i have no idea why i decided to do this... haha, enjoy! (ps- dont know why i said my birthday was a month from tomorrow... its a month from today! still feel free to send me stuff)
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
MDI marathon
early last year i had registered to run both the maine marathon & the mount desert island marathon, 14 days apart, with the goal of becoming a marathon maniac. i had my first ever "DNS" for the 2nd marathon due to poor planning on my part (got the dates of a wedding wrong). however, im a firm believer that everything happens for a reason... and i am so happy that it fell through. albeit my training this year was far from stellar, the marathon training i had last year was awful, i ran maine hurt, got a personal worst finishing time, and i know i would have completely fallen apart somewhere along the mdi course and would not have enjoyed the experience. the emotions i felt over the last 3 weeks were unlike anything ive ever experienced before while running and i wouldnt change it for anything.
a quote i posted from my first marathon fits really well- "pushing my body to limits never before experienced with a goal of experiencing 26.2 miles ill never forget". after having run my 5th marathon this past sunday (all 5 marathons in the state of maine), i can honestly say i will never, ever, forget MDI. i cursed the course many times during the day. i swore up and down after it was over i would never run it again, but i think we all know thats a lie. it took a while for everything to kinda set in... i dont even know if ill be able to adequately recap it... you just have to go run it yourself and see what its all about. and i promise, you will not regret it.
i took a pic of this sign they had at the expo... i know i outlined the bibs in my last post but i just think its such a cool idea. it was really neat to know who the "first timers" were along the course, and i talked to quite a few... the bibs were definitely a good conversation starter!
too bad this wasnt my first, team green!
after the expo we headed to downtown bar harbor to get some food. we ate at a restaurant called "guinness & porcellis", and a sign outside said "bar harbor's #1 carb loading destination"... perfect! only ally could pronounce anything on the menu, and when i asked her what one of the items meant she said "pasta with cheese"... ill take that! when it arrived, i cut into what i thought was chicken on the top... only to have it leak yellow. my pasta was topped with a poached egg! delish! (fun fact: i called the restaurant last night and asked what the name of the meal i had was since its not on their online menu- bucatini with pecorino. ill learn to make it one of these days!) and of course, in true tourist fashion, we just had to get out pic taken with the giant ice cream eating lobster! only in maine!
and of course our weekend wouldnt be complete without sing along hour to broadway musicals!
after a few hours of sleep, plus a middle of the night slumber party-esque giggle fest with ally, my alarm went off and it was time to get ready. as i hit my alarm muttering shutthehellup idontwanttogetup imsowarminmybed(!!!), i heard sarahs alarm going off in the other room blasting "raise your glass"... that pumped me UP!
we got to the start line a little after 7:15am and walked around seeing friends, taking pics, and cursing about how it was starting to rain a little bit. i was able to chat for a few minutes with Bethany & Ryan and finally met Jamie.
before we knew it, the national anthem was being played and the cannon went off. within the first mile i began realizing what i had gotten myself into... sucks that you figure that out in mile ONE!
somewhere around mile 6 i started getting really light headed. this is something that has never happened to me before in any of my marathons. it wasnt really all that hot out, but wiping my forehead all i felt was salt, despite knowing i was hydrating fairly consistently. i decided i should probably take my long sleeved shirt off and try to cool down a little (i had images running through my head of passing out, getting a DNF... yikes!). this seemed to help and i carried on.
before the race i had decided to run without my music. i had been forced to do so during the maine marathon due to the ear phones getting water logged from all the rain and the ipod completely shutting down on me. i had a great time talking to other runners and figured this might be my new thing! along the first 3 miles (that were all uphill), i decided that was a really horrible decision. i wanted my music so bad... so when i saw sarah around mile 4, i yelled ahead and had her grab my bag and get my ipod. i didnt use it the entire run, but i had it when/if i needed it. sorry to all you non music users out there, im not converting just yet!
just after the first relay exchange, the runners had to be diverted over a makeshift bridge. it was so windy and dirt was flying up everywhere. when we got back onto the road, i saw two guys running up ahead of me, one of which had a "marathon maniacs" singlet on. it instantly put a smile on my face, knowing thats what i was out there trying to accomplish. i caught up to them as we were heading up the hill and chatted with them for a bit (hi Oliver! hi Loren!) they got ahead of me for awhile and i caught back up to them around mile 24 and talked to them a bit more before powering up the last few hills.
it was shortly after this that i spotted a familiar tshirt (team "Ma, the meatloaf!" from reach the beach relay that a few of my friends were on)... i caught up to him and it saw it was Jonathan. we chatted a bit and then both headed on our seperate ways.
around mile 8, a few songs came on that i had added before maine that reminded me of aaron. i knew when i added the songs it was bound to make me an emotional wreck, but i also knew he would be watching over me as i ran and they would keep me moving forward. "fix you" definitely had the tears streaming down my face, and as with every other time i cry during races, i could barely catch my breath. i stopped for a few seconds to get it together and then pushed on. "never alone", which i can never make it through without crying, actually brought a smile to my face. i knew aaron was there with me (as his fiance pointed out to me yesterday, he can finally watch me run my races... something he had never seen me do before). people driving by me must have thought i was in pain, but i was smiling through my tears <3
i saw sarah & co. again right before mile 13. they had been great support throughout the previous miles, giving me ibuprofen and replacing my gu's... but i didnt feel like i needed anything so i just said hi (actually, i think i said "i feel like crap and these hills are killing me!" but i really meant "this is the most beautiful race ever! thank you for convincing me to run it! im loving it so much!!"... yeah something like that). so i didnt take anything and ran on. whoops, mistake. i had taken packed two gu's on me at the start of the race, and had taken both, plus replaced one at a previous stop. as i passed by them i realized i probably wouldnt see them again until the end of the race, so i was going to be one gu short. in a crazy twist of fate, there was a gu stop later on in the run! as i heard them yelling up ahead "vanilla gu", i almost threw up a little in my mouth (ill save you that whole story, just trust me. dont.eat.the.vanilla!) but when i got up there, they also had chocolate. yes! it was just what i needed.
