Marathon #14. 3:23:41, 2nd female, 14th overall. Wow, I don’t even know where to begin with this one. This was hands down one of the toughest marathons I’ve ever run due to the weather, probably only behind my Ironman marathon. It was close 91 degrees when I finished, sun blazing down, humid, and oh yeah – the 25+ mph winds.
I woke up feeling strong, prepared, and ready to run a great race. The race director warned us on his PA that the temp was about 15 degrees hotter than it usually is this time of year. But, I was feeling pretty confident and decided to shoot for a 3:12-3:15. I felt that was conservative given the weather. I’m tough, right? Surely the weather won’t affect me that much. So I planned to set out at a 7:21 pace with the plan of dropping the pace back if things went to hell. And off to hell they went.
But before we discuss the scenic route to hell, the Big D Marathon itself: pretty much well run from start to finish and a good deal for the money. I can be quite the irritating nit-picky ass at times, but the race entry fee was very reasonable and we got two shirts (one tech), nice medal, nice awards, good food at the end, and portable showers available at the finish. They also had a shuttle from the host hotel, where I stayed, to and from the race start (thank God because I never want to drive in Downtown Dallas EVER again). Okay, there’s the late 8:00 am start and not enough water stops, but I’m trying really hard to forgive them for that.
The shuttles left the hotel at 6:00 am and it was a 20 minute drive to the race start (Cotton Bowl), so I arrived with plenty of time. We were able to go inside the Cotton Bowl, and they had tables/chairs set up, so I sat down, listened to my tunes, ate and tried to inconspicuously scout out the competition.
At 7 am I checked my bag and headed out for a 20 min warm-up. Did some stretching and then headed to the start line. The half marathon and marathon started together but the half marathoners were wearing yellow bibs so I did some more scouting of my competition. I heard one girl (the eventual female overall winner) say in conditions like today she was going to run a conservative 3:06. Well, damn. Looks like I won’t be keeping up with her (she ran a 3:15).
Got to meet fellow DMer Paul at the start, which was awesome!! A huge congrats to him for rocking his first marathon in those conditions. If that had been my first marathon, you would have found me on the side of the road crying somewhere. I promised him they are not all that tough!! Way to go Paul (who also won his age group!)
So, the race itself. This will probably sound bitter. It is not meant that way. I have no regrets for my approach to this race. I was patient. I went from 5th female at Mile 8, to 2nd female by Mile 13, and did not get passed by anyone – male or female – after that point. I had hoped patience in the first half would provide for negative splits on the second half, and that didn’t happen, but I don’t know that I could have done anything different.
Mile 1 - Feelin’ good, feelin’ strong, feelin’ well, yeah, cocky. The pace felt easy and comfortable. Somehow I still did a 6:58 mile. Oops.
Miles 2-4 – The course winds through a neighborhood. I slow it down and am averaging around a 7:19 pace. There were some hills, but it kind of blinked by without notice. Reinforce false sense of preparedness for what is to come: check.
The marathoners and half-marathon splits at Mile 4, and the marathoners head for a loop around White Rock Lake. After the courses split, things thinned out a lot. At that point the wind around the lake was not that bad. Little did I know we would return to the lake around Mile 16 and the wind would be pure HELL.
It’s starting to get pretty damn hot around Mile 5. The water stops were pretty inconsistent. I’ve been spoiled I guess by races that provide water at every mile, but there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the placement of the water spots in this race. Sometimes there was a water stop two miles in a row, then you would go several miles without water. On a cooler day, that would have been okay. Not okay for a day like this one.
Saw Lance and his brother running around the lake around Mile 6 which was cool! Always nice to see a familiar face, and I appreciated his encouragement.
Around Mile 7, I slow down some. I’m feeling dehydrated and I’ve still got many more miles to go. Try to keep my average around 7:22. I’m told I’m 4th woman right now. Then another woman passes me. I’m now 5th woman. Damn. I’m frustrated because I really wanted a top 3 overall finish among women and now it feels out of reach. I try to remember patience. Patience is key. I’ve got time to catch them.
At Mile 8 we leave the lake and head back through some neighborhoods. At this point, I’m really wishing for some shade. While I appreciate the nice sun tan I’m getting, the sun is slowly sucking the life out of me.
