Ever since running my first marathon, I knew I wanted to run another one!
I trained all winter long, through the snow, the bone-chilling temperatures, and ran my little heart out topping out at 60 miles one week.
With all those miles under my belt, I thought for sure I would be able to clinch a Boston Qualifying time, but no such luck. I am bummed, but there were a lot of good things about the race! 🙂
A quick recap of the race:
Marathon #2 – Mayor’s Marathon (Anchorage, AK)
Official time: 3:44.02
Overall: 96/1003
Overall women: 21/524
Age group (25-29): 6/86
Splits
Mile 1 – 9:21
Mile 2 – 8:24
Mile 3 – 8:21
Mile 4 & 5 -16:31
Mile 6 – 8:33
Mile 7 – 8:39
Mile 8 – 8:17
Mile 9 – 8:22
Mile 10 – 8:36
Mile 11 – 9:02
Mile 12 – 8:23
Mile 13 – 8:52
Mile 14 – 9:19
Mile 15 – 8:38
Mile 16 – 7:42
Mile 17 – 8:52
Mile 18 – 8:19
Mile 19 – 8:18
Mile 20 – 8:25
Mile 21 – 8:18
Mile 22 – 8:09
Mile 23 – 8:19
Mile 24 – 8:21
Mile 25 – 8:33
Mile 26 – 9:22
Mile 0.2 – 1:59
Total: 3:44.07
. . . . . . .
Now the extended version starting with Saturday morning. . . .
5:30 a.m. Get up, shower, get ready
6:00 a.m. Eat breakfast, finish getting ready
6:45 a.m. Leave for the start of the race
7:10 a.m. Arrive at the start
I sat down and chilled for a while until it was time to line up.
I was pretty nervous but ready to run. I couldn’t have asked for better weather though! It was perfect running weather!
Craig stayed with me until it was time for me to line up. It was so nice to have him there this time. (He wasn’t able to see me run my first marathon.)
Then it was time to go, and we were off. . . .
The first few miles of the race were decent. I felt fine—my legs didn’t feel awesome, but I definitely wasn’t feeling any pain, tightness, or fatigue. I did my best to hold back on my pace because I did not want to start out too fast and then crash and burn later. (But maybe I started out too slow?? My first mile was 9:21!!))
At mile 7, we got to the Tank Trail which is a dirt road used by the military. The gravel was not fine gravel but instead consisted of “minature-sized boulders” as I like to call them.
This was one of my gripes about the course. I was constantly looking down during this time to make sure I wasn’t about to trip over a rock. A couple times I kind of lost my footing and stepped wrong.
I was actually really worried I was going to get a rock stuck in the bottom on my shoe because if you are familiar with Mizuno running shoes, they have a large crevice in the bottom of them (that’s just the design of the shoe), and I thought for sure a rock would get stuck in them, but thankfully that did not happen.
The miles were clicking away, and I was feeling good. By this time we were almost at mile 9.
Craig and my in-laws were there to give me my Gu and water.
Craig waiting for me to come. 🙂
We spent a total of 8 miles running on dirt roads and narrow hiking paths through the foothills of the mountains. The scenery was quite gorgeous and thankfully I did not see any moose or bears. . . .
only some impersonators. 😉
Craig and his parents were there at mile 12 to cheer for me and give me fuel.
Still feeling good!
The miles on these trails got REALLY lonely. I felt like I was basically out running in the woods by myself.
I had to play a lot of mind games with myself during these miles.
“Okay, Michelle, just get to mile 13 and then you will be half done.”
“After mile 14, it is all downhill.”
“When you get to mile 16, you only have 10 (point 2) miles to go.”
“Mile 17 means you are down to the single digits (in terms of miles to go).”
During my first marathon, I started to get fatigued at mile 14, so when I got to mile 14 during this race, and I was still feeling good, I was very happy!
I honestly felt really strong through all these miles—even though my splits weren’t where I wanted them to be.
I saw my pit crew (Craig + in-laws) again at mile 17, and I took my second Gu at this point.
Now I was focused on getting to mile 20 and still feeling okay (because that’s where a lot of people hit the wall).
I told myself if I was still feeling good around mile 20, I would start to push the pace, otherwise I wasn’t going to be able to qualify for Boston. (I knew even at the half-way point it was going to be close.)
I worked so hard to pick up the pace, but my splits just wouldn’t drop down. I kept pushing myself and trying to get them to at least 8:00 minutes, but I was pretty tired by this point.
Craig met me at mile 22 and ran with me for a while. 🙂
I had half of a Gu, but I was so sick of them by that point, I couldn’t finish it.
Craig and I ran together for a while, and I told him I wasn’t going to make it, (I wasn’t going to qualify.) He told me I was doing awesome and then split off.
Craig met me just a couple more miles down the road and ran with me until mile 25.
It was great having him there. He encouraged me to keep going and just provided a little bit of distraction for me because I was feeling it in my feet, hips, and knees!
Awww. . . so cute. . . we are in stride together.
Mile 25 was the hardest mile, and I just wanted to be done!
