Seattle Marathon race report

Wow, this year has gone quickly... It was only a year ago that I ran my first marathon ever!! Now I am back with a race report for my second Seattle Marathon and third marathon total!

Background/training - I took a week off after the Portland Marathon and gradually built back up the mileage again. I didn't do too many long runs (a 16 and an 18) but my weekly mileage was higher and more consistent. I also didn't manage to fit in as much hill training as I would have liked, although I did get some more tempo runs in.

The race - I met up with T at the starting line (saw a few other people that I know too, Dan and Brad!). It was misting at the start but seemed like it was just going to be a dry, overcast day (aka perfect running weather). Everyone lined up, and off we went!

Miles 1 & 2 - Running through downtown under the monorail. The first mile was gradual downhill, and although the pace felt good, I think it was a little fast (11:10). We slowed down a bit for the second mile and just enjoyed talking and running. T wanted to go faster, but I told him that on this course, we'd end up passing a lot of the people who were passing us now later on in the race.

Miles 3 & 4 - Up and onto I-90. We passed a guy wearing a 30 pound Army backpack... yikes.

Miles 5-7 - Over the floating bridge and back. It was fun going out and seeing lots of the faster runners coming back - I saw Spencer and Brad already coming back on the bridge, and ran into Betsy for a minute as well. Once we turned around, the wind kicked up a little bit and I felt like I was running in mud, which was a little frustrating.

Miles 8-11 - Was pretty tired from battling the wind on the bridge, so we slowed down about 30 seconds a mile to regroup. My feet were starting to get a little tired and I was thinking that I really didn't want to keep going. However, I knew T would never let me quit, so I just stopped thinking about it!

Miles 12-14 - Saw my mom and uncle as we ran into the entrance to Seward Park, which was great. I took a gel at the first aid station and it really helped. We picked up the pace a little bit and ran strong. We decided that after mile 13.1, we'd take walk breaks at every mile marker. When we ran by mom and uncle again after exiting the park, my blister toe was starting to feel a little tender, so I sat down on the side of the road with them and attempted to put Blister Bandaids on. My feet were so sweaty that they wouldn't really stay on my toes, at which point I was like "crap... if this blister acts up I will never finish with still 12 miles to go!". But I put my sock and shoe back on and continued on. It hurt for about the next quarter mile, but then apparently was squashed into submission and felt fine. Whew!

Miles 15-20 - Legs were starting to get a little tight at this point, but still felt good - way better than during Portland at this point. We were running strongly during this point just going from mile marker to mile marker, and starting to pass a lot of people. We even passed someone that we saw coming out of Seward Park as we were going in (meaning they had been 2-3 miles ahead of us at that point).

Mile 20 - This is the mile that includes the infamous Galer and Madison hills (ugh!). We walked up Galer street (I managed to run it last year but given my lack of hill training this year I really wasn't feeling it) and then ran-walked up Madison.

Mile 21 - Definitely (sort of) appreciated the downhill during this point. A really chatty girl started running with us and babbling something about dogs in marathons... T talked to her but I was mostly just trying to keep my legs together on the downhill. She took off when we took a walk break on the first steep part of Interlaken.

Mile 22 - T and I actually ran this entire mile at a good clip. I think I mostly just wanted to be out of the winding around and around section of the course, and it was only gradual uphill, so it was tolerable. We were quite pleased when we made it to the mile 23 marker and had run strong since the 22 marker!

Mile 23/24 - Made it up out of Interlaken on this section. Artic Blast (from RW) was there cheering at the top of the hill on Roanoake, which was much appreciated. Then it was over the freeway and a nice gradual downhill to the mile 24 marker. T and I were commenting on how excited we got over seeing Porta Potties (all the mile markers are attached to Porta Potties).

Mile 25 - Under the freeway again and up a nice long hill to the Lakeview overpass. It wasn't a very steep hill, and we managed to run-walk it, but by this point our legs were definitely tightening up. We were still managing to pass a lot of people who were walking, which was cheerful.

Mile 26 - I feel like this is the worst mile of the Seattle Marathon. Right after the mile 25 marker, we turned the corner and went down several blocks of steep downhill, ouch. Then ran-walked up a gradual hill, down another hill, and walked up the last steep hill under Highway 99. We saw the Mile 26 marker and T took off sprinting for the finish. I kicked it in too, but still finished about 10 seconds behind him. I ran strongly across the field at Memorial Stadium and crossed the finish line feeling strong. DBF was there and it was great to see him!

Final time - 5:25:35. We ran a fairly big positive split, but that's probably because of the walk breaks we added in at every mile. I was definitely pleased with how T and I were able to keep pushing each other through the last few miles.

Rest of the day - T went home with his GF and DBF and I went to get nice juicy burgers and fries. Then I ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's (while in a bubble bath!), and DBF and I curled up on the couch in our pajamas drinking wine, eating pizza, and watching TV. I was impressed at how perky I was feeling right after finishing - for the whole hour or two after the marathon I could walk almost normally. I even managed to go up stairs at QFC and go down the stairs facing forwards! My legs got a little more sore later in the night, but definitely not as bad as they were after Portland!

Reflections - I was surprised at how strongly we were able to keep pushing in the later miles. I'm sure the walk breaks helped, but we ran quite strongly in between them, and I walked a lot less during this race than I did during Portland and maybe even Seattle last year. It wasn't a PR, but it was great to be able to run with T for his first marathon. I'd never run one with someone before and it was awesome to have someone to talk to and commiserate with and help push each other. I'd been really worried about pacing before (he's usually a minute or two a mile faster than me) but it was never an issue and everything worked out great! I can't wait for my next one. I am sort of half debating doing the First Call on Jan. 1 to get Marathon Maniac status, but the other half is wanting to take some time off and build up lots of good miles and go for a big PR at Eugene in May. I guess I'll see how quickly my legs recover!

Sorry that was so long, thanks for reading (or at least skimming!!). Pictures will come when they are up!