Nike Womens Marathon - RunMarathon


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San Francisco, California
United States
Nike
55F / 13C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 04m
Overall Rank = 474/
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 78/
Pre-race routine:

Todd and I got up at 5am and got the kids up and dressed and ready to go. Room service was late bringing food so ate a little later than I wanted to but it all worked out. Tried to eat some oatmeal but didn't taste good so just ate one piece of wheat toast w/ Peanut Butter. I usually eat more than this but I guess I was nervous and didn't feel like eating. Can't imagine why!
Event warmup:

No warmup really to speak of. Just a quick mile (maybe a little less) walk to Union Square. It was freezing so I just wanted to go back to hotel and get in bed!
Run
  • 4h 04m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 19s  min/mile
Comments:

I was a little scared staring this run as I really didn't know what to do. I've never ran a marathon so had no idea how to pace myself. We drove most of the course the night before so had an idea of the hills, etc., but around mile 3, I started to worry if I was going too fast or too slow. My first few miles I was averaging around a 9/min mile and didn't know if I would be able to keep it the entire run so slowed down a little. I just wasn't sure what to do. Pretty funny because I never thought about it when training...I just ran on how I felt. So, I decided to treat it as a training run. And that helped to calm me down. I just wanted to finish this thing w/out crawling across the finish line! I felt great the first 12 miles or so and then my worst nightmare hit! My left IT band flared up. I felt it a little around mile 6 to 8 but thought it be ok a little longer. I knew, no doubt, that it would start to hurt as I've been battling this from day one but didn't think it would happen so soon. I was thinking around mile 20 or so. Around mile 13 it was a stabbing pain that was killing me and I really didn't think I would be able to finish w/ it hurting like it did. My leg started to buckle from underneath me a few times so decided to find a first aid tent. I found one pretty soon so stopped and got some tylenol and went on running again. Anyone that knows me knows that that I would never take medicine during a run and guess what...I didn't! I can count how many times a year I take tylenol on one hand. Hardly ever! I held it in my hand for about 4 miles and finally put it in my pocket. I just couldn't do it. I'm not sure why because my knee was hurting so bad and it probably would have help a lot. Around the same time my knee started hurting, I started to get really cold and my left arm went numb. This scared the crap out of me as I didn't know what was going on. So I stopped and put my long sleeved shirt back on that I had taken off around mile 7. And then grabbed some fresh socks and put them on my hands and that seemed to help a lot. The knee pain continued the rest of the run but would seemed to really flare up going down hills. It was so frustrating because I felt really good running but my knee would not let me go any faster. I meet up w/ a friend that I swim w/ around mile 20 and stopped and walked w/ her for a few minutes and felt really good on my knee to stop. She was doing a training run and had to run marathon pace the first 15 and walk the rest. I needed to get going again so she said she would run the rest w/ me. It was great to have her w/ me as the last 6 flew by. We talked to whole way and it took my mind off of the pain. I think her last marathon she ran a 3:20 so this was a jog in the park for her. Surprisingly I felt really good other than the knee pain. Also around mile 25 my right calf started to cramp up pretty bad. Not sure what was going on there as that has never happened to me before. It continued to cramp after I finished as well. Todd had me drink a lot of Gatorade and that seemed to help some. I didn't think I was dehydrated as I drank a lot and didn't sweat that much a all. I even had to stop and use the bathroom 4 times over the entire run. One of them being at mile 24. I just couldn't wait. I tried but it wasn't going to happen. Thinking I drank too much. I thought overall it wasn't as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong, I was more than ready to be done but felt pretty good finishing My first and last mile were the same so that was pretty cool
What would you do differently?:

Nothing really. Looking back I wish I didn't stop and walk w/ Laura and use the bathroom 4x. It cost me at least 5 or 6 minutes but had to be done. I was 4 minutes away from being under 4hrs so I think that's why it bothered me. But had a great time and a great experience so it was all worth it!
Post race
Warm down:

Drank a lot of Gatorade and ate a bagel and Jamba Juice smoothie that they were passing out at the finish. It was SO dang cold and windy at the finish as it was right off the ocean so just wanted to get in the car and warm up. So we ended up leaving pretty quickly.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Definitely my knees (IT Band). The left one was the bad one but the right one was hurting as well. Just wasn't bucking from underneath me. I've been seeing a doc and getting ART done 2x a week since I've been training so I've done everything I can do get it better.

Event comments:

This was a first class event and very well organized. There were so many details that I can't even name them all. The expo was very cool. Never seen anything like it. The morning of the race before we started was amazing. It was the only time I cried the entire run. It was a celebration and honoring of women athletes. Very cool and inspiring. So glad I chose this one for my first marathon experience. It was perfect for beginners. The course support was perfect. They gave out fresh nike dry fit socks two different times and had a ton of water and food stations. A lot of bands and live DJ's, port a potties that were SO clean (gotta love an all women race) and a lot of people cheering the entire race. The finish was like nothing I've ever seen. As you cross the finish line there is a huge red carpet laid down and you are greeted by a cute tuxedo wearing San Fran fireman handing you a Tiffany's box from a silver platter. Very cool! Would I do it again? Absolutely! I need to work out my IT band issues first though. It was a very cool experience and I learned a lot about myself on those streets of San Francisco! Can't wait until next year! However, just found out it's the same weekend as Longhorn (Oct 18). What to do...what to do!




Last updated: 2008-10-21 12:00 AM
Running
04:04:00 | 26.2 miles | 09m 19s  min/mile
Age Group: 78/
Overall: 474/
Performance: Good
Did not want to wear HR monitor because I didn't want to see how crazy it would have been. Now wishing I would have as I would have loved to see my Average HR
Course: The course was the most beautiful run I have ever ran. We started at Union Square and ran about a mile then hit Embarcadero to the Golden Gate Bridge (this was the prettiest part of the entire run...it was cold and foggy and looking out and seeing Alcatraz and the Golder Gate was just beautiful), through Golden Gate Park and around Lake Merced and then finished on the Great Highway. There were some pretty big hills the first half and a few towards the end that were pretty hard but Nike did a great job of distracting you from climbing them w/ really cool signs lining the street that were very inspiring. I got very emotional reading them and didn't even think about what I was climbing. Also, when you are looking at pics of babies, moms, dads, husbands, wives, aunt and uncles that have died from Cancer, I couldn't even think about complaining of climbing a hill. Very cool course!
Keeping cool Good Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5