fall, I was still kind of disappointed that I didn't beat it by more. I honestly thought it would be more than d 2-minute improvement. I've been running a lot, but I guess I haven't gotten much faster. It's not like it was a bad race, or that I didn't make my goal (becuase I DID!), I just thought it would be more dramatic than it was. Showered, watched the Women's Olympic Marathon trials on TV, picked Jason up, ate at Panera and headed home. I slept for the first hour in the car (passed out was more like it), and Sleepy-Tom made an appearance about 30 minutes out from Wichita so I took over driving. Took the dogs on a little walk when we got home. What limited your ability to perform faster: Long training runs. Event comments: Wonderful race with a great pre-race ceremony in honor of the OKC bombing victims. Profile Album Last updated: 2008-01-25 12:00 AM
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United States
OKC Marathon Inc.
45F / 7C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = F25-29
Age Group Rank = 262/489
Saturday met up with Tom (climbin5414) and Jason (El Flaco) to drive down to OKC. Arrived and went to the race expo, which was pretty cool.
Grabbed some dinner at On The Border. Saw that Macaroni Grill was PACKED, and learned later that they got so behind and so busy (hello, runners!) that they were giving food away for free. Maybe they should check the race calendar next year and plan accordingly?!
Tom and I were about to crash around 9:00 p.m. We started laying out our clothes and I realized I did not have any socks. NO SOCKS! Ummm... I remembered that when I was packing, my dog (who loves socks) kept grabbing them and running away. I thought I had got them in my bag, but apparently I hadn't. So we had to make an emergency run to Target (where I bought a few more things than socks, lol).
Hardly slept at all, I checked the time about 15 times throughout the night. Got up at 4 a.m. to catch the 5 a.m. shuttle from the hotel.
Got down to the lobby at about 10 till 5 a.m., when the shuttle was supposed to leave. It was raining outside, so about 50-60 runners were waiting in the lobby. We waited for 25 minutes before the shuttle FINALLY showed up. Really frustrating and annoying that it was that late. And when it arrived, it was pretty full, so not everyone got on the bus. Luckily, we did.
Got off the bus and it was soooo freaking cold. Rainy, windy and cold. Uuugh. What were we in for? Found the gear drop off (we just had some pants and jackets for afterwards) and made our way to the start line. Said goodbye to the boys because they were starting up front. I squeezed myself in right behind the 4:45 marathon pace group.
The pre-race ceremony was really cool. This is a memorial race for the victims of the OKC bombings, so there is some emotion and such. There was 168 seconds of silence for all of those who had died. It was a long time, and really made you think about just how many people lost thier lives.
After the horns went off it took me a little over five minutes to get to the start line. This was a chip-timed event though, so it didn't really matter. WOOHOO I'm off!