Yesterday I completed my first marathon. It was considerably harder than I ever expected. With work projects, having a baby, and being sick most of last week including yesterday it was a physical and mental challenge. Going into yesterday I had devised a plan. Frequency of water vs. Gatorade, gel packs, music layout for the course, mental things to think about to take my mind off the race. Here’s how it turned out.

Mile 1 - 3 - Easy going kept my heart rate going and kept it at a nice even pace. Music play order is not right. Not sure what happened.
Mile 4 - 5 - Started walking through the water stops as planned. Tried alternating gatorade and water but they keep switching which one’s first. So took a half glass of each. At mile 5 had my first gel pack.
Mile 6 - 8 - Grabbed a bunch of gel packs at mile 7 and had my amino vital supplement at 8. Start of the Bryden Rd. hill. It’s a long slow hill. I take a sudafed strip to try and clear my head and chest a little.
Mile 9 - 10 - Kept a good pace. Fallen behind my pace because of the hill at 8. Kept my heart rate in range as planned. Should be seeing Susan soon.
Mile 10.5 - There’s Susan taking pictures. It is so nice to see someone you love during this event.
Mile 11 - 13 - Along high street up to Nationwide blvd. I’m doing ok but my heart is pounding. I’m taking walking breaks every half mile now.
Mile 14 - 16 - We’re on high street headed towards Dodridge through campus. The pack has really thinned out now. I’m running around some other people that seem to be struggling as much as I am. At mile 16 my legs quit running. One of the other runners from Team in Training gave me two of her extra gel packs to help me out. My hands are starting to swell up.
Mile 17 - 18.5 - My heart rate is through the roof so I’m tempering my run so I only run to 175BPM then I walk until it’s back down to 155BPM. It works out to about 2 - 3 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking.
Mile 18.5 - 20 - My legs siezed up with cramps in my calf, quads, and hamstring muscles. I almost fell over. I refused to quit. I walked at a 15 minute pace for the next mile and half and then started back to my routine. I’ve stopped drinking gatorade and just water. I’m pumping my hands constantly trying to get the swelling down. One more sudafed strip.
Mile 21 - 25.75 - I’m just keeping my interval. I’m so exhausted I can barely walk. My heart rate now climbs so I’m only running for 2 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. All I can think of is stopping. There’s a group of Team in Training runners that I’ve been going back and forth with that are struggling too. At mile 22 I passed 2 guys wearing bathrobes that walked the event. There’s no way I’m letting them come even close to finishing behind me.
Mile 25.75 - 26.2 - It’s only 1/2 mile. I just have to put one foot in front of the other. No matter how much my chest hurts because I can’t get any air in. My heart feels like it’s going to burst and my legs have are only responding my mental urges to continue. Up Down. Up Down. I can do this. I see friends waiting for me. I hear voices and realize that I only have 100 yards to go. I cross the finish line and struggle to move. Suddenly my Susan is there helping me stand and I finished.

Every muscle in my body aches from my neck to bottom of my feet. I can barely put one foot in front of the other. My knees, quads, back, everything just hurts so much. I wish I had done better but considering the circumstances I know finishing was my goal. Had I more time, less big events going on, yesterday would have been a better day. Now more than anything I know what needs to be done for January.