30 after 30: the first

1. Run a marathon.

As you may recall from my October 31st post back in 2018, I got into distance running after going through a breakup. Over the last 4.5 years, my love of running has only grown, and I've been so fortunate to make incredible friends through various running groups in Austin. (My love of running after a breakup has ALSO grown.) A year ago, I finally took the plunge - I signed up for my first full marathon. I signed up for the Austin Marathon for several reasons: home turf advantage, meaning I could train on the course and know what to expect; all my friends are here and willing to cheer; this city is where I found my love of running, and I just couldn't imagine running my first full anywhere else. I had run the half marathon in 2020, my last race before Covid hit, so I knew what the first part of the course would be like.

Pre-Training

My goal over the summer was to up my mileage to 25-30 miles a week so that I would be comfortable starting a marathon training plan. I thought this would be a great way to make sure I had a good mileage base.

Then, at the beginning of July, I caught Covid.

Whewwwwwy, that was a doozy. The combination of Covid + jetlag coming back from Israel meant that for about 4 days, I was sleeping close to 18 hours every day. This left zero energy for walking up the stairs, let alone going out for a run. Finally, I started walking around the neighborhood 9 days after I first tested positive, and 2 weeks after that I started a 5 week run-walk program (originally intended to come back from an injury) to get back to running. When that was done, I tried to run 3-4x a week in the stifling Texas heat in order to safely transition to a training plan.

Training

With the help of seasoned marathoner friends, I picked the Boston Athletic Association Training Plan Level 1 as my chosen plan. Training began on October 3rd for my February 19th race. Since I was also commuting to Wisconsin during October and November, this meant that I trained through 8 seasons:

• Texas late summer, aka hell
• Texas fall
• Wisconsin fall
• Texas winter
• Texas second fall
• Wisconsin early winter
• Texas ice age
• Texas early spring

I readjusted my teaching schedule so that I could make it out to the Ship of Fools long runs on Saturdays. I knew that if I needed to be logging 18 and 20 mile long runs, it needed to happen with a group and it also needed to happen when I didn't need to work afterwards (though in December, I would routinely run double digits and then play two Nutcracker shows in the same day...not ideal). The Ship became my happy place on Saturday mornings, whether it was hot, cold, or dark. We were all suffering together now.

At the beginning of my training cycle, I sourced music from (almost) everyone I knew to make a training playlist on Spotify. Listening to music that people had hand-picked for me was another form of support, and helped keep my mind off of how many miles I had left or how fast I needed to run that day. Before the race, I asked my friend Chris to randomize the playlist so that I would be surprised on the day. 

Training went well--I wasn't sidelined by any injuries, and I felt pretty good about figuring out my nutrition. I was pretty constantly hungry and tired, but I was warned that this would be the case. Only in a few weeks did it seem worse than it normally is, so I was feeling good about everything.

I was trying to be better about cross/strength training during my training, and while there are still improvements to be made, I gave it a pretty good effort. As I tapered over the last 2.5 weeks of training, I started to get very nervous as we approached...drum roll please...

*Race Day*

Let's go run a marathon!

I had booked a downtown hotel for the night before to eliminate the stress of finding parking, etc. But, I started out race day by ordering an Uber from my hotel to get closer to the start line so I wouldn't have to walk 3/4 of a mile. This turned out to be a terrible idea: all of the streets that Uber suggested to take were closed, and traffic was already piling up. My driver ended up dropping me off even further away from the start line than I was when he picked me up, so that was not a good start to the day.

Once I had dropped off my gear drop bag, I met up with Alexis and Eric and we joined the masses in the start corral. I started the race with Alexis, and...well, here's a bit of what was going through my head during the race.

Mile 1: ooh, this feels good. I'm totally sticking to my pace plan. Don't wanna blow up on the hills like in 2020 when I ran the half. Feeling good about these paces. I feel strong! Just keep it going.

Mile 3: Damn, Chris did such a good job with this playlist. I'm gonna need to tell him that and thank him later.

Mile 5: There are Mom and Dad! Oh good, they were able to see me! Wow, I'm so happy they got to be here for this. I feel good!

Mile 7: Turning onto Cesar Chavez is so fun, gosh, the crowd support here is amazing. I'm feeling good! Maybe I should go for my secondary goal...

Mile 8: This is where I had to stop to use the porta-potty in 2020. Not this time!

Mile 9: Ok, Mariama said she was going to be around here---OMG! There she is! Mariama and Jay and Matt L is here too! Awwwww, they are so sweet to come out! Hi guys!!
Aww shit this hill up Veteran's is always steeper than I think it will be. I'm gonna lose Alexis...

Mile 11: You got this, you trained on Enfield this cycle. Look, that person has a sign with my name on it--oh, it's Marty! I shout to her and see Wes and Viv, too.