i originally had big plans to live tweet this race, and even call a few people at various points along the way... what i hadnt planned on was not having any cell service. yay middle of nowhere coast of maine! although i didnt have a real specific goal time in mind before the race, i did pack a 4:40 race pace band in my handheld and also kept the 4:20 pace band in there as well (i didnt think i would do it after just having run a 4:18 two weeks earlier), but i thought what the hell, we'll see what happens. at mile 17 i texted Jeri saying i was still on track to go 4:20, but i didnt think i could keep up the pace for the rest of the course, especially not knowing what was up ahead hill wise. i was surprised i was feeling this good through 17 but i knew that unless i totally fell apart, i would not get a PW (4:43:30).
before i knew it we were heading into the last 10k of the race. i got to mile 20 at 3:21, and got really excited at the idea of going sub 4:30. i had purposely not driven the course so i didnt know what was coming, and im so glad. mile 21-25 were up... up... up. awesome. i did a lot of self talk during those last few miles, and tried to pump up other runners who were walking and looking defeated.
at mile 25ish was this restaurant... the "its all downhill from here" note was a little bit of a lie, since the finish is uphill (shocking), but the last mile is down.
my stats:
time: 4:28:38 (pace- 10:15)
place: 416th / 925
age group: 20th / 62 (female 30-34)
best mile: 9:04 (mile 4)
worst mile: 11:30 (mile 22)
woooo hoooo i made the MDI website!
(dear runners world: feel free to add me to your mag, i wont mind!)
race recap in one photo:
...and this. shooooot me.
(i might as well have just run up a mountain and then back down)
final thoughts:
this whole experience really showed me what my body was capable of, and i know that with adequate training (including dreaded hill training/more speed work) i could really rock this course. im thinking my first two maine marathons (4:43:00/4:43:30) were flukes, and im really a sub 4:30 marathon runner (my PR is 4:15). i LOVED this course... i told the race director afterwards that i have absolutely not one bad thing to say about the race as a whole. if anyone is looking to be in the "50 states" club, make this race your "Maine" race.
i had said before this race that after i completed it i was done for awhile. by done i clearly meant "til spring". which unfortunately means training in new england during the winter... bring it on! i am in love with running, its true (dont worry, ty... i still love you mostest!). im not looking to make myself a real fast marathon runner, i just enjoy the challenge. i know you wont believe me but after ONE MORE marathon, then ill really take a break (many of you already know why).
so this begs the question, which marathon will i run? a potential lottery bib into boston from my track club that will be drawn in december will determine if i have to pick among other marathons (read: if i get into boston im not running any of the other two... maybe...), and the two im choosing between are:
MDI was my 59th road race... so of course i need just one more this year :) but how about a few more?
10/29 pumpkin run 5k
11/6 all women & one lucky guy half marathon
11/20 turkey trot 5k
a quote i posted from my first marathon fits really well- "pushing my body to limits never before experienced with a goal of experiencing 26.2 miles ill never forget". after having run my 5th marathon this past sunday (all 5 marathons in the state of maine), i can honestly say i will never, ever, forget MDI. i cursed the course many times during the day. i swore up and down after it was over i would never run it again, but i think we all know thats a lie. it took a while for everything to kinda set in... i dont even know if ill be able to adequately recap it... you just have to go run it yourself and see what its all about. and i promise, you will not regret it.
2010 DNS
i picked up Ally from the airport on saturday afternoon and we headed up I-95 for the trek to bar harbor. Sarah had already picked up our bibs to ensure we got our x-small jackets, but we still wanted to check out the expo incase we needed any last minute goodies (no one bought anything). we got to talk to mary, a fellow "dirty little freak", and check out the awesome mile marker banners that were made for the auction. another fellow DLF had made one that was SO beautiful (sadly i dont have a pic) and i think she raised the most money, yay kate!i took a pic of this sign they had at the expo... i know i outlined the bibs in my last post but i just think its such a cool idea. it was really neat to know who the "first timers" were along the course, and i talked to quite a few... the bibs were definitely a good conversation starter!
too bad this wasnt my first, team green!
after the expo we headed to downtown bar harbor to get some food. we ate at a restaurant called "guinness & porcellis", and a sign outside said "bar harbor's #1 carb loading destination"... perfect! only ally could pronounce anything on the menu, and when i asked her what one of the items meant she said "pasta with cheese"... ill take that! when it arrived, i cut into what i thought was chicken on the top... only to have it leak yellow. my pasta was topped with a poached egg! delish! (fun fact: i called the restaurant last night and asked what the name of the meal i had was since its not on their online menu- bucatini with pecorino. ill learn to make it one of these days!) and of course, in true tourist fashion, we just had to get out pic taken with the giant ice cream eating lobster! only in maine!
and of course our weekend wouldnt be complete without sing along hour to broadway musicals!
"high on a hill lived a lonely goatherd..."
after a few hours of sleep, plus a middle of the night slumber party-esque giggle fest with ally, my alarm went off and it was time to get ready. as i hit my alarm muttering shutthehellup idontwanttogetup imsowarminmybed(!!!), i heard sarahs alarm going off in the other room blasting "raise your glass"... that pumped me UP!
yaaaaay time to run a marathon!!
