Pittsburgh Marathon - Recap and One Month Later
I was weirdly calm going into this race. When I compare on my mindset for this along side my Half Ironman, it is so different. I think that part of that comes from the aspects of Triathlon that feel out of my control (aka the bike having a flat, etc). With running, it feels like it is all on me. Just me and the legs and mind and body that I trained to prepare for this moment.
When we got to Pittsburgh on Saturday I really couldn’t believe how amazing the site of our hotel was. I knew it was close to the finish. But I didnt realize that the corals for the start were literally on the street next to the race. I woke up at 5, did all the usual things. I ended up going to the bathroom twice and that actually made me nervous that my stomach was not going to cooperate for the day. But after I second time it felt fine so that was good. We met Connie and Mark in the lobby at 6:45. We walked down to the corals and said our goodbyes. They were wandering down the road further to see me off. My corral was D, and so I knew I probably wouldn’t start running at until 7:30. I went pee one more time before I got into the corral. I sipped water while waiting. Some rain drops fell. You could hear that ripple through the crowd, as people comment on it. It was very very slight and inconsistent, and stopped within about 10 min or so. I was very grateful for that. I was prepared for it to rain for the last hour of my race but I wasn’t mentally ready for it to the rain the whole time. And soon enough we were walking slowly towards the start. I saw Shane and his parents, and they had one of the bridges behind them. I wish I had taken a picture, it was such a cool sight. But I have it in my heart. These 3 people who show up to support me as I do these crazy things. And they are just 3 of so many others <3. And at 7:30 on the dot, we were off.
Miles 1-3 - Yay I am doing this. I think I need to pee. It’s probably just nerves. And the porta potty lines are too long, I am not stopping. Pace was good, a bit slower than I had wanted but I knew I had a long way to go and I was not worried about it.
Mile 4 - Saw Shane and my in laws. Knew that I really needed to pee. After seeing them, I stopped at the next porta potty and felt much better after.
Mile 5 - Saw the crew again, and knew that that would likely be the last time I would see them. The course takes over the city, and the road closures are insane. And Pittsburgh is really freaking confusing. I was okay with it. I could do this on my own.
Mile 6 - I finished my handheld and I emptied my pack of Skratch into it, knowing a fluid station would come up soon. But it didn’t. I needed to take in fuel. But with no water to wash it down I wasn’t sure how my stomach would fair. As time went on and I still saw no station, I was doing everything to stay calm. I was officially past when I should have taken something in, and I was starting to get thirsty. It will be okay. And then “Fireball” by Pittbull came on my playlist. This was the song that I had picked for my Coach. And I just knew I just needed to stay calm. I remembered that I could put a gel in my mouth and just hold it there, letting the sugar start to slowly dissolve, and so I did that. And not long after a fluid station appeared where I was able to fill up my handle held, get the rest of my fuel in, and carry on.
Mile 7 - Running along and in a conversation next to me a women says “Can you imagine running the full and still having 19 miles to go?” I smiled over at her and gave a “shhh” and a laugh. I had on my blue bib that I was a full marathoner. I got a good chuckle out of it all and they seemed to also.
Mile 10ish - this is around where the half and full split. I knew things would thin out pretty dramatically and indeed they did. I stopped to take a picture with a volunteer that had a “full marathon” sign because I was so proud that I was going the distance. And as I kept going, I took note of who was around me and I wondered if these would be the folks I would finish with.
Mile 11 - I had been running pretty much right around the same group of folks and mile 11 is a climb across one of the many Pittsburgh bridges. As the climb started “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney came on. This was Pam’s song in my playlist. And I just took it as a mental check “Am I having fun. Am I loving every minute of this the way Pam would”. And I set that mindset right as the climb built. I was in sync with a guy next to me who was wearing a black bandana and so seemed to be pretty comfortable and content to be running the same 12ish min miles as me. We commented on the incline and celebrated at the top. We introduced ourselves, his name was Frank.
Mile 12-14ish - Frank and I settled in and conquered some ridiculous hills. He was from Maryland (Cumberland area), and this was his first full. As we went through aid stations, Frank would slow to grab Nuun and I kept going. I learned he had never gotten into gels and Nuun was all he was taking in on the course. I worried that his experience would be miserable but didn’t say anything. For the most part Frank would catch up to me as I continued to cruise past the aid stations. I started to feel like I was going slower than I wanted to and worried that I was holding back to stay with someone. And so I just started to go. I didn’t fully realize I had done it as decisively as I did because I didn’t even say bye or thanks or have a great race to Frank. I just was gone. I wish I had realized it.
The next 6ish miles all blurred together here. I was pushing some, hitting closer to the pace I wanted to be, even with the hills. Spectators would tell me I looked strong and I could hear the sincerity and surprise in their voice as I just pushed on when others were struggling. Near the end of this chunk I started doing marathon math. I knew sub 5:30 was well within my grasp. And I began to realize that sub 5:15 could be. I wanted it.
And then the wind and rain started. And mile 22 and 23 were just hard. Massive massive hills. Headwinds. Rain. As I hit the down of those massive hills I had just conquered, “Born to Run” came through my headphones. Everything in me wanted to fly down that hill. But my quads were screaming and as I checked my pace on my watch I knew I wasn’t hitting what I had hoped I would on that stretch. I started to let go of the 5:15 and that was okay. Yes I still wanted it but achieving it would have been more than I would have truly dared to dream of. But as I got to mile 24 and did marathon math again, I was like “shit I can still get it if I truly make this hurt”
And so I made it hurt. At times during mile 24 I questioned again if it was feasible. But I kept pushing. And with basically one mile to go at 25, I could almost taste it. I ran my fastest mile of the day and pushed incredibly hard to the finish. It would be close. So so close. 5:15:03.
Of course I had a moment of disappointment. And of course as I am here the next day, I think of all the places I could have saved 3 seconds. I think of the pictures I stopped to take. I think of the miles that were a bit slower than I wanted. But the amazing part is truly I wanted and needed all of those things and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Those moments kept me in an amazing headspace the entire race. Those moments were what this race and training cycle was all about. I didn’t go through these last 4 months thinking about sub 5:15. I did them thinking about having fun and enjoying what I would do. And I finished yesterday knowing that I literally gave it my all and my best each moment and mile of the race.
So here we are, almost exactly a month later. Leading up to the race I knew that likely I would not want to do another long endurance event this year. I gave myself few days to process and then I emailed my coach with what I wanted to do next:
Things I want to do this summer:
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