Inaugural ING Georgia Marathon - Sunday, March 25, 2007

Race Weekend until the Start Line

So the weekend started out with a trip to the Expo on Friday afternoon. We managed to hit it at just the right time and were able to walk right through, pick our packets and t-shirts up and spend some time perusing the booths.

It was a great Expo in comparison to the Peachtree and Atlanta Marathon – lots of great vendors and samples. I had my feet scanned at the Mizuno booth and learned what kind of shoe that I would need. Great timing, because my Asics are killing me! I never had a problem until the switch to the GT-2120. Grabbed more of my favorite socks and a few other goodies, then we left to grab some dinner.

We had dinner at Figo and then headed home to rest.

Saturday was a busier day than I had planned – I spent some time cleaning up and ran a few errands, so I tried to rest in the afternoon. We had a great pasta dinner at our friends place that night and hit the sack around 10:00 PM.

We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning – around 5:15. I hadn’t been sure if I’d go with running short or my normal capris – but the capris won out since I’d worn them on most of my training runs. I never want to switch without having tested it out for awhile. One regret that I do have was not bringing my water belt – but more on that later.

Got everything together and we headed out to our friends place. My friend dropped us off on Marietta, right near the Start. It was so great to run a race in our own city and be able to get there in 5 minutes! We found bag check and the porta-potties. No lines when we got there, which was nice.

My husband and I split up after that and I headed to find the 6 hr pacers. My Chicago time was 6:29, so I was hoping to better that and figured I’d start with the 6 hour pacers and drop back if needed. I really wish they’d have had corrals, because you had to enter from the back and push through the crowd to get to the right starting point. I also heard that the pacers started way too far forward and many of the faster runners ended up stuck behind us. It was a little frustrating to hear people laughing at the thought of a 5:30-6:00 hour marathon as they pushed forward to get to the right spot. I like the idea of entering your own corral so that you are surrounded by those with similar capabilities (i.e. Chicago Marathon).

And we waited. You could feel the excitement in the crowd as we all watched the big Coca-Cola clock tick foward from 6:50...It was a great feeling being in my hometown, looking at everyone around me and feeling the buzz of energy. I love being surrounded by so many people who have the same love of these things as I do!

After the race started, we crossed pretty quickly – I think I crossed about 7 minutes after the start, not too bad! The first few miles were great – I went out slower than I normally do and felt pretty in control of my pace. We left Downtown and headed down Peachtree to Ralph McGill Blvd as we neared Mile 1. We turned to the left and were presented with our first uphill! I was averaging somewhere between a 13:00 and 13:30 minute mile pace. Excellent!

Just before Mile 2, we were heading south on Jackson St. You could look to the side and see an unbelievable view of the Atlanta skyline. One of my favorite views! We passed the MLK memorial and turned onto Auburn Avenue. I completely missed this water stop because it was on the left and I didn’t see the signs. It was pretty cool though, because on the right hand side was a Gospel choir serenading us! I figured I’d just grab more to drink at the next water station.

We headed to a left turn on Edgewood Avenue, which brought us a nice downhill. One of the few in this course! Several runners were going down around me because of some speed bump things on the far sides of the road. Yikes! Continued down Edgewood through Inman Park- Mile 3 - and enjoyed the nice shady streets. Turned left onto Elizabeth and then a right onto Euclid (aka Little 5 Points) and headed up the hill to Moreland. We passed a struggling wheelchair participant and everyone clapped, it looked tough! I was really happy to be nearing a water station and extremely disappointed when we got there and saw a crowd of people and no water. No cups, some water jugs and lots of frustrated runners! I finally found a cup and poured some water in, but because of the wait, I lost my pace group.

I headed the rest of the way up the hill and passed Mile 4. The half marathoners turned off and the smaller group of us continued on McClendon. Made it the rest of the way up the hill and then back down. I had a little more trouble keeping the pace group in sight and they began slipping away. I still maintained a pretty good pace and tried to make up a little distance as best as I could. We turned onto Oakdale where we hit Mile 5 (a 12:42 mile by my watch – talk about trying to catch up!). We continued through the great, tree-lined residential areas, Candler and Olmstead Parks as we headed towards South Ponce de Leon.

No water stops here and I was starting to drag. I was really regretting not bringing my own fluids at this point! We turned right on South Ponce and continued on, running parallel to Ponce de Leon. I got a chance to see the marathon leaders off to my left as they headed up Ponce from Lullwater to Oakdale. Somewhere along here we hit Mile 6. Chip Time - 01:24:01. Average Pace 13:31. Right on track, I’m a happy girl! And that was with the time I spent trying to get water back in Little 5 Points.

South Ponce eventually joined Ponce de Leon, and we continued on until we turned right to take East Lake Drive. We took East Lake until we turned onto Ridgecrest and then made a right on Dekalb Avenue and hit Mile 7. There was a sign for the water stops, but nothing around. It was pretty much here that all the wheels fell off. I was extremely thirsty and started to wonder what on earth was happening. I just continued on, hoping that there would be a water stop as we neared Decatur. I hadn’t had any fuel yet either since I wanted to make sure I had it with water. I cramp really easily with that stuff.

We were on Dekalb Avenue for a short bit until we crossed over and headed down College Avenue. Decatur rocked as far as signs along the course and some great crowd support. We hit Mile 8 and people were telling me that there was water ahead. I was so happy to hear that! I was so thirsty that I called my parents and found out they were in Decatur somewhere between Miles 9 and 10. I just begged them for Powerade. I was probably screaming Powerade! Powerade! in some kind of incoherent voice now that I think back. Ha. They rock. Finally got to a water stop between Miles 8 and 9 and pretty much wanted to hug them. I put my headphones back on and felt like a new woman!