You don't have to run fast but keep moving. You'll see Mom and and Dad soon and the Striders will get you up this hill! There are Mom and Dad! Oh, good, they made it in time to the 2nd stop. 

I think I need to pee.

Mile 12: Holy crap, I have the best running friends in the world. They see me! They're yelling for me so loudly and I'm grinning ear to ear, I totally forgot my ex is cheering on this hill too. Christy is running with me for a few yards and hands off some more gels. 

I make it to the top of the hill and then...I see where the full and half marathon courses split. Man, those half marathoners are so lucky, they're almost done. Janna was not kidding, this is demoralizing as fuck. I should find a bathroom.

Mile 13: Oh, here's a porta-potty at the water stop. Excellent. This song sounds familiar...oh, it's Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi at exactly the halfway mark. Nice going, Chris. You timed this perfectly.

Miles 15-18: Ok, walk when you need to. You're breathing pretty heavily, walk a bit to get the HR down and then start running again. Well, there goes the 4:50 pace group, oh well. I need fuel but I don't wanna down another Gu. I need to chew something--I'll take this orange slice this nice stranger is offering me. Damn, that was tasty.

You crushed that hill on Dean Keeton. Way to think of your butt! Hmm, Matt isn't here, I wonder if he overslept...

Mile 18.75: There's Dorothy! And she has two other friends with her cheering for me. Awww, she's so nice to come out here...she's taking a video. (That still doesn't stop me from saying, "This is so hard!")

Mile 18.85: Mom and and Dad made it over here! God, I want something salty. I'll take those gels but ugh I really don't want to eat them. Mom shouts, "See you at the finish line!" Well, I have to keep going after that.

Mile 19: OMG there's Matt A! I need a hug. He runs with me for about a half mile, and then says I'm crazy for doing this but he loves me anyway, and I'm kicking ass. Him running with me really helped! OK, just keep moving those legs.

Mile 20: Only a 10k left! I can run a 10k...right?

Mile 21: I've officially hit a distance PR. Maybe I should just stop now and take the DNF, it's still a PR. 

No. Keep going.

I need to pee again.

Thank goodness for volunteers and porta-potties at water stops. 

Mile 21: This long flat section on Tillery was supposed to be easier. Why the F is it so hard??! Aww, there's First Street Studios. That makes me smile...for like a nanosecond. My feet are hurting.

Mile 22: Holy shit, that's Gabe! I'm so happy to see him I almost start crying. He tells me I'm doing great and runs with me for almost a mile. 

Mile 22: Gabe, I'm so happy to see you!

He takes a few pictures, and then hands me off to the crowd outside Central Machine Works. They are incredible. They're loud, and running alongside me, and then there are Chris and Sarah! Sarah's running with me, I tell her this is the worst idea I've ever had. She says something encouraging and I momentarily forget my pain. 

Sarah helping me at mile 23

Then Chris is on the other side of me, asking if I need anything, water maybe? I said, "No I just need this to be over." He tells me I've got fewer miles left than our In the Parks route. This is somewhat encouraging. I keep going.

Mile 23.5: JANNA. Oh my lordy lord, I see Janna. She has appeared with 3 miles to go and boy do I need her. She takes my handheld water bottle and starts reminding me to relax, deep breaths, use my hips, and then she starts telling me orchestra jokes. We alternate walking and running for the next 2 miles. I start crying and I'm not totally sure why. She tells me it's fine, let it out, I'm ok. I'm very glad she's here.

Mile 24.5: Chris somehow reappears off of a side street and runs/walks with us too. I'm so grateful to both of them, that they're completely supportive even though I'm the captain of the struggle bus right now. As we round the corner to approach the last hill, I see a photographer. Time to look like I'm not dying.

I'm really not sure how I managed a smile this late in the game.

Mile 26: This is it. One more hill, then I'm done. I've done hill repeats on this hill, this is why I was walking back there, so I would have something left for this hill. I start running up, and I see Cari on the left! She starts running with me. Then, halfway up on the right, I see Meaghan and Shelby. They join me. I start walking, I've tired myself out already. Meaghan lets loose the absolute fucking loudest scream I've ever heard in my life, and I can't help but start laughing. 

Shelby, Chris, Meaghan, Cari, and Janna (out of frame) helping me up the last hill

Through the arch! 1/4 mile left!

I start running again and make it to the top of the hill where I see Christy and Carlos, while Janna and Chris duck onto the side to run me in off of the official course. I'm so relieved to see the finish that I start to kick it, and end up with sub 8 pace over the finish line. (It doesn't hurt that it's downhill.)

