I looked at my first 4 mile splits and then switched to effort-based racing.
The pace felt perfect as a marathon effort and the crowds thinned out. I started with Nichole and her friend Craig (you can read Nichole's race report here). I am pretty good at gauging what I have to give, so I knew that once I got rolling I’d know if I should stay at that pace or drop.
Although anytime I line up for a marathon, the 2:45 standard is on my mind, I knew it would be a huge stretch off of the training cycle I’d had, and we planned to start at 6:30 pace. I stuck to my typical pre-race warm up and routines, found Nichole who I planned to pace with at the beginning, and felt ready to go on the starting line. I was also thankful to share the bus ride with my friend Michelle, just like we had before the Bill Snyder Half four weeks prior. I was thankful for the amazing perks I received as an elite athlete in this event, which included a nice bus from our hotel to the start, an elite tent/staging area (Kellyn Taylor was in there too!), separate porta-potties and bag checks, and the ability to have my own bottles placed on the course (more elite details coming in later posts). On the bus ride to the starting line I was thankful that it wasn’t hot or a deluge, both of which had been forecasted at some points. I wrote the verse “With God all things are possible - Matthew 19:26” on my arm only because of Him did I even make it to this marathon after a rocky start to the training block.
The much lower than expected temperatures made it impossible to complain about 100% humidity.
Race morning brought nearly perfect running weather, with temperatures in the 50s and overcast skies. Anyone looking to maximize personal growth within a few hours should race a marathon! Grandma’s Marathon was a 2 hour 49 minute 8 second finale to a training block that made me a more thankful person. Every marathon is a different adventure, and the person who starts the race is never the same person who finishes it.
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