The marathon was THE BEST! I can't believe I had such a great experience. It was completely opposite the last marathon experience I had. My friend, Laurie (who didn't run it because she is prego) and I drove down the night before. I had such a negative attitude from a week before up until like the 3rd mile. I was dreading it thinking I would have the hugest mental breakdown ever. Anyway, it was a trail marathon that gained 4500 ft in elevation, and 2000 ft were gained in the first 6 miles (first 8.5 were uphill with no break), and the last 6 miles we lost 2000 ft. You would think that would be good, but not after running 20 miles - it was a killer and I thought I was going to roll down the trail! Anyway, I wanted to walk almost immediately, but no one else was so I ran 3 miles uphill, then started doing the run 4 minutes and walk 1 minute thing which really helped my energy on the 5 more miles up hill. I ate at every aid station which I think made a HUGE difference. They actually had good food - turkey sandwhiches, PB &J, chips, bananas, apples, M & M's, etc. I would grab something, get a drink and keep running while I ate. Mentally, I set small goals. Make it to the flat part - only 8.5 miles, then make it half way, then make it to 16 miles and I will only be 4 miles from 20 miles, then make it to 20 miles, then I am pretty much done. That definitely helped a lot. When it was flat I mostly ran, but sometimes did a walk run because it helped so much with my energy. And because the road and trail did wind about, I really didn't see many marathoners. They were either ahead or behind me. I actually really liked that. At about mile 17 I got this huge burst of energy and just kind of took off. I passed 4 guys (2 of which had passed me). Laurie actually hiked up the trail and met me at mile 21.5 and ran most of the rest of it with me. That gave me a bigger energy boost. As soon as I realized I had a chance at making it under 5 miles, I ran fast. I ended up sprinting (no joke) to the finish line to make it in just under 5 hours (4:59:17). I still could have kept going. It was crazy. I had so much adrenaline and excitement. My legs were tired at mile 10 because of the climb, but I recovered and was fine. It was one of the best experiences ever!!!!!!! I never hit a wall mentally or physically. My time isn't the best, in fact, I think there were only 10 or 15 people behind me (total of only 88), but for me that was great. And knowing that I actually could run a marathon by myself was great. It was only 20 mintues longer than the last marathon I did which was FLAT with one little hill! I really wish I could do one every year, but it probably won't work out that way.
