Kiawah Island Marathon Recap

Oh I love a race recap and I hope you like them as much as me. For some reason I always feel like we can glean something or learn something from reading other runners race recaps....Emma Bates race recaps might be the most well known! While I certainly don't run like Emma Bates, in fact well over an hour slower :)... this is my race recap for my 7th marathon where I set a 7 min Personal best AND finished 3rd in my age group!! What?? I think I surprised myself but WHAT.A.DAY!! 

So I made the travel from CT to SC with my parents (yes they came to root me on...such good parents right??) 2 days prior to the marathon. Kiawah Island was about 1 hour from a family members house that we stayed in Thursday night. Got up Friday morning hoping I could pull off a 2 mile shake out run without too much pain in the left leg that had been looming over me for most of the taper. Welp...that didn't go well. I had to walk, I had pain, I was discouraged. I couldn't believe how I would run a full marathon the next day. Ibuprofen was the only thing I could do...I know, you don't have to come at me. I know ALL the reasons why it's not advised to run on NSAIDS, but I didn't put months and months of training in at this point to not try and see if I could do it.

My friend picked me up around noon and we headed to Kiawah Island. The one road leading into the island was lined with live oaks somewhat eerily and yet so beautiful as they stood alongside and hung over the road and welcomed us into the island. Big things were going to happen this weekend, I just didn't know it yet. Heading into the expo as we parked so close to the ocean...wind whipping as we made the walk into the expo. A small expo, but being a race so close to Christmas, it was filled with running gear and many crafters selling soaps to candles to ornaments, making their last minute Christmas sales to full and half marathon runners. Bib secured, last minute items purchased, and off we went. Took a tour of the island via the marathon route to have a clear understanding of what the route was like. Nothing new on  race day! The winding roads took us all over the island, million dollar houses over looking the ocean, live oaks hanging their beautiful long branches, and world class golf courses with rolling greens. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of an alligator but the cold front that moved in just prior to race day kept them away. 

Grabbed some groceries at a local market and headed to our condo. A beautiful 2 floor condo that overlooked a golf course. With king sized beds and our own bathrooms, we were ready to settle in for the night. Carb loading was going well at this point. Never too full, but kept the carbs steadily flowing. 3 days of bagels, Swedish fish, pretzels, oatmeal, liquid carbs, granola bars, graham crackers, fruit smoothies,  totaled somewhere around 1200 calories. The goal was 460 a day... I topped off the glycogen stores the night before the marathon with a bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and a sweet potato, maureen 320, and a cup of tea and honey. The final day of the carb load being 560. Early to bed, early to rise!!

Early morning wake up! Shower, coffee, and small snack. I haven't tolerated food prior to running so kept it simple. Off to the shuttle by 6:15 and over to the start. The sun was starting to rise, we headed down to the beach to see the sunrise and breathe in the beautiful salt air. But that wind was whipping...

Most people found what flooring they could to sit inside to stay out of the cold, to eat their last few snacks, or stood in line for the bathroom. Bathroom lines moved rather quick considering. But over 3000 people in one area did make finding a short line somewhat difficult. The half and the full started at the same time. Last minute bathroom break then had to fight through people to get a decent spot at the start. Thankfully I did because that 3rd place age group finish time....based off gun time! 

I decided going into this race that I had a really really good training block. I felt I was in 3:20 shape and despite the taper injury, I knew I had put in the miles and I knew that I was ready to hit full send. That was what I decided to do and if I blew up, I blew up. My race day plan from my coach was run smart, run fluid, run strong. The first 3 miles...8:20-8:10, miles 4-15 8:10-7:50, miles 16-20 7:55-7:45 and finish the last 10k strong, controlled and progressive. Well it didn't go exactly like this...:) 

The 8:00 start was a blessing because the day was going to heat up a bit. I crossed the start line 4 minutes after the start. A little trouble getting my watch going and it was quite crowded in the beginning...took about a mile to open up enough to find some space and settle in to those paces. Asking and answering myself..."How's the leg?? Its ok...I feel it but not terrible, it'll loosen up. Stay focused" I stayed patient in the first 4 miles or so, then started to pick up the pace and rode through those next 10-11 miles just one mile at a time varying around 7:50/mile. Some miles were a little faster than what was prescribed and I think this caught up to me that last 10k. 

"Just get to mile 20 Robin"..."1 mile at a time". "Click away, stay strong, right foot left foot repeat". Water stops were frequent, but I did carry a handheld with electrolytes, sipping every mile. UCAN gels, alternating between non-caffeinated and the new caffeinated Mocha, every 3 miles. But guess who didn't take a gel at mile 21 and guess who felt it at mile 23?? Yep! I don't know why I didn't and I don't think I took one at mile 24 either. So that last 10k was a struggle. Found a girl and tried to hang with her. She walked through the 23 mile water stop and I thought I could too. Hmmm, I quickly found out when she took off that she was feeling a lot better than me. Finding those paces after a brief walk was a lot harder than I thought. Eventually got up to 7:55 pace but struggled for sure. The legs were hurting, I was in the pain cave and I just had to keep moving forward. My watch was off by 1/4 of a mile from the mile markers so doing math was impossible at this point. I thought for sure I blew my A goal of a sub 3:30 pace, but as I came up to the finish, waving to my dad who was yelling and videoing me, and as fast as I could, I realized it was 3:29:07. A huge win!! A huge day!! 

Found my family, saw the results, and realized I came in 3rd in my age group in a marathon!!! Like what?? Never imagined that. I was thrilled and celebrated with my family and close friend. A beautiful day, some sore legs, but well worth it all. 

The win for this marathon was obviously the PR. I can't contest that, but what got me there was my mindset going into this race and how well my training block went. How different it was from running Boston earlier in the year. I was strong, focused, and what a difference! This training block had more mileage and I knew that was what I needed. As a run coach myself, that easy volume is crucial to making progress so I asked my coach to build in longer mid week runs and I ran multiple 20 milers. Capping out at 65 mile weeks as my peak mileage meant a lot of time on feet, but I was running so well and still recovering so I knew it was that sweet spot. Unfortunately that injury popped up but a few Advil got me through the race and I don't regret that at all. 

Super proud of being able to put myself out there again, to take chances, to let it rip, to see what I could do, and to trust my body. I have the best family and friends who supported me through this training block and the race. I think my dad was more proud of me than I was of getting a PR! I am so lucky to have such great support for something that I love to do, that fills my bucket, that helps my mental and physical health, and is something that I can show my girls how to go after goals and work hard for them.