Bear Lake Marathon Recap

FYI:  This recap is mainly to help me remember my first marathon experience; things I did right and wrong that might help me if I decide to run another one.  It will probably be boring to whoever is reading this.

On June 9 I ran my first marathon, the Bear Lake Marathon.  I've been running consistently for about 5 years now (since Jarrett was a baby) and finally had the desire to run a marathon (26.2 miles; yes, I may have a little pet peeve with people who ask how long my marathon was).  I was going to run one in the fall so I could train through the summer with Josey home, but I decided I really wanted to do a spring marathon. I hired a babysitter on Fridays to do my long runs since Josey would be at track meets most Saturdays, and started my training sometime in March.  I thought I would dread the training since I would always be running alone, but I have found some good podcasts that keep me entertained and I mostly looked forward to my long runs.  My biggest obstacle was the weather.  I ran one 18-miler in hail, snow, and high winds, so I figured I was ready for any weather come race day.

I chose the Bear Lake Marathon because it was only 45 minutes from home and we have a place we can stay over there.  Plus, it looked like a smaller race so Josey would be able to handle the kids with less hassle and still help me out when I needed him.  We went over on Friday afternoon, checked out the course, and then let the kids swim in the pool for awhile.  We had grilled burgers and chips for dinner.  I'm not sure if this was the best pre-race dinner, but it seemed to work fine.  I tried to get to bed at a reasonable time since I needed to be up at 4:00 am to get to the bus on time, and I had a bit of trouble falling asleep, but was able to by about 10:30.

After driving over the course, I was a little bit worried.  The website had described the course as both flat and hilly (?) so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Basically the first 15 miles were hilly and the last 11 were pretty flat.  Because I train in Kemmerer, I am definitely used to hills so during the race these weren't as bad as I had anticipated, especially since they were at the beginning of the race.

I woke up at 4 a.m., got dressed, and had a breakfast of two boiled eggs, some Cheerios, and a banana.  I stuck with what works for me.  I got on the bus at 5:30 and then headed to the east side of the lake where the race would start.

My plan going into the race was to get a Boston Marathon qualifying time, which meant I had to run it in 3:35, or about an 8:12 minute per mile pace.  I wanted to stick with this pace from the beginning and not go out too fast.  I knew from my training that I could meet this goal, but it was going to be close, especially since this was my first marathon and there were many unknowns.  I didn't know if my fueling strategy would work or how my legs would be feeling after 20 miles.  I started right on pace for 3 miles and then I started going a little faster, which probably wasn't such a great idea, but a new marathoner's mistake.  I did feel really good until about mile 22.  That's when things started to get really hard.  My legs felt dead and I really wanted to stop.  The last 2 miles were especially hard.  I wanted to walk, but I knew by looking at my watch that if I walked I would not make my time goal and I was really close.  I even stopped about 100 yards before the finish line, somewhat confused by the cones in the road, thinking that I had crossed the finish line.  Then I realized I still had a little ways to go and managed to finish in 3:34:15, barely making my time goal and qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  (If I had stopped to go to the bathroom, which I needed to since about mile 6, or had to stop at more water stops, which I didn't because I carried water, gatorade, and gels - I would not have made my time goal.)  Meeting my goal was very exciting for me, more so than realizing that I was the overall female winner.  I know that in any other marathon, I never would have won with that time, but because it was a small race (about 150 marathoners, 70 female) I was able to take 1st place.  Not many people can say they won their first marathon. :)  And I got a big rock to show for it.

Overall, my first marathon was a great experience.  My training went well and I felt well-prepared for the race.  At two weeks out from the race, I still can't say if I want to run another one.  I'm toying with the idea of running one in the fall to try to get a better time, but those feelings from the last few miles are still lingering. Right now I guess I am still in recovery mode, spending a little more time lifting weights than running and doing all my runs at a very easy pace and still not feeling that great about them.  Hopefully in another couple of weeks I'll consider myself fully recovered.  Until then, I will just enjoy running in the cool summer mornings and try to get back to that feeling of looking forward to my runs.  I'm sure eventually my drive will come back and I will feel like pushing myself again to get faster, but I'm definitely not feeling that yet.  (As a sidenote, Josey has started running a little bit so maybe I will get to run some short summer races with him.  That would be fun.)