There was a really steep hill at 25.5 that I nearly crawled up. I kept running, but it was brutal. (I had ran the hill during a training run, and it didn’t seem so bad, but throw it in at the end of a hard race and it was 10Xs worse.)
Finally, I got to mile 26 and ran down the track to the finish.
It felt so good to be done. I knew I had given it everything, which is a great feeling, even though I didn’t qualify for Boston. There is always next year, right?
Me and my mother-in-law, Kelly. Craig’s parents were a great support crew: taking pictures, giving me water/gatorade, and cheering for me!
My friend “Lazer” ran the half marathon and smashed her PR by more than 20 minutes. (I hope I got that right, Lazer?!?!)
A big hug from my biggest fan!
Thanks for all your support, Babe!
I’m still shooting for you, Boston!!
Your splits and rankings are SUPER impressive!! The course looks beautiful, too.
Congratulations! What a beautiful course! I love those pics of Craig running with you, what a great husband 🙂 Also, your hair looks ADORABLE, even after running 26.2 miles! You’re awesome!
Congratulations! Still a great time!! The surroundings are beautiful and I love the moose impersonators 🙂 We have a trail nearby that sounds like your description of the tank trail. I think running on it has helped make my ankles stronger! You look so tan! I would blind everyone if I ran without my shirt…haha. I like the color combo of your shorts too, nice and summery. How warm was it at the start/finish?
I think it was about 60* at the start and upper 60s at the end. I personally thought it was perfect running weather.
Congrats! I read your blog alot and never comment but I figured that if you ran another marathon, I could comment and say great job 🙂
Your hair is too cute! How do you braid it like that??
Thanks! For the braid, I sectioned off a chunk of hair and then french braided it. Hmm. . .maybe that could make a video of me doing it and it could be my first vlog!
You look seriously awesome for running an entire marathon. Did you run 5 more afterwords?
You did awesome and I really think your next one-Boston will be yours!
great job!
Congrats on your race, Michelle!! You are an awesome marathon runner and it sounds like you had a great race!! 🙂
Thanks! How did your half go?
Congratulations on such a great race – even though you didn’t qualify for Boston (yet), I’m still super-impressed with your time (not to mention all the training runs in the middle of winter)!! The moose impersonators made me laugh, and I love all the pictures of you and Craig, definitely an awesome supporter! 🙂
oh, p.s. – how do you feel about the medal? From what I can tell from your finishing picture, it looks pretty cool (and giant, which I love).
Ha! Ha! The medals are HUGE and weigh a ton!!
You rocked that marathon in those shorts and sports bra! (:
I’m so happy for you. You can only get better, right?
Congrats on marathon numero dos! You rocked it, and there’s always another marathon to BQ at. Great scenery for a race! 🙂
P.S. I really like your hairdo!
Thanks!
Michelle! You rock! Great job, friend! I’m so proud that you finished and I think it’s SO wonderful that you have such a loving husband who supports you and literally runs by your side when you need it most. It’s just precious to me!
I totally agree with the other comments – your splits are incredible! I can imagine how tough it must have been to get through those quiet miles without many spectators. Crowds make such a difference! And I think it’s awesome that Craig ran with you – I can tell he’s really proud of you! Congratulations again!!!
Congrats on your marathon, you did such a great job!!
Congratulations you did great 🙂
Congratulations!! I”m sorry you didn’t quite reach your goal, but it sounds like a tough race. I would hate to feel alone on the course and crowds are a crutch for me at least. I hope you are relaxing today and realizing that your time is still AMAZING.
i know i’ve been gone for a long time, but i couldn’t pass up congratulating you on your marathon!!!! good work woman! seriously. amazing. it really looks like you stayed strong all the way through the end of the race. marathons are SOOOO hard! but you did amazing. good work! and way to look hot while running a marathon. LOVE the hair.
We are so proud of you, Michelle!! It’s a good thing you had some “bright” running shorts so your “pit crew” could easily pick you out in the crowd. Thanks, Craig, Kelly and Steve for cheering Michelle on and for being there for her. We were thinking about her. I like Craig’s “Fleet Farm” shirt. Michelle, you did an awesome job!!
Great Job! Your splits were consistant and you are soooooo close to Boston- I bet you’ll get it next year for sure! Interesting that you had the same time 1st and 22nd mile… you have stamina girl!
AWESOME Post! So inspiring!!!!!! 🙂
Ha! I didn’t notice that mile 1 and 26 were the same time!
Great job! Thanks for sharing your recap with us! Like many others, I loved your hair!
you are so fast! congrats on a great run! i can’t believe how many great race pictures you got too!
My father-in-law got all the great pics!
You look so strong and amazing! Congratulations on such an awesome race!!! The idea of running a marathon seems so daunting to me right now, and you’ve now completed two! You’ll get to Boston, Miss Rockstar! I know it! 😀
A year and a half ago, the marathon scared me out of my wits!! It seemed so long (which is it) and daunting as well, but if you want to do it badly enough, you can do it!!
Congrats on a great race! I loved your recap!