Thank you so much to everyone who helped me finish, whether you knew I was thinking about you or not - I love you all! And a huge THANK YOU to Miss Katie for waking up super early to drive me and pick me up afterwards!
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I spent the past week thinking about the worst case scenarios for my Thunder Road Marathon race day, and luckily none of them came true!
I was extremely unprepared having only done two "long runs" of 12-13 miles each, and a handful of six-milers in the gym three weeks before. Most articles kept saying marathoners need to be averaging 40 miles per week for six months to successfully run. Hence, my worries stemmed from that, and my goal was just to make it to the finish line in six hours. I had no pacing plan, no fueling plan, and really no expectation for the second half of the race at all.
However, once the engine fired, and the green flag dropped (we're in Charlotte - everything is NASCAR related) my fears subsided and I just ran.
This year's Thunder Road Marathon was truly an amazing and magical experience for me. I'm thrilled I was able to be a part of it.
Here's the short version:
- I made it to the starting line and 4 hours, 54 minutes and 12 seconds later I crossed the finish line.
- I didn't take my first walking break until mile 14 and was pacing myself fairly consistently around a 10:30 mile.
- I smiled every single step of the way, I sang for quite a few miles, I waved at the kiddos, and I took time to look up at the scenery in my gorgeous city!
| Interval | Time of Day | Chip Time | Chip Pace | Gun Time | Gun Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | 7:47:20AM | ||||
| 10 Km | 8:49:16AM | 01:01:56 | 09:59 min/mi | 01:04:42 | 10:25 min/mi |
| 13.1 Mile | 10:02:26AM | 02:15:07 | 10:19 min/mi | 02:17:52 | 10:32 min/mi |
| 20 Mile | 11:26:48AM | 03:39:29 | 10:59 min/mi | 03:42:14 | 11:07 min/mi |
| 17 Mile | 10:49:36AM | 03:02:16 | 10:44 min/mi | 03:05:02 | 10:54 min/mi |
| Finish | 12:41:32PM | 04:54:12 | 11:14 min/mi | 04:56:58 | 11:20 min/mi |
Here's the long version:
If you have some time and want to read details about my 26.2 miles, there is always more to the story! Here is a look at the Thunder Road Marathon from my running shoes:
If you have some time and want to read details about my 26.2 miles, there is always more to the story! Here is a look at the Thunder Road Marathon from my running shoes:
The morning of the event, I woke up before my alarm with nervous butterflies and excitement. Katie Kessen was wonderful enough to come to my house at the crack of dawn to tape up my legs (I strained my hamstring the week before) and take me uptown to the start of the race!
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| You know, NBD. Your typical Saturday! |
My fueling plan consisted of a granola bar, an Emergen-C drink and a bag of sport jelly beans. Looking back, I should have been a bit more prepared in the pre-race food category...
We finally arrived uptown (downtown Charlotte) just in time for the national anthem, and I ran to find the pace-group leaders. My goal was to run with the 5-hour pace group and if I needed to walk I would finish with the 5:30 pace group. It was a great plan until the race started and I took off passing runners as we went under the first bridge. Adrenaline and competition always get the best of me in the beginning!
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| Let the games begin! |
As we wound through the Foxcroft and Myers Park neighborhoods I smiled at everyone lined up cheering and I loved high-fiving the kids! This was my favorite part of the run to look up during because of the gorgeous trees lining the streets in all of their fall coloring - spectacular.
Next, was Dilworth and the marathon/half-marathon split. Dilworth had the community out in full force with fantastic signs good for a laugh or two! A few of my favorites were:
"Don't stop now, people are watching", "Why do all the cute ones run away?", "Smile if you're not wearing underwear", "You look so skinny!", and of course the classic, "Worst Parade Ever"!
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| My favorite sign people! |
The reality of running the full marathon hit me shortly after the 12-mile mark when we split off from the half-marathon runners. The trek through SouthEnd (mile 14) was definitely my first wall and the first time I stopped to walk. Luckily the mixture of "Call Me Maybe" and the Let Me Run group passing out water gave me enough mental energy to keep pushing myself to mile 15 (www.letmerun.org).
Unfortunately, mile 15 was tough. My right quad starting to cramp and contract so much that I had to rub it as I ran to keep myself going. However, it hurt more to walk than it did to keep running, so in turn, I guess it helped push me to the next mile.
Miles 15-18 were kind of a blur. I know we passed Bank of America stadium, where I loaded up on Cliff Shots and Gatorade to help with the cramping and then started our second run through uptown Charlotte.
I started walking again at mile 19 when both of my quads cramped (absolutely awful feeling) until a very nice old man running next to me patted my back and said, "If you can finish the Tough Mudder, you can finish this too" that helped me pick up my pace again and dig towards NoDa. That was the worst stretch of the course because there were not any crowds getting there and very little scenery to distract from the pain. The 4:30 pace group passed me on that stretch. I ended up cranking my iPod up to Katy Perry and pushed myself until I finally made it to North Davidson street.
NoDa was AMAZING - definitely the most energetic party on the course! The local breweries were out with signs and beer to welcome you to their neighborhood, and people were lined up all along the streets. Then at the end of the main street you turned down a neighborhood road and the crowd was
jumping, cheering, giving runners high-fives, and pointing them to run through "The Wall", a massive wall sign with a cut-out that runners would pass through - it was an incredible feeling!
jumping, cheering, giving runners high-fives, and pointing them to run through "The Wall", a massive wall sign with a cut-out that runners would pass through - it was an incredible feeling!
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| Run through "The Wall"! |
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| NoDa Community |
Next up was Plaza Midwood! Again, the energy and excitement of the community was spectacular and it really helped push me to get to the last three-mile stretch. By that time the 5-hour pace group had caught back up with me, and I was pushing myself to stay with them for the final three. At that point I was over the whole running thing and just wanted to cross the finish line!
The crowds died down at the penultimate mile, and I could feel my pace dropping. But, by the final mile the half-marathon runners and families were all standing on the sidelines cheering us to push harder and dig deeper. I ended up picking my jog up to a run and finally a sprint for the last .2 miles to the finish.
I'm so blessed to have completed this challenge and to have participated in an amazing event. This will probably be my first and last marathon - I'm not sure my knees are up for it again. But it was so perfect, I wouldn't want to redo it anyway!
Charlotte, I love you. You are awesome and wonderful; I loved everything from the magnificent views, to the crowds of people cheering us on through each neighborhood! I will never forget the energy running through SouthEnd, NoDa, Plaza Midwood and finally all of the supporters at the finish line - you're rockstars!
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| Victory Lane - 26.2 Finisher! |
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