(another) jamie, sarah, ally, me pre race
the royal sisters
before we knew it, the national anthem was being played and the cannon went off. within the first mile i began realizing what i had gotten myself into... sucks that you figure that out in mile ONE!
looking ahead.... road goes up.
looking back after mile 3... still climbing
this looks "flat" but i promise you it didnt feel like that
(it did look this beautiful though)
(it did look this beautiful though)
the atlantic ocean was the only thing between us and europe
beautiful harbor
stopping to pose for donna along the way
stopping to pose for sarah (cant pass up a photo op!)
before the race i had decided to run without my music. i had been forced to do so during the maine marathon due to the ear phones getting water logged from all the rain and the ipod completely shutting down on me. i had a great time talking to other runners and figured this might be my new thing! along the first 3 miles (that were all uphill), i decided that was a really horrible decision. i wanted my music so bad... so when i saw sarah around mile 4, i yelled ahead and had her grab my bag and get my ipod. i didnt use it the entire run, but i had it when/if i needed it. sorry to all you non music users out there, im not converting just yet!
just after the first relay exchange, the runners had to be diverted over a makeshift bridge. it was so windy and dirt was flying up everywhere. when we got back onto the road, i saw two guys running up ahead of me, one of which had a "marathon maniacs" singlet on. it instantly put a smile on my face, knowing thats what i was out there trying to accomplish. i caught up to them as we were heading up the hill and chatted with them for a bit (hi Oliver! hi Loren!) they got ahead of me for awhile and i caught back up to them around mile 24 and talked to them a bit more before powering up the last few hills.
it was shortly after this that i spotted a familiar tshirt (team "Ma, the meatloaf!" from reach the beach relay that a few of my friends were on)... i caught up to him and it saw it was Jonathan. we chatted a bit and then both headed on our seperate ways.
around mile 8, a few songs came on that i had added before maine that reminded me of aaron. i knew when i added the songs it was bound to make me an emotional wreck, but i also knew he would be watching over me as i ran and they would keep me moving forward. "fix you" definitely had the tears streaming down my face, and as with every other time i cry during races, i could barely catch my breath. i stopped for a few seconds to get it together and then pushed on. "never alone", which i can never make it through without crying, actually brought a smile to my face. i knew aaron was there with me (as his fiance pointed out to me yesterday, he can finally watch me run my races... something he had never seen me do before). people driving by me must have thought i was in pain, but i was smiling through my tears <3
i saw sarah & co. again right before mile 13. they had been great support throughout the previous miles, giving me ibuprofen and replacing my gu's... but i didnt feel like i needed anything so i just said hi (actually, i think i said "i feel like crap and these hills are killing me!" but i really meant "this is the most beautiful race ever! thank you for convincing me to run it! im loving it so much!!"... yeah something like that). so i didnt take anything and ran on. whoops, mistake. i had taken packed two gu's on me at the start of the race, and had taken both, plus replaced one at a previous stop. as i passed by them i realized i probably wouldnt see them again until the end of the race, so i was going to be one gu short. in a crazy twist of fate, there was a gu stop later on in the run! as i heard them yelling up ahead "vanilla gu", i almost threw up a little in my mouth (ill save you that whole story, just trust me. dont.eat.the.vanilla!) but when i got up there, they also had chocolate. yes! it was just what i needed.
i originally had big plans to live tweet this race, and even call a few people at various points along the way... what i hadnt planned on was not having any cell service. yay middle of nowhere coast of maine! although i didnt have a real specific goal time in mind before the race, i did pack a 4:40 race pace band in my handheld and also kept the 4:20 pace band in there as well (i didnt think i would do it after just having run a 4:18 two weeks earlier), but i thought what the hell, we'll see what happens. at mile 17 i texted Jeri saying i was still on track to go 4:20, but i didnt think i could keep up the pace for the rest of the course, especially not knowing what was up ahead hill wise. i was surprised i was feeling this good through 17 but i knew that unless i totally fell apart, i would not get a PW (4:43:30).
before i knew it we were heading into the last 10k of the race. i got to mile 20 at 3:21, and got really excited at the idea of going sub 4:30. i had purposely not driven the course so i didnt know what was coming, and im so glad. mile 21-25 were up... up... up. awesome. i did a lot of self talk during those last few miles, and tried to pump up other runners who were walking and looking defeated.
my fave #
(not to be confused with my fave mile, aka my slowest mile)
i kept looking at my watch during the last mile to make sure i didnt bonk as we got closer to 4:30. as the course started to head back up a hill, i saw the mile 26 marker up ahead of me and all of a sudden BOOM. hamstrings seized up. i have NEVER had hamstring issues before. lovely. really? right now? with 0.2 miles left?! i dont THINK SO! i stopped for about 8/10ths of a second to try to stretch them out, and shuffled along. the spectators were awesome along this last stretch and helped push me to the finish.
finished!
and its official...
#4338
after i finished i went over towards the food tent and ended up running into Brian, who i had talked to on daily mile a few days before the race. how i happened to find him is beyond me... and we then ran into him at the top of cadillac mountain on monday too!
#4338
after i finished i went over towards the food tent and ended up running into Brian, who i had talked to on daily mile a few days before the race. how i happened to find him is beyond me... and we then ran into him at the top of cadillac mountain on monday too!
royal sisters finishing pic!
my stats:
time: 4:28:38 (pace- 10:15)
place: 416th / 925
age group: 20th / 62 (female 30-34)
best mile: 9:04 (mile 4)
worst mile: 11:30 (mile 22)
woooo hoooo i made the MDI website!
(dear runners world: feel free to add me to your mag, i wont mind!)
race recap in one photo:
...and this. shooooot me.
(i might as well have just run up a mountain and then back down)
elevation gain: 1,416 ft
elevation loss: 1,428 ft
(from my garmin)
final thoughts:
this whole experience really showed me what my body was capable of, and i know that with adequate training (including dreaded hill training/more speed work) i could really rock this course. im thinking my first two maine marathons (4:43:00/4:43:30) were flukes, and im really a sub 4:30 marathon runner (my PR is 4:15). i LOVED this course... i told the race director afterwards that i have absolutely not one bad thing to say about the race as a whole. if anyone is looking to be in the "50 states" club, make this race your "Maine" race.
i had said before this race that after i completed it i was done for awhile. by done i clearly meant "til spring". which unfortunately means training in new england during the winter... bring it on! i am in love with running, its true (dont worry, ty... i still love you mostest!). im not looking to make myself a real fast marathon runner, i just enjoy the challenge. i know you wont believe me but after ONE MORE marathon, then ill really take a break (many of you already know why).
so this begs the question, which marathon will i run? a potential lottery bib into boston from my track club that will be drawn in december will determine if i have to pick among other marathons (read: if i get into boston im not running any of the other two... maybe...), and the two im choosing between are:
1. shamrock marathon 3/18/11 (lots of free yuengling beer....)
