Houston Marathon: Smart and Steady

I ran the Houston Marathon yesterday! It was a huge event and I'm happy I was able to experience it. I had run the half marathon twice (2008, 2018) but never the full marathon. This was marathon #32 for me. Wow- I have run so many marathons!

Background
I registered for this race exactly one year ago while I was sick with Covid. I was inspired by seeing so many fast times! Granted, the weather last year was perfect and I knew that Houston weather could be hit-or-miss, but I decided to pull the trigger anyway.

The plan was for both Greg and me to run the marathon and then fly directly from Houston to Cancun and stay at our favorite resort. Since both of us would have just completed a marathon, there would be no need to worry about training while in Mexico and it would be a wonderful way to relax and celebrate. In the past, I have gone to this resort in April after the Boston Marathon. But I have never flown directly from a race to a vacation. So this race-to-vacation plan was a bucket list item!

Race Weekend
We flew into Houston on Friday afternoon. I made sure to hydrate very well before, during and after the flight. Given the forecast, I knew that hydration would be key. I refilled my 24oz sports bottle 4 times on Thursday, twice with liquid IV and twice with regular water. I had about the same amount of fluids and electrolytes on Friday. 

We met my friend Randi for dinner, who I had not seen in 14 years! We had met through running and the last time I had seen her was the NJ marathon in 2009. This was definitely a highlight of the weekend. As we were leaving dinner, a man at the table next to us said, "Did you write the book Boston Bound?" I answered "Yes," and he told me that my book was on his list. So cool!

The next morning, I met up with my friend Carrie for a quick shakeout run. Carrie would be racing the half marathon. The weather on Saturday morning was such a tease. It was 43 degrees with no wind! It was hard to believe it would be 15 degrees warmer the next morning. I kept hoping for a miracle that somehow the weather would just stay cool. But alas, it did not!

Greg, unfortunately, is still injured and is not currently doing any running. We suspect it's a hernia, and we will know more after his ultrasound later this month. Greg and I picked up my bib from the expo and then took an Uber to Whole Foods to get my race morning breakfast and a few other items. Then it was back to the hotel for lunch where we met Carrie again. For lunch I had a chicken panini with pesto sauce. Breakfast was a crepe with bananas and walnuts. (I like to document what I eat the day before a race). I also did a lot of snacking on pretzels and almond butter filled pretzels. And I continued to hydrate with water and Liquid IV.

For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant where I had my standard chicken parm without cheese! It has always worked well for me in the past and it's what I had the night before my fastest ever marathon. Soon it was bedtime and I slept relatively well. I went to bed at 8:00, which was 9:00 east coast time. I was awake for about an hour in the middle of the night, but then slept solidly until around 4:15. I felt rested and ready to go. 

It's much easier to be relaxed about a race when a PR isn't on the line! I was confident in my fitness and my ability to run smart in the heat and humidity.

Before the Race
Two hours before the race started I ate an English muffin with almond butter and I drank about 18 ounces of water with liquid IV. I mixed a full 24-ounce bottle of water with 1.5 scoops of Skratch Labs Hydration drink mix. That equates to about 140 calories + electrolytes. It would be a great way to stay hydrated and get extra carbs to supplement my gels. I also mixed a packet of UCAN energy mix with water and drank about half of that 30 minutes pre-race. The plan was to drink it all, but for some reason it didn't sit very well.

Our hotel was located at the entrance to the start corral. I chose that hotel because of its proximity to the start line. I was able to leave my hotel at 6:35 and enter the corral immediately. I typically like to warm up for about half a mile before a marathon, and there was no doing that inside the corral. But since the weather was warm and I was planning on starting slowly, I figured it was fine. I kept the legs moving in the corral and did some dynamic stretching. 

In the corral, I was approached by several runners who follow me on Instagram. It was really awesome to chat with so many people before the race and it was a big pick-me-up. I also chatted with my friend Cris, who I have known for over 15 years! We communicate a lot online but hadn't actually had a real-life conversation in a long time.

As we approached the start line, I situated myself between the 3:25 and 3:30 pace groups. The goal was to not let that 3:30 pace group catch me. And if I had an awesome day, maybe I would catch 3:25. 

Weather
When I registered for Houston, I knew that there was a chance it could be warm. Even though I had fantastic weather in 2018 and the weather in 2022 had also been good, I knew that it was hit or miss. I was much more confident in Indianapolis being cool because that race is almost never warm. But the weather certainly didn't cooperate for Indy last fall (I didn't start because it was too warm).

On my race weather scale, I give this race a 3 out of 10. It was 57 degrees at the start and it rose to 67 by the finish. Skies were mostly cloudy with the sun peaking through here and there. The dew point was 54 at the start and 60 at the finish, which equates to around 75-85% humidity. Winds were 8 mph for most of the race, but picked up at the end to around 12 mph. The reason it gets a 3 instead of a 1 or 2 is because the clouds helped keep things feeling cool, and it could have easily been 65 at the start. For example, it was 68 degrees this morning at 7:00am. 

Race forecast plus my prediction of how it would go in emojis. 

Race Plan
When the forecast first came out, I was definitely disappointed. I had an amazing training cycle and I felt like I was in shape to run a time of 3:10-3:12. I was healthy with no injuries. And this would be a fast course. So the realization that I wouldn't be able to shoot for that time was disheartening. After feeling down for about a day, I got over it and accepted that the race would be about running smart-- not about running fast. The weather wasn't going to change and I couldn't change it. I had to adjust my expectations and strategy accordingly.

So the plan was to start in the 7:50s and take it from there! If I could speed up-- great! But I wasn't going to try and push the pace until the last 10K. 

Miles 1-5
These miles were crowded. And as much as I told myself not to spend energy weaving through people, I did end up weaving through people. Some runners started way too far in the front of the corral and were getting passed like crazy. When I told myself to be patient and not weave, I found myself running a very slow pace. The full and the half marathon were combined until mile 8, so this explains the crowding- very similar to Indianapolis where the half and full diverge at mile 8.

During the second mile, there was an amazing sunrise off to the left, and I almost missed it by not looking left. I took in the view of the sun peaking up through the buildings juxtaposed against the huge swarm of runners crossing the bridge. I took a moment to remind myself to have fun, to remember that "this is it" and to be thankful for the opportunity. 

I carried my own bottle of water + Skratch Labs Hydration mix, but I still went through each water station to pour a cup over my head. This had a nice cooling effect. 

During the fourth mile, I couldn't believe what I was seeing and feeling. My shoelace had come undone! Really?! At the start line I had checked multiple times that the shoes were double knotted and tied tightly. How in the world could they have come undone? I will note that these shoelaces on the adidas Adios Pro 2 were different than on my other pairs of 2's. It was a special edition of the shoe, and really the only thing that changed was the color of the shoe and the fabric of the laces. They must have been so slippery to come undone from that tight double knot!

The funny thing was that when I pulled off to the side of the course I stopped my Garmin out of habit. But then I instantly remembered I was in a race and re-started it! I made sure it was tied very securely.

Of course this incident made me believe that the shoe laces were super slippery and could come undone again, despite the knot. But then I told myself I shouldn't worry about that because there was nothing I could do about it and I didn't want to spend the entire race thinking about my laces. Thankfully, it did not happen again. I always name my shoes in my training log and I have decided to name these shoes after escape artist David Blaine for their ability to magically untie a double knot. Greg thinks I should call them "Shoedini" after Houdini. 

I made up for the lost time in the next mile. Because it happened during mile 4, I had plenty of gas in the tank to run a slightly faster mile 5 without it being a huge effort. 

