Miles 8-finish

Miles 8-13, The Mid Marathon Blur: These miles all sort of blended together. It was rainy, but I felt pretty good. I remember being really glad to hit 10 miles because I always think of a marathon as two 10 mile runs with a 10k at the end so in a way I was 1/3 of the way done. I remember being about 3 minutes behind my pace at the 13 mile mark.

Miles 13-19, The really crappy part: These miles sucked. The rain was really coming down hard and I even had a hard time seeing because of the wind driving the rain into my face. I remember thinking how I really wished it was only a half-marathon and I could be done. I also remember being really jealous of the "elite" runners who were finishing about the same time I was crossing mile 14. I had a lot of discouraging thoughts of just wanting to get the thing over with during these miles. I never really wanted to quit, but I did think it would be cool if one of the suburbans or motorcycles that kept passing us would pick me up. I also had another bout with BM's at about mile 15 so that slowed me way down. The only encouraging thought I had was thinking that everybody else I saw was going through the same thing so I shouldn't feel too sorry for myself.

Miles 19-21, A New Hope: I can't really explain what happened at mile 19. I made a stop at the Icy Hot dudes, got some gel, took some Gatorade and all of the sudden felt great. It was at this point that I knew I was going to make it. I picked the pace way up, started passing people all over the place and started to enjoy myself. The only damper on these two miles was right before the aid station at mile 21 where my hamstrings started cramping up.

Mile 21-26.2, The long finish: The last miles felt as good as you could expect to feel after running 20+ miles. The rain finally eased up at about mile 23. I stopped at all the aid stations to get some icy hot so that slowed me way down but was crucial to my success because I was cramping everywhere. Over the last two miles I had to fight the overwhelming urge to walk. I also had to fight the idea that I had made it. I kept thinking "I've done it" and would start to loose focus so I had to force myself to not think that way until the end. I also had to ignore the spectators at like mile 23 saying "you're almost there". I ran these last few miles without the ipod for a couple of reasons. First, the headphones started to die because they were so wet and second, I wanted to get a sense for what the crowd and runners were feeling/saying over these last few miles. The final 1/2 mile of straight section to the finish was pretty exhilarating. I saw the family and was inspired by them. There are so many people there that you feel like to have to gut through it for them. Also, there were all these military folks lining the course like they were keeping guard which made me feel kind of special. Then, I finally stepped over the finish line. I can remember the two black mats and how good they felt under my feet and also how good it felt knowing I no longer had to run.