Made it To a Marathon

Well, more than a year after I first set out to run a marathon, I have finally, officially done it. 17 months, probably a thousand miles, one stress fracture, and countless peanut butter M&Ms later I can proudly say it: I AM A MARATHONER.

What a great feeling. What a great Mothers' Day. I got to spend it in the glorious Colorado mountains, in perfect weather, doing just what I love: running. And not just running, but running my first marathon! I have a full race report coming in the near future, but for now I will spare you the suspense and give you the quick-and-dirty version...

Miles 1-18 = glorious, fabulous, sexay mountain downhills, I rocked it
Miles 19=25 = cow and horse manure smell, quads started whining at mile 22
Mile 25-26.2 = ohmygod how good does chocolate milk sound right now?!

Final chip time: 4:35:49. Of course, as any marathoner knows, the time doesn't always tell the whole story. My secret [achievable] goal was to come in at 4:30--and basically, I did that. Had I not made a porta-potty stop, I would have been about a minute off of that. And had I walked less in miles 22-26.2, I would have smashed my goal and come in about 4:18. But the best part of the story is that I ran strong, felt great, and will definitely be doing more marathons in the future (ok, yes, so I am already registered for Denver in October, but now I am also considering a July or August showing, just to keep things fun...I never had the moment of "why in the hell did I ever think this was a good idea?!")

I really had a great, strong race and feel completely satisfied with my finish. And my favorite line by a runner was the Marathon Maniac at about mile 9 who, in chatting, mentioned that he had run 116 marathons. A couple of other first-timers with the little group running with me were incredoulous at that--they said, "my God, you are basically in marathon training 100% of the time!" and his response, "well, the really great thing about running a marathon every couple of weeks is that you never have to do that long boring training run on the weekends!" That got a good laugh out of all of us.

The grand finale to my Mothers' Day was that after we all got back home, we were on our way to walk to the park for a little while and Shortie2 flipped off the front of his little riding toy car, busted his chin wide open, and ended up at the urgent care with 6 stitches. Thank God I had a wonderfully-moisture-wicking tech shirt on in order to soak up all the dripping blood. Ah, Motherhood, indeed.

The Downhill Whore Lives

I know I have said it before, but on Saturday's run I re-discovered that I am indeed, still a downhill whore. The group run took the fun trek up to Daniel's Park. Depending on how far you go (all the way up to the Park, vs. stopping short at some point along the way; being the whore I am, you know I like to go. all. the. way.) it is 2-4 miles of uphill.

elevation profile the run up to Daniel's Park

I started the morning by running from my house to the rec center where we all met--1.3 miles. The air was cold and I have been trying not to use my inhaler anymore, so when we set out my lungs were feeling those hills a little. I set off at a slow pace as we started climbing. I had a few patches of run/walk (yeah, did you notice the 5% grade patches in that little map above?), but I always picked it back up to run. Why? Because I knew what was coming after the turnaround of the out-and-back, and I needed my legs and body to be warm for the hardcore downhill boning I planned on doing. I refused to stop and quite frankly, I would have clawed, crawled or even done the Snake up that hill if it meant I could run back down it. Indeed, a tried-and-true Downhill Whore.

Run totals: 8.53 miles, 1:35
To illustrate the downhill whoriness of it all, my splits:
Mile 1 - 11:08 (big uphill at the start, took it slow warming up)
Mile 2 - 9:40, best pace of 6:19 (oh crap, I better hurry up or I'll be late...followed by, oh crap maybe I shouldn't have sprinted)
Mile 3 - 12:04 (fu%k that's a big hill)
Mile 4 - 10:55 (fu%kedy fu%ck this hill SUX)
Mile 5 - 9:48 , best pace 7:50 (almost there...turning arond...and now...GIVE IT TO ME BABY)
Mile 6 - 8:33, best pace 7:10 (wheeeeeee!)
Mile 7 - 8:50, best 7:32 (oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah, I love the downhill)

**hourlong break while we meet/eat/listen to Muscle Max presentation**

Mile 8 - 15:33 (walking back home, carrying newly-acquired Muscle Max papers and water bottle)
Mile .53 - 8:30 (damn these papers are a pain, I could be home already if I didn't have to carry these stupid things; curse you Muscle Max!)


On another note, now that I've got myself calmed back down from my Downhill daydreams, Lam had a great post about resolutions--for those of you that set them this time of year and those of you that don't, I suggest reading his take on the power and reason for resolutions. Whether you set them in January or continuously throughout the year, here's to getting going...especially if it's downhill.

I Am A Downhill Whore

If there is a Downhill within 10 miles of my house, I've had my way with it....numerous times. I realized yesterday on my morning run that I actually strategically plan my routes to seek out and take advantage of Downhills. Oh, I'll huff and puff and grit my way through doing the requisite ugly friend, Uphill, as long as Downhill promises me a sweet hookup afterward. But when it comes time, I won't take my time and savor Downhill--oh no--I'll let go and just fly through him, they way I can't make myself do with old ugly-turn-out-the-lights-put-a-bag-over-his-head-and-pray-for-it-to-be-over-soon Uphill. The feeling of running fast on Downhill is one I just can't get enough of.

Yes, it's true. I can admit it: I am a Downhill whore. Do they make porn for that?

Yesterday I did about 5.2 miles in 50 minutes. Downhill count: 6. Today I am skipping my morning run and instead going for a rafting trip on the Platte with my old college roommate who is in town. I think I'll save my rendezvous with Downhill for tonight. Oh, the anticipation!