More Marathon Pictures

I'm glad my mom had her camera. This is near the end of the race and the girl ahead of me is the one I caught at the finish.Showing my loot. Dad has the beer.

Leaning on my dad so I don't fall over.

Trying hard to not look exhausted.

My biggest supporter. Thanks Peter!

Chillin' in the Eel River.

Marathon Moments

As you've read, I wasn't feeling my healthiest right before race day so I was a little anxious as to how my body would do. I had trained for 16 weeks and stuck to my schedule; doing maintenance runs, long runs, speed work, and tempos with a little cross training mixed in each week. I think that's what pulled me through in the end, and that's probably why I'm not stuck in bed today. So here's how the numbers break down:

My time was 3:42:33, 2 minutes and 33 seconds short of qualifying for Boston. I was first in my age group and won a pin, a nice glass, and a beer. I was 31st overall and, if I counted right (yes, I was counting), the 8th female finisher. Here are the results.

My strategy: Every mile was marked and I just focused on running each mile in 8 minutes. My average was 8:30 pace but I know my first half was 10 minutes faster than the second.

The course: Awesome! Mostly flat, under the giant redwoods and along a river and a creek. The weather was perfect.

Mishaps: Just before the race started Peter asked, "Is your shirt on inside out?" It was! With the tag sticking straight out the side! He helped me take off my race bib so I could put my shirt on right. Somewhere around mile 9 I coughed, spit, and then my watch flew off. I have no idea why it happened but it didn't take me long to pick it up and get going again. Soon after the half-way point (when most of the runners finished their half and we turned off onto another road) the guy about 50ft in front of me started running awkwardly and I realized that he was peeing and running at the same time! Not in his pants, but somewhat controlled. Then I noticed that I was following a trail of pee for an impressive distance.

Payback: There was a runner ahead of me near the finish. Peter yelled, "Pass her Karen!" and at that point I was still shooting for Boston so I mustered up everything I had and finished strong, passing her. I know that's an awful feeling because it happened to me my last race. She was still first in her age group.

Post-race swim?: I hadn't really planned ahead for a place to shower after the race, but the cars were parked right along the Eel River. I was so sweaty and salty that I didn't hesitate to jump in and wash off. Refreshing.

Fortunately my mom remembered her camera. She sent me these pictures via email. I'll post more later.

It's Not a Good Sign...

when you have to take FIVE breaks during a relatively easy tempo run a few days before the big race. I'm not sure why but I kept getting horrible side aches and I couldn't run through them. Ugh. I hope that whatever was ailing me will go away by Sunday.

Count Down

Only six more days until the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon. I'm a little nervous just thinking about it. I've been feeling good during my last few weeks of running and I hope that continues. Unfortunately there is a nearby fire right now so the air outside is unhealthy. I've been outside all day and I'm hoping I don't have any lasting effects from the smoke. My goals this week are to stay healthy, get plenty of sleep, and lay off the junk food. So far, not so good but I've still got a few days to go. As far as my goals for the race?

My overly ambitious goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Seeing as this is my first marathon and I've never ran more than 20 miles I know this is a crazy goal...but wouldn't that be awesome?! (My training schedule says it's possible)

My ambitious goal is to finish under four hours.

My basic, and most important, goal is to finish injury free.