RACE DAY!
Despite that stupid wedding party's best efforts, I woke up ten minutes before my alarm went off and felt good! Because I laid everything out the night before it took no time at all to get ready. I tried to eat my english muffin but without it being toasted it was pretty nasty. I ate half before declaring defeat.
Melissa and Aubrey dropped me off near the start so I didn't have to worry about parking. That was great because at go time there were so many people still trying to park that the start was delayed 10 minutes! I made a quick pit stop and headed to my corral. Everything was really well organized and relaxed (at least for me)!
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11,000 Runners |
There were 11,000 runners there that morning, only 2000 ran the full marathon. This was a huge race compared to my first marathon (the
Adirondack Distance Festival).
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I can see the start! |
I loved the start of this race. Since it is at the Monmouth Race Track they made the "Call to Post" for each wave and sent us off with "First Call" being played on the bugle by Monmouth's recently retired bugler. It didn't take long to get to the start even though there were so many runners and I was in the second to last corral (I really need to get faster!).
Miles 1-5:
I focused on starting out slow, conserving energy, and fueling properly. I didn't intend to go out with a pace group but I thought I could start with the 4:40 group and then speed up at the end to hit my goal time. (Spoiler alert: That didn't happen.)
The first few miles were lots of fairly quick turns and that early in the race it was really crowded. I had to work pretty hard to just keep up with the 4:40 group. I didn't talk but I listened to the conversations from the pacers, they were pretty amusing. The pace felt good though and I was happy. One snag I hit was that quite early on I had to stop because my shoe came untied. That never happens! Spring was starting to really show in New Jersey so I was pretty distracted by looking at all the flowers. The weather was perfect for this race: bright, sunny... it was little on the hot side but we had a light, very cool breeze most of the time so I never felt over heated.
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How DARE they?! |
Miles 6-10:
This part was when I kept thinking.... where's the ocean? I guess I sorta knew what the course route looked like but I thought we reached ocean views a lot faster. For most of these miles we were looping through neighborhoods. They were pretty neighborhoods though! I loved going over the little bridges in this stretch. I was a little worried about such a flat course, a lot of people don't like them, but I thought it was FABULOUS! I love my New Hampshire hills but I'll take flat, flat coastline any day!
Around mile 9 we entered a very depressed area with tons of boarded up shops (same place where I am running through all the cups). I don't know if it was an area that just never recovered after Sandy or if it was always like that but it was definitely very sad to run through.
I got to see Aubrey and Melissa for the first time at the mile 9 water stop! Yay! I had been watching for them very carefully and didn't want to miss saying hi. My grandma was excitedly following my progress from home and when Aubrey posted this picture on Instagram, she was outraged that the town would leave all those cups there before the race for the runners to trip on! My dad had to explain that it was not the town, but the RUNNERS who had dropped all the cups. I love my GMa!
Miles 11-15:
Shortly after mile 10 I needed to make a pit stop. I pretty much needed to go right from the start but I kept putting it off. I thought the line at mile 11 looked OK so I pulled away from the 4:40 group. I was wrong. That stop cost me 7-8 minutes, most of that time was spent in line. Once I got back on the road I knew I was not going to be able to catch back up to the 4:40 group. This kinda upset me and caused me to lose concentration for quite a few miles.
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So focused... |
It was half way between miles 11 and 12 that we lost the half marathoners. SO many split off for the half, the rest of us ended up being quiet spread out. It was also at mile 12 that we ran around Lake Takanassee. I wouldn't exactly call it a lake... but they do. At this point I was able to see that the 4:40-er's were already half way around the lake when I had just started. Farewell pace group!
Miles 16-20:
It was really miles 15-17 that I really struggled. I was feeling hot and a little out of breath so I was taking lots of walking breaks. At this point I kept thinking... where's the friggin' turn around? I guess I really didn't know the route. I really didn't realize how many little detours around lakes there were and how far it was to the turn around.
