Post marathon weekend blues are real y'all!!
In 2019 I skipped Marathon weekend because I had bronchitis that just would not quit. So I knew I was going for 2020 no matter what. And thanks to
@mrsg00fy @TeeterTots and
@sourire it ended up being the best Marathon Weekend yet!
I even have a photo to prove it
Here we are after the 10k!
What I wasn't counting on was having the blues once I got home. Out of curiosity I decided to see what kind of races were going on in my area. At first it wasn't serious. I mean I just got home I didn't want to drive too far to run again. BUT the Jekyll Island Half Marathon popped up in my search. It's about an hour's drive south so I could wake up that morning and drive down no problem. I decided to mention it to Mike and to my surprise he was onboard and wanted to tag along with the kids and make a day of it.
My only hang up was that online registration was closed and it was getting near capacity. So I decided to take a gamble, after Mike got off work on Friday we drove down and I was lucky enough secure a bib! Now it was real.
DS10's birthday was Saturday so it flew by
and before I knew it the alarm was going off at 5am Sunday. I grabbed my running gear and a change of clothes while DH got the kids ready. They were actually great sports about getting up so early on a non school day.
As we pulled up to the start line an hour later I checked the weather one last time to see if I needed my rain hat. Luckily the rain got pushed back and it was going to be a clear run. 65 and partly cloudy was the prediction. Perfect running weather! A little sad it was a week too late for Marathon Weekend but it is what it is.
I snapped a picture of the beautiful sunrise as I got out of the car. It made me feel like it was going to be a good day!
I went for a 1/2 mile warm up to try to get myself back into old habits and while I was running the gun went off for the marathon. When I saw the runners go streaming by I thought for a second you know I could PR this thing. But then quickly I had to reigned myself back in - Let's be realistic here, you haven't had a great training cycle, you just ran a half last weekend lets just try to finish this thing.
I knew I had 10 minutes until the Half start so I went back to the car to say good bye to everyone and then made my way to where people were lining up. I put my ears buds in and had my music cued up for the start. Then the countdown begins and the bullhorn sounds. But wait only some of the people moved. I was a little confused until I remembered there was also a 10k still waiting for their start. So I jumped into gear and started towards the line, making an impromptu Dead Last Start.
Still not sure of how I wanted to run this race, I quickly tossed around some goals in my head that could be in reach. I settled on a 3 hour finish and then quickly changed it to under 3 hours. Now since making my running come back I have been training with run/walk/run. It was the only way I knew I would get back to running without hating it. It's been working but during races I'm not so keen on using it. Sometimes because of crowding and sometimes because I feel like I won't be viewed as a real runner. Over marathon weekend I straight ran the 5k & 10k and for the half I walked when I felt like I needed to. But this race I decided run/walk/run would be best and I used my go to interval of 2:00/:30.
The first mile was road along the edge of the island. Not very scenic since you couldn't see the beach. Mostly just hotels but it was pancake flat, just the way I like my races! Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the first marker but it .2 early and I was thrown off. What would that mean for the rest of the race? Did they know it was off? Who measured this thing? I calmed myself down and just kept on.
Mile 2- I noticed these ladies in front on me and the thought popped in my head they will not beat me today! So I focus on them, this is where the cruelty of run/walk/run comes in. Just when I would get close they would start running or I would have a walk break... ugh. About that time the 10k runners were released and before I knew it they were all around me. I just wanted to scream it's ok I'm running the half gotta save my legs! Another reminder to myself that this is my race stop worrying about other people.
Mile 3- Finally passed the ladies in black!!! I also started picking out my retirement beach home
Mile 4- Found my groove and was feeling awesome. I knew I was going to hit my goal today. And then new targets! Lady in green and Lady in purple I'm coming for you! But They weren't going down so easy. I let the Horton House distract me for a moment
Mile 5- I downed a couple of my Clif Bloks and came up on the first water stop with fuel (water was every 1.5 miles). This was also the break off point for the marathon. Now I had a marathon bib on since they ran out of half bibs and this proved to be confusing for people until I got closer and they could see 1/2 marathon written on my bib with sharpie.
