One of my goals for this year was to (wo-)man up and run another marathon. My first foray in the world of marathoning, the Marine Corps marathon in 2008, was an emotional roller coaster. I figured after two years, it was probably time to run another. I chose the Space Coast marathon in Cocoa. I'd heard it was an easy flat course and that was the truth.
I really tried to put it out of my mind that I hadn't been doing a whole lot of running, mostly cross training and running once or twice a week. My main goal for this race was to finish, just so I could say that I had done a second marathon. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I had this whole mental thing going on. I was still on a high from my time from the half last weekend, so I channeled that and went out for a good time.
Again Billy came with me and was up at the un-godly hour of 4:00am to catch the bus to the start line with me. I did my stretching and headed to the start. Start time for this race was 6:15am! Holy cow it was early! And a little bit chilly. I couldn't decide if I should wear my jacket or not and in the end decided that I was gonna get warm with the running and the forecast said it was supposed to be in the 70's.
This race had pacers, so the corrals were marked for what pace and finish time you wanted. Since I finished the Women's half in 2:26, Billy thought that I should pace with the 5 hour finishers. I thought that was being a little overzealous since what I run at miles 1-5 is a lot faster than what I run at miles 20-26. I think I finally settled on the 5-1/2 hour group and after the cool "countdown to lift off" start I fell in with the group. Miles one and two were good, but I felt like I wanted to run a little bit faster. It seemed that I was moving all over the road trying not to step on the backs of the persons feet in front of me.
We were running along the beautiful intercoastal waterway and it was gorgeous as the sun was rising. I was enjoying the stately homes along the river, but it was freezing cold out! At mile 6 I really had to pee, so I stopped at one of the water stations to relieve myself. One of the features of the Space Coast marathon are the water stations. These guys go all out! There is one at every mile and they are all space themed. They had Avatar, Star Wars, and even a Jimmy Buffett southernmost point themed water station that was sponsored by the local Parrothead club. (This one was located at the very southern turn-around of the marathon.) The race is made up of two out-and-back routes that make up the marathon. The half marathoners took the southern route out-and back to the finish line, while the full marathoners headed north for 7 miles and then back to the start/finish area then headed south.
The first half of the marathon was pretty lonely. Since it was so early, there were hardly any spectators, except for the occasional person walking their dog and of course the water stations. As I approached the halfway point, I was thinking, "Good grief! What have I gotten myself into? I'm right here at the finish, I could totally just end it here and go home." Then I saw Billy waiting for me and he was cheering me on. At this point I still felt good, but I messed up my mental game and it was downhill from there. Miles 15, 16 and 17 I kept telling myself that it wouldn't be so bad if I turned around now. I mean, the longest I've run was 13.1 and I've definitely run further today, so isn't that good enough?
Fortunately, I am not a quitter, because the next thing I know, I'm passing mile 18, then 19. The Parrotheads definitely helped with some morale. They had the best water station! I could hear Jimmy singing from a quarter mile away and the crew was cheering me on as I ran past.
I should mention that at this point my feet are killing me! Seriously, I was sore from my hips down and I was walking more than running. Then I met the most inspiring gentleman. He was probably in his 60's and wearing a shirt that said "50 + DC" This guy had run a marathon in every state and Washington DC!! He was so nice. We paced with each other for a while and I found out that last year he finished in 6-1/2 hours on a bad knee! He was ecstatic that this year he was going to finish in a quicker time with his new knee! LOL! I quit my mental whining and kept chugging along.
There weren't a whole lot of people left out on the course, but since I was on the back part of the out-and-back, I could see everyone that was going to finish behind me and I felt better knowing that I wasn't going to be last.
Right before I reached the 26 mile point, there he was standing on the side of the road, my hubby. He fell in beside me and helped me finish strong. To reach the finish line you enter the park and run around "the rotunda" There was a guy in all yellow right behind me and as he passed me, Billy yells, "Don't let him beat you, baby!" My reply to that was, "If he beats me, he earned it!" My feet wanted to fall off!
As I entered the rotunda, I could hear the announcer calling out the finishers as they crossed the finish line. I always hustle out the last 100 meters or so, and when I saw that the finish line was right around the bend, I picked up my pace. Remember the guy in yellow? Well, I started to pass him and he looks to his left, sees me and says, "Oh no you don't!" I almost started laughing, but we sprinted it out and as I crossed the finish line I started crying. It was pretty emotional especially since I noticed my time was 5:49:59. One of the volunteers saw me crying and she put a hand on my shoulder to steady me and says, "You did it! You finished!" I replied, "I know! I'm so happy!"
As they placed the medal around my neck, I was smiling from ear to ear!
