- Don’t do anything different than you did on your long runs
- Don’t eat or drink anything new
- Remember, the race begins at mile 20
- Don’t go out too fast!
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
“For the first 3-4 miles, go ten seconds slower than your marathon pace.”
The words from my friend Craig guided me like Jiminy Cricket, yet I ran too fast. Constantly checking my Garmin, I told myself to slow down. My legs didn’t listen.
There was more rule breaking. I have a story about my breakfast that I will skip. There is another about what I drank. Everything that seemed right in the moment looks wrong in review.
It is the classic marathon story. I was on my way to victory… until mile 20. I watched as my Garmin mocked me, my legs stalled, and my goals s-l-o-w-l-y slipped away. At mile 21 I had roughly 43 minutes remaining to run just over five miles. At mile 22 I could make 3:47, not enough for Boston, but enough for joy and happiness. By mile 23 I was wondering if I would break my PR. By mile 24, I knew I would not.
I came in at 3 hours and 56 minutes. I was a full 11 minutes off my target time and four minutes off my personal best.
Truth be told, I loved every gut-wrenching, disappointing moment. I ran 26.2 miles on Sunday! I gave it my all and was completely and totally physically and emotionally exausted as I crossed that finish line. I could hardly hold back the tears. I placed 564 out of 8425 women. I cracked the top hundred in my age group. In short, it was awesome! I have never run a marathon that wasn’t.
- rest day, duh-