We hit Mile 9 just before turning on Commerce and heading north, under the railroad tracks, into Downtown Decatur. There was a huge cheering section there, and it was great to see them all. Go Decatur! I got to my parents just before Mile 10 and drank a ton of Powerade and gave them hugs. I drank too much though, and had to begin fighting stomach cramps. Ugh. I continued on past Mile 10 and headed down Clairmont. We continued down Clairmont and hit Mile 11 just before the turn onto North Decatur Road.

Thinking back over the past 11 miles, I really don’t know what was going on in my mind. Psychologically, it was the toughest run I’d ever had. Even more than some of my bad training runs. I never realized how hard it would be to run in the heat without the fluids that I needed. It was tough! I had to keep telling myself to keep moving. Doubts would creep in, but I would just try and push them out of the way. Float like an anchor, sting like a Rhinoceros. Hee. Whatever it takes, right?

North Decatur took us uphill (and brought me a much needed banana from the Emory Medical tent) until a right turn on Clifton as we got to Emory. Mile 12! We made a quick left and it brought us a downhill, then a quick right turn to a water station. Woohoo!! Lots of great crowds here, and they’d probably been there for awhile. I hit an empty porta-potty here. I think I was still feeling pretty peppy around here because I knew that I needed to keep some energy for Druid Hills. We headed up North Decatur until we hung a left onto Lullwater (around the traffic median, of course!).

Lullwater brought us lots of hills, but some much needed shade! It also brought Mile 13 and the half mark – 13.1. Chip time was 03:17:49 about a 15:05 pace. Not bad considering I’d made a few stops along the way and talked to my family for a minute or two.

We hit Mile 14 with our turn onto Ponce as we headed to make a right turn onto Oakdale. We continued down Oakdale hitting Mile 15 near The By Way and then crossed North Decatur Rd. and looped around to Springdale. This brought some serious hills and Mile 16. Thank god for the support table here, it was the only one with any sort of electrolyte drink – orange Gatorade. I’m not sure how they got it, but I was extremely thankful.

We continued on and soon got to the right turn onto The By Way. My parents were waiting here and provided some welcome hugs. I probably spent about 5 minutes with them, I really hit a wall here. A great bike patrol guy chatted with me and offered some Gu. I had just had one, so I thanked him and mustered up the courage to keep on going! I felt better after the hugs and headed up the hill to our left turn onto Briarcliff. We ran down Briarcliff as we headed to Ponce. This was a tough section because traffic was backed up all along Briarcliff, so you were sucking exhaust fumes the entire way. It was getting pretty hot too!

Passed Mile 17 and we soon crossed Ponce and Briarcliff turned into Moreland Avenue. Moreland took us to a right turn onto the road that runs next to The Carter Center. Somewhere along here we hit Mile 18 and had a nice downhill before we had to go back uphill as we turned left and got onto Freedom Parkway. There weren’t any trees at this point and it was HOT! A few overpasses brought some much needed shade. This was a tough section because if you looked to the right you saw the runners who were ahead of you because it was an out and back type loop.

Mile 19 came just before we got to Boulevard where we turned around and headed back to a left turn onto Freedom Parkway. Mile 20 came near the Mizuno tent – these people were great! One of the guys poured me some Cola from their cooler because I must have looked completely dead. I knew I needed some Gu but I was waiting for water. Split time was 05:14:50. Average Pace 15:44. At this point, I just wanted to finish. Screw time.

My mom called and told me they were just after Mile 20 – so that got me to the bottom of the hill. I stopped and visited for a short time and then was off down Freedom Parkwayin the other direction heading towards Ponce. I was feeling better, knowing that a really tough part of the course was over with at this point.

Mile 21 came just before a right turn onto Ponce. This was a tough section, we were on the sidewalk until we got to St. Charles, and there wasn't any direction as to where to go. I'm glad I knew the course! We headed down St. Charles and turned right onto North Highland. More running on sidewalks and dodging random people who were out and about.

Somewhere around here we hit Mile 22 and then as we turned right onto Park Drive we ran up a short hill to Mile 23. I was really just plugging along, knowing I didn't have much further to go. Miles 24-26 were a blur of warm water, and sheer determination as we headed up a lot of uphills to finally bring us to Peachtree. I'm not exactly sure how I made it to the finish. All I know is that I rounded a corner, saw the finish line and just started booking it. I was ready to be done. And I finished. And my entire family was waiting there for me. And it was worth it.

6:56:32. Average Pace 15:53. Almost a full hour more than I expected.

It was a tough course. I was not prepared for the heat. And I pretty much slugged it through the race after Mile 7. But I am extremely proud that I finished. And knowing that I stopped several times during the race, my overall watch time was closer to 6:47. Still not what I wanted, but a great learning experience and a wonderful course that runs through lots of my favorite areas of the city. I'll be back next year, stronger and better prepared.

The great thing about marathon training is that now I get to start fresh. Summer training and hard work at dropping some weight will lead to a stronger marathon in September. Stay tuned!

So it's over. And I'm sore, but overall I'm feeling ok. I never thought I'd be as frustrated as I was, but I'm glad that I experienced every last drop of the race. It gave me the push that I needed to keep working hard at reaching my goals. It made me want to be a better runner. And it also made me want to stop being so hard on myself so that I can enjoy the race. Yes, I want to be faster. But I also want to really enjoy the race. So those are my goals.

On to the next one!