2. national marathon 3/26/11 (lots of free katie... and beer...)
any comments about either race? any other suggestions?
and whats up for the remainder of the year?
2. national marathon 3/26/11 (lots of free katie... and beer...)
any comments about either race? any other suggestions?
and whats up for the remainder of the year?
MDI was my 59th road race... so of course i need just one more this year :) but how about a few more?
10/29 pumpkin run 5k
11/6 all women & one lucky guy half marathon
11/20 turkey trot 5k
11/24 thanksgiving day 4miler
12/4 jingle bell 5k
12/4 jingle bell 5k
12/26 operation jack satellite run
Friday, October 14, 2011
goals for marathon #5
not sure if i told anyone yet... but im running another marathon. THIS.SUNDAY.
yuuuup. im pretty pumped about it too.
if you get runners world, you may have seen this:
most scenic marathon, and runner up for best overall marathon!(someday ill get out to missoula to compare... maybe)
they might try to scare us by showing us the comparison chart for another kinda popular marathon... sorry boston, we might be a bit more hardcore
this year marks the 10th year that MDI has done their marathon,
so naturally they needed to add a little flare!
so naturally they needed to add a little flare!
blue: experienced marathoners (thats me!)
green: first time marathoners
yellow: early starters
purple: charitable fundraisers
orange: team relay divisions
these shirts have been on sale online for a while now, but im hoping i can still find one when i get up there... hard ro read, but it says "mount desert island, the way running should be"
official race course map
and now...
scenes from the race
(stolen from their facebook page)
(im chosing to ignore what looks like a hill in this photo)
dont you wish your marathon was awesome like this one?
see, flat! (trying hard to convince myself...)
so lets see... goals for marathon #5
1. finish... with a smile! this isnt hard, im a pretty happy chick.
2. dont let it be a PW... soooooo sub 4:42:xx3. finish even if it is not sub 4:42:xx
4. enjoy each and every step... only 26.2 miles and i will be a MANIAC!!!
incase anyones interested, i decided im going to have fun, and that means i will be live tweeting. and may even have a few #surprisephonecall 's :) who wouldnt like a phone call from me?!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
look at me im FLYYYYYING!!!!!
im not going to say your name so that you hopefully dont find this blog i post and try to sue me for using your photo. first of all, i dont have enough money to give you if you did in fact try to sue me, so really, dont waste your time. if you still tried to pursue taking me to court for copying and saving your photo (that, i might add, you didnt print your name all over my body so you couldnt even tell what i actually looked like, nor put some sort of "were only giving you a smaller than life thumbnail so you wont copy it" or "your computer will self destruct in 2 seconds if you even attempt to share our awesome photos"), id probably end up going to jail since i dont have the money to pay you for whatever it is you would try to sue me for. and i dont think i would enjoy jail. in fact, i KNOW i wouldnt last. not even an hour. second of all, your company needs to add the option to add what race this is on the bottom of the photo so that i know for the future (as if i could forget). and i know it looks kinda funny that our bibs are all wrong, were just super special in maine. dont judge. i also have a grudge that i only got two pics from this race... i know it was raining and all but last year, if that was your company, they sent like 5 people and i got at least 6 pics to choose from. i guess ill give you credit for at least getting one of the two photos making me look semi alright. next year, bring more people and tell them to bring umbrellas.
so if infact you do find this and get upset, please note that i paid the $12, plus some sort of tax and shipping and handling (total $15something) for this pic. and i only did it cuz this race was so bad ass... pouring down rain for 26.2 miles... 25 minute course PR... last 0.2 miles at a pace of 7:45min/mile. and this pic shows that i was FLYYYYYYING!!!
love, danielle
Friday, October 7, 2011
fun fact friday
1. i got a new phone (again). i think ive finally found the one. but i still have 14 days to decide.
2. im still on such a high from sundays marathon, even though running 4 hours and 18 minutes in the rain gave me a rockin cold/sore throat.
3. im really over "the band perry" and their song "if i die young". i like their new stuff, so if the radios could play those songs more often that would be great.
4. despite not really loving it when i bought it, im falling more and more for this hot pink computer.
5. today is the 280th day of the year, and there are 85 days left. this has been one of the best years and simultaneously one of the worse years of my life.
6. ill also be 31 in 52 days. whoa.
7. i never wrote about a race i had two weeks ago, and i really need to. maybe this afternoon. its still a tough one for me to wrap my head and heart around.
8. i became co-director of above said race last night. i am both scared and humbled at this opportunity. keep your calendars open for September 30th, 2012.
9. when im lounging around the house reading or cleaning, i put on music choice pop hits or todays country.
10. before sundays race i was nervous as hell and said "after MDI im gonna take a break from running marathons" (i say that like i run them every weekend.... no.) sunday night i was searching for spring marathons and i may have convinced 5 friends last night to travel to virginia beach in march :)
11. i spent $16 on a bottle of pumpkin spaghetti sauce from williams-sonoma last week. totally worth it.
12. my armpits are sore from 50 push ups yesterday. arms = weak.
13. ive had my next tattoo planned for months now but im stuck on body placement. im deciding between 3 places, 2 of which i dont think my husband would approve. my body not his, right?
14. ive finally stopped "dropping in" to the animal shelter andplaying with looking at kitties.
15. i think floss is way overpriced. (yes i still buy it)
2. im still on such a high from sundays marathon, even though running 4 hours and 18 minutes in the rain gave me a rockin cold/sore throat.
3. im really over "the band perry" and their song "if i die young". i like their new stuff, so if the radios could play those songs more often that would be great.
4. despite not really loving it when i bought it, im falling more and more for this hot pink computer.
5. today is the 280th day of the year, and there are 85 days left. this has been one of the best years and simultaneously one of the worse years of my life.
6. ill also be 31 in 52 days. whoa.
7. i never wrote about a race i had two weeks ago, and i really need to. maybe this afternoon. its still a tough one for me to wrap my head and heart around.
