On December 8th I ran my eight marathon and it was in the great state of
Alabama! I want to start with saying what a great race it was!
Huntsville is a small town but they know how to put on a marathon! I stayed at the host hotel (
Holiday Inn) and they took care of us! Nice small expo, LATE check out and an awesome spread of food after the race. The best marathon I have ran to date! Well in some ways : )
I drove down by myself and had a hotel room by myself so I was well rested and able to take care of all my pre race routines. I knew the weather was going to be warm but I was really hopeful that this was going to be a perfect race! Even though I had limited runs going into Huntsville I had just ran in Georgia on November 10th so I thought I would be well trained yet rested.
Miles 1-10 were pretty good! I was right on pace for a sub 4 hour and hanging with the 4 hour pace group. At mile 8 I noticed I was super sweaty and already coated in dried salt. Not a good sign when so early in the race. I figured I should start taking in powerade and eating a little more than usual to ward off dehydration.
Mile 11-13 These miles were slightly slower and I had to stop to take a porta potty stop; the kind you don't want to take during a race. I feel back from the 4 hour pace group but was well ahead of the 4:10 pace group. I was still hopeful for a good race and feeling average.
Mile 13 My belly was rumbling : ( and I knew something was going to go bad. I was hoping it was just going to be another porta potty stop. However, when I tossed back a cup of powerade at mile 13 it decided to take a quick exit. I threw up for the first time ever! For the next three miles I "ran", walked, shuffled, puked, walked, "ran" and shuffled.
Mile 16: I looked at my watch and realized I was walking as fast as I was "running" so I did some math and realized I had enough power walking skills to cover 10 miles in 2.5 hours which would let me still break 5 hours.
Miles 16-26.2 The longest walk of my life! However, I had so much fun! I talked to everyone and kept a huge smile on my face the whole time. I was still going to cover 26.2 miles, cross that finish line and claim my hard earned medal. While the race might not have been the best day of my life I had still trained to get there and I fought hard for 16 miles.
The great people of Alabama made these 10 miles so much fun! Awesome volunteers and residents. I have never ATE so much food while running (well walking) in my whole life. There were bananas, oranges, pretzels, water, powerade, beer, candy, and peanut M&Ms. Since it was a "heat wave" (mid 70s) there were people out with their water hoses and sprinklers.
I finished in an amazing time of 4:57:53 and I am proud of every second. No more back to back marathons for this girl. My next marathon will be on April 27th in Nashville, TN!
Check out my newest marathon accessory: Marathon Nails! They were so fun and gave me something to look at. This will be a new tradition for sure.
Thanks to everyone that follows my less than exciting blog!
