I was definitely less prepared for this marathon than I was for my first. After Jason and I ran the turkey trot (a 10k) he did really well and I somehow convinced him to start training for the marathon. We did a couple long runs to test our endurance and then signed up a little after Christmas. We were comforted by the fact that we could change to the half marathon up until a week before the race if we needed to. Our training really wasn't that intense and was probably about the bare minimum you could do to run a marathon. Our runs during the week weren't that long but we did a long run once a week at Tempe Town Lake. I loved running around the lake and it was vastly better than the canal that I trained on last time. Jason is faster than me so we didn't run hand in hand but it made it easier driving with him and having him there. Also we always recovered afterwards by getting tasty sandwiches. We said we were "sponsored" by QT, Jimmy Johns, and AZ Sandwich CO :).
I hadn't really ran very much last year after our trip and had put on some weight so I wasn't in the best shape to start training with. I was pretty certain I could do it but I knew it would be more difficult and I would be a lot slower. Jason pushed it a little too hard in the beginning by increasing to 13 mile from 7 miles and he hurt his knees pretty badly. He took a couple weeks to recover and had almost dropped down to the half. His knees began to feel better after the rest though and he decided he was going to go for the full.
I added in some tempo runs to increase my speed and it actually helped me improve from where I started. If I had trained longer I think it would have even helped me get a much better race time. The longest run I ended up doing was 18 miles when last marathon I went up to 21 miles. Jason only ran up to 16 1/2 miles so he was more nervous than me especially since it was his first marathon.
The day of the marathon the weather was perfect. It was cool and cloudy for the majority of the race. The wind was a little strong a times making it a little more difficult but I would rather have wind than the hot sun. We arrived at the buses at 5 am and we driven 26.2 miles away into the middle of the desert to the starting line. We had about an hour to stretch and prepare but before we knew it the fireworks went off and the race had begun! It was a long, hard 26.2 miles. The first few miles were great and it was beautiful in the desert watching the sun rise. Jason and I ran together up until about mile 5 when it was uphill and Jason ran ahead. That 2 miles of uphill was much harder f0r me than I remember it being and that's when I knew it was going to be a tough race for me (of course I knew it was going to be tough, but I mean tougher than last time). I caught up with Jason off and on up until 13 miles and then I didn't see him for the rest of the race. At about 14 miles I was done with running and just wanted to stop. I couldn't believe that I was only about halfway done. I just kept running though and made sure to down a gel pack every 5 miles.
After 20 miles it took everything I had to keep going. I lived for the water stations they had at every mile for the last 6 miles. Most of the people around me would walk then run but I knew the more I walked the more I would want to so I only walked during the water stations. At 25 miles an Arcade Fire song came on and it was what I needed to keep going. I finally made it to the end where I saw my family cheering me on! I crossed the finish line at 4:35 which is 15 minutes slower than my last time. I wasn't too disappointed with my not so great time because I hadn't trained as long as I should have and my goal was to finish the race.
Jason ended up beating me at 4:25! I was really proud of him but also a little annoyed because I had trained harder than him. He kept telling me that we was probably going to walk the last 6 miles so I planned on passing him at the end but somehow he pushed on through. I am glad that he had a good experience with his first marathon.
I think we'll end up running another marathon but probably not next year. 26.2 is a long long way to run and even the little training we did was time consuming. I feel like a half marathon is a great distance and we could train to get a great time rather than just finish. I am glad that we were able to run the marathon together though. It was a great experience doing it together. Not many people can say they have run a marathon (or 2 for me :) ) and even fewer married couples can say they both have! We did see a couple during the race and the husband's shirt said "I love running with my wife!" Now I know what Jason's wearing for our next race :)
I always love seeing my mom, Brin and her fam cheering me on by the finish line!
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