Well y’all, I did it. This past Sunday March 16, 2014 I finished the Tobacco Road Marathon. It was my first attempt at running 26.2 miles. Ever since I started running over two years ago [READ: #RapOnTheRun: How Hip Hop Helped Me Train For A Marathon], I’ve been amazed by the running community. Generally, people are extremely supportive and go out of their way to help or motivate fellow runners.
Over the past few years I’ve read other runner’s blogs, reviews of races, training tips, mishaps and lessons learned. Although I’ve ran three half marathons previously, I’d never taken the time to blog a race review. I figured it’s time to start paying it forward and share a bit from my first 26.2 mile experience.
Here’s my first #RapOnTheRun race review.
The Tobacco Road Marathon takes place annually in Cary, North Carolina. It is the first race of it’s kind to be held in the small town. All proceeds from the race are donated to several charities. 21 miles of the marathon is ran on an old railroad track line, so the course is mostly extremely flat. The other 5.2 miles are on city roads in and around the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary. There were a few gentle hills but no extreme monster hills.
In the two weeks leading up to race day, the organizers sent frequent email updates. It was enough to keep me informed without being overwhelming. I was very impressed with the reminders, weather updates and runner checklists.
The race expo on Saturday March 15 was typical. It was at a local hotel, well laid out and very organized. There were volunteers everywhere who made sure you picked up all of your materials. The runner swag this year was compression sleeves. I’ve never tried sleeves, so I’m excited to see if they live up to the recovery hype I see folks tweeting and blogging about in the Twitter #runchat hashtag. The marathon finish medal was on display, along with a backdrop spot for taking pre-race photos. You were able to touch the medal, hold it and try it on. I actually held it for a couple of moments (it’s big and heavy like a rapper chain), closed my eyes and then visualized it being draped over my neck after crossing the finish line. That was a great moment that helped me prepare mentally even more!
The evening before the race I ate a good pasta dinner and then slept great that night, so I woke up feeling extremely well rested. Race start time was 7:00 am, so I had to be up and out by 3:30 am in order to make it to the starting line on time.
The mantra for distance runners is to NEVER EVER EVER try anything new on race day. So for breakfast, I stuck with the usual meal of steel cut oats with fruit and flax seed. This always settles well in my stomach pre-long runs.
I arrived at the race well ahead of gun start time. The traffic was heavy but flowed very well. The parking lot monitors did a great job with traffic management. It’s the first time I’ve been to a race that had well attended and well directed traffic signage and parking.
The race village had plenty of port-a-potties. This is something that all runners appreciate! The baseball complex was also open, and it had heated and very clean bathrooms. There was also a huge heated tent with a live band to help you get pumped up pre-race while staying warm.
I’m not sure how this happened next, but in the 20 minutes before gun time I experienced one of a marathon runner’s greatest fears: GI distress! Without going into details, for some reason my stomach betrayed me, even though I did everything right pre-race. Lawd. Mind y’all, I’ve ran three half marathons and never experienced the issue before, so this was frustrating. I had not made any changes in my training regimen during the 3 week marathon taper, so I don’t know what happened race morning. Needless to say, I had to make three more stops during the race, which unfortunately cost me minutes in my final chip time.
The race kicked off with the national anthem and a few words of encouragement. My stomach was still doing the #NaeNae, but I was determined not to let that break my mental focus. I was at the back of the crowd and crossed under the chip timer seven minutes after gun time.
The first 21 miles were uneventful. My running playlist was on point and filled with some of my favorite artists: Kanye West, Dirty Dave, De La Soul, Tity Boi, Big K.R.I.T., Beyonce, The Roots, Oddisee and others. By mile 17, I tired of the music and took my headphones off to enjoy the run and talk with the runners around me. The course was very scenic and snaked through the country side of Wake, Durham and Chatham counties. As a country girl, I appreciated the views. I managed to make up some lost time (due to GI distress) between miles 8-18. Eventually I was able to catch up with the 7:00 hour pace team. I had to run like the WIND in that time frame, but I did it. That was a huge spirit lifter. My race nutrition plan worked like it did during all my training long runs, so I was happy about that as well.