Throughout these miles and the entire race, runners approached me to say, "I follow you on Instagram!" Some even told me that they enjoyed my content and that I inspired them. That was a huge pick-me-up throughout the race. Even some of the spectators cheered for me by name, "Elizabeth," which was not the name printed on my bib. The name on my bib was "Zebra". So if they yelled "Elizabeth" it meant they knew me. If they yelled Zebra. . . well that was just awesome!

Mile 1: 8:01
Mile 2: 7:52
Mile 3: 7:49
Mile 4: 7:57
Mile 5: 7:38

Mile 7, running with half marathoners

Miles 6-10
Things were going well. It felt like I was out for a long run and not pushing too hard. I timed my fluid intake. Two large swigs every 15 minutes. For a 24 ounce bottle, this meant that I had enough fluid to last me 2 hours. I also timed my gels. I took the first gel at 40 minutes (Maurten caffeinated) and then alternated CAF and regular every 40 minutes. That means I took 4 gels, with the last one at 2:40. I was also getting carbs/calories from my bottle. 

Greg had taken a train out to mile marker 7, so as I approached, I kept my eyes open for him in his fluorescent yellow jacket. The funny thing about him and that jacket is that he has a professional looking camera and he's in a bright jacket, so runners thought he was one of the official race photographers!

It was so great to see him! I wasn't 100% sure he would make it given the uncertainty of the train schedule but he's become a pro at navigating public transportation during races. After seeing him, I heard a voice from behind me yell "Greg Clor!" I figured it was someone who recognized him from my Instagram. Turns out it was a friend of ours- Nicole!

Nicole approached me and I was excited to see her. I had known she was running the race and I figured we might be running around the same pace. We stayed steady and exchanged a few words here and there. At one point, the 3:05 pace group came up from behind us and passed us. She said "I have so many questions!" Of course I knew exactly what she meant. I guess a portion of the 3:05 group started way in the back. Greg later told me he saw a 3:05 pace group in the location they should have been, and also where they should not have been, so I guess there were two of them. Same with the 3:10 group. They passed us a little later.

I really enjoyed these miles with Nicole. I've been following her running for over 12 years but we had never run together!

I saw Greg again at mile marker 10. Miles 7-10 looped around so he was able to walk from one spot to the other pretty quickly. He took photos and a video of me simultaneously. That's talent!

Mile 6: 7:51
Mile 7: 7:48
Mile 8: 7:51
Mile 9: 7:53
Mile 10: 7:46

Miles 11-15
After my second sighting of Greg I started to pull away from Nicole. I felt strong and energized, despite the weather. I trained for a marathon pace of 7:15 so I was optimistic that I would not crash and burn with my 7:50 average pace.

In the 11th mile, I heard a spectator calling out my name loudly. It was my friend Lindsey! Lindsey lives in Texas (about 90 minutes away) and had driven to the race to spectate and cheer. She ran on the side of the course with me for about 20 seconds and that was so fun. We had plans to meet up post-race so I knew I'd get to see her again.

At around mile 12, Cris (the friend I chatted with at the start line) caught up to me. She had started farther back in the corral. We exchanged a few words of encouragement briefly and then she proceeded to run ahead. This was the mile with the one major hill. It was early enough in the race not to be too bad, but it was definitely a change after running flat for 12 miles. I think I handled the hill pretty well - running up a little slower and down a little faster.

I had now seen two friends on the course + Greg twice + Lindsey. This is what made the race so much fun for me. And the fact that I wasn't running at max effort meant that I was able to really savor the experience without being too focused on my pace.

I crossed the halfway point at 1:43:36. I couldn't do the exact math in my head but I knew that put me on track for a low 3:27. My target range was 3:27-3:29, so I was executing as planned.

By this point everything was still feeling very easy and I began to wonder if I should turn on the gas a bit. But then I realized it was only going to get warmer and warmer, and a pace that felt super easy now might not feel so easy later in the race. So I continued on at my steady pace. I executed my fueling and hydration plan perfectly, and I was able to toss my water bottle at 2:00, which was around mile 15. I continued to dump water over my head at each station and I think it worked pretty well, especially when the wind gusted, making the water feel extra cool.

Mile 11: 7:53
Mile 12: 7:48
Mile 13: 7:55
Mile 14: 7:51
Mile 15: 7:46

Miles 16-20
Things were going really well! There were times when the sun poked through the clouds and made me VERY thankful for the cloud cover we had. (Hence a 3 out of 10 and not a 2!) It felt about 5-10 degrees warmer during those short bursts of sunlight. But they were short lived and a good portion of the course was shaded.

These were the glory miles. I felt like I could safely accelerate a little bit and even if I crashed, I would still be very close to my goal range. So instead of targeting 7:50, I tried targeting 7:45. Cris was still in my line of sight and seeing her helped motivated me. She once wrote something in her blog about asking the question "can I give more here?" and seeing her reminded me of that question. The answer was yes! I could give more! And so I did, while trying to stay controlled.

Once my water bottle was gone, I drank water from a few water stations. I was really happy that my digestive system was cooperating. I was able to take all 4 gels easily and get down the water when I drank it. Typically, by this point in a marathon, my gag reflex kicks in and my body rejects fuel and water. But I think that gag reflex is caused by me running at race effort. I have no problem fueling when I train, and I had no problem fueling yesterday. 

Mile 16: 7:46
Mile 17: 7:42
Mile 18: 7:40
Mile 19: 7:47
Mile 20: 7:46

Miles 21-Finish
The race had felt relatively easy up until mile 20. Then my 7:40s started to feel hard, so I didn't attempt to run any faster. I would later look at my heart rate data, which does not display on my watch when I run, and realize that I could have safely run faster. But I had no way of knowing that at the time. My heart rate is usually through the roof in the heat and humidity, but I guess my training really paid off because it was in the low 160s for most of the race. Marathon effort for me is in the high 160s. 

Regardless, I stayed steady. I had found a groove and rhythm in the 7:40s. I think I could have maintained that pace for the final 10K had it not been for the rolling hills. I knew to expect hills during miles 22-25, but they had been described to me as minor. And they probably were minor, but nothing feels minor during the last 6 miles of a marathon. I'm not a strong hill runner, and these hills made me unable to maintain my 7:40s. 

I took three honey stinger chews at mile 22, still in awe at how easily my digestive system was handling all the fuel. I continued pouring water over my head which felt amazing with the wind gusts. The wind wasn't an obstacle for me until mile 25, when we were presented with a strong headwind on a hill. An uphill headwind during the 25th mile of a marathon isn't what anybody wants! I felt like I was hanging on for dear life, but my spirits rose again once I had gotten to the top and things flattened out. 

I think my last mile was really fast but my Garmin data didn't capture an accurate split because of all the tall buildings. I was passing people and I got a second wind out of nowhere. When there was only half a mile left to go I was flying! It was looking like it might be a close call between 3:26 and 3:27 so I sprinted very had to secure my 3:26:xx. I even remembered not to stop my Garmin immediately to make up for the few seconds it was stopped during the shoelace stop!

Mile 21: 7:43
Mile 22: 7:48
Mile 23: 7:52
Mile 24: 7:56
Mile 25: 7:59
Mile 26: 8:02 (but I think it was faster!)
Last bit- Garmin says 6:15 pace, but I'm skeptical with all the tall buildings. 

Garmin distance was 26.49, which is mostly due to weaving and not running the tangents, but partially to tall building interference. I briefly glanced down at my Garmin and saw 3:26:xx and was happy with that.

My official time was 3:26:48, which is a BQ by over 23 minutes! I'll be 45 in April 2024, so my qualifying standard is 3:50:00.

