The Larkins Family: Marathon Recap

Monday, February 15, 2016

Marathon Recap

Marathon Day has finally come and passed. I crossed the finish line and I am not dead. I repeat, I ran 26.2 miles and I am still alive. The day started early for me. I woke up at 4 AM. I got dressed, got my stuff together, made some peanut butter banana toast, grabbed my coffee and was out the door by 5 AM. I got to Westgate at 5:20 and hopped on the bus which left less than 10 minutes later. I happened to make the first bus leaving so that was nice. I got out to Verrado right around 6 AM so I had about an hour before the race started. My running partner Aislinn had just gotten dropped off there, too. I did some warmup/stretching and got my sunscreen on while sipping the last of my coffee. We got in a last minute port-o-potty trip and then checked out bags right before the race started. The sun was just starting to come up but the weather was perfect for running. We made a good effort to not start off too fast and I think we did really well with that. The first 6-ish miles was basically straight before we turned into some neighborhoods. The golf courses were nice and we even saw a coyote staring down some ducks by one of the little golf course lakes. The first half of the race went pretty well. We stopped to pee at mile 16 and then saw my family at mile 17 before heading in to Luke Air Force base. Throughout the 1.5-ish miles through the base there was someone cheering every 100 feet. It was really cool. We saw my family again at 20 and I was still feeling okay but then when we saw them again at 22 I was hitting the wall. I actually started to panic a little and my sister was there ready to run with us and with some cold water. I calmed down, but it was really hard for me from 22 on. There was not one specific part of me that was in severe pain, but I just felt heavy and emotionally exhausted. The last 6 miles was also almost all straight so not too exciting. We had a pretty good hill at 25.5 miles and after that I just really needed to see that finish line. My official time was 4:25:35 but my watch actually hit 26.2 about .3 miles sooner and I paused it while I peed so nike plus says my fasted marathon is 4:18:09 and I like that. Looking back, I really feel okay about the first 22 miles but that finish was hard. I could not have done it without Aislinn and I am so lucky my sister ran the last 4 as well. It sure is mental at the end there. I am also super grateful for everyone who came out along the way and for taking pictures/video. I had a burger and french fries for lunch and treated my self to two beers with dinner that night. It was also nice to not have to work today! I went to a restorative yoga class last night for some deep stretching and I think that helped, although I probably looked like an idiot because I had to use my hands to get my legs to extend, haha. I do have Ragnar with weekend but my legs are pretty short and then after that I don't have any running on my agenda. I know that lots of people run marathons but to me, it is still a really big deal. It was hard for me. I trained a lot and running has never come naturally to me. My youngest is only 17 months old and 17 months ago I weighed over 200 pounds. I am not sure if I will ever do one again but I am very proud to be a part of the 26.2 club.