Tucson Marathon

I did it again! I now have my second marathon under my belt and boy was it just as crazy as my first. However, despite everything, I can proudly say that I love running! I did things a little differently this time around. Some were good, some were bad, but I defintely learned from my experience! Here's how the race went:

We started on Mount Lemon (or at least I believe it was Mount Lemon...). The ride up was miserable to put it bluntly. All runners were transported on buses. I ended up on a yellow school bus - I just missed getting on a nice tour bus. :P And of course the window by my seat will not stay up to save it's life! With every bump it would slip farther and farther open and when you are driving to the top of a mountain there are bound to be several bumps in the road. For a while I would just push it up every time it slipped. It would stay for a few minutes before falling once more. Then it just stopped staying up all together...Unless I held it there. Talk about ridiculous! I was so frustrated! A gentleman behind me offered to hold it up for a little while. I graciously obligued. I swear the trip up took 30-45 minutes too.

The beginning of the race was mostly downhill. It was great! I was going at a good pace, full of energy. After running down the mountain we entered the highway at mile 9 - Oro Valley Road, I believe. This was the boring part. Don't get me wrong, the mountains down in Tucson are really pretty. They seem to just spring up from the valley! The rest is all desert though; cactus and sagebrush. Plus at this point we started fighting a headwind of 20 mph. Talk about degrading! I was going strong through mile 15. I slowed down a little after that, but I was still going to come in before 4'30". Then mile 20 hit me. I just didn't want to run anymore! I was doing great energy wise. I'd kept my carbs and electrolytes up, but mentally? I just wanted it to be over! My hips killed, the wind was frustrating, I had lung burn... It was definitely "the Wall." At mile 23 we FINALLY left the highway - see why I was bored??? Unfortunately the last three miles were more uphill than downhill. I couldn't seem to find my momentum. Sometimes it hurt less to run, other times I just didn't care. I wanted the race to be over. I was so excited to see the finish line! Unfortunately there was a sharp turn right before it and it was all on sand so I couldn't even get a good sprint in. Oh well. I finished! It felt so good when they put that medallion around my neck. :) Final time 4'45" - slower than I wanted, but next time I will be better prepared.

There are several things I learned from the marathon:

Pros:
- I ate really well - lots of veggies, not too many carbs (sushi the night before was perfect!)
- I researched what I was suppose to eat.
- I didn't feel sick the entire marathon! (probably because I ate well)
- I paced myself fairly well up until the end.
- The wall didn't hit me until mile 20 (it was mile 17 on the last marathon)
- I trained using a lot of stairs and hills - helped strengthen my quads and gave me more endurance.

Cons:
- I didn't keep to my training schedule! I didn't run Saturdays and there were very few weeks I actually ran all of the other days I was suppose to. Next time it will be better, especially now that I am learning how to budget my time.
- I wasn't prepared to be cold. Solution: long-sleeved shirt and possibly spandex pants, and look at the weather forcast
- I didn't mentally prepare for the wall. I'm sure if I actually ran the entire race I could cut some time off.

Goals:
- Strengthen hip-flexors
- Defeat "the Wall"
- Stick to my training schedule
- Run more stairs and hills to increase time
- Be prepared for weather

Although I was slightly disappointed in the results of the race I feel really good that I accomplished the 26.2 miles once again. It was hard at the end knowing that no one would be waiting for me, but I guess that is what happens when you move far from home. :) I definitely did NOT like the fact that I had to get back in my car and drive five hours. I'm sure I was very amusing to anyone who watched me attempt to get in and out of Beauty (my car) every time I stopped. Haha I was always yelping in pain. The good news: it only took me three days to recover, although I haven't ran since then. :)

My big goal is to run the Boston Marathon someday. That means I need to cut an hour off my time. Probably won't happen in 2010 but maybe around 2012? We'll see. :) Not sure what the next marathon will be but I will keep you updated!

Keep runnin' strong!