This was my first long-dietance run, so I was scared about what to expect, how to prepare, etc.
The day started out well with keeping around a 12min/mile pace that felt nice and comfortable. I promised myself that I would try and go really fast just to keep up with others and to simply run my own race. I also wanted to see how long I could go before I felt the need to start walking.

Once we hit the trail the "fun" started. Around mile 5, the "what are you doing" fears hit and the emotions started to come out. The build-up of everything I had suffered through in the past year and the struggle that still lay ahead to get to where I want to be was just simply overwhelming and I nearly started to cry. Then, I tried to think of anything else to took my mind off the running and nearly rolled my ankle when I drifted off the trail.

Around mile 7, I started to really feel the distance and the fear of how far I had yet to go, but kept repeating the "DFL>DNF>DNS" mantra in my head. Anything to keep from stopping.

After the turn-around, I finally hit the need to walk. Running uphill after that distance was just too much for my legs. From there on, it was a walk/run strategy. Some miles were more run than walk, and others were vice-versa up until mile 12. When I hit the 12-mile mark, I simply sucked it up and told myself "You will NOT walk the last mile of your race. If you have any honor, you will leave everything you have on this run." With that I started to run. It wasn't a fast run, but it was running none-the-less.

As I came down the finishing stretch, I remembered the picture of Renee coming across the line at Gasparilla. Even though I didn't have everyone sitting there physically, I had a large number of people pushing me there mentally.

1. Not leave my hydration belt at home. I figured that I needed even more than most b/c it took me longer to get from water station to water station.

2. Only wear regular shorts over my tri-shorts. I wore my long running tights over my tri-shorts and I think the friction of the two materials probably cost me some level of energy.

Walked around and back to the school which was the start and finish for the full marathon.

Stretched, had 2 bananas, and 24oz of Accelerade.


Nutrition/Hydration
Clothing


For my first long-distance race, I would have to say that this was a positive experience. The range of emotions that I went through was staggering and was likely even moreso since I did not take an iPod with me. I wanted to experience this run in the same fashion that I will have to experience my 1/2 IM at the end of the season.