The first three miles was like a triathlon swim - Bumping, clawing, zig-zagging in attempt to get into some kind of rhythm - Just about the time I got out of the crowd and found a group running about the pace I wanted to go, I had to pee really bad - The porta-potties all had lines waiting, and I was actually beginning to look for a palm tree I could duck behind. At about mile 6 I saw a construction site just off the course that had a porta-pottie beside it -- I ducked in there and felt MUCH better...

Going out was into about an 18 mile per hour cross-wind, but, I stayed on the down-wind side of the crowd, so I was sheltered from most of the wind. After the turn-around and heading back in on the path, the banging began anew... I was weaving around people the whole way back in... I had to make one more stop for the porta-potti coming back in.

My wife met me at the turn-around just after all the half folks pealed off toward their finish and swapped fuel belts with me. Then I headed out on the second loop... Kinda' bitter sweet. It was nice to have the majority of the folks off the course, but it was also a little mental challenging realizing they were all finished and I still had to do it all over again. The wind going out had picked up and was pretty tough, but I just cranked up the music and kept going for round two...

As I got toward the turnaround at about mile 18 or 19, I started thinking about all the horror stories I'd heard about the final six miles. I had only run 20 miles as my longest run, so I really didn't know what to expect after twenty. I hit twenty, took one stride, and told myself that every step after this was a victory in that it was the farthest I'd ever run...

I called my wife at mile 23 and told her I was about 35 minutes out and she got kind of emotional on me and started telling me how proud she was and such... I asked her to save that until I crossed because I needed all the emotional strength I could muster to finish that last 3 miles...

I picked up the pace and started passing a bunch of folks. I really hadn't known how fast to pace myself since I'd not run this far before - I was tired, and my knee was hurting a little, but I was still able to hold onto a faster pace the last three miles than I had in any of the previous 23.

I rounded the turn, saw the finish line, heard the guy call my name, looked for, and found, my wife (Best fan in the world I might add!), I crossed running as fast as I could go.

I guy put the finishers medal around my neck, another put one of those space blankets around me, and, I all of a sudden thought, "Dang! I'm tired!!" I sat in one of those chairs right at the finish line for a minute or two and watched a few more people crass the finish line. Then my wife and I went inside and I found a big, comfortable chair, flopped down for about 15 minutes, and ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and banana my wife had in her bag, drank a bottle of water.

We went inside the area where the band, food, and full marathon finishers were, but none of the food looked appetizing to me at all. We stayed in there for about 10 minutes, and then headed back to the condo. That's when I realized how tired my body really was. i was actually hobbling the whole way back [Between sore muscles, and some chaffing]

I got in a hot tub of water, soaked a few minutes, then, just lay on the couch, drank a bunch of water, and chilled the rest of the day. That night I ate some ribs, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Went to bed about 9:30 and slept soundly all night (But, I usually sleep well anyway.)

Next morning, other than a little soreness in my right knee, I felt good to go, and drove the 6 hour trip home through the rain...

Maybe run a faster pace? But, I just wanted to finished the first one injury free and get the experience. I might run the next one faster - Might not... Who knows?

Guess I already added it in the run report...


Never having done a full marathon before...


I'll probably go back to Kiawah one day and do it again... I'm already thinking of a full I can do Mayish, and then Rocket City next December...