I remember reading a series of Instagram posts from Allie Kieffer called “The Anatomy of a PR” after her PR in the New York City Marathon, so I decided that sitting in the airport for 4.5 hours waiting for my flight was a nice opportunity to make my own version for the Pittsburgh Marathon.
The weeks leading up:
It’s no secret that the spring 2019 track season was not my best. For only the second time since my sophomore year of high school I did not break 20 minutes in a 5k race. I came in dead last in my heat at nationals (yes, the rumors are true. A girl did in fact stop on the last lap to throw up and still beat me). I ran my slowest 800 split ever. Before you get upset for me with being so negative, I should mention that while this may have been my slowest season yet, I still count it as a good one. I squeaked out a PR in the steeplechase, raced the 100m for the first time, had a near success in project breaking 70, and even ran my first 10k. Oh and the highlight of my season? Beating out Shannon for the club shot put record (she can’t have all the records people). I got to see so many of my friends absolutely destroy this season, and that made me happier than simply breaking 20 again could have. So… while this season did not necessarily leave me disappointed, I was still left wanting a little more.
The day before:
I woke up to my alarm at 6:30 and dragged myself out of bed for a short shakeout before starting the trip to Pittsburgh. I felt a bit sluggish throughout those humid 1.5 miles but I brushed it off because it was early. After showering and eating breakfast, I was off to get Ethan and Rachel in Baltimore.
As soon as Ethan got in the car, he informed Rachel and I that he had not eaten breakfast yet or slept much the night before. I said “Ethan, that’s a you problem”, tossed a bagel at him, and started towards Pittsburgh. Most of the drive was uneventful except for our stop at the Flying J… Oh man. You enter the gas station mart and are greeted by a Koi pond and possibly the largest deer head I have ever seen. Then we entered Mother Trucker’s Café, where you can buy road trip snacks, shower, and play slot machines all in the same place. Rachel and I waited while Ethan bought some snacks. We overheard the cashier say, “Yeah, I used to be social, but then I found drugs I like” to Ethan, and we were out of there.
We finally made it to my brother’s apartment in Pittsburgh around 1:30pm. After dropping our stuff, we left for the expo to pick up our bibs, tshirts, and all the free goodies that we could. The rest of the day was spent walking along the water, relaxing, and watching tv until it was an acceptable time to go to sleep.
Race Morning:
I slept surprisingly well on Matt’s futon until my watch alerted me it was race day at 5:00am. I got up and did the usual pre-race things: changed, considered changing again because there’s never the “right outfit” to avoid chafing, ate a bagel with nothing on it, and brushed my teeth. We all looked around at each other nervously and made our way outside into the drizzle. Eventually we got on the bus towards downtown.
At the Start Line:
Ethan and I branched off from Rachel and Matt once it was time to go to the corrals and we found our way into corral A. The way the Pittsburgh Marathon set up the corral system (4 corrals for about 30,000 runners competing in various distances) sucked a little because Ethan and I were way back in the corral. My whole plan leading up to the race was to stay with the 3:30 pace group for as long as I could to try to hit the Boston qualifying time, but I couldn’t get anywhere near the pace group in the corral. So that plan went out the window… I tried not to worry about it too much, but I knew 8 flat for 26.2 miles was a very aggressive pace for me and being with a group would make it much easier. Finally, we started moving forward through the drizzle towards the start line. I crossed the line, started my watch, and settled in for the 26.2 miles ahead of me.
Mile 6:
The first few miles were pretty crowded, so I probably wasted a decent amount of energy weaving around people who should not have started as far up as they did. By mile 6 I caught up to the 3:30 pace group who had started about 1-2 minutes ahead of me by averaging around 7:45 for the first 6 miles (big mistake there). I was relieved to catch up to the group and it felt nice to settle into a slightly slower pace. The next few miles were fairly uneventful, I met a nice girl from penn state’s club team.
Mile 12:
I was still feeling pretty good at this point, but honestly not as good as I should if I was going to be able to finish at 8:00 pace. I knew mile 12 would be challenging. We started up one of the many bridges in Pittsburgh, so it was a slight hill but nothing too bad. I smelled something weird, but I figured it was just something in the crosswind on top of the bridge… I wish. After the bridge was the biggest uphill of the entire race. The pace group kept a constant effort up the hill, so even that one wasn’t too bad. We picked up the pace after to the hill to make up some of the lost time, but I was still able to keep up with the group.
Halfway:
I went through the half in 1:44:00 exactly, 3:28 pace. That would be a pretty significant PR and a Boston qualifying time, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I was still with the pace group, but I was fading. And I still smelled something bad every once in a while…
Mile 15:
By 15 I started falling off the pace group, AND I finally discovered the source of the smell. Some guy in the pace group had POOPED HIS PANTS AND CONTINUED RUNNING. Now mind you, we passed multiple medical tents along the way that would have cleaned him up, but no, he just kept trucking along. I was honestly glad once I fell off the group enough that I couldn’t smell it anymore. But, already hurting at mile 15 of a 26.2 mile race is a scary feeling.
Miles 16-24:
Not going to lie, this was a dark time. Uphills left me winded, downhills hurt my legs, and some of the miles were barely under 9:00. Multiple times I had to calm myself down before I started crying because I did not know how I was going to finish. I just felt terrible. At this point, I realized I just had to take it one mile at a time and try not to walk at all. Despite being convinced it would never end, the miles kept passing, and I even managed to keep the pace under 9:00.
Mile 25:
By 2 miles to go I got a bit of a second wind and was able to pick it back up. I think this was mental more than anything since I knew I was actually close to finishing. When I hit mile 25 there was a clock and I realized I had about 10 minutes until my PR time. I thought I still had a shot at PRing if I really pushed the last bit (I was unable of doing the math to back it up at this point, but it seemed about right). I mentally dialed in finishing and dropped the pace again.
Finishing:
I honestly felt like I was flying. I think my 26th mile was about 7:30 which isn’t quite flying, but compared to my nearly 9:00 miles it was. When I finally saw the finish line I looked down at my watch I realized that I was in fact going to PR. I dropped the pace once more to give everything I had until I crossed the finish line. I crossed the line in 3:33:43, a PR by about a minute. I staggered towards my metal and through the long chute towards the snacks and water. I was so relieved to have finally finished the marathon that seemed like it would never end. My legs HURT. It wasn’t even that they felt tired, they just hurt everywhere. I finally made my way through the chute and started looking for Ethan.
After:
I found Ethan and he wasn’t sure what his time was yet, but somewhere right around 3:00:00. I couldn’t have been happier for him. We both paced around in pain waiting for Rachel. Once we spotted her, Ethan let out a loud, “RAAAACHEEEEEL” (I’m sure you can imagine how he sounded). Rachel gave a big smile in response and I knew she must have hit her goal, she ran 3:49:30 on the hills of Pittsburgh!
Despite the pain I felt for many of the middle miles of the race, I left Pittsburgh happy. I had managed to PR despite a too aggressive race strategy, Ethan PRd by an entire hour (and now can finally leave that first marathon behind him), Rachel hit her goal of sub-3:50, and my brother finished just over 4 hours. To me, the beauty of the marathon is that inishing is a feat in itself, anything more than that is just an added bonus. Sure, I didn’t hit the Boston time but I guess I’ll just have to run another one for that.
