"A" Goal in the Bag

Feeling much less sore.. So here's how the show went down..
Saturday--I did my traditional one mile run to loosen up and stretch. Now here's the thing-- I was having some crazy ankle pain that kept coming and going all last week. It seemed to intensify on Friday and stayed with me Saturday. I was able to run okay, but it constantly hurt afterward. I tried to ignore it because the truth is, I hadn't done anything to it!!

Soon we were on our way to Philly via the megabus. After a short ride, it was time to check into the hotel and head to the Expo. I met K of Team Stick, who was also running the thon. We were both trying to stifle our unwanted race-week-appearing ailments. Not good. Anyway, anxiety was high -- I lost it on a street corner minutes before entering the expo. But pulled it together to get the bib, d-tag, pace band, etc.

Dinner was with a bunch of Flyers at a nearby restaurant. Luckily, I had lots of pep talks and reassurances from friends. Thank you Lam! and Flyers DK, JB, and DG!!

After the worst night's sleep (ankle pain, restlessness, marathon-themed nightmares, etc), I woke up at 4:30a and realized it was go-time. Breakfast was three-quarters of a bagel with pb and "sports drink" endorsed by Brian Sell.

My husband (best fan ever!!) walked with me to the start at oh-five-forty-five-hundred hours. He got to see the typical start line madness: lengthy lines for the porta-potties, chaotic bag check, confusion re: starting corrals, etc. Also, he had to deal with me, and I was quite the mess. He handed me off to some Flyers friends at the start and I tried to settle my nerves.

The actual race was rather dreamlike. I just tried to run solid. I felt light and strong. It was fun looking for family and friends along the course. Everyone was so encouraging. My feelings ranged from strong, steady, fast, terrified, nauseous, injured? The first half was kinda fun. The course was mostly flat, but there were some cat hill type hills. I realized I was on pace for a sub-four, especially at the half. I'm not sure of my exact split, but it was either 1:57 or 1:58. I felt I had another sub-two half in me, but I was concerned about injury. Of course, my knee had to speak up around mile 22. Since I had a pretty decent time buffer, I pulled over a few times to stretch (after mile 22, 23, and 24). I KNOW I could've run faster, but I didn't want to risk injury. Instead, I slowed to nine-somethings. After mile 25, it was obvious I could've crawled to the finish in under four hours (I exaggerate some..)

Flyer EA was on roller blades and skated a bit with me to keep me going--that was awesome!! (though against course rules..) I declared to him, "I am never doing this again!" He replied, "Well, do it now. Do it today." I thought that was perfect! I pushed on and finally saw the finish line signs..and then the finish line.. And I crossed at 3:55.29. Besides elation, I felt an enormous sense of relief. And pain all over. But that's expected ;)

Soon I found K of TS, who had killed her previous time with a PR of 3:16! Wow!There were lots of Flyer PRs--all of you rock!! I reunited with the fam (best fans ever!!) and we took lots of pics. I rode the high all through the day~

Refueling was difficult for some reason. I had no appetite but was clearly starving. I think ingesting those gu's are killer for me (I nursed two of them between miles 5-10 and 14-20, respectively). Ick!

Now for splits (note: I forgot to press the lap button at a couple mile markers b/c I was distracted with the H2O sitch--it was pretty crazy trying to hydrate and not get trampled..)

1) 9:08

2) 9:07

3) 9:06
4) 9:31 (I believe there was a hill? Not sure why the slow-down)

5) 8:53

6) 8:52

7) 8:50

8) 9:02

9) 8:51

10) 8:58

11 & 12) 9:54; 7:55 (got distracted..)

13 & 14) 9:48; 7:50 (again, hit the lap button late..)

15) 8:39

16) 8:50

17) 8:44

18) 8:54

19) 8:53

20) 8:57

21) 8:57

22) 8:39 (ha! I love this one!)

23) 9:07 (stopped the first time to stretch the IT)

24 & 25) 19:05 (I have no idea what happened--forgot to press lap. Also stretched twice)

26.2) 10:59 (there was no mile 26?? averages to 8:49 pace)

Total: 3:55.29

Pace: 8:59

My thoughts: This was a fantastic outcome! I accomplished my "A" goal and ended up with a terrific experience! Thank you to all who were out there cheering and supporting!! And congratulations to everyone who PR'ed!