Race Weekend Recap

Well, it was a good weekend. Not a great race, but a great weekend. We were in a cute little house directly on the beach in Kill Devil Hills with our friends Stephen and Amanda, and their friend Trevor, who brought his friend Miles. An assortment. Trevor and especially Miles are "DC insiders," Trevor worked on several Senate campaigns and is looking for a position "on the hill" and Miles has been involved in huge campaigns, like for John Edwards and Chris Dodd. I had a great time picking his brain about his guesses for positions in the next administration and his opinions on gossip and such. Good times.

We left Friday night, but unfortunately had to go to a visitation for a father of a coxswain who passed away suddenly. It was very sad, but it was great to see the team there supporting her and I know it meant a lot to her whole family. We got in around 10:30-11pm and hung out a bit before heading to bed.


Saturday was very mellow, lots of walks with the dogs on the beach, reading books on the deck, and trying to stay out of the sun. Kinda nice to be a little lazy. We headed out in the afternoon to pick up our packets and got some fresh mahi mahi that Trent bbq'd for dinner. Lots of pasta, lots of water and off to sleep!


Stephen and I were running the full marathon, so Trent dropped of Trevor and Amanda and then took us to the start. We cut it a bit close but managed to be ready to go once the gun went off. We are so happy. This was Stephen's first race, but as a previous Olympic athlete, he knows all about competition and strategy. Me.. not so much.


We ran together for the first 5-6 miles, at around a 7:30 pace, which was fast for me but I felt good. Stephen definitely felt good and took off pretty soon after that. I tried to settle into a good pace, somewhere around 7:45 min/mile. Trent cruised around on the bike, taking pictures of us, and three rowers who were also doing the race and determined to beat me. Not so much.


So I felt pretty good for the first half, but was definitely more tired than I should be around the halfway point. I was trying to eat and drink but it was pretty hot and my stomach wasn't thrilled about it. Just kept up a pretty quick pace and pushed myself harder than I had in previous races. I was doing great, really trucking, until about mile 20. I can't say I fell apart, because I did keep running and never stopped, but I definitely slowed down a bunch. I hurt everywhere, couldn't eat any more, and just wanted to be done. I tried to "kick it in" at the last mile, and sped up for about 200 meters, before slowing back down. I just didn't really care enough. Bummer. Still, I finished at 3:31, which is really fast, but the same time as last year, which was dissapointing since I thought I trained a lot more this year. Still Boston-qualifing, yay.


Me, Trevor, Amanda and Stephen at the end. Stephen had a great race, he finished in 3:06!! For his first one. So awesome. I could blame the horseback riding that I was still sore from, the heat, or the crazy past couple of weeks, but I am trying to stay positive and remind myself that I am dang fast and not many people can do a marathon, much less in three and a half hours. And maybe that's as fast as I go? I do have these short little legs. It was great to be out there with friends, and that was what matters.

We went home and I immediately went in the ocean to cool off my legs. Couldn't eat or drink for a while, which made me feel even worse, but after a little nap, I ate some pizza and orange juice and felt better. We lounged about, napping and eating, before going to dinner at a local seafood restaurant to celebrate. Home and to bed. Trent and I had to leave very early Monday morning, Trent had a busy day of work, but I managed to sleep nearly the whole way, so it wasn't so bad for me. I am hobbling around still today, but starting to feel better. Time to re-evaluate this hobby of mine and decide if this is something I want to continue. I bet my mind will change when I don't grimmace in pain trying to stand up...