This past Sunday I ran my FIRST FULL at the Little Rock Marathon! Since I live in Little Rock now I had the advantage of running with the amazing training group lead by Tom & Hobbit here every Saturday. Even after following the training schedule and running parts of the course I was scared, but I gathered all my running junk and went to bed early.
Got to the start line about 10 minutes before the early start (at 6am.) It was the perfect amount of time to take a few photos, chat with some fellow runners and not freeze my butt off for too long.
The early start (for slow people like myself) had several advantages: 1. we got to see this amazing sunrise on the river 2. we got to see the elites effortlessly fly past 3. we finished before the medals ran out and before our friends and family lost interest.
We missed some of the course entertainment because we started so early, but all of the water stops were open and a few people were awake in North Little Rock to cheer. My apartment was further along the course and Michael came out to cheer for me.
The crowds kept my mind off the hills. It's just not a party until you see a dog in a dress.
Made a quick stop to sign THE WALL. I think I run too slow to actually "hit the wall" but I did have to walk a lot of those last few miles.
My goal for this first marathon was just to make it to the finish and get that medal. I'm never going to qualify for Boston and am perfectly happy being passed by people in their 70s. The race, volunteers, police, entertainment and crowds were amazing and I walked away with a medal that is as big as my face! I might just have to try it again next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment