Pre–race
I had an uneventful flight, and arrived about half an hour earlier than expected. My mom was joining me this race, and her flight came in about half an hour after mine. I met her at the gate, and we headed to baggage claim and rental cars. We split up, and I swung back around after I had gotten the car 🚗 It was definitely weird driving a non-electric car again. I had to remember to brake 😅 A police officer was manning the pedestrian crosswalk by passenger pick-up. He definitely glared at me, and let other cars go while he held me back… 🙄 People are sadly still hateful these days… welcome to the south.
We arrived at our Airbnb in the Cannonborough neighborhood. It was a cute unit. The only oddity was the combined toilet/shower room. I’ve only used one once when I stayed at a Minute Suite ⏱️ at Heathrow. I’m still not a big fan of it. The toilet and toilet paper get wet, and you have to either wait or wipe the floor dry to use the bathroom after a shower.
I did a quick, 20 minute shake-out run 👟 and then my mom and I walked around for a bit. It turns out that we were staying on the same street as Chez Nous. Chez Nous was my husband’s and my favorite restaurant last time we visited in 2021. It is a quaint, French restaurant, with a daily changing menu. We went there 3 times during our weekend trip. We walked down Cannon Street towards Chez Nous, and then went down King Street. I took my mom to Hotel Bennett, a fancy hotel in the heart of downtown. I was in my workout clothes, and my mom was dressed casually. Neither of us looked shabby nor poor. My mom commented on how nicely people dressed in Charleston. A group of well-dressed people in their 50’s were standing in front of the hotel across from (what I’m guessing) a nice/famous church ⛪️ One of them, made a comment… “They just let anyone in these days.” 🙄 O the south…
We didn’t stay long. We took some pictures of their HUGE gingerbread house, and then headed back to our place. 120 pounds of royal icing and 320 pounds of gingerbread were used. The house was big enough to use as a coffee ☕️ stand. On our way back, we stopped by a local, convenience store to pick up our free bottle of wine from our Airbnb. We also got some cheese and crackers. I wished I could have enjoyed our purchases that night, but would wait until after the marathon.
We watched Bad Mom Christmas, and I finished my last carb loading meal. I had mushroom pasta and my last BIG Rice Krispie treat 😋 I was in bed by 9 PM.
Post-race
I slept restlessly. Each time I woke up, I found myself giving myself a pep talk. I kept telling myself that I would be able to complete the marathon at my trained race pace. I eventually woke up a few minutes before the alarm. I got up and started heating water to reheat the coffee I had gotten yesterday evening. It was an Americano with almond milk and a shot of pumpkin syrup. It was pretty tasty, but a little more caffeinated than I’m used to. I got a little jittery since I was waiting to eat. I usually eat about 1.5 hours before my long run, and was trying to keep as close to my normal schedule as possible.
My mom and I left in good time, and arrived at the parking field right around 6 AM. There was little traffic, but a decent number of cars were going to the marathon. I pulled a dick move and cut in front of a long line of cars 🙊 to get to the parking field. Luckily, my rental car had North Carolina plates 😊 It was a brisk, chilly morning. My Little Mermaid fleece sweatpants were perfect. It was a short shuttle ride to the conference center where the race start/finish line was. It was nice to wait in the warm indoors. I ate my breakfast/protein bars and banana, and finished my coffee. I felt serene sitting on the ground, playing Candy Crush. I didn’t feel anxious. I went to the bathroom, and was happy I was able to use an indoor bathroom. The line was not bad.
Fast forward… I had to go a second time, and the line had tripled. I thought I should just make it… I really didn’t want to use a port-a-potty. A girl, dressed in a Christmas elf-like outfit, was in front of me. And then two of her friends joined her in line. I was super annoyed. I was cutting it close to start time as it was 😖 My mantra is to beat anyone in a costume, and I was now more determined to beat this girl and her friends. From all their jibber jabber, it turns out they were running the half at an expected 9:30 pace. It would be no contest if we actually raced each other. The thought did not quell my annoyance.
I made it, and headed to the start line about 15 minutes before race time. It was packed, and the closest I could get was around the 4:00 and 4:30 pace groups. The sun was rising, and although it was brisk, it had warmed a bit and the winds did not feel as strong as predicted. 22 mph winds with gusts in the 30’s had been forecasted.
I mentally prepped myself for the race. My trained marathon pace was 8:10. I set my watch parameters to 7:55 – 8:25. I was nervous, and not sure I could hold my pace for the entire marathon. I was on the struggle bus 🚌 about the last 10 miles of my last flat coursed marathons, and I was running closer to an 8:45 pace. Well, it might not be pretty, but I committed myself to keep pace until I had nothing left.
