11-11-11 Marathon of Sarasota Whitiker Gateway Park, Sarasota, FL

The morning started off cold and windy. I was back in FL and not expecting Savannah race conditions! I picked up my bibs, one with numbers for front and one with my name for my back. I also got my timing chip. I hung out with all the Marathon Maniacs who were in town for the race. There were 7 of us that would qualify for Maniacs today and two runners who were running their first marathon. We got lots of photos taken near the water and once the bathrooms were opened (yeah!) we started the race. It got started at 7:30, a little late, but we needed to wait on the bathrooms.

Gina, Stephanie, Dawn, Jeff and I all started off together running 3/1 intervals. I had no time expectations. I just wanted to finish. Really, I hoped for a sub 5 hour finish, but wasn’t going to push it. It was a lot of fun through those first few miles. Dave Mari was taking photos all the time. Endorphin dude was there and entertained us by stopping to sing on the DJ’s microphone. Liz and Renee stopped by to cheer for a while. It was great seeing their smiling faces every lap.
Somewhere around mile 6, Gina slowed down and we all got ahead of her. Soon Jeff and Dawn started running a bit faster, so Stephanie and I held back. I didn’t want to push the pace too hard. We ran the first 13.1 in 2:15, which was only 4 minutes slower than last weekend.

Miles 1 through 7: 9:51/10:07/10:00/10:35/10:14/10:42/10:29Miles 8 through 13: 10:13/10:44/10:22/10:26/10:40/10:18

We definitely slowed down during the second half, but for the most part I felt good. Everyone was friendly. Many people said my name as they ran by and wished me luck. The volunteers, some of whom are friends, were great. They had a table set up by the water with anything a runner could need. I tried a half a banana during the race for the first time. My friend Susan sprayed sunscreen on me at one point. The temps stayed cool and very dry. I was hardly sweating and I tend to sweat a lot! I could feel the saltiness on my face for most of the race. Stephanie is a hoot. Her friends brought her a bloody mary and she drank from it each time we passed it. We came up to Leah, who was running her first time marathon, when she had 10 laps to go (we had 15 I think). She was struggling, but decided to hang with us and take walking breaks. She ended up with a great finish and a time of 4:08!

Miles 14 to 18: 10:53/11:28/11:06/10:47/11:23

I caught up with Dawn at some point during this time. She was not having a good race and saying she was never running a marathon again. She ran NYC last weekend and it wasn’t a great race for her. We went back and forth for a bit, but soon she pulled ahead again. She ended up finishing a couple of minutes before me and feeling pretty good about it.

Miles 19 through 23: 11:24/11:33/11:53/11:55/11:49

The last 3 miles were very painful. The side of my left knee hurt a lot. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife! But, I kept going. A very slow shuffle. I did get to see the couple from England get married and have photos taken. I think I passed by them 3 times during this process. The woman came in first overall woman and the man was second overall man.
I was so ready for the last lap. I tried to speed up my pace a little, but couldn’t do it. My knee almost collapsed a couple of times. I was so happy to finish!! I got my finishers medal and my 2^nd place age group award. There were only 3 people in it, but so what! I’ll take it. J

Miles 24 through 26: 13:19/13:17/14:08

Finish time: 4:49:08 for 25.96 total miles. It’s still a marathon to me! J

I didn’t hang around too long before making my way to the medical tent. They taped a bag of ice to my knee and gave me some Tylenol. I hobbled over to the food area and then on to where I had left my bag. We saw Gina pass by a couple of times. She was not happy, her knee was hurting a lot too, but she didn’t want to give up. I made it back to the finish line in time to see her finish. I got a couple of photos taken with my medals and my “I just qualified for Marathon Maniacs” sign, before heading home to spend a relaxing afternoon on the sofa.

It is now a few hours post race and my knee is feeling tender but better. I will take it easy this week and will decide by Friday if I will run the Women’s Half Marathon on Sunday! What was I thinking??? J

One thing I’ve realized post race is that I didn’t encounter any stomach issues and for the most part I didn’t cramp up. I think the two halves of banana I had, one around mile 18 and the other a few miles later, really helped. I also didn’t wear a waist pack today, so nothing compressing on my stomach. I was pretty good about eating when I should and taking the endurolytes when I should. I drank more water today too.