After the Race
I crossed the finish line and started walking. A few seconds later Cris was there next to me and we chatted for a few seconds, but then I quickly realized I might not be okay. Physically I felt fine, but mentally I wasn't all there. I was a little confused and delirious. Cris told me to talk to a medical person if I wasn't feeling well. Thankfully there was a medical person close by and I said, "I am not sure if I am okay, would you please have a conversation with me to make sure I can talk correctly?" And it wasn't long into our conversation that I started slurring my speech. I knew what I wanted to communicate, but I couldn't get the words to come out clearly. This is the exact same thing that happened to me when I had hypothermia in May. It must be the way my body likes to shut down- the ability to talk properly is the first thing to go.

They put me in a wheelchair and brought me inside the convention center to the medical tent. They wanted me to lie down on a stretcher, but I insisted on sitting up. I felt like lying down would really set me back. I still felt physically fine, but I felt mentally really weird. It was like I was high on something. I've never done drugs, so I have no first hand experience, but it felt like I was in this really happy place. I kept making jokes and I told the medical people that I was going to be the funniest patient they had all day. 

They fed me gatorade and took my vitals. They wanted to give me an IV for dehydration, but I said I wanted to try drinking first. My temperature was normal so I wasn't overheated, and I didn't feel dizzy like I have in the past with heat exhaustion. So it was plain ol' dehydration. I was so baffled as to why, though. I felt like I had done everything right with hydration. I've been running for over 20 years and I know how to hydrate. 

I called Greg from one of the nurse's phones. I told him I would be delayed because I was in the medical area, but that I was basically fine. They kept me there for what seemed like an eternity. I had to drink a certain amount of gatorade and they needed to make sure I could pee properly. And then they tested my waking and my cognitive abilities. My first attempt at walking gave me a bit of a panicky sensation mentally, but after some deep breathing I was fine. I felt undeserving of all the medical attention I was

Lindsey and me after the race

getting. Surely there were people who were worse off than me who they could have been treating. 

When I was finally cleared to leave, I walked out into the main hall to pick up my finisher's shirt. I then realized that I had to walk ALL the way back to the finish area to get a medal. It was so far away! And then it took forever to get out of the convention center. I was recognized by an Instagram follower and after a brief chat, I asked to borrow her phone. I called Greg and he told me where he was. It took me over an hour from the time I finished to the time I was reunited with Greg. Greg was with Lindsey and it was so awesome to have them both there. The three of us walked back to the hotel near the start line and then hung out at the rooftop pool. 

I drank two more bottles of gatorade and my pee was still a dark shade! But I think that by today I am finally back to a good electrolyte balance and hydration level. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
Where to begin? If I could summarize the race in one sentence it would be this:

I ran a smart race in challenging conditions with even pacing and a slight negative split, and it was a BQ.

Here are some other thoughts:

Effort Level: My average heart rate was 160. Typically my average heart rate in a marathon is around 165-166. When I ran the Boston Marathon last spring it was 171. In Boston, it was elevated due to post-Covid heart rate issues. In Houston, it was low because I didn't run it at race effort. I think I could have been slightly more aggressive during miles 10-20 (maybe in the low 7:40s) and still held it together at the end. Physically I underestimated myself, but not by much. I probably could have eked out a 3:24, but in the grand scheme of things, two minutes is not a big deal- especially since it's not a PR. 

Hydration: As for the dehydration, I don't think it impacted my performance because I felt really strong until mile 25 with that uphill headwind. And then I felt strong again during mile 26. But if I had it to do over again, I am not sure what I would have done differently in terms of hydration. One clue is that whenever I have blood drawn, the blood doesn't flow about 80% of the time. Apparently I have big veins but once the needle goes in, they can't get blood to flow. I am often pricked in both arms, and in some cases multiple times in the same arm before they can get blood. I was recently told that they need to use the largest needle on me. So maybe my normal state of being is dehydration. Carrie suggested that this could be a vitamin D deficiency that prevents the electrolytes from being absorbed properly. I'll definitely look into it.

Negative Split: The last time I ran a negative split during a marathon was in 2015 at the B&A Trail marathon. So that's nearly 8 years and 12 marathons of positive splitting. And usually I try to negative

split! I ran the first half in 1:43:36 and the second half in 1:43:12. It's just a tiny negative split and might  be more accurately described as an even split, but I'm proud of it. My fastest portion of the course was miles 15-22, and for a warm race, I'm very happy with that.

Weather: The weather was challenging, but I had trained really hard so even my "medium" pace yielded a respectable time and sizable BQ. 

Community: Throughout the weekend, I met probably 20-25 people who follow me on Instagram. Everyone was so nice and supportive and told me that they really enjoyed my content. This was surreal to me because I never expected my Instagram account or my book to take off the way it has. I am fortunate to be part of such an amazing community of runners, and to have such great friends like the ladies I met up with throughout the weekend.

What's Next:
A vacation in Mexico and a week off from running! I'll definitely be swimming in the very long pools and maybe doing some light core work, but that's it. I am not running another marathon this spring and I haven't decided yet if I will try to run one in the fall. I'm definitely hungry to race another marathon because this one went so well, but I'm mentally done with the training. 

Thanks to everyone who supported me in this race, and it was really awesome meeting up with Carrie, Nicole, Cris, and Lindsey!

Spontaneous Marathon: Marshall University

I did something crazy and ran my marathon a week earlier than planned. Instead of running the Richmond Marathon, I ran the Marshall University Marathon in WV. Why?

As I posted about in my training recap, I have felt crappy during most of my training runs mostly due to the unseasonably warm and humid weather. Each run felt harder than it should have for the paces I was running, and I didn't have any "breakthrough" workouts. Usually in every marathon cycle I have a workout where I PR something.  Maybe it's an 800 on the track. Maybe it's my fastest 20 miler. Maybe it's my highest mileage week. Maybe it's the most reps for mile repeats. But this cycle, while my workouts were pretty good, they weren't particularly remarkable. None of them inspired confidence that I could PR.

But last week, when the weather cooled down dramatically. I noticed a change. It dropped from the mid 50s and humid to the low 40s and then into the 30s. And I felt like a whole new runner. My legs felt fresh and peppy. The extended forecast for Richmond was looking to be like most of my training runs - high 50s to low 60s and humid. Not a recipe for feeling good.

And so I decided that better weather might be more advantageous than a full taper. So, my choice was to cut a week off of my taper and get ideal weather, or have a full taper and get potentially the same weather I've had for most of my training. The weather for the Marshall University Marathon looked to be perfect and it was within driving distance (six hours) so I decided to go for it on Thursday of last week. Here is what my taper (or lack thereof) looked like:

Saturday, Oct. 30: 17.6 miles with the middle 10 at marathon pace, averaging 7:30 for the MP miles

Sunday: Oct. 31: 7 miles at 8:52 average, legs felt surprisingly peppy post long run

Monday, Nov. 1: Rest Day

Tuesday, Nov. 2: 5 x 1000m with 200m recovery jogs, 4 x 200m with 200m recovery jogs the 1000s averaged 6:30 pace, the 200s averaged 5:40 pace. Legs felt energized and fast.

Wednesday, Nov. 3: 7.3 miles easy at 8:54 average

Thursday, Nov. 4: 4 miles easy at 9:01 average. This is the day I decided I would probably do the Marshall Marathon instead of Richmond. I was originally scheduled for 9-10 miles. 

Friday, Nov. 5: Rest Day

Saturday. Nov. 6: 2.62 miles shakeout run with strides

Aside from the Saturday long run of 17.6 miles with 10 at marathon pace, this week is almost like a normal pre-marathon taper week. I had a rest day planned for Monday originally. If I had known I would be doing the marathon I probably would have backed off the Tuesday workout, but of course I didn't know that.

