My first marathon

Scott, me, Meredith, Lindsay

So, I ran my first marathon this past Saturday at the annual Fort 4 Fitness Fall Festival. I've honestly been having a hard time trying to put into words just how I feel right now. I did better than I expected (4 hrs 30 min). It was definitely physically and mentally strenuous. Yet, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I also thought I would be more emotional at the end. Anyway, the picture above is the "pack" I ran with (except Scott only stayed with us for a mile).

The marathon started at 6:30 am. Yes, it was dark, and a tad chilly at around 47f. It didn't take long to warm up though, and it was kind of neat running through the city streets in the dark for the first 45-minutes or so. The video below shows the start, and even though I can't find myself, you can see Jane and Carrie quite plainly at the end of it cheering us on. :)


The official Fort4Fitness video of the marathon start (from the front):



There were a record number of entrants in the marathon this year (220). Apparently only 175 finished (though I'm sure some simply didn't show up). I ran the entire race with Meredith and Lindsay, and Meredith's sister ran the second half with us (the marathon was two 13.1-mile loops).

I don't normally run with anyone - unless it's Jane - but it was kind of nice being part of a group for this event. We all agreed to stick together and it probably helped us all at one point or another during the day. At times I thought I could have gone faster, yet there were other times I am glad I didn't because I likely would have regretted it in the end. We ran the entire 26.2 miles, other than walking through a couple water stations towards the end. I stopped twice to fill my water bottle, but then had to sprint to catch up to the group, so that sort of made up for it.

My official Fort4Fitness results were:
Overall place: 93 out of 175
Division place (55-59): 4 out of 6
Gender place: 55 out of 101
5 miles: 49:29, 9:54 per mile, 120 overall
10 miles: 1:43:16, 10:20 per mile, 116 overall
Half (13.1mi): 2:12:50, 10:09 per mile, 115 overall
18.1 miles: 3:02:16, 10:05 per mile, 105 overall
Last half: 2:18:05, 10:33 per mile, 81 overall
Last 8.1 miles: 1:28:39, 10:57 per mile, 88 overall
Net time: 4:30:55
Pace: 10:21

The total's on my Timex Ironman watch were:

As I said, I thought I would be more emotional after completing one of the few "bucket list" things I've ever had. I'm not sure I've fully processed it yet. There were a lot of things going on that day: Jane was running her first half-marathon by herself; Carrie was doing the 10k; I wasn't used to running with a group and all the interpersonal dynamics that go with that; I felt bad for Meredith because she was having a bad day; plus I saw quite a few people I knew either running or along the course. I don't know that any of those things had anything to do with it - they were almost all good things - but I can't figure out why it hasn't sunk in yet. I ran a damn marathon! And it was an extremely good experience!

I did acquire a couple blisters on my right foot. I actually thought my pinky toenail came off around mile 18 or so. It turns out I'd just worn (and popped) a nasty blister on the side of it. It hurt like crazy those last 8 miles, but I decided I was just going to ignore the pain and I'd deal with it later because I wasn't stopping at that point. The only other real issue I had was where the shoelace runs across my left foot. It felt like it was cutting into my ankle and left quite a welt. It actually still hurts. Other than that I pretty much just had the usual long-run soreness. It was worse than usual, but I honestly expected it to be much worse than it was.

One thing that kind of bums me out is that I missed beating 'Oprah's time' by ONE MINUTE! She ran a marathon in 1994 in 4:29. I wasn't seriously trying to beat her, but I admit it was in the back of my mind that if I had a time goal at all, that was it. Although she had personal trainers, chefs, coaches, and a team of people who ran with her... Anyway, I really didn't think I'd come close to her time, and I can't say I'm even disappointed, but to come that close.... Argh. Oh well.

Other than that, I am very happy. I ran a marathon! Supposedly only 1% of the population has done so. I have no idea if that's true or not, and it doesn't really matter. I'm glad it was a positive experience. It made all the miles logged over the last 18 weeks worth it. Not to mention 6 weeks of putting up with bruised ribs, the countless soaks in the tub, sweat, cursing, and a few bad runs thrown in there.

I feel like I had plenty of support and help in doing this. My friend Jim - whom I've never even met - was somewhat of a coach throughout the entire training period. My co-worker and running partner, Meredith, has a degree in kinesiology and her sister is a track coach. Meredith is also who gave me the final nudge to finally sign up for the marathon. There were also a number of other family and friends who offered much needed encouragement along the way. Mostly though, it's my lifetime support, the lovely Lady Jane, who provided untold nutritional meals, encouragement, left me alone when I needed it, and pretty much allowed me to take this summer to focus entirely on accomplishing this feat. As always, I am forever indebted to her.

I will probably take a week or two off from running to let my feet and legs heal. I fully intend to run more marathons though. At least I would like to. I ran my first half-marathon at 49 and the first full at 55. God-willing I would like to keep doing it as long as I can. I think it makes me a better person.

Here is the tradional post-race pic of me with my two favorite girls. Jane ran a great half in 2:16, and Carrie crushed the 10k in 1:08. It was a grand day all around!

I ran a marathon and lived to tell about it. Hot damn!

Here are a couple more pics for me to remember this by...

Anna-bug showing her support.

The starting line.

Right before entering the stadium for the finish.