Irving Marathon Recap

The Irving marathon will be a lasting memory for so many different reasons. Some positive & some negative. 
The most important thing I have to ALWAYS remember is that simply completing a marathon is an accomplishment itself. Although I am very proud, I know I can grow from this experience. As a runner & person. And the competitive spirit inside me will never settle for 2 marathons, but will continue to work to get faster & stronger. I've already had people ask if I'm done with marathons and the answer is "NO WAY".


Irving was interesting.. It was a small race, but race size doesn’t bother me; a poorly organized race does though.
But safety and organization during a marathon is important. On SO many different levels. I’ll elaborate more in a second... 

I ran with a fellow run club member, Julia, and we started off super strong. Sticking around 8 min/mile for about 10 miles. Feeling awesome. Trucking along. We hung back from the Pacer because he was going a little too fast for us.




It started to get warmer so I hung back from Julia and let her take off and do her thing. I had all the fuel I thought I needed to get me through the race so the heat didn’t bother me at first.



Still feeling great- keeping an 8 min pace!





But after the halfway point, my bottle was empty of water, I was 2 gels deep, and 4 electrolyte pills deep.... I was struggling. I was totally not prepared for the heat. Which is 100% on me.


Now let me pause for a second: the course map for the full marathon was literally 2 laps of the 13.1. So as I come up to the turn around aka finish line for the half marathon, there was no sign or person telling us where to turn around. I’m looking around everywhere for someone to give direction and throw my hands up and still no one answers. So I see a space that looks like a turn around through the cones and I turn to go for lap #2. I hear “no! turn around back here!”  



Is this where I turn around? or?

As I go for round 2 I’m a little frustrated at them plus frustrated at myself because I could feel my pace getting slower and the super competitive person inside me is mad. I get to the next hydration/aid station to grab some water & Gatorade... “sorry we are out” uhm what? I’m running a marathon and you’re telling me you have no liquids for me to consume? Not to mention that it’s hot too? 
Pretty sure I cursed at them but I can’t remember. Sorry about that. 
The next aid station was mile 15. I was HOT and tired and starting to hurt. “I’m sorry we don’t have any more” alright now I’m passed pissed. I’m panicking. I have no water in my bottle and there is no water on the course, it’s hot, I’m hot, and there aren’t ANY officials in site. Once again, I was not properly prepared but I definitely don't agree with the lack of preparation on the Organizations part either.

I start to freak out. I call my mom because what else is there to do right? She calms me down and hangs up and I get my crap together until the next aid tent. “We ran out of cups but can fill your bottle up halfway” well I guess it’s better than nothing right? 

Still slightly freaking out but carrying on. 


With the sun beaming down, I’m draining more by the minute. I switch my playlist over to “today’s Christian hits” because I needed some Jesus right about then. It was lonely out there. And I don’t mean that in a weird way. Like no officials, no medical team, no one. Other than the aid stations every now and then. Just runners. Now it was stupid hot and I felt extremely uncomfortable being out there “alone”. (I am also saying this because my first marathon was Dallas and it was way bigger so there were more fans, runners, and PEOPLE always around- So my opinion could just be biased)





Mile 20ish was the turn around to head back to the finish line. I had to stop and walk. My IT band was so painful that I was compensating on my left side so much that my left groin started to hurt. I stopped and walked at every aid station from that point on. And yes, they had water and Gatorade! WOW! 

Mile 20-25 were the Longest. Miles. Of. My. Life. I walked probably 5-7x within 5 miles. Once 25 miles hit. I mustered all the energy I had left and finished as strong as possible. I had a lot more left in me that I thought which surprised me. I didn’t slow down until the finish line. 
When I saw my parents & Caden I got so emotional. I started crying when Caden ran up to me.





Crossing the finish line of a marathon bears so many emotions. And to see his sweet little face running toward me gave me all the feels a mama can feel. 



























I was in so much pain (partially because I think I actually injured myself) my mom had to give me a piggy back to the car... She is such a saint for doing that.

For now, I’m focusing on our Cabo trip that is at the end of this week! Relaxing and resting. 

Then I am going to slowly ease back into training.


I will have a WAY shorter training cycle than this past one, but have so much to work on and can't wait to see what my next training and race hold! Dallas Marathon 2019 is in my future. 





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