Date: February 9, 2020
Location: Downtown Miami
"One second more. This [pain] will not last forever"
Those words epitomized my race mantra as I entered the last 10km. They say a marathon is a 20 mile warm-up with 10km race, but I guess I truly had to experience it for myself.
HERE IS MY EXPERIENCE OF RUNNING MY FIRST 26.2 MILE RACE
3:00 am : WAKE UP CALL
I wanted to make sure I woke up early enough to be able to eat my breakfast and go through all of my typical pre-run rituals before heading downtown for the start of the race at 6:00 am.
I prepared some toast with peanut butter and jelly and a cup of coffee to get me revved up and fueled for what was ahead.
5:30 am: HEAD TO THE CORRALS
I had been assigned to corral F based on my estimated finish time of 4 hours. I was getting overly ambitious as the leaders of the 3:45 pace group were positioned next to me. Should I join them? I secretly tried to keep the pacers within my peripheral. My goal for the marathon was to break 4 hours, but with this being my first go-around, I knew I had stay disciplined. I managed to reset my focus on the plan I had originally discussed with my coach. Actually, I had two plans:
Plan A: Start the race at a 9:00-9:15 min/mi and slowly bring down the pace to an 8:45 after the first 5k...and God-willing...haul my ass to the finish line.
Plan B: Use a RUN:WALK/JOG method - Hold 8:40 min/mi and slow down the pace through the water stations.
Honestly, I still wasn't quite sure how I was going to execute this race and I was running out of time before my corral was going to be called to the start line.
6:20 am: ON YOUR MARKS... GO!
My position in the corral took an unexpected turn when I had gone from the start of the pack to dead last - to get to the start line, the corral made a U-turn around the barricades rather than making a straight shot. As my feet crossed the timing pad, I knew there was no turning back.
MILE 3
I'm feeling good!
The race started on the McArthur Causeway and leaded us into South Beach. Thousands of runners swarmed that bridge - we were packed tight like a bunch of sardines which made it a bit difficult to get up to pace. I knew I had to start slow so I tried not to worry too much about gaining speed at this point. The first 5k was all about waking the legs up for go time.
MILE 6
Still feeling good. I had already taken 1 gel and 2 salt tabs at this point. My plan was to take a gel and 2 tabs every 4 miles for a total of 5 gels (500 calories) and 10 tabs. I was running with a soft-squeeze handheld filled with Nuun electrolytle tabs and a carbohydrate mix so I didn't find the need to stop at the water stations as much as I had initially anticipated.
MILE 13
Half-way there! Let's go!
The sidewalks were lined with families, friends, strangers - hundreds of them, if not thousands, cheering on the half-marathon group as we approached the finish line. That energy had me lit and I charged through that 13 miles marker. I was FEELING GREAT! Seasoned marathoners had always told me that the first 13 miles should feel like a breeze. I honestly laughed the first few times I heard such a thing. Who even says that a 13 mile run is easy?! But I guess we can all agree that us runners are a bit knocked in the head.
MILE 15
The race had a significant drop-off after the 13 mile mark. Out of 20,000+ runners, only about 3,000 of us were running the full 26.2 distance. The course took us through Brickell and the Rickenbacker causeway. The energy from the halfway mark carried me through the next few miles. I was still feeling pretty good and was cruising at about an 8:45-8:50 min/mi pace...so i tried to pick up speed. BAD IDEA
MILE 20
This is starting to hurt
Maybe I got a little too excited after the 15 mile mark. At this point, a little calf cramp and side-stitch decided to make an appearance like "HONEY! WE'RE HERE!" Other than attempting to pick up too quickly of a speed, I realized that I had come head-on with mistake # 2: My 20 oz bottle was still a quarter full. How did I not feel thirsty enough to drink more often?! I remember downing at least 3-22 oz bottles of gatorade during my training runs, so how did I not manage to finish 1-20 oz bottle by mile 20? I knew I couldn't make up the debt and that if I drank too much water at the next station, my side-stitch would get worse. I slowed down, took little sips at a time, and popped my last 2 salt tabs in hopes that the cramps would subside...they didn't.
MILE 22
This is the very reason why we run a marathon
I was hurting...BAD. The cramps had made their way to my groin area and I could barely lift my legs off of the ground. Quite frankly, it felt like I was running in sand with a 100-lb weighted vest and ankle cuffs. A few runners began to walk and I knew exactly what was going on through their minds: Will I finish this?. That very question made its way dead-center in my head. The course took us through downtown Coconut grove and the surrounding neighborhoods. Families were out having breakfast and walking their dogs around the local restaurants. They cheered us on, "Great job!," "You're almost there!" And "almost" wasn't nearly as close as us runners would have hoped and the cheering didn't have the same effect as it did early on.
MILE 24
Show them what you're made of
They say if it were easy, everyone would do it. By mile 24, I quickly understood why only 3,000 out of the 20,000 runners decided to tackled the full distance. My jog had slowed to what I felt was a brisk walk. I had gone from an 8:45 min/mi to a 10:30 min/mi and mentally, I began to break down. Was breaking 4 hours too ambitious of a goal for someone who had only been running for 1 year? Was breaking 4 still within my reach? Was finishing this race even possible? The clock was moving, but I wasn't. The cramps in my calves, toes, hamstrings, and groin had gotten so bad I was forced to run (or speed walk) on the sides on my feet. Runners began to line the sidewalks to stretch, rest, vomit - all the above.
We didn't sign up for a 26.2 mile race for it to be easy.
Less than .5% of the entire U.S. population has ever completed a marathon - .5%! It all makes sense.
As I slowly put one foot in front of the other and inched my way to mile marker 25, I just had to remember that this pain doesn't last forever. One second more. This pain will not last forever.
MILE 26
How bad do you want it?
Those last .2 miles might as well been another 20 miles because that was exactly what it had felt like. The clock ticked...3:57...3:58...and the finish line was in sight. Families, friends,
and strangers screamed the names marked on our bibs as we approached the runway. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I glanced at my Garmin with 3:58:30 on the clock and I limped through those last 50 meters - right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. "3:59 Kim Urmaza" blared through the speakers above the stands as I crossed the finish line. I didn't care if I was going to have to crawl my way to that final timing mat. I was going to finish with a sub-4:00 AT ALL COSTS.
I AM A MARATHONER