It's going to be long and include every detail because I'm not writing it for you word skimmers out there. I'm writing it for future me to reread in a few months when I've forgotten what it felt like to be hardcore runner girl who finishes marathons.
With that said, here's a quick recap of the expo and the morning of the race.
Race weekend is a huge deal for Oklahoma City. The Arts Festival also comes to town, so there are thousands of people out and about. My mom and I have gone down every year for the past 3 years to walk around and check out the artistic happenings. And eat fair corn and ice cream, of course.
So that happened on Saturday. Should I have been walking around for 4 hours the day before my first marathon? Probably not. But you only live once. Plus, everyone knows fair food is the marathon dinner of champions. Amen.
After a few hours, we met my dad at the expo to get our bibs and shirts. I was really excited and kept taking pictures of myself everywhere. If I caught people staring at me, I just said, "First marathon." Then they seemed to understand why I was being nutty.
On Sunday, I woke up to pee twice before 4 a.m. Much too early for nervous bathroom breaks. Finally at 4:30, it was time to start getting ready. I had picked out the perfect race outfit, including my new arm sleeves (which turned out to be orange even though I thought they were going to be red). I was just planning to wear them until I saw my family for the first time on the course. By then I knew I would have warmed up, and I'd get rid of them.
In the morning I drank some water and ate 1 banana and half a plain bagel. I know you're supposed to eat a lot pre-race, but I just can't. I have had too many bathroom emergencies to know my stomach can't handle much food before a morning run. (Case in point, the 25k I ran a month ago, where I had to stop THREE times during the race. Darn you, irritable bowels!)
My mom, brother, and sister drove up from Texas to cheer us on! Jordan was there too, but at the time this picture was taken, he was in line at the Port-o-Potty. He had to go so bad, he ended up offering the guy at the front of the line $20 to let him cut, which I think is hilarious. (He did get to cut, but they didn't take his money.)
I found my 4:30 pace group pretty quick and settled in. The OKC race doesn't have a staggered start, but you're supposed to line up according to time. My dad and I started out together, but as soon as we crossed the start line, we split up. What's up, red devil eyed me?
That's when my 26.2 (+ an extra .28) journey began!
Full race recap to come hopefully tomorrow.
This is already so cool! Can't wait to hear more. I get so psyched to do a 5K... you make me think... maybe I CAN do a marathon? Who knows. But I'll definitely look into what you did to prepare. These pictures are so cute and, as it always seems evident in your posts, I love how close your family seems. My parents would be right there with me at 4:30 AM, too!
This is so cool :) I think it's awesome you ran with your dad and that your family came out to support you!
I pretty much love your face in all these pictures. You look SO FREAKING excited to be there (which I know you were!). Can't wait for the rest of the recap.
xoxo
Hilarious! Scott's totally creeping in the background in the pic of just you. To the right, blue shirt. Epic.
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