Packet pick up - so hot and tired I couldn't even stick around to take pictures.
Trying to keep my eyes open long enough to enjoy a Lychee martini; perfect pre race carbs.
Getting up two days in a row at 3am before a race and getting very little sleep was rough. I was so tired on Friday night that I had trouble sleeping and all I wanted was to get the marathon over with so I could have some fun. We were exhausted when we woke up Saturday morning but after a quick change and grabbing some food for Andy, we headed out into the dark to pick up the shuttle at the entrance to the resort. There were free shuttles that were running along the course picking up runners and taking them to the start of the race at Long Bay Beach. We boarded the first shuttle that came by and were at the park in a few short minutes. There wasn't much going on at the start of the race but I made sure I found a "hydration pack" and tested it out. This is how the water and Hi Lite were supplied on the course, in these little bags that looked like implants.
These were made in Jamaica, very cool way of supplying water. Wish we did this in the states.
After milling around for a little bit I decided I better hit the bathroom. A little disappointing that all I saw were 4 port o' pots (for 1300 people) located in a very dark spot. My first thought was that I should have brought my headlamp but that changed as soon as I got in that thing. I'm not kidding when I say there was maybe 2 inches of room left in the hole and pee all over the floor; I probably would have died if I had light in there. So after that gross experience, when I felt like I had to go again, I decided to wait and use one of the bathrooms out along the course. I should have known better.
The time came to line up pretty quickly so I kissed Andy goodbye and wiggled my way through the crowd. There were a lot of large groups of half marathon and 10k walkers that I did not want to be stuck behind so I positioned myself aggressively near the front of the pack. The race started right at 5:15am. It was a little weird running in the dark, trying to navigate around other runners and watch for holes, etc in the road but once the pack thinned out, it was fine. The hotels along the road provided some light and it was really peaceful way to start a race.
The course was an out and back it two directions from the start and the marathoners ran it twice. Immediately I fell right into an 8:30 pace and felt great. It was warm and humid but since the sun wasn't up, it wasn't that bad. The first 3 miles were pretty quiet down through Negril and the round about since it was so early, but the miles flew by. There wasn't much chatting going on between runners, which was fine because I wanted to save my energy for when the sun came up. When I looped back past the start and saw Andy around 6 miles in, I was comfortable and felt great. So far the day was going better than I had hoped for.
The sun started to rise over the next 6 miles but the temperature was still ok. This stretch of the race was a little challenging mostly because it was boring. The reggae music that was advertised wasn't what I had envisioned and the few cars along the course with huge speakers on the roof left a little to be desired. At times I thought about stopping at the half. Nothing was wrong with me and I felt pretty good but once again my head started to get the best of me. On top of that, I had to use the bathroom but there were very few port o' pots out along the course. I passed one but thought I could make it a little further and that the next one couldn’t be *that* far away. Again, I should have known better.
Of course at the half way mark I continued on. I slowed down to get some Vaseline from Andy because I was chafing and set back out feeling a little tired. The sun was up at this point and even though I was feeling lonely (with only 127 marathoners, there were not many runners on the back half of the course); I was holding that 8:30 pace steady. With each mile my stomach upset got worse and I knew I needed to find a bathroom. Then as we approached the Negril round about, I could see my competition going the other direction and realized I was the 3rd female. I couldn't believe it!! I actually thought I was wrong until people started yelling, "good job 3rd female." HOLY CRAP! Never in my life did I think I would hear those words and I'm pretty certain I'll never hear them again. Go figure I had no choice but to stop to use the bathroom just before mile 18. The bright people who set this one up put it on a down slope with the door facing down. The door wouldn't close so I had to take care of everything with one hand, using the other one to hold the door shut. The pit stop took longer than expected and when I came out, I saw the woman who was behind me up ahead. Boo.
It was at this point that the heat started getting to me. When I saw Andy around mile 18 I told him I didn't really even feel like finishing. For everyone who thinks he encouraged me to keep going, you're wrong. His response, "they are handing out Red Stripes over there!" I shot him a look and said, "I didn't come all the way here to DNF" and off I went.
The last 6 miles sucked. It wasn't that the temperature was that hot but the sun was scorching and there was ZERO relief. No shade AT ALL. And the misting tents that were advertised as being along the course, there was one…towards the end of the course, waaay too late. By the time I hit it with only a few miles left, I had stopped sweating and had the chills miles ago. I made the best of those last 6 miles and I worked with other struggling runners to stay positive and have fun. I was pretty worried about one guy who was hyperventilating and nauseous so I stayed with him shuffling and walking for a few miles. I knew I was losing time and placement, but at the time, I just wanted to do what I could to help this guy.
When I hit mile 25, named "Bob's Mile", I left him and picked up my pace. A course marshal on a bike rode up to me chatting till almost the very end when he congratulated me and thanked me for visiting his country. That was really cool and he kept me going that last little bit. Seeing Andy up ahead at the finish chute was the best feeling I had in about an hour and I just started beaming. I was so happy to be done and officially start vacation! I crossed the finish line a lot later than I had expected but I was smiling, which was not what Andy expected. Knowing I was out there longer than I hoped, he thought for sure I'd cross upset and crying. Not the case at all. I just ran a marathon in my favorite place in the world and I had 8 days of relaxation and fun ahead of me; I could not be happier.
I was so stanky, sweaty and disgusting after the race that I grabbed a Red Stripe for Andy, a coconut for me, and we got the hell out of there! Luckily we nabbed a shuttle right away (some people waited over an hour) and were back at the hotel in no time. I showered, washed out my clothes in the bathtub and was on the beach by 10am. Aside from feeling a little tired, I felt better than after any marathon I've run. I had some foot pain the days after that kept me from working out but my legs felt absolutely fine. I guess floating in the ocean and sitting in a hot tub with champagne is the best marathon recovery you can do.
4:01:35
2nd in AG (30-39)
6/48 Female
28/127 Overall
It was a great run and it was fun. But I learned my lesson; you can’t train in the colder months and then acclimate in 12 hours to that heat. When I finished I thought I wouldn’t run Reggae again…you know, been there, done that. But looking back, it was a great way to start vacation and I met so many great people during my stay because of the race. While we all know I’ll be back to Jamaica soon, I think I’d even do the marathon again. But I’d use it as a training run, not as my goal fall marathon. That's the only thing that's killing me right now. I feel like I trained so hard and missed my shot at my goal. I guess that 3:30 is going to have to wait. I have a bigger goal staring me down for 2012.
Really like the timing company they used for the race. Showed a lot of neat details. You can see below how I feel apart miserably.
Second attempt at the Lychee martini the night of the race; much better!