8. i became co-director of above said race last night. i am both scared and humbled at this opportunity. keep your calendars open for September 30th, 2012.
9. when im lounging around the house reading or cleaning, i put on music choice pop hits or todays country.
10. before sundays race i was nervous as hell and said "after MDI im gonna take a break from running marathons" (i say that like i run them every weekend.... no.) sunday night i was searching for spring marathons and i may have convinced 5 friends last night to travel to virginia beach in march :)
11. i spent $16 on a bottle of pumpkin spaghetti sauce from williams-sonoma last week. totally worth it.
12. my armpits are sore from 50 push ups yesterday. arms = weak.
13. ive had my next tattoo planned for months now but im stuck on body placement. im deciding between 3 places, 2 of which i dont think my husband would approve. my body not his, right?
14. ive finally stopped "dropping in" to the animal shelter and
15. i think floss is way overpriced. (yes i still buy it)
Monday, October 3, 2011
marathon #4
i spent about the first 5 miles of yesterdays marathon virtually writing this blog post in my head. i had a few funny things and a good way to lay it all out. think i remember anything from all those thoughts? nope.
ive always had a difficult time writing my marathon recaps... anyone who has ever written one should understand the amount of emotion that comes with this great accomplishment. its not easy to put it all into words... the good, the bad, the highs, and the lows. yesterdays race was the same distance as all the other marathons ive done (yes, i know its shocking, but ALL marathons are 26.2 miles....) but it was so very very different from the other 3 marathons ive ran.
as i wrote on facebook yesterday, the list of things that went wrong yesterday is so much longer than the list of things that went right.
what went right:
1. i survived.
2. 4:18:03- course PR by 25 minutes!
what went wrong:
1. race bibs
not that this was a huge issue, but we got an email saturday night saying that there was an error with the way the timing chips were placed on the back of the race bibs and due to this mistake everyone needed to wear their bibs sideways or else their times may not be recorded going over the start/finish line. if this snafu keeps me from becoming a maniac i might kick someone...
2. no bread
i ALWAYS eat the same thing for breakfast before my races. one, if not two, slices of toast with peanut butter, and a cup of coffee. i woke up yesterday morning and realized i had forgotten to get a loaf of bread. so no pre race toast. i ended up eating oatmeal instead, knowing its never a good idea to change things up the morning of a race (let alone a marathon!), and then downed 3 tums before heading out the door. just incase.
3. rain
were talking torrential down pour. i hoped it would lighten up before the race started...
4. bag drop off
after hanging out inside the university of southern maine gym pre race (to keep dry and use the real bathrooms vs. port-a-potties... which actually didnt smell any better...) a group of us headed towards the start with about 10 minutes left before the gun went off. there were puddles EVERYWHERE. i really wanted to try to at least keep my feet dry until the start of the race, but it didnt happen. although there were only 3500 runners, the start was still pretty crowded and jen and i were running around trying to find the bag drop, unsuccessfully. we thought it was at one place so we walked through puddles and mud only to find it wasnt there. then they announced that the race was starting in 3 minutes and runners should get on the road. so here we are, still carrying around our bags, not knowing what to do. we finally found the truck that was taking the bags and saw that the two lines were about 30 people deep each. we made a quick decision to just drop our bags in the windowsil of some building behind the food tent. whatever, if someone wanted my fleece pants, old sneakers, and 2010 MDI hunting orange jacket, feel free. oh yeah and my car keys... to tyler's rusty car (hehe... please take it?). so yeah, HUGE fail. we jumped through a huge puddle to get ourselves onto the road, and the gun went off. not how i wanted to start this race. (i also forgot to turn my garmin on to get satellite service... which takes a lifetime when its raining. it didnt say i had satellite service as i took off but somehow it caught up and actually was ahead of the race mile markers? no clue.)
5. soaking wet
oh yeah, the rain never let up. actually, thats a lie. it let up for awhile after mile 10. but at that point, i was drenched. i had started the race wearing a long sleeved tech shirt and ended up taking that off when i saw ty at mile 10 cuz it weighed a ton! i had thought about taking off my tshirt too and putting on a dry long sleeved shirt i had packed for ty to bring for me, but i was so used to just being soaked i decided against it. also, most of the race is shaded along the roads with huge trees... i had thought maybe the trees would be good protecting against the pouring rain but with the 15-20mph winds, the trees were just dumping more water on us. yay.
6. ipod fail
i always run with music (unless its 4am and dark, and then im only running a few miles so i can handle it). the most ive ever run without music was last years beach to beacon 10k. i specifically added more music yesterday when i woke up incase i was still running on tuesday (i clearly didnt have high expectations for this race). i started the race without my ipod on cuz i love hearing all the cheers going out of the starting line, and then i turned it on. the first song was "jet lag" by simple plan. i love this new song, and it really pumped me up. i purposefully put "belle of the boulevard" as the 2nd song, since the race starts on baxter boulevard. i think i heard about 3 more songs, and then my earphones starting crackling. i had so much water in my ears and i could barely hear the music. awesome. i gave my ipod to tyler at mile 10 and asked him to figure out how to dry the headphones out and give them to me later on. he and our friend kenny had put them on the heater in the car, dried them out, and when he gave them back to me at mile 16 they worked again!... for 2 songs. and then no sound at all. nothing i could really do, so i just enjoyed the sound of the rain, the feet hitting the pavement, and ended up meeting a lot of cool people and talking to them around different parts of the course. (side note: im actually thinking about not even bothering with an ipod for MDI marathon... who am i becoming?! another side note: during my early morning trainings without music for whatever reason i would always sing "ma ma ma my sharona!" it.drove.me.NUTS! luckily this did not happen yesterday).
