THis race was awesome! I love the energy and the crowds! I started mile 1 with my friend Jamie, she ran with me for 2 miles. THis was great because she kept me paced right where i needed to be. After she split,i caught up to the 5:00 pace group and hung with them through mile 15 or so, but the next 8 miles went by really quick and i felt great. After mile 10 i was still doing well. Then got to mile 12 at Agnes Scott college and took my 5 hr energy! Love that!
Miles 12-16 went great! I soared through them. Mile 17 was the worst. It was Lullwater drive and it had a mile long hill. Ugh! I wanted to cry! But made it to the top!
Miles 18-20.5 were brutal and the wind really started to kick up, had to walk some of it. My knee really started to throb. Mile 21 i saw a friend who gave me advil and ran with me for a block. We chatted and said goodbye. Miles 21 thru 23 were OK, but it was the GA tech area which is also brutal.
Mile 23ish i saw my hubby come riding up to me on his bike and i have never been so happy to see him! I was teary-eyed again, but he gave me the mental boost i needed. He told me how many awesome people were waiting for me. He also gave me the updates on everyone else's race times, which was a welcomed distraction.
Miles 23-25.6 were tough, never ending rolling hills.
The last mile was the longest. My knee hurt so bad just trying to stay moving was tough. Until i saw my friends the last .25 mile. They were awesome! Cheering me in and ringing cowbell! I came in strong and thru the finish line.
I followed my nutrition and hydration plan to the T and it worked! By the end i had energy left, but was in pain and simply could not move anymore.
1 bottle of Gu2O/Carbo pro every hr, 1 gel per hour, 5 hr energy at mile 12, pretzel peanut butter nuggets at mile 18, gatorade through the end, water at every station.
For my first full mary, i would say i had a really awesome and great experience.

I would say that i did everything i could to get a 5:00 marathon time, but my knee didnt feel the same. I was keeping a great pace until mile 18 or 19, when i gave in and ran until i couldnt anymmore and would take walk breaks. I thnk i did everything else the way i planned and it seemed to work. You can plan for knee pain. The only thing i might have done differntly was take a better camera. The pics i snapped along the way werent very good.

I hung with my friends who were great enough to wait in the cold windy conditions for me. I soaked in teh glory, then headed back to our hotel room. Tried for warm shower, but hotel hot water was broken! are you kidding me! I jsut ran a marathon and no hot shower, Oh well! To the car and then home. Had yummy post race meal at Swallow in the Hollow with kraig and Courtney, then retrieved jackson and headed home to prop my feet up.


my knee simply did not want to run that many hill!


This was a great race, but at the end there was nothing going on. I guess since the majority of the racers were 1/2, then they broke stuff down before us slow pokes doing the full finished.