Marathon Recap!

I realize that I was lazy and never gave a proper marathon recap!

The morning started out quite cool and I dressed in layers that could be easily shed. My dear friend Mar and Phil stayed with me until the start of the race. It was daunting to know that I had 26.2 miles ahead of me, but the weather couldn't have been better and I felt prepared and only slightly worried about my knee.

The first six miles went by quite fast and I was feeling really good. I started shedding some layers as it warmed up. It was so fun to spot Phil and Mar in the crowd cheering for me with my giant sparkly E sign that Mar had made. The hills weren't nearly as hard on me as I thought they might be. My time was pretty decent and my half marathon split was a PR so I was happy about that. The miles between the half and the low 20's were relatively boring and weren't run in the prettiest area of Austin, but it was pretty flat which was nice. It started getting harder after about 20 and I had to load up on the Gu. Mar joined me around mile 22 and it was so nice to have her there by my side. She carried water for me and I really relied on her to keep me going mentally. I can only remember flashes of those last few miles and it is really amazing how you can only have 2 more miles to go and have done so much training and yet your brain is telling you STOP. I was dead tired. But I kept going. Mar left me to run the last bit on my own. It was neat to run around the capital and finish to my name being called out. I was so happy to be finished and to have that medal around my neck!

My official time was 4:31. I was extremely pleased because my first goal was just to finish, my second was to finish in 4:45 and my "extreme goal" was 4:30, so to be one minute off of that made it even better.

The week after the race I was really REALLY sore. It was amazing how once I finally felt back to normal, running still did not feel natural. I felt stiff and like there was something wrong with my gait. It slowly got better and I got back to my usual running routine and definitely enjoyed some time off for other things besides running!