As I said above, I think that the benefit I would have gotten from a full taper would have been countered by warmish weather. Of course, you cannot trust a forecast 10 days out, but I didn't want to risk it. I knew that perfect weather was a sure thing for Marshall, so I went with it.

The day before the race
After my short shakeout run on Saturday morning, Greg and I left for WV. We left the house at 8:30 and the drive was projected to take 5 hours and 50 minutes. But we would be stopping for gas, lunch, and to stretch our legs. 

WV Route 48

The drive through West Virginia was gorgeous. A bit nauseating at time with lots of hills and curves and windy roads, but with the fall foliage at its peak, the reds, yellows, and oranges were stunning. There was nowhere we trusted along the way for lunch, so we packed sandwiches in a cooler and ate them in a gas station parking lot. I snacked on almond butter pretzels and drank water combined with Liquid IV. My plan was to get in as many electrolytes as possible on Friday and Saturday so I wouldn't need any electrolytes during the race. If its cool enough, I don't need electrolytes while running; pre-loading works just fine.

We arrived at packet pickup shortly after 3:00. Online registration had closed but the website said runners could register on site. I filled out a registration form and handed it to a woman behind a computer. And as she was processing it, she got an error message "application failed."  Oh great! Turns out our credit card was charged twice, but that can be easily disputed. I'm just thankful the registration went through. On the way to our hotel, we passed a hospital with workers on strike outside of it. There were about 25 workers with signs. I don't think I have ever seen workers on strike, so now I can say I have.

For dinner, we went to Rocco's Ristorante, which had been recommended to me by my friend Chad, who

had run the race three years ago. I had spaghetti with marinara sauce and chicken. Very bland. Also bread and a plain salad that consisted of iceberg lettuce, a tomato and an onion. 

After dinner, it was time for a course preview. We drove a good portion of the course, but we were not able to preview the gravel section by car, obviously. I knew that miles 7, 8, 9 and 21, 22, and 23 were on a gravel section. It was a two-loop course so at least I would know what to expect in the second loop. The course looked to be flat (particularly for WV) with a several short but steep hills. It would start at the Marshall University Stadium and then go two loops, finishing on the football field.

When we got back to our hotel, I had about half a serving of the Maurten Drink Mix 160. I didn't want to drink the full serving because that's a lot of liquid before bed! But the drink mix has easily digestible carbs and was a good way to top off carb stores as opposed to overloading on spaghetti.

Race Morning
I slept about as well as I normally do in a hotel the night before the race. I went to bed at 8:40 and woke up about 3 hours later. I was up for half an hour, and then slept for maybe 3 more hours. And then I was up for good, despite my best efforts to fall back asleep. 

The race started at 7:00 which meant I wanted to be done with breakfast by 5:00. Thankfully, it was daylight savings time, so I had an extra hour. I had an English muffin (un-toasted because there was no toaster) with almond butter. It wasn't at all satisfying and I wasn't hungry for it, but I ate it anyway. I also made another full serving of the Maurten Drink Mix 160 and drank that throughout the morning, finishing at 6:45. I could have opted for the Maurten Drink Mix 360 (which would have been more calories and carbs) but I didn't want to press my luck with my sensitive stomach.

I got dressed in my outfit which matched the Marshall University colors: green and white. And my shoes, the Adios Pro 2, were also a perfect match! I wrapped my water bottle in KT tape, and then zebra print duck tape. Why? My hands go numb in the cold and even with a gloved hand, that water bottle gets too cold to hold quickly. So the KT tape created a barrier between the cold bottle and my hand. The zebra duck tape ensured that everything stayed in place - I wasn't sure if the KT tape would start to fall off without something that had a stronger seal. Credit goes to Greg for the KT tape idea and to my coach Angela for the zebra duck tape idea. 

I also used my vibrating Hyperice massage ball on my glutes to get them activated. Doing this before the run helps bring awareness to the area and gets those muscles ready to work. 

It was a 10-minute drive to the race and parking was super easy. We parked in the stadium parking lot and the start line was about a quarter mile from where we parked. Greg waited in the car while I found a porta potty line to wait in. I waited for about 15 minutes, which is on the longer side, but thankfully I had the time to spare. It was only 30 degrees at this point, but I had pants and a jacket over my shorts and tank.

Pre-race warm up

After the porta potty, I went back to the car, ditched my pants (but kept the jacket) and told Greg I was ready for him to get out of the car. I ran around the start line area for about 7 minutes to keep warm and get the legs moving. Then I lined up at the start line and handed Greg my jacket. I was now wearing shorts, a tank, and arm sleeves. Zebra socks to match my zebra water bottle!

The weather gets a 10/10 on my race weather scale. 30 degrees at the start line, warming to 45 by the finish. Clear with fog, winds at 1-2 mph. 

Goals and Strategy
My main goal was to have a race in which I paced it well, didn't bonk and felt good. My past three marathons have had major slow downs at the end and I wanted to break that cycle. I thought a PR would be possible if I had a good day (Sub 3:15) but certainly wasn't a given.

I was at my lifetime fittest last spring as evidenced by some of the workouts I did and my tune-up race. I was confident I was in shape for 3:10 or faster but I ended up with 3:19:30 at the Two Rivers Marathon. I think it was a combination of the fact that I actually injured my adductor during that race, I was slightly overtrained with an extra-long training cycle, and I had an off day. So my goal here, if I didn't PR, was to beat that 3:19:30 and have a faster time to submit for Boston. Not that I was worried about getting in with a cushion of over 20 minutes, but I wanted a low bib number!

So the plan was to start in the 7:30s and see how I felt. I thought it was possible for my average pace to be as fast as 7:20, and I would have been disappointed if it was slower than 7:38, meaning I didn't beat my spring marathon.

Fueling
Fueling was a big focus for me with this marathon, probably more so than any other marathon. Even though I didn't have digestive distress during my spring marathon, I felt like I didn't have enough energy at the end. My stomach rejected the gels I tried to give it later in the race. Here is the plan I came up with:

Maurten 160 Drink mix gradually throughout the 2 hours leading up to the race
Sipping from my water bottle every 20 minutes (no electrolytes, just water)
Alternating between a Maurten Gel and 2 honey stinger chews every 20 minutes:
0:20 2 chews
0:40 Maurten caffeinated gel
1:00 2 chews
1:20 Maurten regular gel
1:40 2 chews
2:00 Maurten caffeinated gel
2:20 2 chews 
2:40 Maurten regular gel

Miles 1-6
The race started and WOW did I feel amazing! I was so happy with how easy it felt. It felt like my easy pace but I was in the 7:40s to start! That cold, crisp weather was exactly what I needed. We started by going around the outside of the stadium. At the back end of the stadium was a steep downhill made of uneven bricks. I definitely had to work to stabilize here and I had to watch my footing. For the second loop, we would go around the stadium in the other direction, meaning this brick portion would be uphill. I made a mental note of that.

Mile 2.5: zebra socks & water bottle

I saw Greg at mile 2.5, which was close to the start line (we had made an extended loop around the stadium). He snapped photos and wished me well. I was feeling amazing and I kept having to reel myself in. I couldn't believe how easy these 7:20s felt! I knew that I had absolutely made the right choice with this marathon. I felt so much better than my previous three marathons: 

• CIM had been ridiculously humid. 
• At Harrisburg I had been nauseous from the very start.
• Two Rivers had felt stale. 

I just needed a "good day" and this was my good day! Or at least I hoped it would be and all signs were pointing to that during the first 6 miles. As we got further away from the stadium, starting at about mile 4, we encountered a very thick fog. I liked it, because I would prefer that to sunshine. But I could only see about 20 feet in front of me. It was surreal. Thankfully there was another runner that I could follow otherwise I would just be running into a cloud of nothing and uncertain if I was on the right course!

