So much has been happening in the World of Jen, but I haven’t had the time to blog about it!! I am going to make a concerted effort to post on a regular basis again.
This weekend was the culmination of more than 9 months of focus and hard work. In the beginning, this goal seemed so far out of my reach and the race so far away that it seemed like a dream. And now that the race is done, it still seems like a dream! Someone needs to pinch me.
The week before the race was the SLOWEST WEEK EVER. It seemed like time was standing still. I had worked so hard for so long – I was just ready to race and find out – could I do it or not??
Despite all the hurdles and doubts I experienced during training, I had gained a lot of confidence about the race. My training had been going SO WELL. But my last long run was horrible. I figured out after the run that I had let myself get dehydrated. As bad as the run was, I stayed in zone 1 for the majority of the run and was only one minute off my marathon goal pace, which was very encouraging going into the race! My goal was 3:45, although my *official* BQ time was 3:55. I knew that a 3:45 would give me a big enough time cushion that I wouldn’t have to wonder all summer about actually making it into Boston.
Moving on to the race
Race morning finally arrived, with the race starting under “Yellow” (caution). The humidity was 97% and temps at the start were in the mid-60s. Race officials urged runners to slow down as heat exhaustion and dehydration were expected to affect a lot of people. Now, I’m a Texas girl and I consider myself a pro at dealing with humidity, but this humidity was tougher than anything I had ever dealt with. Even so, I felt fairly confident that I could run close to my goal of 3:45.
There were a couple of Renegades staying in the same hotel and I met them in the lobby to walk to the corrals. Renegade Alex was in route and planned to meet up with us in corral A. And one of my childhood friends, Emily, that I grew up with in church met us in the corrals as well. Alex, Emily and I planned to start slower than goal pace and warm up a couple miles before getting into race pace. The gun finally went off and we started and managed to pace mile one exactly as planned. Seriously though, I was sweating by the end of mile one.
After the mile two, I was ready to get going. I could tell that maintaining my pace would be difficult late in the race and I knew that I couldn’t waste any more time getting up to speed. Emily’s plan was to warm up a bit more, so Alex and I went ahead to try to get into our groove. Alex and I had discussed running the entire race together, but he had some sickness that interrupted his training. The plan on race day was for him to hang with me as long as he was able.
Truth be told, he drug me along. There were a lot of times that I wanted to slow down, but having Alex there was enough to push me to maintain the pace. I am certain that my race would have derailed in the first half, if he hadn’t run with me.
Mile 7 was definitely a highlight, because Renegades Ashley and Ryan had set up camp to cheer all of us on. I am always amazed by how much of a boost seeing familiar faces along the route gives me!
Alex and I kept plodding along, right on track until around mile 16. Our splits up to that point had been mostly between 8:30-8:40, but our pace was beginning to slow somewhat and we were hitting around 8:45. I was tired, but I wasn’t exhausted and I didn’t feel much differently than I had at mile 5. Alex told me that his legs were starting to cramp and that he wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to keep up the pace. I stayed with him another mile or so then decided that I needed to go on without him so I could try get back on track, even though leaving him killed my soul!!
Approaching mile 20, I began to struggle with turnover in my legs. But I was able to push to gain a little ground when I felt like I was losing too much. I had been told that beer would be served at mile 20, but when I passed the aid station at mile 20 and saw no beer in sight, I started feeling a little sad and a little panicked. Michelob was actually camped at mile 21. I drank that Mich Ultra (if you know me – you know how much that I dislike Mich Ultra) and at the time it was the most delicious tasting beer that had ever passed my lips! The beer always gives me a boost late in the race and it was no different this time. I really wanted to pick up the pace for that last 10k, but I just couldn’t maintain the turnover in my legs. The last six miles were up and down and not consistent coming in at: 8:31, 8:48, 8:31, 8:41, 8:54, 8:27. I remember the last turn into downtown that took me to the finish. My mouth was watering when I saw the 40k sign, then the 26 mile sign, then the FINISH!! I crossed the mat with 3:47:45 and GOT MY BQ!!!
I don’t remember much about the course, honestly. I was so focused on maintaining my pace and staying on track. Alex kept me going for the first 2/3 of the race. My homemade pace band was a LIFESAVER. I had noted all the water stops and where I should be in 5 mile intervals. I stopped at ALL the water stations up to mile 20 and after my beer, decided that I was good to go and needed to keep pushing. I never hit the wall. My nutrition was perfect and I had ZERO issues with nausea or GI stuff. I didn’t experience any chafing or blisters, either!! After my dehydrated training run, I had been hyper-focused on being well hydrated for the race and I believe that helped as well. (People were down all over the course those last 6 miles.) The entire race, I felt confident that Sunday was MY day to BQ. The race went so well (except for the humidity making it feel like I was breathing through a straw) that I felt more secure every single mile. I remember thinking at mile 20 that I totally had it!! But 10k-to-go is a lot of race and I quickly cautioned myself not to get cocky and comfortable. I really did push as hard as I could on that last 10k, but I just didn’t have the ability to really pick up the pace like I wanted. I need to figure out how to give myself that kick in the rear that is needed to make a last-ditch effort and grind out the best time possible. Guess I’ll go back to the drawing board on that one!
I am still on cloud 9. I still can’t believe it!!! I am also unsure what to do with life at this point. I have been laser-focused on this race for the last 9 months. It’s an odd feeling to have no BIG races coming up (unless you count my first 50k and my first half Ironman as BIG ;).
BIG thanks to all who supported me along the way!! I appreciate you so much!
Dirt LeJENd 