Blogger Meet-Ups- and a throwback Race Report- Disney Marathon 2012

Good Morning!

Last night Nicole over at www.thegirlwhoraneverywhere.com and I met up for froyo- and we BOTH forgot to take any pictures.  We’re neighbors.  It goes further than that- we were both within 15 feet of each other during last year’s Boston bombings.  Seriously, incredible.

ANYHOW…  as Nicole and I were talking, we were discussing my BQ race- how and what I did to maintain pace.  All I can say is that there is a part of me that can go completely into auto-pilot and run at exactly the pace I need to for a given period of time.  I’m not saying it’s easy, and I’ve never been able to do it for shorter races (they hurt a lot more!)- but it is how I ran Disney.

Mile 17 or so of my debut marathon, Disney 2012
Mile 17 or so of my debut marathon, Disney 2012
I know, awesome pic.  Officially a marathon finisher and Boston Qualifier with at 3:31:20
I know, awesome pic. Officially a marathon finisher and Boston Qualifier with at 3:31:20

I wanted to share with you parts of an email that I sent to my friends directly after the race:

Thoughts on marathoning:  It’s like having a demanding boyfriend, on top of your current relationship. Sometimes he’s great: the run is awesome, you come home glowing, and you can’t wait to go again.  Sometimes its long and lazy, like a Sunday afternoon- with moments of nice warm thoughts.  Sometimes it is hard, and you just don’t feel like putting the effort in- but you do anyway.  Sometimes it makes you swear, cry, and doubt yourself.  You worry about when you are going to be able to go to the bathroom, because pooping and this new boyfriend don’t mix.  Neither does farting.

When you get to the actual race itself you are so freaked out it takes a full day of exhausting/distracting yourself in a theme park.  But when it came down to it, I knew I had put in the time, effort, and miles to get going.  People also told me not to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon on my first, since I had no idea what to expect/my training might be good enough, etc.  Well guess what- I knew what I was made of- and I picked a “comfy” (but fast) pace that I knew I could maintain- and I friggen did it.  Not only did I do it, when I looked at my GPS fancy pace watch thing (that I barely know how to use)- I hit 8 min/mile EVERY MILE.   Within 5 seconds.  No, it was not easy.  At mile 17 my quads started to get sore- but I still had 9 miles to go- so my mantra was “this is what you do on a Tuesday after work.  No biggie”-  and as each painful mile ticked by after that, I  invented new reasons to stay on the pace and distract myself.

Other amazing distractions:  lots of men in tutus, dresses, princess outfits, etc.  A couple of them pretty fast!  Several army guys training for a tough mudder- so glad they decided not to wear shirts. A few of them yelled to me at how strong I looked- *sigh*

After the race-  ummm, hello legs not functioning.  I was surprised that I could run but barely walk.  Thank goodness my husband bought me the luxury post-race package- because I basically had gourmet breakfast, a medical team, extra goodies, and nice old ladies to take my shoes and socks off of me and put on my flip flops….

I’m not a marathon expert by any means- but what I did learn was that if you trust your training and power through, you can definitely reach your goals.  Obviously this is not a full re-cap- but what finding this did for me was remind ME that with this training cycle for Boston that I WILL be able to reach my goals because I am doing the work.  Yes, I needed to take almost 2 weeks off- but that is one of the reasons a marathon cycle is 20 weeks long.  I forget that during Disney training I was regularly taking time off to deal with ITBS, and was in PT for MOST of my training.  Also- I was running nearly every single run SLOWER than I run today.

GUESS WHAT?  I ran with almost no pain yesterday.  AMAZING.

Not sure what is on the docket for today….  something :)

What is your race success story?  When did you power through because you trusted yourself?

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5 Responses to Blogger Meet-Ups- and a throwback Race Report- Disney Marathon 2012

  1. Jenna says:

    I remember getting that email post-Disney marathon! I was cracking up then and just did now reading this. You know we are all so proud of what you’ve accomplished and your drive to continue to push yourself. You’ll be AMAZING in Boston this year and we are all rooting for you!If only I could get myself to run a mile….lol :o)

  2. This was a fantastic recap! I didn’t have time to read it til today! I love all the pics of you- you really shined in all of them! You are going to KILL Boston!!! :)

  3. Love this! I have such a hard time “racing” a long race rather than just holding a semi-hard tempo pace. I’m the opposite and do it better at shorter distances where I can tell myself “just a few more miles,” which doesn’t work in a half or full! My proudest race was probably a trail race. I had no idea what times were supposed to look like and my watch made me angry because I felt I was running hard but it was slow in terms of my typical pace. Little did I know, trail runs are supposed to be hard/slower and me just powering through trying to hit what I considered reasonable times made me finish 3rd in my first trail race. It was a real eye-opener that I could push harder than I thought when I race.

    • kristina says:

      I am OK at the 5k and better at 5 miles- 10K. I can stay focused during the 5k- but honestly, my modus operandi for short stuff is to run as fast as I can until I feel like I am going to puke and die. Not glamorous at all. A race as long as 5 miles I can usually pick & stick a pace! (my 5 mile pace is not much slower than my 5k though- only about 5 secs off… so I think that means I am not running my 5ks hard enough!)

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