I ran my 26th marathon on Cinco de Mayo, 2013 in lovely Orange County California, I was on another solo mission because we had out-of-towners arriving that night Marion needed to receive and entertain, so I packed up my pancakes and drove south to breath in some cool ocean air, and enjoy a nice long run the next day.
I wrestled with a blistering case of hotel fever around 7PM and decided to venture on a walk-about around the hotel. This has become one of my favorite activities after my dad took me on a business trip to Washington DC when I was ten, and we stayed at the JW Marriott where he would let me explore the hotel and its adjoining mall for hours by myself while he was in business meetings. Mind you this was 1990, and I was still a large framed girl even then, so I don’t think I was an easy target, but would I let Hannah go exploring on her own even now at 15? “Uh, no.” That said, I am thankful my dad gave me that freedom because I think that trip gave me a shot of independence that shaped my confidence for the rest of my life. Hence, my many inspired solo missions to sporting events around the world.
Once I ventured outside, I found an adorable couple taking photos at the gazebo just beyond the pool, and offered to take one of the two of them. We chatted for a while and it turned out they were running the race tomorrow as well, and it was the wife’s first marathon, yum, a newbie! I jumped right into telling her all of the amazing sensations she would feel during the race, the pain, the glory, the fatigue, the tears, she looked a tad bewildered, but I think she appreciated my enthusiasm. Her husband asked me what my goal time was, and before I could think I blurted out, “3:20.”
“Wow, that’s awesome, good luck!”
“Thanks, you too.” I smiled and turned back toward the lobby and said out loud to myself, ‘what did I just say?’ Then a cool confidence washed over me and I said it again, internally this time, ‘3:20.”
The start time was a ludicrous 5:30AM, hence the hotel stay, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the starting line was literally in front of my hotel, sweet! The mood was stirring because this race was only two weeks after the Boston marathon bombings, the security was tight, and the race director held a moment of silence for the victims just before the gun went off. While standing in silence I felt my chest heat up, and tears swell, because runners are a family, and we were hurting as a family, but we would rise above and beyond the terror together for the next 26.2 miles.
I took off quickly and kept my pace at 6:45min. miles for the first two or three, and thought to myself maybe early starts aren’t so bad after all? I felt strong and consistent for the first eight miles and looked at my watch and saw it said 1:00, awesome, I even passed a super speedy tiny blond girl that beat me a few months earlier in Santa Clarita, so my confidence was high because this was working. I accepted the challenge in those early miles that this was a race of strategy, and it was time to lay down a dominating routine for my marathons. Around mile ten or so I hopped on the heels of a slight framed Asian man in his early 50’s I would guess who was a carving through the course by choosing the perfect angles to reduce wasting energy, and I was thrilled to be in the front row of this real world class on tactics. I was maintaining a sub 7:40min. mile pace for back end ten miles of the race, where it really gets going, just after mile sixteen . My body felt strong, but my feet were burning up, a small price to pay for choosing minimal-esque racing shoes. I knew this would be a fast race for me, but I felt more like a rule-abiding intern, not wanting to be overzealous and break the rules, I should have switched on my animal instinct to make real headway, instead I bided my time working my way up the field and watching fellow females peel away as I passed them, which was great, but could I have done more?
again, only two measly Ironmans stood in the way of another marathon starting line.
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