Yesterday, I finished my first marathon. Today I am feeling great. I took a long, hot bath in the evening after and took some Advil before going to bed and I woke up feeling amazing this morning. My ankles are a little achy and there is a general soreness all over my body, but I seriously could have gone for a short run this morning and that just blew me away. So I must have done 'something' right. With the exception of a few things I think I would pretty much do the same things next time around, and yes, there will be a next one. I will again carry a hydration bottle with me, I would bring great new music, I would again listen to an audiobook for the first half (13 miles) and pump in music from miles 13-26.2. I would also take the salt pills (S-Caps) every hour on the hour again, and the Gu's every half hour to help me not bonk. I don't think a first marathon experience could have gone better.....and for that I am so proud and relieved.
This is me two days before my race.....little did I know my life was about to change, forever. I was going to be a marathoner and that is one of those things that no one can take from you.
Because the race was in Philadelphia we stayed at my sister-in-law's for two nights. I juiced three bottles of veggie juice for the weekend and had a bottle before the race and one after. This one has red cabbage, carrots, apples, beets, and yellow squash. My brother-in-law saw one of the bottle in my purse and asked why I had a bottle of pasta sauce with me. I had to laugh. Carrying a glass bottle of red fluid in your purse IS a bit odd. My mom, who is not a runner, is convinced I have such good endurance because of my daily veggie juicing habit. Could be true. All I know is I have not gotten sick since I began 2 years ago.
My daughter, sister-in-law and I went to the Expo for the Philly Marathon which was in Downtown Philly and although my sister-in-law and I chose to separate in order to be able to shop around, we both ended up buying Sweaty Bands! Check out this rack of yummy Sweaty Bands!!! Both Nora and I could not decide! I bought 3, one for Nora, one for me and one for my sister-in-law.
Nora got a free medal from one of the tables at the Expo. She said to me, "Mom, I got a free medal for doing nothing!"
Because Philly, as large a city as it is, oddly enough does not have train service at 5am. Therefore, I had to get a taxi to drive me to the race Sunday morning. The ride cost me $40 but the peace of mind was worth every penny (It was $2.70/mile for 14 miles). When I got off the cab this was the view I got.....what a beautiful city! It also helped tremendously that it was unusually warm for a November morning. It was about 55 degrees......
The race begins and I finally walk over the start line at 7:21am. I was one of the last corrals so I got to see the thousands of other runner pass before me. 30,000 people ran this race and if you like people watching, races are so fun!
This is about a mile into the race. This is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
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| Schuylkill Rive.., PA |
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| Schuylkill Rive.., PA, Boathouse Row |
At mile 13 the half-marathoner racers were done. This is when my music came on and the audiobook got paused.
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| Along Fairmount Park |
I did it. Check out this medal!! cried when I saw my family at mile 20, I cried at mile 25-26 and I cried after I got this medal placed over my shoulder.
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When done, I found a place to get my stretches done. Half hour worth of stretching and bending. On the way to the SEPTA train station I passed by Academy of Natural Sciences and this giant realistic dinosaur was moving and roaring. Very cool city indeed. I think both the stretching and the walking were very helpful to my recovery.
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After, I added a new car magnet to my car. Of course, Nora had to pose next to it. She is such a little momma!! Oh, and she is wearing her Sweaty Band!! Actually, she even slept with it on her head and earned a big headache from it....I guess we all learn about our body as we make such silly mistakes.
I wore my 50K t-shirt I earned from the West Virginia Trilogy to the race in order to give me courage during this race. It must have worked! The medal is absolutely gorgeous!!
Congrats! :-)
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