I ran a 2nd marathon this year. Crazy, maybe. Stupid, probably. I am not the only one, and I was not the only Seattle marathoner wearing a 2009 Portland marathon finisher's shirt. But, my body is tired, building up a litany of minor injuries, and ready to rest.
The marthon itself was great. It follows a great course. We got to run on an expressway, on a floating bridge to an island, along a lake, through the arboretum, and had a stadium finish right next to the space needle. The weather was even great, overcast but warm in the 40-50's without frank rain. The race was well supported in terms of frequent water stations, adequate porta potty frequency, good signage, clearly marked course, and volunteers at every mile announcing the time.
The negatives are mainly in comparison to the Portland Marathon last month. No bands along the route. Actually no nothing along the route. Since much of the marathon was on routes that were inaccessible to traffic, there were very few spectators. The runners themselves were seriously lacking in rowdiness. I was one of the only runners giving shout-outs to other runners and they seemed shocked to hear from me. I think part of the reason for this is that the walkers started an hour before the runners, so didn't share the course with us until later in the race. And walkers might be rowdier marathoners than runners?
Personally, it was a great race. I went with my new nutrition plan to avoid a bonk. I alternated salt tabs and luna gummy chews at every water station (roughly every 2 miles), starting at mile 12. I ate when I wasn't hungry or tired, which goes against my innate wisdom, but it worked out well. Other than some nausea after each luna chew, I managed to keep everything down, and no GI problems. I made it through one packet of luna chews, which is a mere 100 calories. Not much added sugar, considering I burn about 600-700 per hour (so about 3000 calories during the race). But it seemed just enough to keep my brain and muscles fueled. I never got tired or confused or stopped feeling my limbs. All good things. I even sprinted through the stadium and passed a few people right before the finish line. Rude, maybe, but really a fun way to end a race! I did not PR this one, but wasn't hoping to. I was hoping to try out 2 back-to-back marathons with no major injuries. That I accomplished.
There are some mom-factors in racing that I should acknowledge. I traveled with my family. So, I shared a bed with a little kicker (we had to split them up to stop the fighting) the night before. When I got up to have my pre-race ritual, I also changed diapers, made a bottle, and kept the baby out of the hotel bathtub. For my pre-race breakfast, I carried a baby on my hip and enough food for the whole family back up to the hotel room, where I ate standing up. After the race, my kids were hungry and ate half of my post-race snacks at the finish line. It is a different experience, being the mom. Fun and different.
Oh, and I was able to knit a Georgian lace cap on the car ride there. After FIVE attempts and frogs over the Thanksgiving holiday, I went to the yarn store for advice, and discovered I had been reading the pattern up side down. Apparently, one starts at the 1/1 in the bottom right corner and works left and up. Turned out very cute. Thanks, SallyHP, for the inspiration!
Maybe next year I can build on my multi-race strategy, do 3 in one season, and make into the Marathon Maniacs!
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