Blue Ridge Marathon 2015

I ran my second marathon you guys!

Two years ago I ran the Blue Ridge Marathon, "America's Toughest Road Marathon." I was happy to make it my first marathon, but wasn't sure I'd ever do it again. Because it's really hard. But some time passed and I got the itch again, so I made it my second marathon as well. Go big or go home, I say.

Here's how it went down.

Patrick joined me for the race weekend, and Friday afternoon we drove the two hours to Roanoke. We had a big dinner (lasagna and lots of salad) before heading downtown to hear MarchFourth! perform. They are a fun band that combines brass, drums, and acrobatics. We sat with my friend JoAnne and her husband and enjoyed the outdoor concert (that started early so all the runners could get to bed at a decent hour)!

Saturday morning I got up early to eat my breakfast (Half a bagel with peanut butter and honey, and a yogurt cup with granola. It wasn't until the next day that I realized I'd forgotten to eat my banana.) and have some coffee. Then I was down in the lobby at 6:30 to catch a ride to the start with JoAnne and Kurt. The nice thing about going with them was I went earlier than I would have on my own, which meant I actually had time to do everything (check a bag, take a picture, visit the porta-potty twice, hear the whole National Anthem) without feeling rushed.

Ready to go!

The forecast for the morning was mid-60s, which is not ideal marathon weather. Plus it was sunny. I had bought some salt tablets the day before I left town but forgot them in the hotel. Oops. The first mile is relatively flat, but then you start climbing the first mountain of the day. My goal was to make it up all three mountains without walking. That goal went out the window pretty darn quickly. As I slowly made my way up Roanoke Mountain I decided there was no reason to kill myself just trying to reach the summit at mile 7. So I walked some of the uphills. Everyone around me walked some uphills, too.

(Big thanks to the race sponsors for providing free race photos!)

Last time the downhills really killed me. So I went slowly on them this time and tried to save my hip flexors. It worked. After Roanoke Mountain was Mill Mountain with the famed Roanoke Star. I walked up some of that mountain, too. Even though it was hard and hot, I made sure to look around at the views and say to myself "This is awesome! It's a beautiful Saturday morning and I'm running on the Blue Ridge Parkway through the mountains! I'm so lucky!"

On the way down Mill Mountain I drank a mimosa that a lady was handing out. Probably wasn't the best idea, but hey. At the bottom, around the 14.5 mile mark, Patrick was waiting to give me a hug and cheer me on.

Holding one of the several orange slices I ate throughout the race.

After a bunch of running in the hot sun, I already knew I'd do a lot of walking up the third mountain, Peakwood. In fact, I was actually looking forward to Peakwood just so I could have a walking break. Peakwood has lots of nice neighbors who come out and cheer, too. Several old men in a row gave me a high five. And later there was a row of little kids holding out snacks, so I took a handful of Pringles from one, a bunch of grapes from another, and an orange slice from a third. Some houses also had sprinklers on for us to cool off.

After Peakwood there was still about six miles of relative flat through the city. But by that point I was tired and hot and ready to be done. I took several more walking breaks. Everyone around me walked a lot. I started to get a cramp in my calf and immediately ate a chew and drank some sports drink, and thankfully the cramp went away. Patrick gave me another hug at mile 22, and then I just had four miserable miles left.

Marathons are hard. But then I finished, only eight minutes longer than last time (when I did less walking and it was about 20 degrees cooler). Official time: 4:50:33. Age group place: 7 of 27. Overall place: 150 of 409.

Done!

And after finishing the marathon, and rehydrating and resting in the shade a little, I felt pretty great. And my IT band held out and I wasn't injured, so that was a big plus.

We hung out at the finish party for a long time, enjoying music, people watching, eating food truck snacks, and drinking a beer.

Eventually we went back to the hotel so I could shower and nap. Later that night we went back to the same post-party area to hear Big Head Todd and the Monsters perform, followed by a sushi dinner downtown and drinks at a bar with more live music. The next day we had a really good lunch and visited the little Mill Mountain Zoo before leaving Roanoke.

It was a fun race weekend.

field trip sighting

On the Lawn.

Today my department spent the morning on a field trip to the University of Virginia. It's Garden Week, so two of the pavilions were open to the public and tours were given of the gardens. We joined a garden tour, but the guide was way too quiet and hard to hear, and the student guide who gave general information on the history of the university said a lot of things my colleagues and I knew weren't actually true, so we eventually broke away and wandered through all the gardens on our own. We also made an obligatory stop by the Edgar Allan Poe room, and were aghast to learn our boss had never seen it. All of this fun was naturally followed by lunch on the Corner, which we enjoyed outside. I'm so happy spring is here.

T minus 3 days

In three days I'm running the Blue Ridge Marathon again. I'm both excited and nervous. Excited that I made it through marathon training injury free and excited for race weekend in Roanoke. But nervous about all those uphills and downhills. I don't feel like I got quite as much elevation training this cycle, or at least not long and high enough. But it's also kind of impossible to really replicate the course conditions without going to Roanoke.

Anyway, I don't really have serious goals for this race, but I would like to make it up all three mountains without any walking during the uphills. I know I will likely need to take some walking breaks for the sake of my IT band and possible knee pain, but I'd prefer to do those on flat sections, or maybe downhills. A PR would also be nice, but I'm not going to push myself too hard for the sake of time. I want to enjoy the race (even though I know it will be really painful and miserable at times) and come out injury free.