7. crying
im a huge emotional runner. i dont know whether its the amount of time spent out there on the road where i do a lot of thinking or what, but i always cry during the marathon, usually around mile 25ish when i know im almost there. i cried 5 times yesterday, starting at mile 3. ive definitely learned the hard way that crying doesnt allow for adequate breathing while trying to run, so the tears are short lived. but the marathon is definitely an emotional thing for me. and when i got to where there was a mile and a half left yesterday, and i knew i was going to kill my previous maine marathon times, and someone i passed said to me "where are you getting all of this energy!?" (i was running an 8:45/mile pace), i knew aaron was there helping me and i just started crying and talking to him along that last lonely mile. i knew i wasnt alone.
i say the list of things that went wrong was much longer than what went right, but regardless of how crazy/weird the marathon was, it truly was awesome. regardless of the pouring rain, thousands of runners came out and accomplished something that a lot of people have never done. and even better, there were SO MANY SPECTATORS & AWESOME VOLUNTEERS! thank you thank you THANK YOU!!! sarah's husband, mom, dad, and brother were at about mile 2 and took this funny pic :)
i saw our friend josh's fiance and mom & dad around mile 5, then ty & kenny were at mile 6 (a big spectator spot, and the marathon relay 1st exchange spot). i was feeling really good when i went by them, but had already had many thoughts leading up to then about whether or not the race was really worth finishing (the rain was not fun). buuuut i kept going. i was also running splits that kept me about 2 and 1/2 minutes ahead of where i wanted to be in order to finish in 4:20. (in the back of my mind, however, i knew this course and ive run it twice before. both times i felt great til mile 18 and then slowly fell apart.... was today going to be the same?)
shortly after mile 6, the course for the half marathon turns around and the marathon keeps going. its fun to see the runners in the half coming back by you, and i always cheer them on. i even saw joan benoit samuelson... shes speeeeeedy fast! but once you pass that turn around cone (which i always ask the flagger if i can change my mind, hehe) it gets a little lonely. i saw ty & kenny again at mile 10, which is another big spectator point. my knees were starting to ache a bit, but i was still running about a 9:50/mile pace which surprised me. the race course goes out and back with a little loop, and before i knew it i was at mile 17 (where mile 10 is on the way out). i saw ty cross the street up ahead of me, so i figured he had seen me and was getting on the right side of the street to exchange my handheld. but when i got there, he wasnt there. i yelled for kenny to bring my bag to me and i started going through it. apparently ty hadnt seen me and headed off into the woods to go to the bathroom! i grabbed some ibuprofen, my new full handheld, two GU's, and my ipod. right before i was ready to head off, ty came running out of the woods. good thing he didnt miss me!
i headed off up the hill and immediately took down a chocolate outrage GU (thanks, andrea!). i had felt pretty good about my fueling throughout the race... i had 3or4 gu chomps before the race started (i didnt think the oatmeal was going to be enough), then a tri berry GU at mile 5, and an espresso love GU at mile 10. but right before i got to mile 17 my stomach was growling so i knew i needed more. i had one more tri berry GU at mile 21 and just hoped that would keep me going.
i couldnt believe how fast the time was going by, and was surprised at mile 20 that my legs were still feeling really good. i had some knee pain on and off from mile 10, but the ibuprofen seemed to help. i looked down at my garmin and checked my 4:20 pace sheet and realized i had 63 minutes to run a 10k in order to finish with my goal time. i was shocked! at mile 22, i thought the wall was fast approaching, but i stretched for a few seconds and kept going. the last 5 miles felt great. the closer i got to the finish, the better i felt. there were more and more spectators as the rain had lightened up, and the energy level was encouraging. at one point along the last 2 miles there were a group of college kids blaring music from their apartment and dancing around and giving high fives to all the runners. i ran onto the boulevard (1.5 miles left) with a huge smile on my face knowing i had about 18 minutes to run the distance to make 4:20, and i knew (even if i had to crawl!) that i would kill my course record.
the feelings among the last mile are indescribable. i passed a few people who commented on my energy level and i honestly dont know where it came from. i saw ty & kenny along the side of the road at mile 26, threw them my handheld and teared up. i saw mark & christine right before the finish, smiled for the camera man, and fist pumped crossing the finish line seeing the timing clock read 4:19 (knowing i was about a minute ahead of the clock).
sadly my mom didnt make it to the finish line in time to see me cross through since i told her i was figuring about a 4:30 finish. also sad that i didnt have anyone take my pic with my finishing medal! hopefully the race photographer got a good pic :) im still on such a high... i still cant believe my time having had the crappy training i had. it seemed like the race flew by, and as much as i had been dreading doing the two marathons back to back (well, 14 days apart), im now really excited for it! the feeling of crossing the finish line after running 26.2 miles is amazing, and im glad i dont have to wait long to do it again.
stats:
13.1- 2:08:30
26.2- 4:18:03 (9:54)
146/401 female
29/59 age group 30-34
ive always had a difficult time writing my marathon recaps... anyone who has ever written one should understand the amount of emotion that comes with this great accomplishment. its not easy to put it all into words... the good, the bad, the highs, and the lows. yesterdays race was the same distance as all the other marathons ive done (yes, i know its shocking, but ALL marathons are 26.2 miles....) but it was so very very different from the other 3 marathons ive ran.
as i wrote on facebook yesterday, the list of things that went wrong yesterday is so much longer than the list of things that went right.
what went right:
1. i survived.
2. 4:18:03- course PR by 25 minutes!
what went wrong:
1. race bibs
not that this was a huge issue, but we got an email saturday night saying that there was an error with the way the timing chips were placed on the back of the race bibs and due to this mistake everyone needed to wear their bibs sideways or else their times may not be recorded going over the start/finish line. if this snafu keeps me from becoming a maniac i might kick someone...
2. no bread
i ALWAYS eat the same thing for breakfast before my races. one, if not two, slices of toast with peanut butter, and a cup of coffee. i woke up yesterday morning and realized i had forgotten to get a loaf of bread. so no pre race toast. i ended up eating oatmeal instead, knowing its never a good idea to change things up the morning of a race (let alone a marathon!), and then downed 3 tums before heading out the door. just incase.
3. rain
were talking torrential down pour. i hoped it would lighten up before the race started...
