Play by play

My trip out to Lake Placid was great. Jason and I left on Friday after he was done with work and drove to Erie, PA. We got in at night no problem. We woke up on Saturday and got on the road. While on the road we discovered a crack in the windshield. It definitely wasn't there the night before so I now have the task of replacing my windshield. We were making good time and then we started in on the last road. It was up and down the whole way. Very picture-ess. We got checked in to our hotel which had absolutely no parking in it. It was a zoo. People were sitting in their truck beds drinking beer, or just guarding their spots. It was kinda weird. We did find out that there was a fireman parade that night on Main St. Jason did find a place across the road. So we walked down this giant hill and made our way to Main St. I got checked in for the marathon

and Mom and Dad met us there while we walked the town a little bit to get a feel for the area. We had dinner at this cute little Italian place on the main strip. Everyone but me got to have some yummy wine :( It looked really good but I had hydrated the whole trip so I wasn't going to give that up right before the race.

I went back to my hotel and started to get ready. I didn't know what I wanted to run in because it was chilly that night and there was no humidity (thank god!) and it was suppose to be cloudy to chances of rain. I kept going back and forth between wearing a tank top and being "purple Paula" or go with LiveSTRONG. I ended up with my LiveSTRONG. I actually got a decent night's sleep and work up and decided to take a pre run soak in some warm water with a huge jet tub. Only the jets didn't work, but it still felt great. I went down to the lobby to get some breakfast and some runner's were down there. They started to talk about the race and I asked are the hills as bad as they say they are? The lady's response was they really aren't that bad but the one hill is a killer. She also made the comment that this is my favorite race but I wouldn't do the full because doing the same thing twice is boring. I pretended not to hear that. In meeting mom and Dad we talked about how there were so many 1/2 marathoners and not that many full racers. We just kept passing one after another 1/2 runners. I was starting to think I would be all alone out there.

The time to run finally came and I went to the start line. As I got my place in the starting area I was wishing that race was a little bit bigger and I knew someone running. There were no pace runners out and the start was so small compared to Columbus' 1/2. I felt like crying I was so nervous for the start. We counted down and I was off. The course was set to go around Mirror Lake then make the way towards the Olympic ski jumps and I would run that road twice down and back. Here is the start to my splits.

Mile 1/2 18:09 -I can never find the first mile marker. This was no different.

Mile 3 - 8:30 - Way to fast

Mile 4 - 9:08
Mile 5 - 9:15
Mile 6 - 8:23

Mile 7 - 9:16
Mile 8 - 9:26
Mile 9 - 9:22
Mile 10 - 9:18
Mile 11 - 9:53

Mile 12 - 10:04 - Here is the where the hill is
Mile 13 - 8:02 - Here is where I saw Jason, Mom and Dad. Can you tell how excited I was to see them! Can you tell what I am doing to them?
Mile 14 - 9:46

Mile 15 - 9:11
Mile 16 - 9:20
Mile 17 - 8:41
Mile 18 - 9:51
Mile 19 - 9:42
Mile 20 - 8:43 - What happened here?
Mile 21 - 11:04 - This is where they changed
the mile markers from plain 20 miles to 21.1 so this is about a 10 min/mile pace
Mile 22 - 10:08
Mile 23 - 10:08
Mile 24 - 10:38 - Here is where the big hill is
Mile 25 - 11:43 - I hit my watch late so really this
mile is less and mile 26 is a longer time.
Mile 26 - 10:21 - There is at least 1/2 a mile of on going hill

The three pictures above are of the last like 2 hills to the finish line around the Olympic speed ski skating oval that was outside. This picture is after I had finally reached the top. Jason, Mom, and Dad were really motivators as soon as I saw them. I almost teared up for numerous reasons. I made it though. As I rounded the oval people who had already finished were on the inside cheering me on to the finish. This was such an incredible feeling. The nice thing about going to such a small marathon they called out over the loud speaker they had from Hilliard, Ohio Paula Martens... you are a marathon finisher!

How cool is that.

After finishing I felt like I was going to cramp up, but with oranges, bananas, Gatorade, and rest I didn't. After the race I was telling Jason, Mom and Dad how the hills were bigger than I thought they were going to be. There was also talk about how I ran by the Olympic ski jumps and how incredibly tall they were. I thought those people had to be crazy to do that. They were at lease as tall as a 5 story building. I also told them how I had full intentions of getting to the longest last big hill (at least I thought) and then walking up it. I started up thinking that I was just going to go very slow. Then I got further and further along and I was still running so I kept going. There were a couple of girls that I passed who made the comment who's idea was this of funny having this hill here? All I know is that I made it up the hill and only had a mile to go. I thought no problem, that was until I started up the last hill that kept going and going, then you round the corner and the hill just keeps going. That is the hill in the picture with all the cones in it. Then you make turn one more corner and go up the ramp. Finally I was done. I know that the hills weren't fun but I honestly didn't feel a lot of the last two hills because I had my people in front of me and I was just so excited to see them and be done. I had made it without walking. I accomplished that goal and I was close to my secret goal of breaking 4 hours.

After thinking about the marathon the whole ride home and talking with Jason I think I could have broken the 4 hour mark had the course been flat. Like say Columbus. I originally told my friend Annie that I thought I would do one and be done, but being so close to the 4 hour mark I think I might want to do another one. One thing I did learn is I want to have a running partner for the race. Anyone up for a marathon?

For now though I just want to recover and enjoy the rest of the summer. It was also decided that this was a perfect race for me. The timing of the race (being that I had school right up until the Thursday before kept me pre-occupied so I wasn't thinking about the race all the time), the location was awesome(so beautiful), the weather was perfect running weather (cloudy with no humidity in the 60's and then sun as soon as I finished) and with school being out this first weekend I didn't have to worry about going back to school on Monday or getting back home super quick. What a way to start the summer.