Mission accomplished - time to train!

Saturday morning started a little earlier than expected (my alarm was set for 4!) when I woke up at 2:00 after a few hours of sleep. I guess I was worried about oversleeping or something!  I was anxious about the 11+ miles and my shoulder, but I was hopeful it wouldn't be that bad (figured worse case scenario was that I would have to walk the entire race).  I had gone to the doctor on Friday and he taped me up to make the shoulder/collarbone stable & my fingers were crossed that it would do the trick. After I finally got out of bed, I had my typical pre-race breakfast of some peanut butter & a banana.  I mixed up my UCAN to drink on the way to meet up with some friends to carpool to the race & headed out the door. We got to Prince William Forest Park just after 6:00 - plenty of time to relax, use the facilities & get ready to run. I love the events put on by the Marines.  Everything always runs smoothly & things are on time! 

The pistol shot started the race at 7:00 am & about a minute later I crossed over the starting line & it was go time.  I stayed with my friends for all of about 45 seconds (anyone who has run with me knows I never stay for long).  Before the race, my friend, Dave, who is also my coach, came up with an excellent plan for the race & it seemed pretty simple.

Here's the breakdown: 4-3-4 
First 4 miles, you're gonna go out & use up that nervous energy for a time of 48 minutes...
BOOM next 3 miles..we're gonna use those hills and find some pace work...time of 35:30...
BOOM last 4 miles ease back...rest...chill out...bring it home in 48:30...  

 I knew it was hilly & was hoping that I would be able to maintain that pace, but for the first mile, I just wanted to not go out too fast and burn myself out for the rest of the race.  The first 2 miles & the last 2 miles of the course are unpaved road with lots of gravel & rocks.  About the 1 mile mark, I nearly rolled my right ankle.  I was running along fine & out of nowhere my foot landed wrong - maybe I looked at my watch instead of the ground, but it caused my left shoulder/arm to seize up. So I slowed down & said a little prayer of thanks that I was still on my feet. After that, I tried to steer clear of people on the rest of that portion & was happy when we turned onto the pavement for 7 miles. Mile one was done in 11:35 - faster than planned, but not too fast, so I was happy.  Apparently, I liked that pace because it was the same for mile 2. The weather was perfect - temps in the 50s & the sun was shining through the trees. My legs were warmed up & my shoulder was feeling okay & I had a smile on my face. Miles were logged & time passed as I put one foot in front of another & kept climbing hill after seemingly endless hills.  Paces were still under 12 & I was having fun. Between mile 6-7, my thoughts turned to my shoulder. The swinging motion of the arm was making my upper arm very tight along with my back.  The shoulder itself was okay, but the upper arm & back were miserable. I had a few arguments in my head about walking or slowing down or giving into the discomfort, but in the end, I told myself to suck it up & just keep going.  It was time for rule #5 & trust me, I repeated that a bunch of times for about 2 miles. Once I got to to mile 9 & the unpaved roads, I knew it was time to pay closer attention & watch my footing. I felt a second wind coming as I saw the sign at the bottom of the hill saying "Attack that hill".  I gave it my best & made it almost to the top before slowing to a walk and cheering on my fellow runners as we were going. There was a point when I started singing Timber to myself because that is one song that gets my to kick it up a notch.  I am sure whoever I passed was thinking - WTF is she doing? She has no headphones on & she is singing? Yep, that's me - a little crazy! With about 1/2 mile to go, I had slowed down a little & a woman came up behind me & thanked me for the support on the hill & said lets get moving. That's the little push I needed & I sped up and shouted encouragement to everyone I saw. I was so proud to cross that finish line with a time of 2:04:17 (official).  At the end of the finisher's chute was the medical tent.  I stopped & got a bag of ice for my shoulder & headed off get my access granted pass to sign up for the MCM Marathon.  All in all, great race & now I have my eyes set on October 26th.  It will be my 2nd marathon, but first one as a runner.  I have some goals in mind & need to make sure to stick to my training schedule over the next 6 months. 

What went right:  I finished! Pacing was pretty good too - even if it was a little faster than intended (obviously I can't follow directions!)

Needs improvement: Fueling/nutrition (before & during). One Ucan before a race will keep me going for about 2-3 hours, but I will have to start trying out some different things on my longer training runs.  Hope they have improved the taste of Gu since I last had them!

Keep smiling - it makes everyone wonder what you are up to!

One last pic - me & my favorite bag of ice.