4. bag drop off
after hanging out inside the university of southern maine gym pre race (to keep dry and use the real bathrooms vs. port-a-potties... which actually didnt smell any better...) a group of us headed towards the start with about 10 minutes left before the gun went off. there were puddles EVERYWHERE. i really wanted to try to at least keep my feet dry until the start of the race, but it didnt happen. although there were only 3500 runners, the start was still pretty crowded and jen and i were running around trying to find the bag drop, unsuccessfully. we thought it was at one place so we walked through puddles and mud only to find it wasnt there. then they announced that the race was starting in 3 minutes and runners should get on the road. so here we are, still carrying around our bags, not knowing what to do. we finally found the truck that was taking the bags and saw that the two lines were about 30 people deep each. we made a quick decision to just drop our bags in the windowsil of some building behind the food tent. whatever, if someone wanted my fleece pants, old sneakers, and 2010 MDI hunting orange jacket, feel free. oh yeah and my car keys... to tyler's rusty car (hehe... please take it?). so yeah, HUGE fail. we jumped through a huge puddle to get ourselves onto the road, and the gun went off. not how i wanted to start this race. (i also forgot to turn my garmin on to get satellite service... which takes a lifetime when its raining. it didnt say i had satellite service as i took off but somehow it caught up and actually was ahead of the race mile markers? no clue.)
5. soaking wet
oh yeah, the rain never let up. actually, thats a lie. it let up for awhile after mile 10. but at that point, i was drenched. i had started the race wearing a long sleeved tech shirt and ended up taking that off when i saw ty at mile 10 cuz it weighed a ton! i had thought about taking off my tshirt too and putting on a dry long sleeved shirt i had packed for ty to bring for me, but i was so used to just being soaked i decided against it. also, most of the race is shaded along the roads with huge trees... i had thought maybe the trees would be good protecting against the pouring rain but with the 15-20mph winds, the trees were just dumping more water on us. yay.
6. ipod fail
i always run with music (unless its 4am and dark, and then im only running a few miles so i can handle it). the most ive ever run without music was last years beach to beacon 10k. i specifically added more music yesterday when i woke up incase i was still running on tuesday (i clearly didnt have high expectations for this race). i started the race without my ipod on cuz i love hearing all the cheers going out of the starting line, and then i turned it on. the first song was "jet lag" by simple plan. i love this new song, and it really pumped me up. i purposefully put "belle of the boulevard" as the 2nd song, since the race starts on baxter boulevard. i think i heard about 3 more songs, and then my earphones starting crackling. i had so much water in my ears and i could barely hear the music. awesome. i gave my ipod to tyler at mile 10 and asked him to figure out how to dry the headphones out and give them to me later on. he and our friend kenny had put them on the heater in the car, dried them out, and when he gave them back to me at mile 16 they worked again!... for 2 songs. and then no sound at all. nothing i could really do, so i just enjoyed the sound of the rain, the feet hitting the pavement, and ended up meeting a lot of cool people and talking to them around different parts of the course. (side note: im actually thinking about not even bothering with an ipod for MDI marathon... who am i becoming?! another side note: during my early morning trainings without music for whatever reason i would always sing "ma ma ma my sharona!" it.drove.me.NUTS! luckily this did not happen yesterday).
7. crying
im a huge emotional runner. i dont know whether its the amount of time spent out there on the road where i do a lot of thinking or what, but i always cry during the marathon, usually around mile 25ish when i know im almost there. i cried 5 times yesterday, starting at mile 3. ive definitely learned the hard way that crying doesnt allow for adequate breathing while trying to run, so the tears are short lived. but the marathon is definitely an emotional thing for me. and when i got to where there was a mile and a half left yesterday, and i knew i was going to kill my previous maine marathon times, and someone i passed said to me "where are you getting all of this energy!?" (i was running an 8:45/mile pace), i knew aaron was there helping me and i just started crying and talking to him along that last lonely mile. i knew i wasnt alone.
i say the list of things that went wrong was much longer than what went right, but regardless of how crazy/weird the marathon was, it truly was awesome. regardless of the pouring rain, thousands of runners came out and accomplished something that a lot of people have never done. and even better, there were SO MANY SPECTATORS & AWESOME VOLUNTEERS! thank you thank you THANK YOU!!! sarah's husband, mom, dad, and brother were at about mile 2 and took this funny pic :)
i saw our friend josh's fiance and mom & dad around mile 5, then ty & kenny were at mile 6 (a big spectator spot, and the marathon relay 1st exchange spot). i was feeling really good when i went by them, but had already had many thoughts leading up to then about whether or not the race was really worth finishing (the rain was not fun). buuuut i kept going. i was also running splits that kept me about 2 and 1/2 minutes ahead of where i wanted to be in order to finish in 4:20. (in the back of my mind, however, i knew this course and ive run it twice before. both times i felt great til mile 18 and then slowly fell apart.... was today going to be the same?)
shortly after mile 6, the course for the half marathon turns around and the marathon keeps going. its fun to see the runners in the half coming back by you, and i always cheer them on. i even saw joan benoit samuelson... shes speeeeeedy fast! but once you pass that turn around cone (which i always ask the flagger if i can change my mind, hehe) it gets a little lonely. i saw ty & kenny again at mile 10, which is another big spectator point. my knees were starting to ache a bit, but i was still running about a 9:50/mile pace which surprised me. the race course goes out and back with a little loop, and before i knew it i was at mile 17 (where mile 10 is on the way out). i saw ty cross the street up ahead of me, so i figured he had seen me and was getting on the right side of the street to exchange my handheld. but when i got there, he wasnt there. i yelled for kenny to bring my bag to me and i started going through it. apparently ty hadnt seen me and headed off into the woods to go to the bathroom! i grabbed some ibuprofen, my new full handheld, two GU's, and my ipod. right before i was ready to head off, ty came running out of the woods. good thing he didnt miss me!
i headed off up the hill and immediately took down a chocolate outrage GU (thanks, andrea!). i had felt pretty good about my fueling throughout the race... i had 3or4 gu chomps before the race started (i didnt think the oatmeal was going to be enough), then a tri berry GU at mile 5, and an espresso love GU at mile 10. but right before i got to mile 17 my stomach was growling so i knew i needed more. i had one more tri berry GU at mile 21 and just hoped that would keep me going.