Oh my God, it's finally done

Moments after finishing

Finish: I wobble towards the angelic volunteers who are handing out water, medals, and finisher shirts. I'm wobbling toward the exit chute when I hear my name, and I see Mariama and Matt L again! I start crying and I can't stop. They tell me congratulations and then I go to find Janna and my parents. Janna finds me at the exit and snaps a few photos. I see my parents and hobble towards them. I think I'm going to bawl but somehow manage to keep it (mostly) in. After profusely thanking Chris and Janna with hugs and tears in my eyes, I go to pick up my gear check bag and run into Christy. More crying. I pick up my gear bag and am going back to my parents when Mariama and Matt come up to me and give me a hug. I'm so touched by all this support that between sweating and crying, I think there's no more liquid in my body.

Janna and Chris - lifesavers!

Dad and Mom - best newbie cheerleaders ever

With Endless Thanks

This is a list of every single person who helped me over the last 3 years to get to this point, and I am so incredibly grateful for each one of them:

Mom and Dad - they're already planning what they'll bring to cheer for the next one. Can I get anyone to donate a noisemaker or a cowbell?

Everyone who tracked me and sent messages of support - Audrey, Ian, Julia, Max, Sarah, Maya, Alex, Megan, Anna, Frank, Morgan, Josh S, Dana, Josh H, Tim J, Malia, Yi Ching, AJ G-R, Tim M, Jeff E, Daniel, Marisa, Rachael

All of my Strider friends who cheered in person and from afar - 

Alyssa - for starting this amazing group and being a cheerleader for everyone, 

Christy - for running countless miles with me on Friday mornings, course support and photos and passing on the wisdom of James, 

James (honorary Strider?), Oreo Tom, Abigail, Thomas, Thomas the third,

Gabe - for your friendship, boozy neighborhood walks, deep conversations, extraordinary photography skills (only you could make me look that good at mile 22!), and for quoting Taylor Swift to me,

Derek, Eva for the advice, Laura for the good vibes and tracking, Laurent, Matt, Michael + the plunger, Mona - now it's your turn!, Eric S, Alex

Sarah P - seeing you at CMW was such a mood-booster! Thank you for the literal support,

Shelby - for going with me to the Fleet Feet shakeout so I wouldn't be anxious and for all the runs and chats and cheering (and Franklin's and Gizmo pets), 

Meaghan - for long run/track company AND the loudest voice I have ever heard, those soundwaves did the trick!,

Eric N - for introducing me to the Ship, being a great pacer on Saturdays, being an accountabili-buddy, and always being up for mimosas,

Janna L - for being a total badass and inspiration, helping me with speedwork, and for all of the advice and answers you gave me about training, reminding me to think of my hips and keep my head up during the race, not to mention almost literally keeping me on my feet in the last 1.5 miles,

Chris J - for assuring me that I wouldn't be doing this alone as we sat at Cru 3 years ago before the world shut down, for the company on my 20 miler, being one of the first to kudos my runs, randomizing my playlist, answering all my questions and offering advice, and for the pumping up the week/day of

Everyone else who cheered in person - Mariama, Jay, Matt L, Marty (and for introducing me to Sportshield, what a lifesaver!), Wes, Matt A (I'm so glad I sucked you into the world of running, hehe), Dorothy, Ellen, Rachel, Morning Jos, The Ship, ESBR, November Project, the random people who saw my name on my bib and yelled out to me like they were my best friends

The Ship - Cari for being one of my first Ship friends, a great pacer, my training partner when Texas felt like Minnesota, and warning me about 11th St; Ashley for being one of my first Ship friends and always willing to find a bathroom with me; Alexis for being so open and nice and helping me through my first marathon; Coach for creating a welcoming environment; all the other Shipmates on Saturdays

No Excuses Monday workout group - thank you for being welcoming and encouraging!

The run groups in Madison and Milwaukee - thank you for offering groups where I could safely continue my training and explore new parts of Wisconsin

Everyone who kept me healthy - the team at RunLab (Verity, Dr. Halasz, others I'm forgetting), and my massage ladies Brandy, Chris K, and Chalice

Every single volunteer - water stops, expo, cleanup, y'all are the hardworking people who make this happen!

So, Sophie...are you going to run another marathon?

It's about 36 hours after the marathon and I feel like I've been hit by a truck while an elephant is sitting on my back. I've awakened muscles that I didn't know existed. I'm hobbling around my house and stairs are my nemesis. I'm also still somewhat in shock and denial that I ran 26.2 miles yesterday.

I've been told "never say never" about signing up for another one, but I've got some goals in the half marathon distance that I want to go for. I might be back for another marathon...but for now, I'm going to sleep in on Saturdays, keep eating all the Tex-Mex I want, and put my Gu gels in a box out of sight.