22 March 2009

national marathon race report.

suntrust national marathon.
march 21, 2009.
7:00am
washington d.c.

gun time: 3:52:52
chip time: 3:50:43
pace: 8:46
AG finish: 38/167
total finish: 714/ 2094


friday:
I had court in the morning, so I finished up with that and headed south to the district to pick up my race packet. I, of course, spent a good hour at the expo... got a free seated massage, bought Body Glide and two signed copies of Bart Lasso's new book, tried the PowerAde that would be served on the course --- oh, and got my race bib, chip, and tshirt.

J. and I slept at my parent's house [they live in Silver Spring]. my mom made dinner [pasta, bread] and we watched some of the tourney. fell asleep around 10:00.

saturday morning:
up early. up REALLY early. up at 4:30.
it took me a while to figure out what to wear. accuweather.com said 33*f at the start, 41*f at the finish. I ended up with my UA tights, running skirt [to hold GU], and long sleeved UA compression shirt. Red, of course, to support the Terps [... which turned out not to matter. sa-la-haughtered by memphis. ouch].
ate breakfast - oatmeal w. brown sugar - and drove to the Metro.


Metro'd into the city without a hiccup and headed into the runner's village.


J. [aka 'best husband ever'] and I before the start ^^

Race!
found the 3:50 group and decided to stick with them. gun went off AT 7:00a. -- nice amount of runners -- 5k for the half and 3k for the full.

I ended up running with two guys - Lin and Steve [someone I knew from college. random.] the full and half run together for the first, well, 13 mi. it was a teeny bit crowded for the first 5 mi, but then everyone spread out and the streets got wider.



The course was v. nice - went through the 'typical' d.c. parts: the capitol, monument, etc. - and also through some of the lesser seen neighborhoods. the crowd support was pretty good - what you would expect from a medium sized race.

saw J. at mile 14 and got a kiss ^^

I felt REALLY GOOD for the first 15-16 mi --- strong, smooth, comfortable pace.

after we split from the halfsies we re ran the first 5ish miles, then headed south toward Anacostia. we ran along the river for a bit, and then there was a hellish out and back around mile 22-23.

and then, in my head: the wheels on the bus are falling off, falling off, falling off.

I started feeling panic-y around then. I was really starting to hurt and the thought of another 5 mi was freaking me out .. I just kept saying to myself: 5 then 4 then 3 then 2 then 1 then .2

Icandothis, Icandothis, Icandothis.

... my goal of sub 3:50:00, which seemed so possible, so likely, even, was starting to slip away.

24-26: ouch ouch ouch.

the wheels on the bus are falling off, falling off, falling off.


mile 26: you can see the pain ! ^^


then: the strangest thing happened. I got about 200 feet from the finsish line -- and stopped. I litereally Could Not Run Anymore. everyone was yelling GO! You can do it ! but I couldn't. I only stopped for maybe 10 seconds and then I just went. I crossed the finish line with a watch time of 3:50:46.

missed by goal by under 50 sec. but PR'd by 2 1/2 minutes.

me and J. after the race ^^


proof! ^^

after

found J. and saw hilary and andi and met my parents for lunch at Haad Thai. delicious.
so freaking sore.
then we went to Rock Bottom in Va and watched Md. got slammed by memphis.


reflections
I feel ... okay about this race.
that's it: just okay. I'm happy about the PR but annoyed I didn't break 3:50:00.
the most frustrating: I don't know WHY I'm not thrilled about this race. It's another 26.2 under my proverbial belt, a PR for christsake. I ran a good race. yes, I was hurting at the end, but it's a freaking marathon, not a day at the spa.
next up! training for Rhode Island 70.3.

20 comments:

  1. Awesome job Trish. I hope you a little happier after a night of sleep. It is a great accomplishment and a PR to boot.

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  2. You did great. Congrats on the PR.

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  3. Great job, Trishie!! You should be proud of your PR. They don't come easily!

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  4. I think you just have some post long-run blues. Training so hard, having to fight through rough spots, legging it out - these are all building intensity ... then it's over! Huge endorphin rush that suddenly ends? Leads to some sadness, I think.

    But soon you will be psyched, and this will just have been a building block for your IRONMAN!!

    YAY Trishie!!

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  5. Sounds like the race went very well! A PR is definitely something to feel great about and I hope that after a couple days you feel better about it! Now a 70.3 coming up...beauty!!!!

    Congrats, even if you don't feel super stoked!

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  6. I posted on ck too but must congratulate you here!! What Sarah says is what I was thinking... though I don't have the personal experience to back it up... I do believe she is 100% right. Looks like there is more fun coming your way; a Tri in May, IM in July .... etc. You'll only do better and better ... than better :=)

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  7. Great race and a PR to boot! Just think, a month or so ago, you were shooting for sub 4 and you blew that out of the water! You have an awesome run base for the rest of the season.

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  8. You know, you might not be pumped for road races anymore because you have Ironman on the mind...

    A bit cold at the start for a race with too many clothes to wear resulting in a 3 50 is pretty damn good, besides 3 50 encompasses the whole minute, you know...

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  9. The 3:50 might have been 46 seconds out of reach on the day, but at least you didn't choose a goal that you could have easily acheived like say 4:00.

    Good Work.

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  10. I know what it feels like to have done better than you have done before, but not as well as you wanted to. Its a wierd feeling, like you feel guilty for not feeling excited that you at least PR'ed. Or at least that is how I feel.

    Well done on the PR. I am sure after a couple of days you will be happy with it, and make a plan to do even better in your next race.

    I have 13 days left........

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  11. You PR'd. Bask in that. You have more races and you an break 3:50 then. Anything under 4 hours is GREAT.

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  12. I guess I should finally post when I read huh?

    Just wanted to say I'm proud of you and while you're always going to be your own worst critic, I'm always going to be your biggest supporter. It looks like I have some company in that regard too.

    Love you very much.

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  13. Awesome race! Great Job! We learn something each time we lace 'em up...

    Congrats on the PR!

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  14. great recap! and sweet Medal!!!

    congratsUlation on the PR!!

    When does your IMCZ training start?

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  15. Congratulations Tricia- way to go out and hit the mark and set a PR.
    You and James couldn't find an Irish Pub afterwards? :)
    (Hello James- hope you are doing well.)

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  16. Nice Race Bling. Goals are tricky things. You gotta have 'em, but when I feel one has slipped away, it sucks the wind right out of me, even if the race is an all-around good effort.

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  17. Congrats on the PR - you really had to push to make that happen. I hope eventually you look back and feel better than OKAY about this race

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  18. Great race report. I love the wheels on the bus mental image and I think you did a great job pushing thru that low spot in your mental game. Your pace was super in my book!

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