It all started with the shirt. I saw a runner with a long-sleeve Cowtown finisher shirt during a weekend run, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I knew only marathoners had the option of getting a long-sleeve shirt. And so I committed to running my first marathon…

Pre-race

I am so nervous about my first marathon. I’m afraid I won’t have the stamina to finish. I keep telling myself that I’ll be able to finish one way or another… even if I have to walk portions of it. I’ve run up to 20 miles so worst come to worst, I can finish within the course time limit even if I have to walk the last 6 miles. It’d be embarrassing 🙈, but hey, I still finished a marathon.

I decided to carb-load with clam chowder in a bread bowl… I know… odd choice. We just got an Instant Pot. I wanted to try it out and stumbled on a clam chowder recipe… and I love ❤️ bread bowls. The meal was very satisfying.

I fitfully slept, and woke up ready to go 🏃🏻‍♀️ Leading up to the marathon, I was fretting over the bathroom situation. I did not want to have to stop and screw up my time. My friends and I pondered the dilemma, and came up with ideas of how to cleanse before the race. I finally got the bright idea💡to google it… surely this is not an uncommon problem… I mean, we’ve all heard of runner’s diarrhea and seen the photos 🫣 Imodium… duh… and a mini-jostling run. I had breakfast, did my routine, and crossed my fingers 🤞🏼

It was so exciting getting to the starting corral. Cowtown is a well-run, and big marathon. All the runners had me chomping at the bit to get started. I kept telling myself to take it easy so I didn’t go out too hard and fast. After all… it’s a marathon, not a sprint… literally.

Post-race

Wow… that was tough, but well worth it. It’s exhilarating. My first mile was the slowest as I kept reminding myself to pace myself. The run through the stockyards 🐮 was fun as always. I flew through that portion. The steady mile hill climb at mile 9 was not too bad. And then it was the point of no return when we broke off from the half-marathoners.

I had no idea how hill-y the second half was. We ran past beautiful homes, but it was hard to appreciate while trying to survive the hills. My pace had gradually picked up, and I caught up with the 3:40 pacers 😳… that would put me on pace for a Boston qualifying time. Why not? I tried to keep pace with them, but they were running erratically. They would sprint half the mile, and then run the second half leisurely. I am a very consistent runner, so that style did not suit me. I just tried to stay near them. Well… one of the pacers bowed out around mile 20. The second started walking around mile 23. I started cramping around mile 24. I lost track of my anticipated finish time, and just focused on finishing… and I did!! 🥳 3:41:20… missed qualifying by 1 minute and 20 seconds. Not shabby for my first marathon… I partly blame the pacers 😜

If I run another marathon, I will need to learn how to drink water while running 😅 I didn’t think that was going to be an issue, but choked while trying to drink and run at the same time. It is much harder than it looks. I stopped momentarily to drink after the first failed attempt, which hampered my time. On another note… no bathroom breaks 🙌🏼