ING Georgia Marathon - RunMarathon

85th out of 724 Females. 33rd in AG (212). 422 out of 2132 OA.

I woke up without expectation due to the weather and just an overall sense of uncertainty. My legs had not been feeling good the weeks prior and I wasn't sure how the weather would effect my race. Thankfully the rain stopped before I had to get out of the car :) Linning up in corral 2 I ran into some more friends and ended up running for about 1.5 miles with JS..until he left me :) heh. I needed to run my race and maintain a sustainable pace. So I settled in and just ran. The first 6 miles went by so quick. This was also the first time I looked at my watch..50 minutes. I thought, okay. Just kept running and feeling pretty good. I ditched my long sleeve at the GFA water stop and proceded up the looong hill to East lake. I grabbed an orange at the almost top and that was tastey. A little burst of energy. Turning onto College Ave. I felt the cold and wind. College was a long stretch to take you to Decatur..this was definitely the worst part of the course weather wise. All of Decatur actually. At mile 13 I ran over the mat and saw a 1:50. The predicament; I would need to negative spilt or dead even split to BQ. So, I had to try even though I knew it would be tough. The second half is more difficult than the first and it is the second half of a marathon. I knew I would need to push my way through the upcoming hills in the Druid Hills neighborhood. So, that's what I did. I didn't let up going up Lullwater and I felt it turning onto Oakdale but I had a chance. I was slowly starting to feel the miles and by mile 20 I was at the infamous mile. The mile where you make or break. the 3:40 pace group caught me here. I stayed with them but it was hard. Seeing that sign in my face was emotional. I was still able to "race" and push but it was getting difficult, especially on the hills. I kept telling myself to hang on. Mile 23. The street; Juniper. I was done racing and now I am just hanging on by sheer will. That hill did me in and it was all I could do to not get emotional as I watched the sign pull away. I could not do anything about it, I had to let it go. My body was in full force revolt. Mile 24 and 25 were brutal. My entire body hurt like I have never felt before..shoulders, back, arms, (obviously) legs. At points I was running hunched over or with my head to the side. I ran out of gas and it wasn't something I could just "push" through. That last mile was long, but when i heard the announcer at the finish I knew I had a PR and I can't be anything but excited. On this course, on that day, given the weather and all the other training I've put in this was a great race. Boston is no longer an "if" but a when.

Not sure. I will need to think about this for a few days as far as training goes. As for the race, I feel like I ran this spot on. I gu'd at my planned miles and it seemed just when I needed them. I was hydrated and I took liquid at most stations. I was prepared for the hills and the difficulty of the course as well as the weather seeing as we did our last 21 miler in the freezing snow.

Walked. I was taken by medical and escorted around the finish area due to the lack of mobility or control of my legs. I was close to falling numerous times. They handed me off to my parents who walked me around some more until I got control of myself :) About 10 minutes after I finished.


Again, not sure. I will need to really analyse this over the next few days. The course is an obvious factor with all the hills and the weather I'm sure played a small role. Just not sure how much of a role.


The course was beautiful. There were plenty of water stations and they were stocked with volunteers. I have an issue with the finish and how it was set up. I would have prefered a straight shot and not 4 turns in a small shute. Also, my garmin has the course long at 26.35. Not a big deal though.