My first Maurten gel went down easy. The biggest challenge was using my numb hands to get the gel out of my fuel belt and open it with my teeth. Even though I had already pre-cut it, it was still hard to open with numb hands. And then it took me forever to get the fuel belt to sit properly around my waist again. It kept riding up.

Mile 1: 7:41
Mile 2: 7:31
Mile 3: 7:24
Mile 4: 7:20
Mile 5: 7:20

Mile 6: 7:27

Miles 7-13
I knew to expect gravel here, but I didn't expect the section to be as challenging as it was. My PR of 3:15 was set on a course that is 70% gravel, so I figured it would be like that. Plus, it was only 3 miles of gravel with each loop, which was much less than my PR marathon. What made this section hard was:

• The gravel miles were net uphill
  
• There were fallen leaves in places which were extra slippery
  
• I couldn't run straight because I had to weave around super leafy sections
  
• The course goes off the gravel, onto the road for very short bits, and then back onto the gravel, which stole momentum. This was a "tease" and happened about 3 times.
  
• It was a twisty and curvy in places and was hard to get into a good momentum with good rhythm

I could see the 3:15 pace group about 30-45 seconds ahead but now wasn't the time to try and catch them. Instead there was one other runner who was holding steady at an effort level that felt appropriate for me, so I let him lead the way. It was also helpful to follow his foot path through the trail as he was also avoiding the slippery parts.

I saw my paces slow on my Garmin but I didn't let it discourage me. I vowed to speed up once we were off the gravel. And yes, I felt so much better once we were off the gravel. I had my momentum and my rhythm back, but it wasn't as amazingly easy the first 6 miles. The 3 net up hill gravel miles had taken a toll on my legs so I had to work harder to hit my paces. 

After my 1:20 water sip, I tossed my bottle. It was still half full and I hadn't drunk much from it, but continuing to carry it felt like an effort and I needed the boost of not having to hold anything. I figured I could use water stops for the rest of my hydration. Also, based on experience, I know that when it's in the 30s and I have pre-hydrated, I don't need much water during a full marathon.

Mile 7: 7:25
Mile 8: 7:32
Mile 9: 7:43

Mile 10: 7:23

Mile 11: 7:17
Mile 12: 7:30
Mile 13: 7:26

Miles 14-19
I crossed the halfway point at 1:38:xx. This is from memory as the results do not yet include our split times. So I was on track for a 3:16-3:17. I felt decent but not good enough to be confident in a negative split, which is what would have been required for a PR. So I adjusted to my "B" time goal of beating my Two Rivers Marathon time for the spring. 

I saw Greg shortly after the halfway point. I wanted to throw my annoying fuel belt off to him because by this point I had taken both gels from it and it was empty. After trying to unclip it with numb hands, I realized I could just remove it by sliding it off over my head. I was still hanging with the guy from the gravel section. We were leap frogging a bit, and it was nice to not be alone. The half marathoners had turned off and I was happy that this guy was in the full.

Mile 15.2

Then it was time for the bumpy brick road again. It was a short section but it was a steep uphill. I repeated over and over again "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" until I made it up to the top. Once I did, I knew it would be smooth sailing until the gravel portion again. 

And it was. It was nice to know what to expect for the second loop and even though I had to really work for my paces, I felt like I could sustain it for a while more. I saw Greg again at about mile 15.2. I threw my arm warmers off to him because the temperature was starting to rise. It was still only about 39 at this point, and I would have been happy to have my arm warmers for another mile or two, but this would be my last chance to throw them off before the finish.

At this point, I could see runners in the other direction who were in their 11th mile. These runners cheered for me so loudly and I was very appreciative. 

My third gel at 2:00 didn't go down so well. I ate it in small "bites". The first two bites went down okay. I had to hold the gel in my mouth until I was confident in my ability to keep it down. But as soon as I put the third bite into my mouth, I spit it right back out. So I am guessing I had about 2/3 of that gel, as the last bit made the packet nearly empty. I am not sure why I slowed down so much during the 19th mile. There was one of those short but steep uphills but it was still on the road surface. I think I went up the hill pretty slowly and then failed to speed up post-hill to compensate for it.

Mile 14: 7:26
Mile 15: 7:32
Mile 16: 7:32
Mile 17: 7:35
Mile 18: 7:29
Mile 19: 7:51

Miles 20-23
I had no idea how well I'd be able to keep it together on gravel section part 2. I told myself to stay positive no matter what and not to get annoyed with the gravel. I told myself to not use it as an excuse to stop pushing and that I would fight my way through that gravel. Thankfully, my original gravel buddy was still with me! 

I had passed about 2 runners shortly before the gravel section and nobody had passed me. I had no idea what place I was with regards to other women. I hadn't seen any other women since around mile 4. I think the race only had 79 females, so this makes sense. I figured that no matter what happened, I would probably at least maintain my place in the female field.

The gravel started again and posed all the same challenges as the first time only I wasn't as fresh. My hamstrings started to hurt at around mile 21 and they became the limiting factor. Usually it's not my hamstrings that hurt in marathons-- it's my quads or hips. So I am guessing the hamstring thing is from using extra effort to toe-off the gravel. 

Unfortunately, my gravel pal stopped to chat with some spectators early on during the gravel portion, so I was now alone. I was hoping he would catch up to me but he never did. I'm pretty sure I passed 1-2 runners during the gravel section but it's hard to remember.

Mentally I was doing okay. I wish I had told myself to give more on the gravel. I think I was physically capable of pushing harder through the gravel but the "you're doing fine just keep going at this effort" mindset was much stronger. I was still on track to be well under my 3:19:30 so I wasn't super motivated to go any harder on the gravel than I was. My hamstrings hurt and I felt like I was doing good just making it through in the 7:40s.

I decided to take my 2:40 gel at around 2:35. Because I had spit up the last portion of the 2:00 gel, I was doubtful that this gel would go down. My strategy was to gradully "sip" it over the course of 5 minutes. Amazingly, this approach worked and I was able to get the entire gel down. Since my legs were hurting, I wasn't pushing the pace as hard as I had been at 2:00, so my body was more able to digest the gel. 

Mile 20: 7:42
Mile 21: 7:48
Mile 22: 8:05

Mile 23: 7:55

Miles 24- Finish
Now that I was done with the slowest portion of the course, I gave it everything I had to get to the finish. I told myself I only had 20 minutes to go and that I could tolerate 20 minutes of pushing hard. I sped back up to a pace of 7:24 for mile 24 (of course, this makes me think I really could have gone faster in the gravel). During the 25th mile, a man flew past me at lightening speed. He must have been going 7:00 or faster. He had so much pep! I knew I wouldn't be able to stick with him, but I made it a goal to keep him in my line of sight. Mile 25 was 7:33, which I was super happy about. Usually mile 25 is my slowest mile of the marathon. I'm really glad I was able to get that final gel down because I had a really good amount of energy.

Mile 26 was annoying. We ran through campus and this meant varying types of sidewalk surfaces, on and off curbs, around around little circles. Think of it as a pedestrian traffic circle where you can't go straight, you have to go around to go straight. There were 3 of these and they were momentum killing. I had a good amount of energy and I just wanted to cruise but kept having to pump the breaks. I was still able to run a split of 7:30. 

My heart sunk a little when I reached mile marker 26, but my Garmin had beeped for 26 a while back. I had failed to run good tangents. And this meant I wouldn't be running a 3:17 and would have to fight for a 3:18.

