Race Report: Tobacco Road Marathon

I signed up at the end of December and laid out my plans for training in early January, with just 11 weeks of intentional training scheduled before the race date.

Expected: PR (current PR is 3:40:21 from the Charlotte Marathon in 2017)

Target Goal: BQ (qualifying standard for my age group is 3hr 35min)

Stretch Goal: 3:30 or below (to get as much of a buffer below the BQ standard as possible)

I drove up to Cary, NC after the 5k at work on Saturday (about a 3.5 hour drive) and didn't make any stops on the way. Went right to the expo, picked up my bib and shirt, then checked into the hotel.

Walked to Chuy's (yes, Tex-Mex is my favorite pre-race meal) next to the hotel for dinner and then relaxed before an early bedtime. I think the early wake-up for the 5k that morning must have been a good thing because I didn't have too much trouble falling asleep despite the nerves and excitement!

Honestly I'd been such a bundle of anxiety for the past week... I tried not to let it show but man, I knew there was a lot of expectation for this race (for myself, mostly) and it was tough to keep my cool.

Race morning, woke up and felt ready to go - not groggy or tired at all (too excited!!). Got myself out the door with plenty of time to drive over to the shuttle area, find the shuttles, and make the journey over to the race venue by about 6:20 a.m. for the 7:00 start. Took my time in the port-a-john line, found Matt who was planning to run with me, and got into the start corral. I'd hoped to find a pace group for a 3:30 time, but the fastest marathon pacer was for 3:35. I did see the 1:45 half marathon group, so thought starting off with them would be a good way to get into the groove early. Maybe I could keep up with them for the first half of the race!

A few announcements, an interesting live rendition of the National Anthem, and then we were off just as the sun started to rise! I had made the decision to take off my long-sleeved shirt before the start, and definitely did not regret it... kind of wished I could have left it somewhere, but it wasn't too much of a bother. 

The race course follows rolling roads for about 2.5 miles to get to the American Tobacco Trail, then does two out-and-back segments... first heading north, then turning around just before mile 8.5, going south past the place where we'd originally gotten onto the trail for the second out-and-back, then doing the final turn at almost mile 19, finally heading back the same 2.5 miles to the finish line. 

I kept the 1:45 half runners in my sights and stuck close to them very intently, even though they were going a good bit faster than the 8:00/mi pace I needed to maintain. I hadn't realized the half runners would turn south when we got to the trail, so I was a little worried to not have them with me very long. I felt good, though, and just kept a steady pace and had my watch auto-lap every mile so I could check that I was on target. Most of the first miles were closer to 7:45-7:50 pace, and I knew I had to throttle back just a little to not crash later. 

~Mile 3

All but 2 miles well under 8:00/mi pace for the first 8 miles.

I felt amazing all the way to the turn-around point at mile 8.5, and saw Matt not far behind me after I made the turn. I had a few gummies not long after the turn, and a waffle around the half marathon point. There was an official time clock at the halfway mark, which was just over 1:44 (hello, second-fastest half marathon ever...). Perfectly on pace so far and feeling good!

~Mile 13.5

Keeping steady paces!

Made it past the point where we joined the half marathon course and it got significantly more crowded - a nice distraction, many more spectators, and also a noticeable slight downhill grade... which was great, except for being VERY aware that every step down the hill was a step I would have to re-trace much later in the race. Oooof, that was a tough mental block to get past!

Mile 15-ish?

It felt like the turnaround point was SO FAR AWAY, and things started to get tough after about mile 16. I don't remember a whole lot about miles ~15-20, but I know it felt far away. The lap notifications on my watch had gotten from solid 7:50-7:55s to more like 8:03-8:08s. I knew I'd banked enough time early on to be ok with a few slower miles, but I didn't like making that a really close call and didn't want to have to push too hard at the end. 

A little on the slower side, but still not bad. 

Finally got to the turnaround... things got hard, and I got a little worried when I didn't see Matt... but I knew I had to keep moving because it was still not "in the bag". I also had a minor freak-out when I ran past the Mile 22 marker and my watch didn't buzz... then I looked at it and it said I was only at 21.5 miles! I was extra concerned because Mile 20 had been one of my slowest by far, and I needed to be sure I wasn't dragging too much. I finally realized the satellites must have gotten wonky and decided I would hit the lap button for each mile marker going forward. 

Miles 20 & 21 = yikes.
Miles 22 & 23 = satellite issues.
Mile 24 = back on track.

Mile ~23? My face says it all...

Finally saw the turn off from the trail and knew if I could just hang on for LESS THAN A 5K I would achieve my goal... the phrase I kept repeating in my head: "You have everything it takes, but it will take all you've got." Also the concept of "finding fuel in an empty tank" was quite present.

I was running on the road, which was the most rolling part of the whole course... a good bit of it was downhill, but ohhh boy not all of it. My quads were on the verge of completely cramping at this point, but I just had to push and get through the rest. I just wanted to be DONE. 

I had less than ten minutes to go 1.2 miles...
not impossible, but SO HARD to keep pushing at this point.

Thankfully, I found Matt waiting for me at Mile 25 to run the final mile of the race which was exactly the push I needed... I was so tired and so ready to be done by then, but somehow made it up and around the final hills towards the park where I would find the finish line. 

Cresting the final hill, the volunteer was yelling "800 meters to the finish, all downhill! Keep pushing!" and off I went, as hard as I could go. I could hear the announcers and the cheers at the finish line as I rounded the corner, and I watched the race clock tick over 3:29:00 as the finish line came into view, and I knew I had done it!!!

Pain? Joy? BOTH?? Yes.

I was SO THRILLED and in total disbelief. I couldn't believe what I'd just accomplished! I got to ring the victory bell (for those who PR/BQ)!

I hobbled my way over to the results tent, where I was given my official pink slip that would grant me the race shirt that I REALLY wanted....

3:29:57

After some chocolate milk and a small beer, I hobbled my way back over to the shuttles and made my way to the hotel for a little rest before hitting the road. The 4hr car drive home was quite uncomfortable, but I scheduled as many stops as I could (between food and gas fill-ups) which made it tolerable. And I absolutely wore my BQ shirt to work on Monday. 😁😁

Writing this on the following Saturday, I'm STILL in disbelief a bit that I really did accomplish this goal... it seemed so far out of reach, so impossible, something only "really good, really fast runners" do. And... now I've done it?? Still doesn't seem real. But hopefully I'll get to run next April in Boston! 💙💛🦄