My favorite part of the race was the aid stops! They were plentiful — approximately every 2 miles — and very well attended. Each one had GU gels (two different flavors), plus plenty of water and gatorade. Since the marathon course was a T shaped out & back, you passed every aide station twice. Right around mile 18, there was an aide station with pretzels and pickles to help stave off cramps. There were also peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for energy. My face was covered in salt deposits so I took advantage of the salty snacks. Thankfully, I experienced no legs cramps at all. On the next marathon, I need to figure out how to prevent those salt deposits. I’d put GU brew tablets in my water at every other aid stop, but it still wasn’t enough.
There were mostly community organizations handling the aid stations. Volunteers really do make a good race great. My three favorite community group aid stations were the 1) Xi Mu Mu chapter of Omega Psi Phi, 2) the Raleigh chapter of Black Girls Run and 3) the West Raleigh Baseball team. All three had great energy and they shouted words of encouragement to the runners.
There were also two aid stations with DJ’s who were playing hip hop. One had Gangstarr on blast, the other Jay-Z. Those were the coolest stops on the course! The “Mimosa Club” had an aid station with REAL mimosas and REAL beer (cans, not cups!). I was surprised at the number of folks who were bold enough to drink alcohol mid-race. On my second loop back by that aid station, they’d just about ran out of both beer and champagne.
My pace was good and I felt great until right around mile 21. Then at mile 21.5, I started feeling funny. It felt like I was stopping and running at the same time (it sounds as crazy as it felt). My legs started feeling like lead. I was then starting to see spaceships on Bankhead. Seriously, I felt like I was floating and being ran over at the same time. It was at that point I realized it was the dreaded “wall”. I’d fueled and hydrated well throughout the race to this point, so I was hoping it wouldn’t happen, but it did. Shawty, I felt like laying right down on that trail and taking a nap. Bless the 7:00 hour pace leaders from the North Carolina Road Runners Club, because they wouldn’t let me. They talked me through the wall and motivated me to keep on running.
Miles 23-25 were the worst. By this point I was totally worn out, and wouldn’t you know it, miles 24-25 had the few gentle hills I mentioned earlier. No matter how “gentle” a hill is, when you’re almost spent the last thing you want to do is run a hill of ANY size. I wish I could remember the 7:00 hour pace leaders names, because once again they talked me and the other folks in our pace group through those last painful miles. Running is mostly a solo sport for me, so I was extremely grateful to have someone there just to motivate my spirit.
There was a redeeming factor: miles 25.5-26.2 was all down hill! It had plenty corners so you couldn’t see the finish line per se, but the American flag was posted high above it and visible from a .75 mile distance. The main thing I remember about that last mile was keeping my eyes on the flag and telling myself to run to it.
There was an emcee at the finish line. As I crossed it, he yelled out enthusiastically “CONGRATULATIONS YOU JUST RAN A MARATHON!” It was truly at that point that it hit me that I’d just finished 26.2 miles and then emotion hit me like a ton of bricks. I fell to my knees and cried. My friends were there cheering me on and somebody drapped the marathon finishers medal around my neck. My official chip time was 6:53 (a 15:46 minute/mile). Most of my training runs were right around a 13 minute/mile and I was hoping to finish in 5:45 but honestly, I am most extremely grateful to have finished (AND ON TIME!). One of my biggest fears pre-race was having to get picked up by the meat wagon (or paddy wagon), which is the name folks call the golf cart that picks up runners who don’t finish the race in time or drop out.
As of today I’m -2 days out from Sunday’s race. It was very well organized and I’m pleased with my results. I wish I could remember the names of my two 7:00 hour pace leaders from the North Carolina Road Runners Club. One of them has previously run a total of ten 100 mile ultra runs (impressive!). The other was the pace leader for the 2:00 hour half marathon crew earlier in the day. After he lead that crew to the finish line, he doubled back, met us around mile 16 and ran with us for the last ten miles. These guys were in extremely great condition and did an awesome job of motivating me to finish the race. They simply would not let me give up. I appreciated that and would thank them if I could.
Right now my body is still in recovery mode and slightly sore from the shoulders down. Was it all worth it? Yes. Do I plan on running another marathon? Yes. Am I hoping for a PR next race? YES! I’m already looking around for a half marathon to run in the next two months and can hopefully find a good marathon to run within the next four to six months. My goal is to finish two half marathons and another full marathon before the end of 2014.
Running has changed my life and I have no plans on giving it up anytime soon. #RapOnTheRun