Frankenthon Marathon Race Report

Thanks to everyone for the congratulatory wishes on yesterday's marathon! I've already cashed in on my running gift certificate I won yesterday, buying more running clothes I really didn't need (but they are cute!).

So, obviously yesterday's marathon turned into more of a race than a training run for me. I really had planned to run it conservatively, but sometimes even best laid plans don't go as planned. This was a local marathon, just North of Austin, and a fairly small one. They kept the list of currently registered participants updated on the web site, so I would  stalk check out the list occasionally to scope out my competition. Since it's a smaller race, the winning women's times in the past have been a little slower than they would be in one of the big marathons - roughly around 3:25. I felt like I had a chance to win if it the field was similar to year's past. But, here's the thing about race day: you never know who is going to show up. Closer to the race, I checked the participant list again and saw a name of a female I recognized who runs for one of the Austin elite teams. She's fast...out of my league fast. I've never met her in person, just know the name from the Austin racing scene and figured the races was hers to take. Which, I told myself, was good. I could follow my plan to just run it as a training run.

Fast forward to race day. I was battling achy joints all week, which I attributed to the sheer volume of training I was doing. I took a complete rest day on Friday, hoping that would help with the aches. The last thing I wanted was to make it half way through and have to drop out because of joint pain. I got to the race early and warmed up for an easy 3 miles; I've found with 50-miler training it takes me longer and longer to warm up - probably because my legs are still flushing out the previous day's workout for the first 20 minutes.

I had recognized the speedy girl at the start of the race, but she doesn't know me from Adam, so I didn't talk to her before the race. The starting gun sounded, and my plan was to go out and run by feel at a comfortable pace. I settled into a 7:30 pace and found myself running side by side her and another guy. The guy running with us started chatting and asking our goals. She wouldn't say but informed him she wasn't going to talk during the race (kind of rudely, but I get it. I don't usually like to carry on long conversations in a race either). I told him I didn't have a specific time goal in mind, and that I just wanted to run a steady race. At that point, the other girl spoke up with some unsolicited advice about maybe I should slow down because we were running pretty fast and she has a tendency to 'make people try to run faster to keep up.' This was followed up with 'And, this is your first marathon, right?'. I was slightly taken back and a little insulted that she automatically assumed I was going to crash and burn so I needed to slow down, but responded politely with "No, I've done several marathons. This is a comfortable marathon pace for me." Perhaps she was just trying to offer up some advice because she also informed me she is also a coach, so I didn't say anything else ands just continued to run along side her (which I am sure annoyed her). But, I will admit, she fueled the flame a little bit, and I was determined to keep my pace right where it was to prove her wrong (childish perhaps, but oh well...)

The course was a 3 loop course (each loop was 8.75 miles) with several outs and backs along the course so you could see the other participants. I am not a fan of loops, but I figured it would be mental toughness training for JFK. It was also nice to see the other participants several times along the course and provide encouragement, as well as knowing where you stood overall.

I ran most of the first loop with her and the other guy. About mile 7, they were gradually picking up the pace, and I knew it was time to let them go. I was running steady at 7:23 pace; still feeling good but not good enough to try and kill myself to keep up with her. I hadn't expected to be able keep up with her the entire race, so I dropped back and ran my own race.

A few miles into the second loop, she had a good lead on me that I felt she was extending more and more. I was still maintaining a steady 7:22-7:23 pace and feeling good, so kept it there focusing on my race. Ran into a few friends out on the course who told me to go get her; in which I responded 'she's long gone.' I wasn't disappointed; I wasn't expecting to win and was happy with the race I was having.

As I said earlier, the race course was loops with several out and backs where you could cheer on and encourage your other runners. It was a small race, everyone was encouraging everyone else. Twice when we crossed paths going in different directions, I told her 'good job' to which she completely ignored. Okay...I am sure she was focused, but from there on I just remained silent when we crossed paths. I guess I was just a bit perturbed by her aloofness. Maybe I should be more focused when I race, but it doesn't waste a lot of breathe to encourage your fellow runners or thank volunteers...it's not like this was a big money race or the Olympics. But again, to each their own.

I finished my second lap a little faster than my first, and headed into my third lap feeling good. The good part about training for a 50 miler is that you do long runs so often, that 26.2 no longer seems like such a monstrous distance - the miles flew by. About 1.5 miles into the third loop, I noticed that I was closing the gap on her. Despite spectators telling me I wasn't far behind, I still didn't feel like I was within reach to catch her. I was running steady but I didn't have anything else to give to pick up the pace. I stayed steady and slowly but surely I kept getting closer and closer. At mile 23, I caught her. We ran together until Mile 24 and then I passed her. We still had another mile to go out before heading back to the finish. After I passed her, I didn't hear her footsteps behind me, but figured I would be able to gauge at the turn around how far behind me she was. I never saw her again and realized she had dropped out. I was excited knowing that I was going to win, but also somewhat confused as to why she dropped out with two miles to go? Was she hurt? Or was she embarrassed to finish second to me when she thought she'd run away with it? Was her ego too big to finish second? Or could she legitimately not make it 2 more miles and should I alert someone? Should I be excited or offended? I decided I should not worry about anything but getting my butt to the finish line; I did not need to worry about anyone's race but my own.

I crossed in 3:15:08/26.42 miles/7:23 pace (my Garmin) and 3:15:10/26.250 miles/7:26 pace (official results). I measured the course long at 26.42, but  no fail I always measure it long, and this one had lots of curves and turns - I should probably learn not to weave so much in races. I was excited to see from the results that my slowest lap was actually my first lap.

Finish:  3:15:10.24 / 26.250 miles/ 7:26/M
Lap 1 1:05:11.39 /8.750 miles/ 7:27/M
Lap 2 1:04:54.39 /17.500 miles/ 7:25/M
Lap 3 1:05:04.46 /26.250 miles/ 7:26/M

So, there it is. I never saw her after the race. My husband said he saw her jog it in, veer off before the timing mat and then leave. While I would have like to battled it to the end, I was super excited to win (first female) my first marathon. As I told my husband, if you find a small enough race, anyone can win, even me - haha!

(disclaimer: this is simply my account of the race. I don't mean to offend or down play her marathon, as I highly respect her athletic accomplishments and know 9 times out of 10, she could kick butt. I also know everyone has different racing styles, so I should not take offense to comments or lack thereof made on the course. the end.)