over, relive and appreciate my trip to Arizona.
Going into the marathon I had very high expectations of myself and what I wanted to accomplish. I was hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:35:00. I trained hard to achieve this goal but was unable to finish in that time. I finished with a time of 3:50:07. I started strong, keeping a 8 min mile pace through the 1/2. Around mile 16 I fell off the back of the pace group and at that point I knewI didnt have what it took to keep the pace for another 10 miles. With the hope of qualifying for boston gone, I lost an edge mentally. I feel apart and hit a wall, all things you hope to avoid.
Running is an interesting sport in that sense. When I fell apart, I had no team mate to pick me up, an amp me up to finish strong. It was all me. It's all me in my victories and my failures. Not that this race was a failure, it was a learning experience. I learned a lot about racing, about training, nutrition and my own strength. These things I learned I will use for future training and racing and continue to improve as a runner.
Immediately after the race I was disappointed and
upset and by all means discouraged. But thanks to a few important phone calls and long pep talks (Thanks mom) I was able to really look at the big picture. I have only been running regularly for a year or so now, and finishing my second marathon with a time under 4 hours is very good.
I have also pushed myself very hard this year with 2 marathons, a 30K trail run, Three 10k races, two 10 miles races, two trail 1/2 marathons and numerous local 5k's. Looking at all of that, I am proud of my accomplishments with running.
After a week of rest and recovery I am now ready to start looking towards the next goal. And as most of us do, I have multiple goals in mind. One will remain the same, I will continue to train to run a marathon with a qualifying time for Boston. Its going to take hard work, but I have learned from my mistakes in the last two marathons and will make changes and train smarter and harder.
Traveling down to Arizona for such a big evert is a new experience for me. I knew a few other runners in the race but for the most part I was on my own. This was a nerve-racking feeling but also liberating. We arrived Friday afternoon, 2 days before the race. Friday was mostly
dedicated to getting settled into my hotel, Checking in for the race and visiting the expo. I found a nice Southwest/ mexican restaurant to have dinner at the first evening and then went to bed early for get plenty of rest. Saturday morning I work up early, (5am) to practice getting up early and went for a quick 2 mile jog to get a feel for the temps early in the morning. After a quick shower I headed out to see the sights of Phoenix. I was staying in the heart of downtown and had access to buses, light rail and many attractions. My first stop was the local farmers / public market full of fresh vegetables, local crafts and homemade goodies. I had a great coffee and local organic danish. No better way to get a feel for a new city then its public market.
After wandering the market I purchased an all day metro ticket ($3.50) good for all the buses and light rail. I rode both all over the city until I saw something I wanted to get closer to and would get off and get back on when I was done eating, shopping or taking pictures!
I had to make a stop in the local Lululemon shop and then spotted a trader joe's where I bought a few snacks for race day. I headed back to my hotel by 4 for a big dinner of gourmet pizza and my traditional night before race Guinness. Then it was early to bed, with a few butterflies in my stomach.
The next morning it was on. My alarm went off at 5:00 am. Coffee, smoothie, sports endurance drink and off to the start line. The energy at big events like this is just amazing. It was intoxicating. I warmed up, packed my sports bra with gels and hit the port-a potties one last time.
6,000 runners lined the streets and filled the corrals, and then the gun goes off. All the training, the months of preparation all comes down to that sound, BANG…. and we were off. about to embark on the 26.2 mile journey through Phoenix, into Scottsdale and finally into Tempe at the ASU stadium for the finish. It all kind of blurs together. But after a week, you forget the pain you may have felt, you forget how hard it might have been, all you remember is the energy of the crowd. The exhilaration of crossing the finish line no matter how tired you might have been. You come home and everyone tells you good job!
And here' the crazy things, you start looking for the next big race! And I cant wait!
