Marathon #2 The Quad Cities

After the hottest summer I've ever experienced and trying to reach peak training in August, I wondered why I had signed up for a September marathon! Not only that, but as the date approached, my mind kept revisiting the torture I experienced during my first marathon 8 months prior! I was feeling a great deal of stress and it was all self-induced! (It's not like I'm getting paid to run a specific time, or that my enormous fan club is traveling to Illinois and Iowa to see how well I do!) So what is making me so apprehensive about this run? My own expectations! Now that I had trained well, and been given the knowledge of past mistakes, there was nothing that should hinder me from a great run. So what if it didn't turn out well? Would I have to endure a great deal of pain yet again, to figure out what I was still doing wrong? Oh, that pre-run anxiety was not pretty, nor was I a joy to be around. Add onto anxiety, the pre-race taper bloating, and craving to get out there and run, and you have a time bomb on your hands! Ooops, I forgot to share this information with my Dad who would be accompanying me on this trip. Sorry Dad!

We had a pretty good time though. He learned about race preparation, the expos, and more about marathon strategy than he ever cared to know. We drove the course, planned his Starbuck's run for the morning and also his spectating spots, and then we went to the pasta dinner. It was good that we had so much going on so that I didn't have too much time to think. We got back to the hotel early and then I took some time to really plan my strategy. I slept for a few hours and then it was time to make my way to the starting line. Dad was super supportive, and I felt better this morning than I had in weeks!

It was time to line up. I waved to Dad and got lost in the crowd of hundreds. The gun went off, and wow, was the pace really fast. Ah ha, this is what got me off my plan last time. I felt compelled (because of my competitiveness) to stay with the pack. However, as part of my strategy this time, I would ease slowly into my race pace over several miles, until I found the pacer for the 3:30 group. Then I would STAY with him for the rest of the run, rather than run past him! Oh, I had learned so much! So I was thoroughly enjoying the run. The weather was perfect, low temps, sunny and no wind. The course was gorgeous, taking place all along the Mississippi River on both the Illinois side and the Iowa side, crossing over the river on two different bridges, and running the the Rock Island Arsenol. The aid stations were great and the fans were good too. But more than anything, I knew I was easing into a comfortable pace and gradually caught up to my pace group around mile 11. I stayed with them for the next ll miles and was conversing with a couple of the runners, and thoroughly enjoying feeling good. Around mile 23 or 24, I felt good enough to pick up the pace a bit, gave my running mates a nod, and took off in hopes of finishing a strong run. It was all good until the last 1/2 mile when I started getting cramps in my feet. Oh no! Please go away just for a few more minutes! My prayers were answered and I finished with an unexpected time of 3:28:00.

My fan club of one was there cheering me on and crossing that finish line was a joy, not because I was miserable, but because I had run a very good run. This time the endorphins kicked in right away. Just ask my dad. No one could shut me up for the next couple of hours! Dad thought that I may have finished in relatively good standing compared with the number of women he had seen finish before me, so he wanted to see where I finished. We went to look at the posted results, and much to my delight, I had finished second place in my age group! We were both very excited about those results, and the summer of hot, miserable training was long forgotten!

I found a couple of my running mates and exchanged congratulations. We waited for the awards ceremony for which my place qualified me for a lovely engraved wooden plaque. What a completely different run this was compared with my first! Let's hope this good fortune continues!