Bling

This one can be checked off of my 2011 goals.

As I said in the recent post, I knew I was ready both physically and mentally.

The race truly went well from start to finish.

It was a little chilly at the beginning of the race, but I quickly got warm once they released my corral to start.

I'd decided to follow the 4:45 marathon pace group knowing that I could just stick with them until the half marathon split off at mile 11. This would be about a 2:22 1/2 marathon which I still felt would be stretch.

I was able to hang with them until at least mile 6 that I remember but somewhere after that is when I dropped back. I'm thinking it was just before or after mile 7 because I'd lost them by the time I arrived at mile 8.

Miles 6-9 were the toughest for me for some reason. I'm pretty sure I got distracted looking for Steve and Lauren. They never saw me and I never saw them. It was a really crowded race both on and off the course. I'll save this information for a post about the race itself.

By mile 9 I had regained my focus, had taken a Gu on top of my Honey Stingers and was ready to push to the finish. I remember thinking "only 40 more minutes".

After that the course also got more interesting as we headed towards the finish in Forsyth Park.

Around mile 10, I saw the 5 hour marathon pace group beside me and realized that I needed to pick it up if I was going to beat my goal of coming in under 2:30.

I kept pushing to the finish but those last few miles felt long. It wasn't that I was struggling but I was so ready to be at the finish line to celebrate my hard work and the fact that I knew I had already had a huge PR.

There was one last turn followed by 2 rolling hills and then the finish.

Looking at the clock I was pretty sure I'd just barely snuck in under my goal.

Official time: 2:28:15.

I'd rocked Savannah!