Rehoboth Beach Marathon Race Report

On Friday night we headed down to Rehoboth Beach for the marathon. This is a really small event with less than 700 runners...618 finishers to be exact. After an easy packet pick up we checked into our hotel and headed out to find some dinner. Usually I'm so strict with what I eat the night before but since I wasn't racing this, I wasn't too concerned. In fact, I even had a beer with dinner and I've NEVER done that before. Back at the hotel Snowflake and I preped our stuff for race day and talked strategy for getting Snowflake that 3:50. I wasn't quite sure how a 3:50 would feel for me having just put a hard effort into Philly 3 weeks before, but I felt pretty confident that we could do it and I was as calm as could be. I didn't have any pre race jitters and got a great nights sleep.

On Saturday morning (which by the way, Saturday marathons are the best!) I woke up feeling great. I always eat toast and banana before marathons but I changed it up and had oatmeal, banana and coffee. Crazy changing things up on race day, but I took my chances. Snowflake was nervous and knowing exactly how she was feeling, I couldn't wait to get to the start. The hotel was right next to the start so we stayed warm in the lobby until about 15 minutes before it was time to go. As we waited for the gun, I felt great and knew it was going to be a good day. I didn't have any time to prepare for the 8:46 pace we were shooting for, but come hell or high water, I was going to nail that pace for Snowflake and keep her on track. I thought it might take me a mile or two to dial it in, but apparently I'm pretty good at pacing. ;-)

Mile 1 - 8:44
Mile 2 - 8:43
Mile 3 - 8:40
Mile 4 - 8:46

We kept it right around there until around mile 6-7. For the previous few miles I caught Snowflake checking her watch a lot and I just had the feeling that me being there was stressing her out or that the pace wasn't feeling right for her. Around this time she told me that I should just go. I really didn't know if I should listen or stay and try to push her. But I did NOT want to make this a miserable experience for her and I also needed to prove to myself that my crap out at Philly is not me. I needed to finish the year knowing I'm capable of running a marathon and finish feeling strong and good. So I said goodbye to Snowflake and did my thing.

I tried not to look at my watch and just run by feel. I felt fantastic and my nutrition was going just as planned. The oatmeal held me over until mile 5 and at that point even though I wasn't hungry I started eating one blok every 2.5 miles. The miles were ticking away and before I knew it I was at the half way point at 1:54 and just under where I should be for a 3:50 finish. I chatted up a lot of people along the way and tried to take in the scenery and enjoy the morning. I made it a point to thank every single volunteer on the course and even the spectators, which were few and far between.

As the miles ticked away I knew I was running faster than the first half and a few times I tried to pull back a little. Since I wasn't really going for a time I didn't want to burn out and suck the last 6 miles but at the same time, my legs just wanted to go.  Around mile 18 a guy came up to me and told me that I had been pacing him for most of the race and that he was counting on me to get him to the finish. Um, hunh? I'm all about someone using me if I'm holding a pace they like, but I don't care what you need buddy, I'm doing my own thing over here. We did end up running together the remainder of the race but when he pulled ahead, I stayed and did my own thing. He would walk the water stops and then catch up to me and we played this little game until the last mile.

So, the last mile...again, I had no idea what I was going to finish with. All I knew is that I was under a 3:50. When I look at my pace band and see that I'm 2 minutes off the total time needed for a 3:50, I can't calculate what that does to my finish time. I apparently need to work on this. See, around mile 25 I saw my friend's husband, Troy, on the side of the road sort of walking/stretching. He just ran Philly 3 weeks ago and had bad experience. It was his first marathon and was running Rehoboth for redemption. I knew how badly he wanted this so as I approached him I told him to run with me. I asked if he could at least do a 9 minute mile and that would definitely get us in under 3:50. He said he would try and off we went. He was cramping bad and then at one point dropped a water bottle. As he slowed to pick up the bottle, I slowed as much as I could to give him a chance to catch up. It was then that I glanced at my watch and realized "holy shit! I have a shot at a BQ here!" Troy had yet to get back to me from dropping the water bottle so I took off like a bat out of hell for the last 3/4 of a mile. I knew it would come down to seconds and it was likely I wouldn't get it, but I tried so freaking hard. I couldn't believe I had that much left in the tank this late in the race and I was running in the low 7's to get to that finish. I needed a 3:45:59 to get Boston 2012 but it didn't happen.

I finished 3:46:42. Oh well, I wasn't going for a BQ but it would have been a fun way to end the year. I do wonder if I didn't slow down at mile 25 if it would have happened, but you know what, who cares. If I gave Troy even the littlest boost, then that's more important than a BQ. I could not be happier how this race went down. Not only did I beat my time from Philly, I felt great out there and proved to myself that I am capable of running a marathon without falling apart. This race was a huge confidence booster and there's definitely something to be said for running a marathon for fun. I had NO pressure on myself and it showed while I was out there. I was relaxed, happy and had a great time. And it must have showed because I had spectators comment on the huge smile I was wearing.

So, # 7 done. 3rd one in 8 weeks and I can now call myself a marathon maniac. I'm taking this week off completely from running and will just cross train. Then it's time to kick it into high gear because I think I found a race in March to get my 3:35...