Race report: One down, 23 to go!

Upcoming - Week 2:  Recovery time

Well, yesterday was the marathon in DC.  Needless to say, today has been a day of hobbling around attempting to ascend and descend the stairs and not look too awkward walking around the grocery store.  I have managed to eat a ton since the race (not quite on purpose - the stomach wants what it wants!) and I did manage to treat myself with a cinnamon chip muffin from the bakery this morning.  Joy!  The pain isn't too terrible but I keep trying to move around so I don't get stiff or cramp up - although I should be icing more than I have been, unfortunately.

So this coming week will be mostly recovery with some swimming and light biking...and a little volleyball this coming weekend with some old Altoona friends for a little reunion :)  I probably won't do any running until next week, which will still be light and easy.  But, here is my race report for the Rock n' Roll USA Marathon in DC:

The Good:
The race was in a great location downtown at the RFK Stadium.  We stayed in Landover and took the train a short 15 minutes in and got off at the stop right by the Armory.  It couldn't have been easier and I'm so glad we did that instead of trying to drive.  The gear bag check was nice with ample space for storage which made getting in and out pretty painless.  Probably the one painfree thing of the day :)  The day couldn't have been more perfect for the race - cool in the morning but warming up nicely (maybe a little too much) by the time I hit the half marathon point.  I started out feeling great during the race and carried this through for the first half of the marathon...which I was hoping for at least.  Mile 4 and 9 were a little interesting.  I managed to get a second wind of some kind around mile 16...and then again at mile 22.  These were fairly short lived in the world of "second winds", I believe.

The Bad:
The bad?  Well, there were a handful of bad things, from a dead bug in our hotel bed (free room for that, btw) neglecting my sunscreen, wearing pants I never trained in, and various other things, I'd say things went ok for my first marathon.  For a "Rock n' Roll" race, I was a little disappointed with the so called bands they had set up along the way.  Now, I know that you can't get Switchfoot to play at every stage along the course, but come on.  You could have done better than some of the stuff that was out there.  Thank god I went with my gut and wore my ipod.  As for the race itself, things were already getting to my head by mile 4 - I was hungry!  My pre-race nerves managed to curb my appetite so I couldn't force much down beforehand besides half a bagel, half a powerbar, and some gatorade.  It managed to get warmer than I was anticipating early on and was thirsty a lot.  At mile 7 they were handing out water bottles, so I grabbed one and carried it with me and refilling at water stations until mile 26.1 before tossing it aside so I could try to "sprint" to the finish line.  I'm thankful for that, otherwise, I don't think I would have made it.  I also felt somewhat defeated when all of the half marathoners started to pick up the pace around mile 9 and were passing me.  It was hard to not keep up with everyone, but I kept telling myself that I just needed to cool out and stick with the plan...otherwise I'd be hurting later (which I was).  I wanted so badly to follow the half marathoners to their finish line - I couldn't believe I still had another half to run!

The Ugly:
Sunburn, popped blister/bloody sock, mile 22...
So, I managed to get a nice sunburn on my arms, back, and chest since I neglected to wear my sunscreen.  I think my only saving grace was the fact that I wore my hat, thank god!  Otherwise, I would have a ridiculously burt face with a sunglasses tan line.  I have one from my ipod and watch, ha!  I won't make that mistake again...even on the long training rides and runs we do on the weekends - no sir!  So, things started to turn ugly around mile 18-19...I kept thinking in my head, "I've only gone 20 miles so I only know what 20 miles feels like..." and then I got scared.  Around mile 19 we had to cross a metal grate bridge which didn't feel good on the feet that were already hurting terribly.  I managed to pass everyone that was walking at this point, so that made me feel good.  When I hit the mile 20 marker, I had a sense of relief that there was only a 10K left.  Little did I know that this 10K would be the hardest of my life.  It seemed the closer I got to the finish line, the longer it took the mile markers to show up!  By mile 22 I was ready to call it quits and employ the run/walk strategy, but just tried to focus on eating and drinking and thinking about how often I had to do that so I didn't think about how painful things felt at that time.  And then it hit me.  Like someone driving a nail through my foot - the blister that I felt forming at mile 8 finally got fed up with me and busted wide open.  I screamed at the pain and managed to take 4 or 5 more strides but the pain was incredible.  I ran off to the side and sat down on the curb...I had to do SOMETHING.  I ripped my shoe and sock off to assess the damage expecting to see a blood soaked sock with half of the skin on my toe missing, but it was just slightly red and my skin was intact (by the end of the race it was much more red).  Not that I could have done anything about it if I did have a blood soaked sock and was missing all of my toe skin.  So, I took this time to retie my shoes, stretch for a second, refocus, and go on my way since there was nothing more I could do by sitting on the curb.  It was painful starting out running again, but once I got into a stride, the pain in my toe subsided (or it just went numb) and I was able to keep a decent pace the rest of the way to the end.  It was tough trying to tick off the miles...23, ok only a 5K to go, 24, ok 2 more, 25........almost....there....26.  At mile 26 I was just so happy to see the finish line and the people lining the road I couldn't help but smile the last .2.

It wasn't a pretty race and the marathon doesn't do nice things to your body (chafing).  I can't say right now that I would do one again, but who knows.  I think the first one is the hardest and now I know what it is like and can say I've done one.  I don't find it as enjoyable as other people and don't expect to...I'm just glad that I finished :)  But, what if I hadn't sat on that curb assessing my damage for 5 minutes....??!  There's always room for improvement, right?

Cheers!
Chandra