Worst spectator sign: “Your half way there, Ashley!” Ashley, I hate to break it to you, but your friends don’t know “you’re” from “your” and unless you’re running the 16 mile version of this race, they suck at math too. At least they used the right “there.” I know, I’m such a bitch.
Mile 9 and 10 come and go. I’m just trying to stay consistent. I catch one of the women ahead of me. We run together for a little bit. She was very nice, mostly because she thought I was a lot younger than I am (she called me ‘Little One’ – awesome.). She falls back and I now see two more women in my horizon. I catch one at Mile 12, and another at the halfway point. I’m now 2nd woman, but we’ve got a long way to go.
I actually felt really strong from around Mile 13-16. I wasn’t speeding up, but I wasn’t slowing down either. I was averaging around a 7:24 pace, which was on target for a 3:15 race.
I don’t remember exactly when we returned to White Rock Lake – otherwise known as hell – but I think it was around Mile 16.
The return to White Rock Lake – 4 miles of hell. Not only was it miserably hot at the point, but it was so windy that the lake now looked like an ocean with waves and whitecaps. No joke. We were running into the wind around the lake and it was just brutal. I felt like I had energy but the legs wouldn’t make a running motion. Everyone was really spread out at this point, and I was running alone. It was all I could do to keep one leg moving in front of the other. I didn’t know how long we would be running around the lake, but I just wanted to get away from the damn lake and its evil wind. I trudged on, clocking around 8:15 miles.
Finally, around Mile 20, we leave the lake. I pushed as best I could to make up the lost time, but it just wasn’t happening. The wind is still blowing, it’s hot and I need water. I caught up with a fellow Marathon Maniac who was looking as miserable as I was. I tried to cheer him up and remind him that all he has to do was finish. I also accidentally lied to him and told him we’ve only got six miles left and there shouldn’t be any hills. Apparently there was one more long evil hill at Mile 21. Oops.
Miles 20-25 – The race directors, though organized and skilled at their jobs, are cruel, cruel people. While I appreciate that the course was flat the last 5 miles, there was NO shade whatsoever. Just sun blazing down on the asphalt. Suckfest. I was giving it all I could but still hovering over 8 minute miles, unable to bring the pace back down.
On the less depressing side, at this point the marathon and half marathon courses had remerged. I got to book it past all the back pack half-marathoners, which was quite a chore given the fact that they didn’t know I was coming. I felt like a hyena flying past a herd of grazing buffalo. No offense intended to anyone at the grazing buffalo pace. I am 100% of the any pace is an awesome pace mentality.
The last six miles heading back to the Cotton Bowl were quiet. There were no crowds. The only people out were volunteers running solo corner duty or the occasional somewhat confused looking citizen sitting on their porch.
At Mile 25, there was a guy screaming at me at the top of his lungs like a drill instructor.The typical “you’re almost there” speech, but with all sorts of motivational “kick it in to high gear” and “give it everything you’ve got – and then some” and hand gestures and volume that made me fear for my life if I didn’t obey. So it was maybe a little early to start pushing, but push I did.
Mile 26+ –I pushed as hard as my body would let me. Something in my leg started poking from the inside (is that bad?) and every muscle in my legs burned, but that only pushed me to finish faster. I was dodging a lot of half marathon walkers, and I made up some time and finished just under 3:24. About 9 minutes slower than my moderately realistic back-up plan goal.
Definitely not my best race – in fact, one of my worst marathon times in the last few years – but it I fought hard for it and I’m proud.
Took a shower to cool off. A local church provided portable shower facilities, which was awesome. They provided everything – towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner – I was so thankful. Also, got to talk to Paul again after the race and meet his great family!!
Dan texted me to see if I was planning to head home soon (my favorite race Sherpa couldn’t make the trip with me due to work. Missed having him there), and I told him I was waiting around for awards. My exact words were “I don’t care if the award is made of dog shit, I’m waiting for it. I earned that sucker.” Nice, I know.
Glad I waited - the awards were nice – then hopped on the shuttle and headed back to the hotel.
One of the worst parts of the day was the 2.5 hour drive home post-marathon. Did wonders for my legs. Ouch.
Thanks everyone for the support. You all rock.
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