Finally... A race report... Baton Rouge Marathon

I finally have a race report for my new blog. I love that the first report will be favorable as well. We headed to Baton Rouge for the holiday weekend for me to do the full and Stewart to do the half. I was very excited to have Stewart share this weekend with me. This whole racing scene and that part of my life is still kind of a mystery to him. Nothing I wanted more than for him to be there and began to see what this is all about. I also will not lie, we are in that honeymoon stage where we can't get enough of each other so another road trip was great. I was very excited that he was going to do his very first half

We all know, I am not a big fan of the marathon and I have only done 3 open marathons in my running. Not counting 50k's or ironmen. During The race yesterday, I figured why I was not such a fan.  Anyway, I disgress.  I originally trained for a trail marathon back in Oct that didn't happen. I felt very fit so I thought, why not?? Do a road marathon and try to qualify for Boston.  Training was going great and then travel and the holidays hit and I started missing or changing a lot of runs.  4 weeks ago, I had a great 22 miler and felt confident. I still had my peak week coming before I started taper. My peak week happened while in Corado and I ran 3 times and nothing over 8 miles. I figured I could catch up the next week.  Came back to do my long run combined with the herbs half marathon. It was cold and rainy, I did the half and ran straight to the car- no extra miles. As I went Into this race, I knew I hadn't ran long in 4 weeks. I had a 13.1 and then everything was about 8 miles. I did know I had 3 things going for me.  I had years of endurance and a ton built up this summer, all my short stuff was done fast so I knew I had really good general fitness, and I knew I had  determination and a strong mental game. I would need all 3 to get this BQ.  I also knew that even though 3:45 was my qualifying time, with this crazy new registration - I needed a buffer.

The day was beautiful and the course was beautiful. I pretty much cruised through the first 16 miles, feeling great and chatting to others. Things started to get a little harder but I knew I just needed to stay focused, make it to 20 and then start the countdown.  I was extremely happy to see 20. The next 2 weren't too bad. The last 4 were hell.  I reminded myself how lucky I was that I was out here running and doing something I loved. I reminded myself often how grateful I was that I had this ability. I also repeatedly told myself how strong I was. My pace began to drop as the effort increased but I was happy to see that I was still running a 3:45 pace so I was safe. The math was going through my head   There was nothing more that I wanted then was to stop. Nothing more I wanted to see the finish line. I began to count how many laps this would be on the track. I wasn't talking, I wasn't smiling, I was focused. I told myself do this and u can run whatever at Boston, relax and have a good time. I realized then why I didn't like the marathon- it is hard - the focus it takes- the will to push when u feel like shit cuz if u slow down u could blow all the work u did the first 22 miles. I was never so happy to see mile 25. I knew I could do anything for a mile and I would soon start feeling the finish line adrenaline.  I thought of my past 2 marathons, my first which was a pure mess, my second which I did get a BQ of 3:47 - needed 3:50 at the time which I hated and this one which I maybe kind of enjoyed.   I saw the finish line and was thrilled to be able to stop running. Thrilled to have a 3:39 which gave me over a 5 minute buffet so I knew I could get in Boston and I got to see Stewart and see how his experience went


He did well and really enjoyed it. Something that made me extremely happy. He was already talking about the next one 😊 and actually training. If my training slacked, his really did. He ran twice in the last month. We spent the day laying in the grass enjoying the beautiful weather and then much eating and drinking followed. A perfect day and weekend.

New life hapenings...

Well in case you missed it on Facebook :) - I am engaged!!  Yes it seems like quite a surprise to most of you but over here in Leslie land, it was not a surprise.  Many of you are saying " Who is this guy?"  Well... he has actually been one of my very closest friends for about 4 years now.  We have spent a lot of time together being friends, talking to each other through problems, hanging out with the kids, and just having a good time.  He was that guy that I could always talk to and feel 100% comfortable.  And on a little side note, about 3 years ago - we did date for a very, very brief time and things just did not click.  This time after some casual dating and lots of talk of moving slow ( which we obviously we did not heed) - things clicked and things clicked big time!  I guess when something is right it is just right!  I also know plenty of you think maybe this is all too fast but as an adult, things to me are much different than when I was dating in my younger years.  I guess you are just older and smarter.  AND I will admit, I am head over heels in love and if you know me that is kind of new and even harder for me to admit but there you have it....

It also brings me to the real reason I blog... training...  I have a marathon next week.  I originally was training for the black and blue and felt like I was in some of the best race shape I had ever been in and then I went out of town and missed the race.  I did not want to leave all this training to naught so I took a couple of weeks off, backed down my training and then begin to train for the Baton Rouge Marathon.  I figured if I was going to do a marathon, I may as well try to BQ so BQ bound I will be next weekend.  Sometimes I look at my training and think this will be a piece of cake, other times not so much.  I have got in a bunch of really good training and some nice long training runs but I have missed quite a few.  Last week was my peak week and we all know what I spent doing that week... playing in Colorado.  My long run which should have been 22 miles consisted of 6 miles with repeats followed by 5 miles of snow shoeing.  I kind of thought at almost 10,000 feet altitude that surely evened out, right??

Well as I like to say the hay is in the barn, nothing I could do right now will make a difference.  I had hoped to run 20 this past weekend but it was cold and rainy and I was wimpy.  So I did the trail half marathon instead.  It was wet and sloppy and I held about an 8:10 pace and felt good and it felt easy.  Surely if I can hold that - I can hold an 8:30 pace for 26.2 miles, right?  Well, we all know even in the best of circumstance, lots can happen in a marathon.  3 hours plus is a long time and good, bad, and both can occur during that time.  I am hoping for all good.

Either way, I would not change a thing. A while ago I decided to not be so obsessive about my training and I have really worked on it.  Sure, I did get up one morning at 4:00 to run 20 miles  because I knew I was going to be out of town but for the most part, I just do what I can do.  As I have often been told " you are not getting paid for this"  Even though I have won a couple hundred bucks, a few gift cards, and some sweet bling over the years, I have to remind myself to just do what you can do often.

Next Friday, I am off to Baton Rouge... dreaming of great times with friends and BQ!!

Happy Running......