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Believe it or not but last Sunday I ran 13.1 miles in a race and didn't die!

I wasn't sure how I was going to do, so two weeks before hand I ran it in a training run through the neighborhoods around my house.  I made it to mile 8 without a problem, but after that my left leg hurt and I just couldn't make myself run again.  But I finished the 13.1 miles in 3 hours 30 min.  Since then I have been running, but only 4-6 miles at a time, strictly working on keeping a good form.

So last Sunday was the race.  My sisters and drove to Santa Rosa the day before, grabbed an over-priced pasta dinner and headed to bed with a new race day manicure.  I was calm and ready to go with only minor butterflies in my stomach.  We all set a goal of finishing in under 3:30, with a dream of finishing in under 3:15.

Come 5:30 in the morning I had slept on and off and was not totally rested, but off we went to the race.  One of my sisters and I stood in line for the port-a-potties and were actually in them when the start shoot went off.  We did up crossing the start line with our other 2 sisters and the race was on!

The loop was along the river and about 6 miles out and then a quick jog down a side stream and back to the start.  The marathon runners would be doing the loop twice.  In the first 2 miles my sisters and I had all broken up on our own, and were playing leap frog with each other.  My goal was to stay on pace so I started with my new plan of 2 min run:1 min walk (~ 13 min/mile pace), but I was getting tired of flipping my wrist and checking my watch over and over.   I woman in front of me had a beeper that keep going off at intervals.  After a bit of chatting I learned that it was a GymBoss and was an interval timer.  She was an interstate marathoner and it had worked wonders for keeping her on pace.  Another woman was running in the same area and started chatting with us.  She was an iron man competitor, using the marathon to strengthen her running time and she used a heart rate monitor to keep her pace.  I ran with these lovely ladies from mile 3-5, and the miles just slid by.  But at mile 5 I knew that I needed to start fueling so I grabbed a gel.  I have yet to master the eating and still running so I soon fell behind my new friends.  The next few miles, were fine.  I keep my pace and while I was running by myself there were people in front of and behind me.  At mile 8, I slowed as before and could no longer keep my pace.  So I moved to a 2 min run : 2 min walk, and just kept moving.

Two of my sisters were about 200 yards in front of me, but I just couldn't bring myself u to catch them.  My other sister was a ways behind me and I was always hoping she would surprise me, but alas I only saw her on the finish line.

Miles 9-11 were a bit of a blur, with my thoughts concentrated on "just keep moving".  One of the worst things I did was calculate my time at mile 9 and I realized that if I made a 15 min pace, I could finish in under 3 hours.  It also meant that I had another hour of running left, after the 2 I had already done.  At mile 11, one of my sisters in front of me had fallen behind while fueling up and I was able to chat with her for a bit before she ran forward again.  I kept drinking water and had a second gel.

At mile 12, the lead marathoners lapped me.  Two amazing women making olympic trial times, flew by me and I'll I could do was cheer them on.

The last mile just seemed to continue to stretch out, but my ability to kick into a run was harder and harder.  At mile 13 with just the last .1 of a mile to go, I once again found my steam.  And ran to the end.    I feel you must finish strong if you are even going to bother.  I finished with a time of 2:53:something!  Far below my original goal and even my dream goal.

It was a good run and I learned a lot.  I already have bought a GymBoss interval timer, it's in the mail.  I also learned that I have to find a better way of fueling my body.  The gel are providing me with energy, and water is keeping me hydrated, but I am not balancing my electrolytes.  This is getting tweaked so I can keep going.  I also learned that a friend on the road is a good thing, so my sister and are are working together to get our paces in sync.

All in all, I'm glad I did it and proud of my accomplishment.  It may just be the right length of race for me.

Now to prep for the big mamajama!