I spent the first mile trying to find running room and my pace. The task was not easy. It was very crowded, and everyone was running varying paces. This is when I wish there were corrals. I finally got into rhythm shortly into the second mile. On a whim, I decided to make random persons my pacer. During my OrangeTheory days, I found rowing went by quicker when we did crew rows. I paced a person and checked my watch to make sure I was running the right pace. I would eventually pass that person, and pick another unwitting pacer. This kept me preoccupied, and the miles went by fairly quickly. I also started counting down from 26 from the start, which seemed to help remind my body that I had a long way to go.
My watch and the mile 8 marker did not correlate. The marker was further, and according to the timer, I was really cutting it close to make 3:35:00, and I had been running under an 8:10 pace. I was disheartened, but did not let it get to me. There was another timer at mile 10, which better correlated with my watch. I calculated that according to that timer, I would be fine. Which was correct though?! Well… I would eventually find out. I passed an alligator crossing sign 🐊 and really hoped I would not run into one. At one point, there was a speedometer. I clocked in at 7-8 mph… well under the 20 mph speed limit 😂 I started having some rubbing pain under my right foot around mile 13. I was feeling good, and there was no way a blister was going to slow me down. Also around that point, I was passed by a girl who was being paced by a biker 🤯 That gave me some extra motivation. Mile 23 took us by the beach and there was a large, electronic display with our names listed as we were running by. I am not a native Texan, and initially thought… Why is Puerto Rico’s flag 🇵🇷 by my name? 😅
Around mile 4 or 5, I started having the feeling that I needed to use the restroom. I know better than to try and hold it if I have an inkling. However, an 8:10 pace would get me a 3:33:58 marathon time, which is just a minute shy of my age group’s BQ time of 3:35:00. A bathroom break would mean an extra 2-3 minutes. I was keeping pace, and feeling good so I told myself that I would let nature take its course. I mean… elite marathoners have infamously run with poop running down their legs… and babies run around with poop in their diapers all the time. So I kept pushing aside the urge. I felt I had a few wet farts along the way, but unfortunately, the urge never ceased. And then it happened around mile 18… I joined the elite marathoners 🫣 I made a turn and there was a sign, “Don’t poop yourself.” Too late! Where were you 100 meters back?! 😅 My bravado waned after it actually happened. What did it look like from behind? Was it really going down my leg? Was I going to end up on social media? All of a sudden, there was no port-a-potty in sight. One finally turned up at the mile 19 water station, which was being manned by teenagers. My pride and/or embarrassment 😳 kept me running past them. I made another turn, and not far from the course was a construction site port-a-potty. I decided the stop was worth it at this point, and went rogue. I stripped off my underwear and shorts, throwing away my underwear immediately. O shit (literally)… I had taken out my emergency supply of toilet paper and forgot to check if there was toilet paper. Thank God there was some 😮💨 I finished using the bathroom, threw my shorts back on (my shorts had a built-in liner), and resumed my race.
Part of me resigned to the fact that I may have just threw my race, but another part challenged myself to make up the time. Physically, I was feeling good. My heart was not racing, my breathing was controlled and my legs did not feel tired. I actually told myself not to go too hard after the bathroom break because I still had 6-7 miles to go. I did not want to peter out at the end from pushing too hard at the beginning. I kept my pace to around 8 minutes. I passed the mile 20 marker which had a timer. I calculated my time… I would still be able to make it 🥳 I pushed my excitement down, and said aloud, “Baby girl, you got this.” I would keep my pace even until the last mile if I still felt good. I also decided to take my last gel at mile 24 instead of 21 in case my stomach decided to misbehave again.
The miles flew by and I felt great. I passed the girl with the bike pacer 👏🏼 Towards the end, there was a guy that couldn’t stand because he was cramping. I felt bad for him, but was also happy I did not feel like that. I passed some official pacers, who gave me a good cheer. At mile 25, I felt amazing and let myself loose. My pace kept picking up until the end, crossing the line around a 7 minute pace. Unofficially, I ran 3:29:51. Officially, I ran 3:32:03. I bested my previous PR in Maine by nearly 6 minutes (8 unofficially)!! Boston… here I come!!! 🥳
I found my mom, and told her I needed to go to the restroom immediately. I washed up at the sink, and just before leaving the restroom, took a glance at myself in the mirror 🪞 No way… in my haste, my shorts were inside out 🙀 The finish photos were priceless.
It was the one of the best post-marathon showers I have had. My mom and I went to the French quarters for lunch, and walked around to look at the beautiful homes. It started to get cold and rain a little ☔️ so we decided to head back to our place, and stay in for dinner. We had pizza and enjoyed our wine and cheese by our cozy, faux fireplace. It was a lovely end to a somewhat stressful day.
All in all, I still like Charleston and find it charming. The Kiawah marathon course was great. It is flat, mostly shaded, and there were rare straightaways. It felt like the scenery was frequently changing.
