I began my journey at the pasta feed held the Friday evening prior to the marathon. It was nice to meet a few people before the event and hear some of the stories behind who was there. This particular marathon was a reunion for the 100 marathon club. All I can say is, "wow!" To even be in this club you must finish 100 consecutive marathons - no dnf's. Many of these people had completed far beyond 100 marathons. We're talking 200, 300, 400 marathons. There were also members of the 50 stater's in attendance as well as numerous marathon maniacs. The speakers were Joe Henderson, former editor of Runner's World and "The Rev", a marathon maniac who also happens to be a reverend. The Rev's speech was directed at us 1st time marathoner's in attendance. He even made us stand so everyone could see who we were. Oh well, I've always liked attention. Ha! Prior to his speech I had had a pace goal in mind. However, after listening to his words of caution (given in full comedic humor) regarding going out too fast, the wall, and the hill at the end of the course, and hearing all the laughter coming from the more experienced in the room, I began to rethink that plan.
That night my husband (who was also running this as his first marathon) and I went to bed at 9:30 - we were exhausted! We both woke up around 11:30 thinking a full night had passed. Nope, back to sleep only to wake up again a couple hours later. The whole night went this way until 5:50 when I finally felt released to leap from bed. Our hotel was right at the start line which was nice. We had our own bathroom and were able to take our time getting ready. It was a chilly 28 degrees outside but I knew it would warm up to the low 60's with sun by the time I was finishing the race so I decided to tolerate the cold on my legs and wore my pink running skirt. I snapped a photo of myself in the mirror and sent it to my parents so they would know what outfit to look for at the finish line. That proved to be a big help for them! At 7:30 we checked out of our room and made our way to the lobby, met our friend who had trained with us, and made our way to the start line.
We were having fun chatting and didn't even realize when the start sounded (a semi-truck horn). All of a sudden we were moving! The first 3 miles meandered through some country roads in town. We began using our 5/1 run/walk ratio and were amazed at the amount of people with interval watches beeping all around us. We did not have to worry about ticking anyone off with our frequent slows to walk. I knew at some point I would switch up to a 6/1 ratio and head out on my own apart from my dh and friend (who I'll refer to as M from here on out) but wasn't sure at what point I would leave them. I was having fun enjoying their company. 26 miles is a long way to go alone. For the time being I was content with the pace. We left town and entered the canyon road we would follow for the remainder of the course. It was a beautiful course, twisting and turning along the river. The only real downside to it is the camber of the road - torture! We did a lot of weaving from side to side trying to find flat spots. I'd been warned it was bad and yeah, my ITB was not happy with me by the end. We saw lots of people shaking out their knees along the course. One woman was skipping in hopes of giving it a different range of motion.
The volunteers at all the water stops were so nice and quite plentiful. Even so, we used our fuelbelts as we like to drink when we want to drink. Plus, we were able to carry our own sports drink choice with us. I did take water from the stops a few times.
By mile 10 I was getting a little discouraged with the slow pace. I felt like I was running faster but every time I looked at my watch we were at an 11:40 pace - slower if we stopped at a water stop. Again, I debated going ahead on my own but fought the urge as I also feared hitting the wall at the end. Besides, I was still enjoying having company on the run. We ran into a 64 year old marathon maniac who told us we were being wise running the pace we were for our first marathon. "You'll be glad you did when you get to the end", he said. Did I mention we had stickers on our bibs (a foot) to signify us as 1st timer's? It was nice when experienced folk would see that as they would give us extra encouragement. Anyway, with his wise words I decided to hang back a little longer.
Mile 13 seemed to come quite quickly. Half-way! I snapped a picture of the mile marker with my cell phone and quickly sent it to my parents so they would know where we were along the course and could show our kids. I had promised to keep them updated. At some point along here I stopped for a bathroom break. Those volunteers were a chatty bunch and I lost some more time but it was okay. By this point, I knew I wouldn't be breaking 5 hours and had decided to just enjoy and they were encouraging and fun to talk to.
Mile 15 came and my dh and M began to slow down. I was finding myself a few feet ahead of them listening for the beep of the interval watch. I'd slow til they caught up on the walk and then take off again.
Mile 17 I heard them say from behind, "Pam, we release you!" I think I may have waved at them before hitting the 6/1 interval timer on my watch and taking off. Don't tell my dh but I was amazed at how quickly I lost sight of them. lol! I was on my own now and while I had enjoyed company the solitude was also nice. I admired the beauty of the canyon and the river and found myself singing the song, "Our God is an awesome God" in my head. Somehow, the awesomeness of God just seemed to fit with the awesomeness of the canyon and the awesomeness of what I was doing. It propelled me forward. Every now and then I'd say or receive a word of encouragement from a fellow marathoner (fellow marathoner, how fun to say that!). I stopped at a water stop, grabbed some pretzels and re-filled two of my water bottles. Then, it was time to tackle mile 22, the hill. I ran some of it until my walk break. That's when I realized I was walking the thing just as fast as I'd been running it. I ran a little more and then figured I'd just power walk the thing and save some energy for the end of the course. Another older marathon maniac was on the hill calling out encouragement to me and a couple of other 1st timer's. "Just around the bend is the top and mile 24", he told us. He was right. I began running again and quickly ran into both. I snapped another photo of the mile marker for my family as I knew they were already looking for me at the finish. I wanted them to know I was at least another 25 minutes out. It was at this point I was beginning to wonder what I had been thinking. Overall, I'd been having fun. In fact, at mile 23 - still on the hill, someone asked me how I was doing. I replied, "My knee hurts but I can say I'm still having fun." Fun was not what I was thinking at mile 24. Mile 24 was all about 2 more miles and I could stop as well as wondering if I would hit the dreaded wall (I never did). My ITB was mad and the rest of the course was downhill. While easy on the lungs, it hurt the knee. But I got my race angel! A fellow blogger from the Sparkpeople site had mentioned her race angel in her recent race report. I wrote her that I sure hoped I'd get a race angel in my race. "You will", she said. Sure enough, just past mile 24 I ran up to a girl who was walking and in some obvious pain. I asked her how she was doing. She said her knee was hurting. I told her mine was too and asked her if she'd done this marathon before. Turns out she was also a first timer. We decided we would finish the race together. I ignored my walk breaks and we ran the last 1.5 miles to the finish line, thankful for the extra push we gave one another.
As I neared the finish the wife of M and another friend met me to run me in. I received my medals and a rose. I crossed the finish line in 5:13:15. I was slower than I had hoped for but that was the least of my goals so I was okay with it. All my main goals had been met. What were those goals?
1. To enjoy my marathon.
2. To finish feeling strong and with a smile on my face.
3. To want to sign up for another marathon.
4. To finish uninjured.
5. To beat my husband. (yeah, I know ... sounds bad but a girl needs some competition in her life. By the way, I beat him by a full 18 minutes).
I met my family where my daughter presented me with a special award. She had brought little plastic medals for her dad and me. She put it around my neck along with my Yakima medal. Too sweet and I was very honored to wear her medal. Here's a photo of both my medals. 
This was an awsome experience and I am so glad I did it! I am proud of my accomplishment and the accomplishment of my husband and am thrilled to call myself a marathoner. I only began running 5 years ago and never would have dreamed I would or could go 26.2 miles. But I did it! I finished a marathon! I am a marathoner!
