You guys!!! I ran my second full marathon!!! And I beat my time by 7 minutes!!! I am still in shock several weeks later that I actually did it! (And that it’s taken me this long to write about it!) I didn’t quite make my ultimate goal of under 5 hours, but I was super close with a time of 5:04:03!!! Can you believe it???
Here’s how it all went down:
The family and I drove up to Madison on Friday night to get my packet at the Expo. We hung around the Expo looking at the different booths, hanging out with fellow runners, and making signs. My kids made the greatest signs for me for race day!
Such a pretty sight!
There signs are so cute! I love how supportive they are!
We went to Pizza Ranch for dinner afterwards which is always a nice carb-loading trip. I tell ya their pizza and chicken are the best. We recently went to Mac’s Pizza Shack which is a local restaurant and their pizza is good but just not quite as good as Pizza Ranch. They have so many different topping combinations for their pizza; it’s just incredible. After all that carb-loading I was completely ready to crash at home.
Saturday I slept in and got out for 2 miles. I had been battling a cold since the Wednesday before the marathon and was still not feeling the greatest this morning. But I took some meds and took it nice and easy on this run. It was a decent run. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and getting things done around the house so that I wouldn’t have much to do on Sunday.
This is really happening!!
We went to bed fairly early since I wanted to be on the road by 5:15 the next morning. Surprisingly we were out the door by 5:20, which is better than usual. We arrived in Madison with plenty of time to find parking and walk to the capital. I even had time to stop and use the port-a-potty which was good because I was having tummy trouble. This was not a good sign, but I was hoping that if I used the potty before the race that would take care of everything. It did for awhile, but that’s for later.
Because we had arrived so early, we actually had to wait around for about a half hour. This was torture for my kids as it was pretty chilly this morning. However, they survived and lived to tell about it.
Let’s do this!!
Finally it was time to line up in our corrals. I made my way to the back of the pack to where the 5 hour pacer was. My plan was to stay with him for the whole race and maybe use my last burst of energy to fly past him towards the finish line. I stayed with him for about a mile and then he stopped at the first aid station whereas I kept going. I didn’t see him again until mile 22 when he passed me, which was devastating!
Smiling through the Arboretum
Anyway, I was feeling really good for about the first 10 miles. I was cruising along at a fairly decent pace, fueling appropriately, walking through the water stations, when it hit me! My guts started rolling! I don’t know what it was that started it. I use Hammer gels for all my training runs and all my races since realizing that GU makes my stomach upset. They usually don’t bother me at all so I don’t think it was them. I’m not sure if it was something I ate the day before or the fact that I still had this awful cold hanging around. Anyway, I thought about stopping at the next water station to use the potty, but when I got there the feeling had passed so I just kept going. This happened several times throughout the race. I would get the rumbling feeling in my guts, swear to myself that I was going to stop at the next water station, and then it would pass before I got there. It was crazy!!! The craziest thing about it though was that when I finished, I didn’t have to go. I didn’t even really have to go when I got home! I have never had this happen in a race, and I sure don’t want it to happen again!
Still smiling!!!
Despite the tummy trouble, I was keeping ahead of the 5 hour pacer and was running pretty consistent 11 minute miles; sometimes even less than that! I was amazed! I tried not to look at my watch too often as it was always disheartening to see how much further I had to go. Marathons are hard, I’m not going to lie! What was great and just what I needed was seeing my mom and dad at mile 13-14 with a sign telling me that I could do it. They were yelling and screaming and my dad had a duck whistle he was blowing. It was just what I needed at that point. I was on the lookout for my husband, kids, and mother-in-law also, but I hadn’t seen them yet. After seeing my parents, it was about a mile or two later that I was trucking up a hill and I heard a beep. There they were, honking at me with the kids yelling out the back windows. I handed my gloves to my hubby, thanked them for the encouragement, and kept trucking. I love that they are so proud of me!
Besides the finish line, I think this is my favorite picture.
Like I said before, I was ahead of the 5 hour pacer until mile 22. This was when my tummy troubles were at their worst and my legs were starting to yell at me. I was so upset when he passed me, but honestly, at this point I really just wanted to make it across the finish line and I didn’t care what my time was. I was really hoping to break 5 hours, but with my tummy being the way that it was, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I was almost convinced that I wasn’t even going to be any faster than my previous time. I really just wanted to be done.
Always smile for the cameras!!
I knew the course pretty well from last year, and I was remembering certain landmarks that signalled being close to the end of the race. I knew there were some pretty steep hills at the end so I took plenty of walking breaks towards the end so I could at least attempt to run them. Considering my stomach and legs, running even a part of these hills was a success. After conquering them, I was so thankful to come around the corner up State Street and finally make my way to the finish line! I was on the lookout for my family as I rounded the corner. I saw my mom and dad first. They were further away from the finish line so they could make sure they saw me. My mom was yelling and screaming and my dad was snapping pictures. A little ways closer to the finish line I saw the rest of my family. They were all yelling and screaming. I looked at the time clock and couldn’t believe the time I saw, so I used my last bit of speed to burst towards the finish line.
This one is from my dad. I was coming up to the finish line. I saw them and knew I could push it across the line!
As I was making my way there, the announcer announced my name! It was awesome! I’ve never had an announcement like this one before. He said, “And Conquering the Capital is Laura Steele!” I loved it! I burst across that line and immediately went to ring the PR bell! I received my medal and went directly to the Conquer tent to receive my medal for Conquering the Capital. This medal is awesome! 45.5 miles to earn it, but it was so much more! It was hours and hours and hours of dedication to training since April!
Sweet, Sweet Victory!! I did it!! PR BABY!!!
I met up with my family and we hung around awhile while I regained my ability to walk! Just kidding, it wasn’t that bad. We grabbed some Panera bag lunches and ate some while we talked. They were all so amazed by my time! Just as much as I was! I was in so much shock that I went to the results tent to have them print out my results! Yup! I did it! 5:04:03!!! Holy Crap!!
Family photo. It wouldn’t be a family pic without my son being a goober! Love that kid!
We didn’t have too far to walk to the car which was nice. I was tired! I honestly couldn’t wait to go home to shower and relax the rest of the day! And that’s just what I did! I did manage to get a load of laundry done but that was it. It did help to keep my moving though.
Overall, I was very pleased with this race. I can’t believe I am a two-time marathoner!
As of right now, I’m not sure if I will run it again or any marathon for that matter. Part of me really wants to break that 5 hour time, but another part of me wants to just stick to half marathons as they are easier to train for. But we’ll see! Right now I’m going to enjoy the offseason and spending this awesome holiday season with my family!
As always, thanks for reading!
And, RUN ON!!!
Laura
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