Marathon Relay

One race, one LONG race, broken up into four legs. OK, so it was just a marathon broken into three 10Ks and one 12K--not exactly a coast-to-coast multi-day event. This was our second year running the relay; my husband started us off, then his best friend at leg two, his work partner at leg three, and me at the anchor.

And oh, what an anchor I was. I guess the marathon is still in my legs because I actually needed to WALK about 4.5 miles into my 7.4-mile gig. Oy. I definitely started too fast and couldn't sustain the pace. After my little walk break, or regrouping as I like to call it, I felt a million times better. My pace slowed from roughly 6:45 per mile to about a 7:10 per mile and it made a world of difference. I did, however, also yank out my headphones. It's strange: I love to run with music mostly all the time, but in the marathon and also this past Sunday, the music was making me NUTS!

Moving on. I got passed by a few runners who I'd passed just a few miles back, and when I started running again I fell in with a few of them. The first guy, at about mile 24 on Richmond looked strong so I started to chat him up. He was trying to break 3:10--we were on pace for about a 3:08. He was trying to qualify for Boston; I told him he was going to do it, ran a little bit with him and then took off. Later, on Delaware, we passed the water stop at mile 25 where a volunteer was shouting "ONE MORE MILE!" I turned to a runner next to me in a Canadian-flag singlet and said, "Well, actually one point two, but who's counting?" We chatted a bit and I told him, truthfully, that he was very smooth and relaxed for being at the pace we were running at mile 25. He was pacing the guy behind me, another guy from Canada. They'd done another marathon a few weeks ago--the same day I did Pittsburgh--and were trying to improve their time. They'd already qualified for Boston, too.

So, I ended up finishing my leg in 3:07 and change. We were hoping to break 3 hours but none of us were quite up to it this year, especially not me. But I passed another relaying woman in the last quarter mile and our team still came in third. And when I finished (and didn't throw up, thank goodness) I turned around and found the first guy I ran with. He did it! I gave him a high five and apologized for being so annoying. He said no way, I said, "See you in Boston!"

And right before we went home, after I found my husband and kids, I saw the Canadians and gave out some more high fives. I love the relay, and I love the marathon. It was a great day.

Run happy.