At mile marker 26, we entered the stadium and ran down a very steep hill. I had to slow down on this hill to avoid falling. At the bottom, they handed me a football, which I knew to expect. I hated having to slow down to grab it because I was fighting for precious seconds here, but it made me happy to have it. At first, I had no idea what to do with the football. I held it in both hands but quickly realized that wasn't going to work. I had to run down the field one way, turn around, and back up the field to the finish line with it. This series of photos says it all:

So I finally figured out how to best carry the football after trying a few different positions. I ended up running 26.34 miles according to my Garmin and that final 0.34 had an average pace of 7:10. Pretty good considering I had to slow on the steep downhill, get a football, and figure out how to carry the football. All after running 26 miles. 

The Finish
I crossed the finish line and the clock read 3:19:01, and I was happy because I knew I had started a few seconds after the gun went off. I stopped my Garmin and it read 3:19:00. And of course, this was not an immediate stop of the Garmin as I had a football in one hand. Why does this matter? Because the race does not yet have our chip times published. My gun time is published as 3:19:03, and I definitely stopped my Garmin at least 2-3 seconds after crossing due to the football.  

Edited to add: My official chip time is 3:18:57.

3:19:02 on clock, hoping for 3:18:xx chip!

Even if getting that football did cost me a few seconds, it was worth it for the experience. Also, Strava has my
26.2 time as 3:18:04, so I am pretty bummed about my inability to run good tangents. I tried my best, but on the gravel, I had to go where it was the least slippery and was not running straight. 

After crossing the finish line, I got my medal, and walked to a section on the football field where I could sit down. But before sitting down I dry heaved a few times. Some spit came out, but it wasn't a significant vomit. It felt amazing to lie down on the football field and be done. This was my 30th marathon!

I found out that I won the female master's race and placed 5th out of 79 women. My first top 5 marathon finish! My award was a football made out of glass by a local glass artist. Pretty cool!

Later in the day Greg and I had lunch in Ohio and dinner in Kentucky. We had to take advantage of being in the WV/OH/KY intersection!  I had never been to Kentucky, so I was able to cross another "state I've visited" off my list. And this WV race adds another state to my resume as well.

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
Overall I'm happy with how this race went. Part of me wonders if I will ever beat my marathon PR of 3:15:34. Now that I am 42 (turning 43 on Thursday) will I continue to slow down and have to deal with more injuries? I definitely need a flat course and very cool temps to PR, and there are only a few years left to do it, with 2 marathons per year, at most. So I might have to be content with 3:15:34 being my lifetime fastest, but I'll keep trying regardless.

My overall feeling about this race is that it was a huge success in terms of nailing my fueling and feeling energized throughout. I was not fully tapered but yet I still ran faster than I did in the spring when I was in much better shape. This gives me a faster time to use for my Boston registration with a buffer of 21 minutes or more. 

I think I wasn't as fit for this marathon as I was for my previous 3-4 marathons because I didn't incorporate enough speed. I am going to talk to my coach about having a few more VO2 max workouts. Shorter, faster intervals.  I am naturally strong with endurance, but I am not gifted when it comes to speed. And I think that in my 40s, I need the really fast stuff to stay sharp. Every training cycle is a learning "experiment" so I don't regret this, and I had specifically asked my coach for more marathon pace work. 

I'm thankful that my Achilles behaved and that my groin injury was not an issue. And today both of those feel decent. 

My coach asked me what I learned and what would I have done differently:

What I learned

• I now have a fueling strategy that works. The combination of gels and chews and the timing was great. In warmer weather, I would likely need to have an electrolyte strategy, but this was great for cold weather.
• I would rather have cold weather and a shortened taper than warm weather and a proper taper
• Just because you have a few slower miles in the middle of a marathon doesn't mean your race is over; you can speed back up to where you were before.
• Even though I had run 17.6 miles with 10 at marathon pace just 8 days before the race, I was still able to run a really strong marathon

What I would have done differently

• I needed to be bolder and more aggressive during the second gravel section. My hamstrings were hurting and my mental state was "just hang onto this effort" and I think I could have had a mindset of "be bold, show some grit, give it everything you have." Without a PR on the line, I lacked the motivation I needed to give more. The fact that I sped up so much on the road afterwards shows I had more in the tank than what I was giving.
• Tangents. On the one hand, I didn't have much of a choice when it came to the gravel section as I didn't want to slip, but on the other hand 26.34 miles on the Garmin for a course that wasn't crowded and didn't have a ton of turns was not ideal.
• Hills. There weren't that many of them, but I allowed myself to slow down substantially on them. If I had it to do over again, I would have worked harder there. 

I'm definitely glad I ran the Marshall University Marathon instead of waiting an extra week for Richmond. I seized the opportunity to have great weather, and I really enjoyed the experience. It was my second fastest marathon out of 30 even though I wasn't as fit as I have been for previous marathons. Finishing with the football in the stadium was fun, and it was a memorable experience.

Two Rivers Marathon Race Report

Yesterday morning, I ran the Two Rivers Marathon in Lackawaxen, PA. That's in the Pocono mountains in the northeastern part of the state, right on the New York border.

When the Myrtle Beach marathon was moved from March 6, I couldn't find another one that weekend within driving distance so I extended my training cycle by three weeks to March 27. I registered for the Tidewater Striders BQ Invitational Marathon in Chesapeake, VA, but I knew that at the end of March, there would be a 50/50 chance of warm weather. 

My backup plan was the Two Rivers Marathon. Instead of 4 hours south, this race was located 4 hours north and would be almost guaranteed to have cool weather in late March. As suspected, the forecast for Virginia was calling for temps in the low 60s and no cloud cover, which was a non-starter for me. I unfortunately have far too much experience bonking in weather like this at races of all distances. 

So I registered for Two Rivers and booked a hotel at the end of last week. I knew the course would be more challenging than the pancake-flat Chesapeake course, but as I said, warm weather is a non-starter for me. The Two Rivers course was two out-and-backs, up and down a long gradual hill. The net elevation gain was not all that high. Anywhere from 350-600 depending on which GPS mapping system you look at. In fact, this is similar, if not less than, what I run on my 20-milers.

I should note that this was a brand new course for 2021, USATF certified. The original course was point-to-point, net downhill, with a shuttle bus. But due to health concerns, they didn't want to use shuttle busses. I've found that in order for marathons to actually happen, the course has to change for various reasons. This was the case for the Harrisburg marathon last fall. 

Before the Race
Greg and I drove up to the Poconos on Friday morning. We picked up our packet outside at the race start and then drove the course. We realized that the course would not be closed to traffic, so we'd have to be careful not to get hit! As I said above, it was a long steady climb for 6.55 miles, and then back, and then out and back again.

Two Rivers Marathon Elevation

We met up with our friend Tricia for dinner where I had my standard eggplant parm without the parm. I made sure to eat enough so that I was content, but not to overeat like I may have done at Harrisburg. The wind on Friday was insane. The area had sustained winds of over 20mph with gusts that must have been about 50. The wind was loud outside of our room and I felt the whole building shake. The internet went out and there was no cell service, so it felt like we were in a horror film. I knew it was supposed to die down by morning, but it was a little unsettling going to sleep during a wind storm with a marathon on tap the next morning.

I slept relatively well and woke up feeling refreshed, relaxed and ready. This is definitely a contrast to my last two marathons. For Harrisburg I woke up with an anxious feeling. For CIM, I barely slept the night before the race AND two nights before the race! So I already knew I was a step ahead. 

I did have a dream that I was looking through the race results and I saw I ran a 3:26, but I didn't remember actually running the race. I woke up from that dream feeling relieved that I hadn't actually run a 3:26 and I still had the opportunity to reach my goal of sub 3:10. I woke up at 4:15 and before getting out of bed I played the chess.com computer at level 1600 (advanced) and I won. I was really excited about that! Off to a great start. 

