My 3rd year in row running UVM (2011-3:31, 2012-3:12, 2013-2:59). I pretty much love this race. The course is awesome (although this year it felt much less awesome than years past), I love that it is close to home, I train on the course all the time, the support is absolutely amazing, and well UVM weekend is just pretty much like a Holiday to me. I knew that my feet injury I've been dealing with would be an issue for this race but I wanted to run it anyway, so I did. My goal for the race was 2:55 and I honestly thought that was a reasonable goal. I was 4 minutes off of my goal but I gutted it out and somehow managed to hold it together after the wheels came off. These races where we somehow keep going after falling apart truly are humbling and teach us so much more about what our bodies are capable of. So although I did not reach my goal I really am not too disappointed. I was not really trained optimally for this race and I still managed to run sub-3 which after taking a step back to analyze I feel is still pretty awesome.
Nutrition: Bagel, banana, & 32 ounces Gatorade before the race. 2.5 gels, half a 5-hour energy before the start, 2 salt pills and 2 ibuprofen 800's during the race, not enough fluids. <---this may have been a limiting factor for me. Hard to say....I have not been training with fluids and just could not seem to force much down me during the race. My stomach just wasn't handling it well.
Splits: 1:27:31/1:31:34 I do not have my Garmin splits with me and will update later. The last 6 miles were not pretty. Also just to note this is my first time positive splitting this course which just sucks! Not a fun way to finish a marathon. Splits: 6:28, 6:25, 6:26, 6:24, 6:33, 6:33, 6:31, 6:57, 7:02, 6:38, 6:42, 7:04, 6:40, 6:52, 6:49, 7:00, 6:49, 6:38, 6:41, 6:52, 6:53, 6:59, 7:04, 7:20, 7:11, 7:09, 6:40
Report - Wallsburg miles 1-7: The first 7 miles of a marathon are just so much fun. The emotional roller coaster begins and I was definitely on a high for this section. I forgot to start my watch at the start of the race and ended up starting it about a minute in so all of my splits are off but I think my first mile was like a 6:28. I was running with a pack of guys that were all gunning for 2:55. Jacobs friend joined us shortly into the first mile (I cannot for the life of me remember his name) and ended up running with me until mile 7. My feet started bothering me at mile 5, mile freaking 5, and after he left me I told him I would be shocked if I finished today. Physically I felt great, heart rate was low, breathing was under control and I figured I'd at least try to make it to halfway point.
The 3 humps 7-13: I passed Marcie right before the hills started and she informed me I was in 2nd. Wow I honestly had no idea. I noticed that Amber had went ahead but figured surely there was someone up there with her. This was motivating and helped me hold it together during the hills. Honestly the hills were not bad at all and I just focused on maintaining my effort. The uphills felt good and controlled but the downhills that followed were just killing my feet (especially my left) and I tried to focus on relaxing, landing light, and trying to land on my midfoot instead of my toes. I still had a lot of miles to go and this was not a good sign that I was in so much pain already. I hit the half at 1:27:31 and was right on pace for 2:55. Although I was on pace I could tell I had worked harder than I had hoped and feared the 2nd half may not be pretty.
JulieC bike miles 13-20: I held it together pretty well until mile 15 and was excited to see my friend Francis at the mi 15 aid station. Tara passed me at that mile looking incredibly strong. Usually I have more fight in me but I just kind of let her go and this is when I realized I was struggling. Fortunately JulieC rode with me during miles 15-17 and that helped a lot. Those miles seemed hillier than normal? I don't know I was really falling apart already...crap! Thankfully Julie entertained me with her stories and kept my mind off of the reality that the next hour of my life was going to be completely terrible. I hit mile 19 at exactly 2:01 (on my watch that I started late so probably realistically 2:02) so despite feeling pretty craptastic I was miraculously still on pace for 2:55. Cam met me at mile 18 and despite my feet I actually felt pretty good up until mile 20.
The death march 20-26.2: Not really much to say....just the classic wheels coming off and trying to hold it together. My sister road with me on the bike during these miles and Cam ran with me until mile 23. I'm sure that was fun for them....not! My parents were also at miles 21 and 23 and I made sure to high five them both times. I was really struggling and that hill at mile 24 that I've ran at least a million times seemed to grow about a thousand feet overnight. These 6 miles took a lot of mental strength and I just kept reminding myself that I could do anything for 6 miles. I truly took it one mile, one street light, one aid station, one person in the crowd, one step at a time. "one step at a time" would somehow ultimately propel me to the finish line. By far the coolest thing about this marathon for me was the support I received that last .2 miles. It was freaking awesome! There were so many people chanting my name and screaming and hollering for me. In my foggy blur I could not really recognize anyone but I could hear everyone cheering for me and it was so incredibly cool. I crossed that finish line feeling so blessed, so thankful, and just so proud and happy.
The fact that I didn't reach my goal didn't really matter because I was reminded of how lucky I am just to be out doing this. Honestly this marathon was one of the most emotional for me because I just had so much support and gosh it is just so cool. If you would have asked me two weeks ago if I thought I could run UVM I probably would have said no way. But being in that moment and knowing there were so many people out there supporting me is ultimately what kept me going. A big huge thanks to JulieC, Cam, Lily, Jen, and most importantly my family. I know it sounds so cheesy but I truly could not do any of this without such a great support system.
Two funny things I hope to never forget about the race:
* At mile 23 maybe...I don't know those last 6 miles are such a blur one of the volunteers at the aid station chucked a full cup of water at my face! It scared the crap out of me and took me like a minute to catch my breath. I was so mad at first but had no energy to go back and beat her up. Apparently my sister thought I told her to do it so when she asked my sister said "yes she wants you to dump water on her" haha and she took that as chuck it in her face. So funny to me now but at the moment I really was so mad.
* JulieC caught back up to me on the bike at mile 24.....bless her heart. She started going off about how she had been kicked off the course...ha so funny! Anyway she said she couldn't ride with me since she was already in trouble but literally jumped off her bike and just started screaming at me at the top of her lungs. I could hear her clear until mile 25 I swear. She was screaming so loud and although I don't know exactly what she was going off about my sister could not stop laughing.
Aftermath: My feet cramped up immediately after crossing the finish line...it was the weirdest thing ever. I couldn't stand for about an hour so I just laid on the grass and iced my feet. I felt bad because there were so many people I wanted to talk to and thank but I just literally could not stand - it was pathetic! I'm feeling better now but am really hoping to get this foot thing figured out so that I can run healthy again. | 