*I have to say I was impressed by the water stations for this race. Each one had Tailwind, water and lots of Gu's to chose from. Since I bring my own Clif Bloks I only grabbed water.*
At mile 5.5 we made a U-turn and had to move onto the Island's bike path. The path had a much better view of marshland and the bridge that leads to St. Simon's island. And It was then I finally passed green and purple!! But a couple minutes later there they were passing me again! I can't have that! So I kicked it in gear and passed them once and for all. Now that I was in the clear I pulled out my phone to send a quick text to Mike about where I was. There was no runner tracking and I wanted to keep him in the loop. He quickly texted back that they were enjoying the island's turtle so I felt a little less guilty about waking them up so early.
Mile 6 next target acquired girl with headphones (don't ask me where I get these names from!) she was an easy take down
Mile 7 we turned off the bike path and down a road to a picnic area, that's when I passed blue leggings. After the shady picnic area we crossed a little foot bridge and came to mile 8. Mile 8 was mostly parallel to mile 7 just on the other side of the wetlands.
I was pretty alone at that point but I did noticed a gray shirt up ahead so that became my next goal. Once I passed her I was all alone and the wind was picking up. I was so close to the beach I could hear the waves. At a small bend in the path I looked ahead and noticed the path turned to sand. *** no one said anything about sand?!
Thankfully the sand was short lived and before I knew it I was out of it and back to the bike path along the main road.
Mile 9- Smooth sailing. Pace was looking good and I was headed back towards the finish. I tried to look for more people I could target but I wasn't seeing anyone. Then suddenly I saw some orange. Ok orange I'm coming for you! And then it dawns on me that it's a course cone
I laugh at myself and keep my focus on my pace.
Mile 10- Just 3 miles to go! Less than 45 mins and I am done! Looking at the time I started wondering when I was going to get passed by the marathon runners. Then at water station at mile10.5 I hear the lady say there's one of the marathon runners. I moved over on the path to make sure they didn't have to weave around me and then like a gust of wind the runner was around me and cruising towards the finish. I'm still so in awe of those fast runners that make it look so effortless!
Mile 11- Just kept pushing myself as I chant the Gorilla isn't tired yet. Which is my favorite mantra given to me by
@roxymama , I'm not even sure if she remembers but she once left me a post about how you don't give up when your tired but when the gorilla is. All these years later I still tell myself that when the race gets tough.
Then the bike path turned from the road to the beach and before I knew it mile 12! I was passing people here and there but it wasn't on my mind so much anymore so I can't remember any. But then I noticed two girls in pink. I said I'm going to give it my all to pass them! My feet were starting to hurt at this point and I was doubting if I could keep pace until the end but I couldn't let that gorilla win! No matter how bad I wanted to just keep walking I kept up those dang intervals. I ended up passing the pink girls just before 13. And then I looked over and there was my family cheering for me. I'm telling you it made my day to see them there with there little hands out for high fives!!!
I rounded the corner and gave one final push to the finish and came in at 2:59:50!!! Not a PR but it was what I was looking for that day! I got my medal and snacks and turned to snap a picture of the finish line
Then my kids came running up to tell me all about their morning and I limped my way to the car (seriously might be time for new shoes!).
From there we decided to let the kids explore Driftwood Beach, this was the beach I had just ran next to. We've been to Jekyll Island before but never made it to this beach. It's really a site to see! The driftwood is 100s of whole trees along the beach. And for any Walking Dead fans out there this is where the Ocean Side beach scenes are filmed.
The kids had a blast and I got some pretty cool medal pictures.
This race proved to be the cured for my post Marathon Weekend Blues! I am officially worn out and looking forward to some rest days. Oh and this also checked Georgia off my 50 State Bucket list. So now I am up to
Florida
California
Nevada
Maryland
Louisiana
South Carolina
Georgia
Hoping to check off many more this year!
Next race will be even closer to home at the Best Damn Race Savannah. Stay Tuned!
and now I feel old
