The Time I Ran a Marathon

Today marks five weeks since Kevin and I ran our first marathon, and I'm just now writing about it. It still doesn't seem real. I can't believe we actually did it. 

We had been watching the weather all week, leading up to the race. We were hoping it would change, but it didn't. Rain. And wind. And cold. We were going to get all of it. We didn't actually have any "waterproof" running gear. We had trained all summer and not once did we encounter any rain. Lots of hot, humid days, but no rain. Sure, we've run in the rain before, but not for 26.2 miles. The day before the race, we decided we should see if we could find something that might help us stay dry.

Saturday, October 14, we headed to the packet pick up/expo. We picked up our packets and each bought a Grand Rapids Marathon sweatshirt. We checked out the running gear at the expo and all of the rain gear was super expensive. We didn't want to pay $100+ each, so we decided to check out some other places. 

We ended up stopping at a golf course that was having an end of season sale on all of their gear. We each bought a wind/rain breaker-type shirt and decided that would be good. We spent that rest of the day at home, relaxing. It was hard to sleep that night. I was so nervous, but excited too. 

Sunday, October 15, we got up early, ate some breakfast and got ready. Kevin's mom, brother, and sister-in-law came and picked us up at about 6:45 am. We got downtown, parked, and heading to the start area. At this point, it was still dark, but the temps were in the low 60s. A little windy, but not bad. And no rain! We hung out for a little bit, took some photos, then headed to the start line.

before the race!

(Note: I had never run in a hat, ever, before this race. With the rain and wind that was expected, I was hoping it would keep it out of my eyes. Best decision ever.)

We got to the start line and it was getting real. We were doing this. And so were thousands of other people. Just a few minutes before the race started, it started pouring. We were soaked before we even got started. All we could do was laugh. There was nothing we could do about the weather, so no point in getting mad about it.

All the people waiting at the start.

Selfie in the start line before the rain started.

At 8:00 am, the race started. We were off for the longest run of our lives. I had serious doubts in myself. I thought for sure I would hit a wall, mentally, where I would think I couldn't finish. I had to tell myself to be positive the entire time. I was really careful not to start too fast, because I didn't want to burn out before the finish. We saw both of our families at the start, cheering us on. They were out there in the rain, getting soaked, just to see us start. That definitely gave me some energy and motivation right from the start.

After about mile three or four, I was getting too warm, so I took of my yellow long sleeve and ditched at one of the aid stations. Our feet were soaked already, but we kept going. I counted down every mile. I remember when we hit six miles, and I said "only 20 more to go!" In the back of my mind, I thought there was no way I could run 20 more miles. But we kept going. Only walking at the aid stations while getting a drink and/or fuel (I can't drink and run at the same time...I spill and choke lol). We saw Kevin's family around mile 2 or 3, and they took orders for dry clothes :)

Around mile ten, we were greeted by both of our families. They had towels and dry clothes. My coat was keeping me fairly dry, so I just wiped my face and hands off with the towel. Kevin put on a dry shirt and his wind/rain breaker. We were carrying dry socks in ziplock bags, and around mile 13, we ditched our sopping wet socks for the dry ones. But about a mile later, our feet were soaked again. 

Around mile 16 or 17, Kevin was having some cramping issues in his leg, so he insisted I keep going ahead of him, since I was feeling ok (I mean, every part of my body hurt, but I wasn't cramping). I hated going ahead of him, because we had trained together for four months, and wanted to do the race together too. But he kept insisting, so I ended up going ahead. 

Mile 20 was my fastest mile, by about a minute. I think that was the point where I realized I was actually going to do it. I was actually going to finish. I was going to run a marathon. I settled down, and got back on pace so that I didn't burn out before the last six miles were done. The last three miles were the hardest. I was so tired. Every part of my body hurt. I was wet and cold. But I kept going. And I did it. I crossed that finish line!

And not long after I finished, Kevin crossed the finish line. That's when the tears came. We did it. We both did it. Something that only 0.5% of the US population has done, and we did it. 

It rained, the entire time. For 5+ hours. It was also really windy. And the temps dropped all day. So while it started in the low 60s, it was in the upper 40s/low 50s when we finished. I think there may have been a brief time where it cleared up, but we were on trails in parks, with lots of trees. And since it was so windy, the water was blowing off the trees, so it felt like it was raining anyway. Even with the less than ideal conditions, we did it. I couldn't be more proud of us. The four months of training paid off, and we finished!

The course was great and the race director and volunteers were even better. They were out in that cold, wet weather for us. They handed us drinks and fuel, and cheered us on. I'm so thankful that the Grand Rapids Marathon was our first. Such a great experience! 

After the race, we went home, got out of our cold, wet clothes, took hot showers, and tried to relax. But we were so tired and sore, we couldn't get comfortable. No matter which way we sat or laid, we were uncomfortable. Around 6:00 pm, we decided to lay in bed and watch tv for the rest of the night. We both had to go to work the next morning, and that was rough. But not as rough as Tuesday. That was the worst day for me. I limped when I walked for about 4 or 5 days. Any slight incline or decline was torture. Steps were killer. I've never been so sore in my life. But I guess that's what running 26.2 miles will do :)