So a couple weeks ago I was BEGGING for taper, and it finally happened. It really really happened! I had a great taper. Long run Sunday, off Monday, 6 miles Tuesday, then 4 miles both Wednesday and Thursday. Friday and Saturday were off days which were GLORIOUS. Tam, my sister-in-law, drove down Saturday afternoon in order to cheer me on with Red on Sunday. She helped Red navigate the course for awesome cheering throughout the whole race!
Going into the race I was slightly concerned because my longest run was about 18.5 miles, maybe 17.5 miles, and Ali ended up virtually dragging me home because I was dying. I knew that I was getting stronger because my short runs were feeling completely effortless and I was slightly antsy during taper because I was feeling really good. The race was interesting. My friend knows how horrendous I am at pacing and gave me strict instructions to hold back and relax the first 20 miles, then the last 10k go ahead and open up to finish strong. He didn't think I would jump from completely relaxed to go nearly as hard as possible in 100 yards as soon as I hit the 20 mile marker. Oops.
A quick glance at the race set up. We all started in downtown Cincinnati near the stadiums. We run across the bridge into Newport KY, across a bridge to Covington, KY, then back ANOTHER bridge into Cincinnati. After that we run all over God's kingdom in Cincinnati for the next 23 miles. This is all normal because that's the same route that the Pig has gone for the last few years. A few things were a little different this year. You may remember a few weeks ago that a couple of a-hole kids thought it was a good idea to attack and ruin the Boston Marathon for absolutely no freaking reason. The Boston Marathon is not a political statement, it is not a gathering of vicious people. The Boston Marathon is a race where people get to show off their running abilities who busted their butts for months in order to qualify to run in a prestigious race. But a couple of idiots took that moment in time to attack our sport. The funny thing? No one knows what they were trying to accomplish, but if it was getting people to stop running then they missed by a mile. There have been more runners going out when they didn't feel like it since Boston, and the Cincinnati Flying Pig was completely sold out for the first time. The Pig made modifications to the course, not in direction, but in military and police presence. Yes, I said military. There were Navy officers (or ROTC I didn't pay that much attention) checking bibs going into the corals. There were Police officers in full tactical gear spread out throughout the ENTIRE course. The upside was that their presence didn't obstruct the fun of the race, or how it actually ran. They were just there "in case" another idiot wanted to trespass on our sport.
Ok, enough soap box. As I said, I was a little nervous about the marathon because my longest run was a lot shorter than the entire race distance. Miller told me to hold back and do this novice idea of "pacing", you know, actually running steady splits for an extended period of time. I suck at this. But this race I made a point to attempt to stick to a relaxed 10:00 min/mile pace. I didn't actually stick to 10:00, but I was around a steady 9:30 which was very close for me! Anyone who knows me at all knows that listening is not my forte, but this race I actually listened! I had to constantly relax and tell myself to hold back until mile 20. Breaking the race down into sections of when I would get to see Red and Tam, eat, drink, and get to run without restraint. This worked really well! I made it a point to drink at every aid station from mile 4 onward, which was impressive and kept me from dehydrating like I normally do. I looked forward to getting to see Red and Tam at miles 6, 12, 18, 22, and the finish! Then I told myself to break down the food to miles 8, 16, and 24. I missed mile 24 because that's when I was on my own of "run how you feel", aka "Shan's not the brightest cookie and just wants to run fast". I held off and stayed steady all the way through mile 20, and felt great the whole time. I was at points in the race where last year I was absolutely dead and hating everything. I compared this years race to last year's, and it was night and day. It was slightly rainy, 65, cloudy, happy, and I felt great. Last year it was 90% humidity, 78 degrees (a sudden heat surge), sunny, and I was less than happy for the whole race. I didn't start to feel like I was dying until about mile 24, and that's when 1) my music died (Pandora needs you to mess with the music selection every few hours in order to keep playing, my bad), 2) I had picked a girl who was looking great and attempted to stay with her, despite the fact that it meant jumping over 1 minute in pace to stay with her, 3) I didn't stick to my plan of taking water and my gel after mile 23, and 4) seriously, I was at mile 24 I'm not going to complain. The last two miles were rough, and the last mile just sucked which was evidence in my splits. I went from 9:30's to 8:30's for a few miles, then my death mile was back to 9:30's. My finishing kick though was at a 7:30 pace, so not terrible. I felt just fine after the race outside of the normal soreness and tightness, didn't need the med tent, and was able to actually functionally walk afterward and move the rest of the day. My previous marathon PR? 4:19 on a completely flat course in Columbus. My new PR? 4:09 here in hilly, not so easy course, in Cincinnati!! Yeah ten minute PR!!!
Now I'm relaxing for a change. I'm in a strange limbo now. I have a half Iron distance race in 2 weeks, so now I need to recover and get the last bit of tough training in before my first triathlon of the season. I'm hoping to hop up to Caesar creek this weekend to get an open water swim in so I can get used to how badly the cold water is going to suck, and also remember how to site in open water. Begin nerves 2.0!
