…and I survived!
I’m having lots of issues walking today, but it was definitely worth it. Now I shall walk you through my experience…
We woke up at 4am Sunday morning and headed down to a hotel breakfast at 4:30am. Mine consisted of yogurt with cantaloupe, most of a blueberry bagel with peanut butter, half a banana, and a small cup of decaf coffee. It apparently did the trick!
Before I show a million pictures from my race, I’d like to give a shout out to my photographer, Matt. It was wonderful to have not only his support for the race but lots of pictures to document it.
Okay, back to business.
I was supposed to be in wave 4 based on the time I predicted I’d run it in, but I definitely took off 2 waves early. I saw the 9:20 pacer and was like…that’s close enough to 9:30. Right when we took off, though, I realized I told them I’d have a pace of 10:30, not 9:30. Whoops!
I was glad I left when I did, though, because I liked running around that pace and didn’t really slow down to 10min/mile pace till the last half.
There was definitely a lot to look at during the race, whether it was the beach…
All the costumes (I don’t see how people run 26 miles like that)…
The crazyawesome men in wheelchairs flying by…
The funny signs from spectators…
Or the encouraging running quotes put on by the race (I definitely appreciated them in the last 6 miles).
I’d definitely recommend the Surf City marathon. There were water stations at practically every mile as well as Vitalyte drink and later some shot blocks and more. I drank lots of water and Vitalyte but just stuck to 2 energy gels that I had brought with me—a Vi Fuel Peach Cobbler gel and a Pomegranate Honey Stinger one.
That’s one of the few pictures where I don’t look beyond ridiculous. I’ve never realized it before (because I’ve never seen any pictures of me running before), but I run like a dinosaur.
I apparently bend my wrists while I run. Even in the way beginning when I wasn’t tired yet, I looked like a T-Rex. So basically, all the pictures of me look ridiculous because my hands are all weird. Ohhhhh well. Whenever I can get myself to run again, I’ll definitely try to fix this.
Enough about my awkward running form.
That my friends is the BEAUTIFUL finish line. 26.2, baby!
I got my surfboard medal, and continued walking until I was forced to stop. I was afraid if I stopped I wouldn’t be able to start back up.
I tried to stretch a little, but it didn’t go too well. My muscles were so tight that I could barely touch my toes, even though I can usually go way past them. Eeeeee
Soon after we hopped on the shuttle to go back to our hotel.
If you’re at all curious, here are my results!
I was SO pumped when I found out I had an average pace of 9:57. When I registered, I told them I’d probably do a 10:30 pace. Just getting under that 10minute/mile mark makes me so happy.
Beyond reaching THAT goal though, my overall goal for the entire race was simply to never stop running. I can proudly say I ran the entire thing!
I could check my pace on my GPS watch, which was absolutely wonderful. At about mile 22 and above, I would occasionally see I was at a pace of 10:30 or even 11:00. I never went above 11:00, but whenever I hit that point, it was because I was trying soooo hard to not start walking. So basically, I ran as slow as I needed to, as long as I was still running.
TO SUM UP THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE,
I would say it went really well. It was much better than I thought it would be. The first half of the marathon didn’t feel like much work, and I think that’s because I was mentally prepared for the long distance. It wasn’t till about mile 17 or 18 that I started feeling bored and wondering if it would ever end.
Having Matt ready at several points in the race to take pictures of me was so nice. Seeing that friendly face helped break up the race for me.
Speaking of friendly faces, I TOTALLY saw two of my favorite bloggers during the race: Skinnyrunner and Monica from RunEatRepeat. I was pretty pumped…and felt like a creeper.
Now you have an idea of how my first marathon went. 
Seeing as how positive I was right after the race, I’m pretty sure another marathon may appear somewhere in my future. Near future? Not so much. But future, nonetheless.
We traveled back to San Diego from the race, which was in Huntington Beach, and got home just in time to watch the super bowl. This girl took a little nap in the beginning of it, though. You could say I was a little tired at that point.
And now I hope to not move for a week. Do you think it’s possible to recover my muscles while not leaving the couch? Hmmm…
How was your super bowl? Do anything exciting?
What was the most intense race you’ve ever run?
P.S. Happy Belated Groundhog’s Day!
How long did you train for the marathon? It’s something I would love to do but I’m going to start realistic with a 5k
I trained for 5-6 months. At first I was just increasing my long runs with a future marathon in mind. Then as I was able to run farther and farther, I finally committed to the idea and signed up for one, which was really nerve-racking for me. I had only ran one race before and it was a half marathon 2 years ago, and that was extremely hard for me. I’d definitely recommend working your way up to a marathon with getting at least a few shorter races under your belt first. As you keep improving, you’ll be mentally and physically stronger for a marathon. I mean…if I can run a marathon, I think anyone could.
SOOO happy for you! Awesome time. You look so happy in your pictures. The course looks great. I’ve thought about doing this race purely because of the medal. Was it flat for the most part?
Congrats!
Thank you! It was mostly flat, but there were a few little hills–nothing really to worry about. When I was looking for a marathon to do, that was definitely a concern of mine.
Congratulations, girl! Love all your photos!
You actually look happy in most of them, too! My half-marathon photos were like so serious. And trust me, even with T-rex hands, you look nice! It is kind of horrifying to see what you look like while running though. I was horrified seeing my photos, anyway.
I’ll never forget the feeling after I stopped running for my half. Immediately I was like, omg I wish I hadn’t stopped! Even walking afterward was just like whoa, this is bad. After a banana and a power bar, I felt a lot better though.
I hope you recover well!!!
Ya, I need to be more proactive in my recovery, like stretching and foam rolling. I just fear the pain! And all the pictures of me from the photographers at the race are horrible.I’m really serious–probably because I didn’t even know if they were taking pics of me or not. Thankfully, I was able to see Matt most of the time so I could actually prepare a smile, despite whether it was genuine or not. Haha
You are awesome!!!! I’m so proud of you!!! I’m glad you had such a good experience for your first marathon! I hope mine goes as well as yours does 🙂 Although it won’t be for a couple more years…. and seeing big time bloggers you recognize. Love it!
Thanks!! I was nervous since my training wasn’t as far along as I had hoped, but it worked out in the end. I’m sure you’ll rock a marathon when it finally happens!
Congratulations!!!
Congrats! Nothing like the feeling you get crossing a marathon finish line. Talk about a great finish time too. You obliterated your goal! That race looks awesome too. Not only for the medals, but scenery as well. Isn’t seeing fellow bloggers fun? I met the T-Rex Runner at the Mississippi Blues Marathon in early January and that was like meeting a celebrity too! lol. Do you have the next one picked out? lol
Oh geez. Next one!? I’m thinking I’ll run another one someday, but I don’t want to think about it quite yet! The lack of training is pretty wonderful at the moment. 🙂
Awesome job! This definitely inspired me to keep training for my upcoming Half-Marathon, which is good since I just wrote about how I was getting lazy…
Congratulations on your time!
Thank you! And I’m glad I could motivate you a little 🙂 I know I got really sick of training for my marathon towards the end.
Wow, congrats to you!! A 9:57 pace is absolutely amazing, Katie! Loved reading the recap and I totally empathize with the strange running pics (although the ones you posted look great). I usually look like I’ve been hit in the face with a shovel or something…
Haha awesome. The pics I put up were pretty much the only ones that didn’t look like I was dying.