Instead of my normal bagel with peanut butter and banana, I had an English muffin with a small amount of almond butter, and about 1/4 of a serving of Maurten Drink mix 160. I also had an entire serving the the Drink Mix 160 the day before the race to pre-hydrate. This drink mix contains carbs and electrolytes. Maurten also makes a Drink Mix 320, which has 320 calories per serving, plus electrolytes, plus 100 mg of caffeine. I mixed a serving of that to carry with me and sip on during the first half of the race. I had practiced all of this in training and was optimistic I would not face the digestive distress I had in Harrisburg.

In the hotel race morning

It was a 25-minute drive to the race start and we left the hotel at 6:15. The race offered a 5K, 10K, half marathon and full marathon, all on the same course. There were 227 finishers in the marathon and 218 in the half marathon. The exact same race was held on Sunday for those wanting to run the marathon twice, or the half marathon and marathon. This was not a new thing due to health and safety concerns, this race always runs on both Saturday and Sunday. 

We arrived at the race, parked, met up with Tricia and used the porta potties. The start line was open starting at 6:30 and the marathon runners could start any time they wanted between 6:30 and 8:15 to allow for social distancing. This had both its benefits and drawbacks. The benefit was getting to start whenever you felt ready, so there wasn't any anxiety about being late. And since I prefer cold weather, I was able to start on the earlier side (7:00) and avoid the warmer temperatures later in the race. The drawback was that you had no idea who you were competing against. They offered an "elite" start at 8:00 for those wanting competition, but you didn't have to start at that time to be declared the winner. It also wasn't something you had to qualify for; just a group of fast runners wanting to push each other. Masks were required in the start line area, but we were free to remove them once we started running. 

Tricia crossed the start line, and Greg and I waited a few extra minutes to make sure I didn't have to go to the bathroom one final time. We crossed the start line at 7:02, which was set up on a grassy area. We only ran on grass for a few seconds before exiting the park and getting out onto the road. 

The weather ended up being even better than expected. The forecast had indicated 10 mph winds and sunny skies, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was very little wind, and we had about 50% cloud cover. It was 44 degrees to start and rose to about 50 by the end. On my race weather scale, I would give it a 9 out of 10. To get a 10, it would have needed to be slightly cooler. 

I wore shorts, a crop top, disposable arm warmers and disposable gloves. (Disposable meaning they were $1 from Walmart). I started out with sunglasses on my head and there were a few sunny sections in which I put them over my eyes, but they mostly stayed on my head.

Miles 1 - 6.55
I started out feeling like this would be my day. The weather was close to ideal. I had slept well, I didn't have any anxiety or any feelings of indigestion. It was hard to establish a rhythm during the first mile. I was still feeling out the course and how it would be. I immediately noticed that the road was slanted and I either wanted to run on the very edge of it, close the the gravel, or be in the dead center. Anything in between was uneven. But I also needed to pay attention to the tangents, because there would be quite a few curves on the course. 

The first mile was all about settling in and getting used to running smoothly. I ran a 7:54 mile which was WAY slower than goal pace of 7:15, but I didn't judge it. I knew I needed to go out slowly because these miles were uphill, and they were the early miles. If the course had been flat I would have started out in the low 7:20s, but with it being uphill, I figured the high 7:20s would be about perfect. 

Greg ran a faster first mile than me but I caught up to him and passed him in the second mile. He didn't have a goal time in mind, but I knew he wasn't planning to start as fast as me. I ran the second mile in 7:32 and settled into that pace. I knew I needed to be patient and I didn't freak out that this was nearly 20 seconds per mile slower than goal pace. 

At any given time, I had about 4 or 5 runners in my sight. There were also runners coming back in the

opposite direction, presumably half marathoners or 5K/10K runners. There were more cars than I expected and it while they generally wove around the runners, some of them were not as accommodating.  I tried running the tangents, but I knew I wasn't doing a good job because I was prioritizing running on a non-slanted surface. 

Mile 3 was also 7:32. The hills were not steep but they were unrelenting. There was almost nothing flat or downhill in the first "out" section. The entire thing was run up a very gentle incline. It was the type of thing that if you encountered this incline grade in a race you might not really notice it that much. But when it's an incline the whole way, you definitely do notice it. Or at least I did! 7:32 ended up being my happy pace and I kept hitting that consistently for most of the way out. I ditched the arm warmers at some point during the 3rd or 4th mile, but kept the gloves. 

I made a mental note that mile 5 was particularly challenging. The incline felt a little steeper, and I did the math and told myself that if mile 18 was slow, that would be okay. I caught up to Tricia during the 6th mile and we chatted briefly. It was definitely a pick me up to see her!

Mile 1: 7:54
Mile 2: 7:32
Mile 3: 7:32
Mile 4: 7:32
Mile 5: 7:37
Mile 6: 7:32
Mile 7: 7:32

Miles 8 - 13.1
My nutrition/hydration plan was to drink the Maurten Drink Mix 320 in my handheld bottle every 15 minutes. This would provide carbs, electrolytes, and caffeine. I had practiced it on two of my long runs and it worked well.

I turned around and was excited to finally start picking up the pace. I passed Greg in the other direction and he had his phone out and was snapping photos of me! Aww!! What a dedicated Instagram husband!

At this point, I felt decent, but not as good as I would have liked. At mile 8 of a marathon, things should be feeling very smooth and you shouldn't be straining all that much. I felt like I was probably working a little too hard, but I trusted my training. I assume that the elites are working VERY hard the entire race, but they are trained for that. Not to say that I am an elite, but I as push myself towards faster and faster marathon times, I know that I am going to have to be uncomfortable for a longer portion of the race.

I had no idea what pace the downhill miles would bring, and I didn't want to force it. So I glided down the mountain by feel and it was definitely a welcome change from the uphill. I also was able to see a lot of runners coming in the opposite direction. Runners were all over the place-- on both sides of the road and in the middle-- going in both directions. And the car traffic started to pick up. At one point, this huge vehicle decided it was not going to give me much room and I almost lost my balance and fell of the side of the road into a ditch. As the car kept going ahead of me, I noticed it was doing the same thing to the other runners. Not moving over at all, and coming very close to hitting them. 

While I was thankful to be running a real race, I started longing for the day when roads would be allowed to be closed to traffic for races once again. But I was also appreciative that this was not the Harrisburg course. That course had way too many hairpin turns and that path had a ton of uneven pavement. This was definitely an improvement. And it was really beautiful by the river.

I flew through this section and brought my pace down by a good amount. All of these miles were under 7:20 and I started to think that the 3:10 was within my grasp. Probably not a sub-3:10, but a 3:10 by the skin of my teeth if I could keep getting faster. 

Mile 8: 7:18
Mile 9: 7:16
Mile 10: 7:16
Mile 11: 7:18
Mile 12: 7:16
Mile 13: 7:12

Miles 14 - 19.6
When I reached the halfway point, which was back at the start-finish, nobody told me which way to go. So I started going the wrong way. Finally someone pointed me in the right direction of how to pass back

through the start line. That annoyed me a little but I tried not to get too flustered. I passed Greg on his way to the start/finish turnaround point and that was another pick me up. He later told me that I was about two minutes ahead of him. 

By this point I was done with my drink mix, so I had a Maurten caffeinated gel and it went down well. I was mentally prepared for this second uphill stretch to be very difficult. I was eager to see Tricia and when I did, that perked me up. Things started to get noticeably harder during the 16th mile. At this point I realized my goal was out the window and I would be lucky to get a modest PR. Whenever I have set PRs, I have felt amazing at mile 16, and I was not feeling amazing at this point. I was very focused on simply getting to the turnaround so I could cruise downhill. 

