SunTrust Richmond Marathon - RunMarathon

We went out really fast, starting with the 3:30 pace group and slowly finding the 3:40 and then the 3:45 groups. THis was a mistake and I now know how tempting it is to start too quickly on race day! I tried to alternate water and PowerAde at the 2 mile marker stations, but I should have just done powerade because I needed more calories and sodium. I'm thinking that I have a really salty sweat based on all of my training. First Gu at 45 minutes, second at 1:15, third at 2:00 or so and then i can't remember taking the 4th, but I think I had to force it down. The strawberry banana went down easy, but I can't quite say the same for the Espresso Love. that one needs to be warmed up a little bit! :) Started to get nauseous from the fluids and Gu's at 8 miles and the nausea and full stomach lingered through the race. My legs felt pretty good, with minimal IT tightness and good hamstrings. SI was great after I started to run on the other side of the road. Felt hot spots on my first Met head and pinky toes, even though I taped the pinky toes. These were bothersome but not enough to stop racing. I felt really confident and had fun for the first 13.1 and then after that, it got hard. By 20, I think I was mentally out of it because I had never run longer than 20, and I had only run one 20! But, we started taking walk breaks every 8:30 and I, sadly, had to extend the walks to 1:30 or 2 minutes because I really needed it. Just felt fatigued. There were 2 or 3 times where I realized that I needed more calories, so I know that next race I'll fuel better and do higher caloric density foods. Overall, I am SO glad that I ran my first race and only missed my goal time by 2:49, NOT bad!!!! :)

It really helped to see people at so many mile markers. JOnathan, Sally and Clint at 4 miles, Ingrid near 5, Mom and dad around the 16, JB and CLint at 19, Brittany near 18 (she took our walk break with us!), Brian's buds somewhere in there around 15?, 2nd year DPT students at 20?, and then dad again at 25 and Jonathan near the finish! So much love and support!

I need to train better with fuel, drink and Gu's on runs to get my stomach used to taking in so much fluid. WOuldn't hurt also to train with some simple sugars found in candy, because this was an easy fuel ont eh race but I didn't want to mess with anything new.

Start slower
Take the proper walk breaks early on so that I don't have to make them longer as the race goes on.

Crossed the finish line and knew I had to keep walking, but it was so tempting to sit. Tried to pose for pictures by Jonathan and was really wobbly when I tried to stand still. Took in some power ade but my stomach was so full and weird feeling the whole race that the thought of a bagel or pizza made me want to throw up. I walked around for a while but then started to get lock jaw because I was in an unfueled state....downed more power ade and walked around. Got a few good calf cramps, like SEIZING calf cramps, and now I know that I need to avoid walking up curbs and stairs right away, and that however I feel, I MUST eat something after the race.
Warm shower at Clint and Sallys, Chinese for lunch, and then a 40 minute ice bath at home!


Went out too fast, didn't take scheduled walk breaks, didn't practice with so much liquid, humidity and heat.
I started to have negative talk around mile 20, but even when I tried to have positive talk, it was tough to keep going. Really helped to have my name on my bib so people could yell "Go Heather"


Fun race! I'd say it was a little tough for me because I wasn't trained for hills. The wet washcloths are all that I imagined they would be. What a lifesaver. Next time, i'll figure out what types of shots they are having earlier so I can practice iwth them. i couldn't find CLIFF anywhere so I had to carry my own, which got heavy. What a fun race with lots of fans and a beautiful city to run in. It was great to run by so many familiar places and to have a great running buddy to keep me going. I would do this race again, but would train for hills!