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Skagit Flats Marathon. Marathon 25! 26.32 mi 05:1311:53 pace

My “official” time was 5:18…but I like Garmin’s time better.

I woke up this morning FINALLY feeilng better. I’ve had nausea and stomach issues all week long. They started on Monday with the Super Jock and Jill Half Marathon. Yesterday’s 5k was ROUGH. Friday I felt so awful I didn’t even work out.

So today was SO nice to feel better! Megan and Lisa and I made our way up to Burlington to run the 32nd annual Skagit Flats Marathon. Unfortunately as we got closer my stomach got worse. Right before the race I texted Roy to tell him how horrible I felt. I honestly wasn’t sure I’d make it. But this was Megan’s first marathon and I wanted to be there for her! By 1/2 mile my stomach pain just stopped. From then on I not only felt better, I felt FANTASTIC!

Lisa ran on ahead of us so she could try for a PR (which she made…speedy girl that she is). We ran 5:1 intervals and had a great time running the EXTREMELY flat course. It goes all through the farmlands of Skagit Valley, so it is just beautiful. We passed lots of fields, cows, horses, geese, more cows, a few dogs, and some darling little farmhouses. It was GREAT! I loved it.

Water stops were many, which was also wonderful. I took a risk at running without water on a hot day (but I didn’t want anything bouncing against my tummy). I swear I came HOME with more Gu than I left with, so bringing Gu was completely unecessary.
Miles 1-6 went very well. We felt really strong the entire way. We Gued about 6 and that gave us some energy. At about mile 3-4 we started seeing half marathoners coming back (WOW) so that was fun to cheer them on. We hit mile 13.1 feeling strong. One of the workers took a picture of us at the halfway mark. That was fun!

The first half of the last half started to get HOT. It was definitely warm (mid-70s) but we’d enjoyed a nice breeze most of the first half. Mr. Breeze left us for quite awhile on the second half. We also were sharing the road with bikers from the MS 100, so we had to be aware and watch out for them. Not a problem! It was like having a mobile cheer squad!

Our pace slowed some during miles 14-20 as we started to tire something. Every now and again I’d ask Megan if anything hurt, she’d say she was just tired…a very good sign that nothing was injured. Absolutely NOTHING hurt on me, praise the Lord. I have a healing torn gastroc, but was given the blessing to run. It didn’t even bother me for a moment today.

At mile 20 we picked up another lady who was really struggling, but seemed to be sticking with our pace either directly ahead or behind us. We asked if she’d like to join us running 5:1 intervals. She did and we (okay I) talked and got to know each other over the next two miles. I could tell she wasn’t going to be able to keep our pace for long, and so could she. She told us to go on without her and we said we’d wait for her at the finish line.

I think miles 22-24 were hard on Megan, but that’s not surprising as 20 had been her longest run, she ran a half marathon on Monday, and a 10k yesterday. I just kept chatting hoping I wasn’t irritating her TOO much. I honestly felt BEST at that point, really had a lot of energy, no real apain…awesome.

At mile 24 I ran through a walk break, figuring if she stopped I’d stop. She didn’t. So when the next one came I asked if she wanted to stop and she muttered “run through”. I could tell she was rallying some, as we often do. One great thing about marathons; you can have a HORRIBLE mile or set of miles at one point, but it doesn’t mean it’ll be that way the entire time. Often a mile later you can’t even REMEMBER feeling bad.

Mile 26 was actually our fastest mile, which is just how I like it. We ran in pretty strong…not blinding, but not shuffling either. This is a REAL testement to Megan’s fitness level! She loves to run, and it shows in the fact that she did not lose form at all through her first marathon.

Me at mile 25 in my 25th Marathon Memorable moments:
-All the maniacs cheering each other on throughout the race
-Beautiful appaloosa horses running in a field
-The sight of the mountains in the mist in the early morning
-The cute little pug who “cheered us on” at mile 24
-All the GREAT volunteers from sports teams at Burlington Edison High School. Thanks kids! Your support was invaluable!
-Getting to know Megan more
-Dancing the macarena on mile 23, unknowingly irritating the living hell out of Megan (her headphones broke at mile 4).
-Feeling not only good, but GREAT for the first time in a week! I felt like I could fly!
-Getting a text message from my honey before the race wishing me good luck and telling me he was praying for me and he loved me.
-Getting a text message from my honey right AFTER the race after I tweeted that I finished, telling me he was proud of me and he loved me.
-Seeing the pride on Megan’s parents’ faces as they watched their girl cross the finish line of her first (but not last) marathon!
-Hi five from Coco (Megan’s son) after the race
-Getting to know Megan even MORE! Sharing more stories. (Did I talk too much? I probably did. I think it was because I felt so good. It was more than just “I feel strong today” but when I get these “Hank” issues it is sometimes all I can do to plaster a smile on my face, So when they go away I feel like I could leap tall mountains and I get very giddy, thankful, and chatty.)
Marathon number 25 in the bag!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 09/13/2009
• Time: 08:02:58
• Total Time: 5:13:00.81
• Calories: 2419
• Distance: 26.31 miles
• Average Pace: 11:53.73/mile
• Max Pace: 8:51.66/mile
• Ascent: 2,280.69 ft
• Descent: 2,252.7 ft