The climbing was exhausting me. I felt like I would never get to the turnaround. The course just kept going and going uphill and miles 18-19 were a real challenge. 

Mile 14: 7:40
Mile 15: 7:28
Mile 16: 7:32
Mile 17: 7:43
Mile 18: 7:42
Mile 19: 7:52
Mile 20: 7:57

Miles 20 - Finish
Mentally and physically it felt way better to be cruising back down the hill. But I was so exhausted from pushing so hard on the way out. I tried taking another gel during the 21st mile but my gag reflex had me spitting it out immediately. Mile 21 clocked in at 7:41, and I was too exhausted to judge it or think about what my projected finish time would be. I just kept pushing. I really wanted to beat that 3:26 in my dream and I told myself that if that was my time I would be really disappointed. Not that 3:26 is a bad time, but it's far off of my goal and slower than my last two marathons.

I used every mental trick I had in the book to keep pushing. I told myself I "trained for the pain" and I repeated it over and over again. I didn't train for it to be easy. I trained to be able to handle the pain. THIS is what marathoning is about. This final stretch is the real test of true mental and physical stamina. But oh my goodness was it painful. It was not the sub 7:10 pace that I had planned and it took everything I had to maintain the effort. 

I don't remember much about these miles other than that they hurt. And I did not want to be passed by Greg. It's not that I didn't want him to have a good day; but I just felt like that would be demoralizing to be passed. At CIM he passed me during the 24th mile and while I really liked seeing him, I had the internal

Heading toward the finish

dialog of other runners are speeding up and passing you. So It didn't matter if it was Greg or anyone for that matter, I didn't want to be passed. It motivated me to try and stay ahead of him and I pushed and pushed so hard to not let him catch me. 

I came upon a man at around mile 23 who really carried me for the next two miles. He set a good pace and he was very encouraging. Every time he noticed me falling behind he would tell me to "come on" and I eked out "I'm coming" and I found a little extra effort to stay with him. He was truly a lifesaver. I had someone like that in Sugarloaf in 2019. This guy and I helped each other out during the last 3 miles and it was just what I needed. 

Usually at this point I am counting down the minutes until the race is over, but I didn't even have the mental capacity for that. Every once of mental energy was focused on pushing and staying strong. But as I neared the finish, I realized I could squeeze in under 3:20 if I pushed hard.

I went into all-out sprint mode for the final bit and managed to cross in 3:19:30. Phew. Even though I didn't get my "A" goal or a PR, it felt nice to break 3:20 for the second time. 

Mile 21: 7:41
Mile 22: 7:42
Mile 23: 7:48
Mile 24: 7:47
Mile 25: 7:45
Mile 26: 7:37
Last 0.33 on my Garmin: 7:07 pace

After the Race
I crossed the finish line, which I was thankful was on grass, because I was able to immediately sit down on the grass. I turned around and saw Greg coming through! Yes! He finished exactly 21 seconds after me in 3:19:51. This was a PR for him by 29 seconds. And even though he just finished a marathon, he was thoughtful enough to go back and get pictures of Tricia!

As I sat in the grass, I chatted with some other finishers and waited for Tricia to come through. I was so

excited to see her! We hung out for a little bit and collected age group awards. Because everyone started at a different time, and they didn't want to mail awards, you were able to pick up the award for whatever place you were in at the time you finished. Apparently they ordered lots of extra plaques. My plaque say 1st place age group, but I was actually 3rd. 

What's crazy is that for women in the 40-45 age group, a time of 3:19 at a small race only got me third. At Myrtle Beach, which is much larger, I won 1st place in my age group with a time of 3:21. I think that this is because there are so few marathons to choose from that all the fast runners are showing up to the same small marathons! At Harrisburg, the overall female masters winner was around 3:19.

We said goodbye to Tricia and drove back to the hotel. I spent about an hour in the huge bathtub of the hotel which also had jets. It felt amazing. The weather was gorgeous for the rest of the day so we sat out by Lake Wallenpaupack and relaxed. 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
This will actually require its own blog because I have a lot of feelings and reflections on how this went. The overwhelming feelings were relief that at least break 3:20, but disappointment that my training didn't produce a faster result. I ran 75+ mile weeks for 8 weeks in a row. I ran 800 miles in 80 days plus strength training and my body handled it really well. I crushed most of my workouts and hit paces I never dreamed of hitting. See training recap here. 8 weeks ago, I ran a 10-mile race that predicted a time of 3:10.

With Harrisburg, I didn't come close to my goal because of digestive issues. At CIM, it was lack of sleep and crazy humidity. But at this race, I don't really have anything to point to, except maybe the course profile. Most people I spoke with had a similar experience of missing their goal despite the great weather. Some people attributed to the bevel of the road, and others attributed it to the long uphill start. Maybe I went out too fast, but it's hard to imagine that 7:32 is "too fast" for a goal pace of 7:15.

I wish there was an easy explanation and something to point to, but aside from the course, there really

isn't. The obvious culprit could be my training and that I was over-trained. I could buy into that, but I was still hitting my paces just two weeks out from the race. But on the other hand, I did have to extend my training cycle by 3 weeks due to the Myrtle Beach cancelation. Maybe if the race was a week or two earlier it would have been a different story.

My coach attributes it to the hill profile and that the uphill start can really take a lot out of you early. I did experience this in the Hanover half marathon which had a very hilly start, and then I never really recovered from that once the race flattened out.

Greg made an excellent point about the margin of error being extremely small. When I first started marathoning, I would PR by huge amounts each time. But now I am approaching my lifetime peak. I'm 42, I've been running marathons for 16 years, and everything needs to align perfectly for me to reach a goal that is my absolute physical best possible time. The weather, the course, my sleep, digestive system, ALL of it. If I weren't so close to my lifetime peak (let's say I was in my 20s and had the physical ability to attain 2:45 at some point) then I wouldn't need everything to align to run a 3:09. I fall into the trap of comparing myself to other women who run sub 3:10- but they don't need to train as hard or have all the stars align. It's all relative to both 1)where you are in your journey 2) natural physical ability. 

When I ran my 3:15 in 2018, everything was perfect. The weather was a 10/10. The course was flat. I slept straight through the night. I had no digestive issues. And interestingly, I bonked my tune-up half marathon! That day in Rehoboth Beach was a unicorn and I need all those perfect conditions to get under 3:10 because I'm approaching the limit of what I am physically capable of.

My mind went to all sorts of dark places yesterday. And that's what made me challenge myself to probe deeper. Is the disappointment really about the race or is there something else going on with me? And I think there is something else going on with me mentally and emotionally. The lockdowns and cancelations have taken their toll on everyone. I am pretty sure I have been using this high-volume training as a coping mechanism to stifle feelings of despair about the state of the world. I think I expected this huge breakthrough race that would give me so much satisfaction that I would snap out of it and everything would feel okay again. 

Running is a healthy coping mechanism and I know it's provided many people with structure and purpose during this crazy time. And. . . post marathon depression is common because you work towards something for so long and then in an instant (or in 3 hours 19 minutes) it's done. I know that 3:19 is objectively an outstanding time and something I never would have though possible 5 years ago. It's a BQ by over 20 minutes. And I know I gave that race everything I had. I think once the dust settles I will have really happy, positive memories of this race and what I achieved. But in the spirit of total honesty, I feel unsettled and I know I have some work to do.

I'm extremely thankful to have made it to the start line healthy, and to have finished it healthy. The overall weekend experience was fun and much more exciting than if I had gone to Chesapeake. I do feel like I "conquered" something and I have yet another marathon experience to learn from.