i couldnt believe how fast the time was going by, and was surprised at mile 20 that my legs were still feeling really good. i had some knee pain on and off from mile 10, but the ibuprofen seemed to help. i looked down at my garmin and checked my 4:20 pace sheet and realized i had 63 minutes to run a 10k in order to finish with my goal time. i was shocked! at mile 22, i thought the wall was fast approaching, but i stretched for a few seconds and kept going. the last 5 miles felt great. the closer i got to the finish, the better i felt. there were more and more spectators as the rain had lightened up, and the energy level was encouraging. at one point along the last 2 miles there were a group of college kids blaring music from their apartment and dancing around and giving high fives to all the runners. i ran onto the boulevard (1.5 miles left) with a huge smile on my face knowing i had about 18 minutes to run the distance to make 4:20, and i knew (even if i had to crawl!) that i would kill my course record.
the feelings among the last mile are indescribable. i passed a few people who commented on my energy level and i honestly dont know where it came from. i saw ty & kenny along the side of the road at mile 26, threw them my handheld and teared up. i saw mark & christine right before the finish, smiled for the camera man, and fist pumped crossing the finish line seeing the timing clock read 4:19 (knowing i was about a minute ahead of the clock).
sadly my mom didnt make it to the finish line in time to see me cross through since i told her i was figuring about a 4:30 finish. also sad that i didnt have anyone take my pic with my finishing medal! hopefully the race photographer got a good pic :) im still on such a high... i still cant believe my time having had the crappy training i had. it seemed like the race flew by, and as much as i had been dreading doing the two marathons back to back (well, 14 days apart), im now really excited for it! the feeling of crossing the finish line after running 26.2 miles is amazing, and im glad i dont have to wait long to do it again.
stats:
13.1- 2:08:30
26.2- 4:18:03 (9:54)
146/401 female
29/59 age group 30-34
Saturday, October 1, 2011
stuff you need to run 26.2 miles
wouldnt it be nice if you could just walk out the door in the morning, afternoon, or evening... and just go for a run? tshirt, sports bra, shorts, underwear, socks, sneakers, hair elastic. really, those are the basics, right?
in two weeks from tomorrow i will be able to do just that. but until then:
TOMORROW is the MAINE.FREAKING.MARATHON! (ok, minor freak out over. well, for now)
first of all, one of my bestest friends andrea sent me this super awesome marathon survival kit this week! she wont be at the start or finish line tomorrow but she will be there in spirit!
i headed on over to the expo this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised at the ease in which parking, getting my gear, and getting out of there was :) needless to say the maine marathon isnt exactly the boston marathon, thus the expo doesnt take too long. but the volunteers were awesome (as always) and i checked out the booths before heading back outside to wait for john (who i was meeting up with to go for a little 2 mile jog).
my original goal for this race was sub 4. a little thing called "life" got in the way this summer and my training went out the window. so here are my goals for tomorrow:
1. FINISH! (can my goals end there?)
2. sub 4:43:00 (my first ever marathon, this one, was 4:43:00. the second time i did this course i got 4:43:30. i want to kick this course in the face!)
3. kinda sorta hoping, if the stars align and the wind is at my back on the back 13, and my knees hold up and and and and....
yeah. 4:20. putting this nice little cheat sheet in my handheld just for safe keeping. (yah know, for that whole challenge thing with my running twin)
ive gotta bring this for the pre race, to make sure i dont melt in the rain (and to psych me up knowing that not only am i about to run 26.2 miles, in the rain, im going to run another 26.2 miles in 14 days. i need to remind myself that i make stupid choices.)
see ya in 26.2 :)
in two weeks from tomorrow i will be able to do just that. but until then:
TOMORROW is the MAINE.FREAKING.MARATHON! (ok, minor freak out over. well, for now)
first of all, one of my bestest friends andrea sent me this super awesome marathon survival kit this week! she wont be at the start or finish line tomorrow but she will be there in spirit!
(and yes, that is my face on p.diddy's body... cuz "i wake up in the mornin feelin like p.diddy!")
sleek new look this year...
...compared to the past two years of NEON!
the bags this year were FULL of such yummy goodness, and other fun stuff too. (side note: there was also a bag of kettle cooked potato chips, which i ate on the drive home from the expo)
cant forget this! just wish our names were a littttttle bit bigger
again for the 2nd year the shirts ROCK! aaaand i love love love the sleeves
rockin the purple in support of cystic fibrosis awareness
these hot lookin puppies are gonna take me to sub 4:43!! (hope they dont mind getting wet)
aaaand ill be drinking out of this for the rest of the night
my original goal for this race was sub 4. a little thing called "life" got in the way this summer and my training went out the window. so here are my goals for tomorrow:
1. FINISH! (can my goals end there?)
2. sub 4:43:00 (my first ever marathon, this one, was 4:43:00. the second time i did this course i got 4:43:30. i want to kick this course in the face!)
3. kinda sorta hoping, if the stars align and the wind is at my back on the back 13, and my knees hold up and and and and....
yeah. 4:20. putting this nice little cheat sheet in my handheld just for safe keeping. (yah know, for that whole challenge thing with my running twin)
ive gotta bring this for the pre race, to make sure i dont melt in the rain (and to psych me up knowing that not only am i about to run 26.2 miles, in the rain, im going to run another 26.2 miles in 14 days. i need to remind myself that i make stupid choices.)
no ones gonna miss me!
so everything is all laid out and ready to go (i tooooold you it takes a LOT of stuff to run this freaking far!). ive already checked it three times, and im sure i will check it about 100 more times before leaving tomorrow. i saw the race starts at 7:45am (good to know... since ive run this marathon/half marathon 8 times) so i figure ill meet up with people about 7ish. GOOD LUCK to all runners, but especially sarah, christine, jen, john, melissa, and everyone! (that covers you if i forgot)see ya in 26.2 :)
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