Running 26.2

My marathon was today. I finished! All 26.2 miles. Being my first marathon, finishing was my main goal. My secondary goal was to finish in under 4 hours 30 minutes. This was a softer goal but given the pace at which I had been running my longer runs that seemed attainable. I am proud to say that I finished in 4:21!

It was a pretty cool experience. The energy of the dense crowd at the beginning was intense. I started way at the back which might sound like a bad thing but I thought it would be a good thing since it gave me an opportunity to pass more people in the later stages.

I found myself running a little faster than the pace I wanted to be keeping. After about 3 miles, things thinned out. They thinned out further when the half marathon course split from the full marathon course. That’s when I really settled in.

I passed the 5:00, 4:45 and finally 4:30 pace teams before mile 12. I thought about keeping with the 4:30 team. They were a large team and had a lot of spirit. But, I felt good enough to put some distance between them and me. Miles 12-17 were great. I kept my pace and many others around me were at the same pace.

Not surprisingly, miles 20-25 were the toughest. At that point, the course went along the river and it was a lot of up and down hills through parks along side the river and over and under bridges. A lot of people choose to walk up the hills over these miles. But, I pushed ahead continuing to run even if my pace slowed a lot up those hills. I walked through the aid stations as I drank water and, in one case, a short distance afterward but I was afraid if I walked too long I would not be able to start back up. My legs were really feeling tired.

The enthusiasm of the crowd through the last 1/2 mile was incredible. Total strangers cheering me on. At the start of that last mile I was able to call my wife on my cell phone to let her know I was close. That provided more motivation knowing my family was waiting for me at the finish. Over the phone I could hear the cheering at the finish. Rounding the last corner with the finish in site I felt no fatigue, no pain. As I crossed the finish my name was announced for all to hear. And, then I spotted my family waiting for me.