Miles 18 through 20 were pretty cool. You went around another little lake and down a few small side streets to a pavilion for the turn around! Woo! On my way back (finally) I ran by a man who had one running prosthetic leg. He looked like he was in some pain but I think he is amazing for running a marathon with one. I couldn't even imagine what that must be like.
I got a little boost from being on the way back and I ended catching up with a guy named Hector. He was going a nice, steady pace. Something I could handle. I told him this and asked if he would mind if I ran with him. We didn't talk much, just kept running and occasionally checking in with each other, he'd ask if I was still there and I'd respond. We ran together for a couple of miles and it REALLY helped me get my rhythm back. I am incredibly grateful for meeting up with him. I probably would have walked a lot more otherwise. I was pretty bummed but somehow the race photographers didn't get a single picture of us running together.
Part of the race was on an actual boardwalk and while that sounds cool, I did not enjoy it. The boards were uneven and my left foot was not feeling great. Around mile twenty we actually followed the board walk through the Asbury Park Casino. It was pretty neat and was also the most shade we got for the entire run.
Miles 21-25:
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I doused myself with water. That isn't sweat! |
These miles were as close to the shore as we could get. It was hot but we were still getting a fairly cool breeze from the ocean and it was nothing we had to fight against. This road also had some of the biggest mansions I've ever seen so I was able to distract myself fairly well by picking out my favorites.
I was still running with Hector when the 5:10 group caught up with us. I told Hector I couldn't let them pass me and that I would see him at the finish. I kept up with the 5:10 group until I saw Aubrey and Melissa and then fell back a little bit to run with them. It was really nice to see them again. After about a quarter mile I told them I was going to get back to the 5:10-ers and they said they would see me at the finish!
I caught back up to the group easily enough and actually started pulling ahead. I ended up speeding up quite a bit in the last 3ish miles. I constantly thought you can do anything for three miles... you can do anything for two and a half miles, etc. It worked. I went from a 12 mile pace down to an 8:54 at the finish.
At this point in the race we were all tired but thanks to my little boost I was able to pass quite a few people here! Each person I passed gave me more determination to go for the next. This might have been my favorite part of the race.
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Am I Running or Dancing? |
The Last Stretch:
As I was coming up to the finish line a photographer was waving me over frantically pointing at Aubrey and Melissa. I ran over and was able to high five both Aubrey and Melissa (with the photographer practically in my face).
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Mutant. Arm. |
Unfortunately my little detour allowed the girl I had passed a minute or two before to catch up and pass me! I all out sprinted (and grew mutant arms) to catch up with her and was just a step behind her when we ran through the finish. I looked it up and I ended up having the better time by just 6/10 of a second. So close!
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And she's across the line! |
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Upright and smiling! |
I found the girl that raced me to the finish and told her that was a great push at the end and then I went to collect my medal and water. I headed out of the finishing chute, found Aubrey and Melissa and promptly plopped down on the grass. I was done.
I think that this was a GREAT race. I bought all of my race photos because (as you can see) I was smiling in every single picture. I may have missed my target time by a half hour but I don't think I could have done any better. I had an absolutely wonderful time and I was ridiculously happy. The race was very well organized, staffed, and supplied. The volunteers were amazing. I could go on and on.
Would I run this marathon again? DEFINITELY! I am probably not signing up next year only because I have too many other races to tackle.
Would I recommend this race to a friend? Already have!
Now that I have done two marathons I feel like I can claim the title of "Marathoner". For some reason I wouldn't call myself a marathoner with only one race under my belt. It didn't feel right... but now that's not a problem!
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Digging in! |
After the race my sister and I said goodbye to Melissa and I helped navigate back home. We drove up to the Tappan Zee Bridge instead of going through the NYC again, thank goodness. Even though I was definitely hurting I was able to stay awake for the drive home and I was fairly mobile. I spent the night in CT and had a wonderful dinner with my family. By Monday I was probably 80% recovered! I don't know if it is that I am getting used to running long distances or perhaps it is the 1st Endurance Ultragen recovery drink that I take after... but I felt pretty awesome after the race.
I also wanted to say that I could not have had such an amazing time if it was for my Curb Crew Aubrey and Melissa!