Prairie Fire Post-Race & Aftermath

Part 4 of the Prairie Fire series; maybe I'll finish writing about this in time for my next marathon, haha!

After I crossed the finish line, I stumbled in the finish chute; my legs were done!  The post-marathon state is something you can't really fully understand until you've experienced it, as there is nothing else like the mix of elation and exhaustion.  I was in a mixed daze of celebration and depletion confusion.  My first thought was that I wanted to find my family, so I walked through the finish shoot and picked up my finishers shirt and medals.  I got two medals because I did the Back to Back challenge, running the spring half and fall full (barely, as I was injured before the spring race).  I was coherent enough to pick out the correct size of finishers shirt, and to grab a couple of bottles of water and Gatorade as I exited the finish shoot.

It felt better to keep walking then to stop, so I kept walking.  I saw my brother-in-law, niece, and nephew first, as they had come to watch me finish and hadn't yet found the rest of my family.  My nephew was talking rapidly and they were all asking me some questions that I couldn't formulate responses to.  I told them I just needed to keep walking.  I then saw Jon coming towards me, and I gave him a big hug while tears of joy welled up in my eyes, which my parents caught a picture of.  My parents and Albani were there too, and everyone was talking, but I mainly remembering saying that I just needed to keep walking, so I did!

My favorite picture from the day!

 Albani was running the kids' marathon, which started at 11:00 a.m. (I finished at 10:28 a.m.), so we needed to get her to the starting area for it.  I knew I needed to change out of my soaking wet race clothes before her race, so Jon and I hurried (as much as I could!) over to a hotel bathroom for me to change into the clothing from my bag I'd had Jon bring to the finish, while everyone else went to Albani's starting line with her.

I changed as fast as I could, but I kept having random cramps in my calves and feet.  I also mixed a re:immune packet in water and began drinking it to help with my recovery.  I felt far better in dry clothes, and the re:immune was going down well.  I was also trying to text updates to my training partner and my coach, and answer some of the 14 texts I'd gotten from friends who'd been tracking me, while I was changing (post-marathon multi-tasking!).

I took an indirect route back to Albani's race start in order to get food; Jon told me I was going to miss her race if I did that, but I knew not eating quickly would wreck my recovery so I chanced it while he went the quickest route.  I was able to get food and make it to her start with time to spare!  She ran a PR mile in 9:25!  Watch her awesome finish here!  She was very excited.  She did the kids' half marathon, which meant she'd run the first 12.1 miles in training and then the final mile on race day.  They also had a kids' marathon, where they ran the first 25.2 miles in training, and she was working towards that, but we didn't start tracking her miles early enough and she had around 18.  She loved the medal and also loved playing with her cousins at the race.  I hope she enjoyed cheering for me at least a little! 

Determination!

Running happy

After that we went to wait on the awards ceremony and everyone ate a lot of the free food.  It's possible that between me and the 7 family members I had there, we got my entry fee's worth of lunch! Even though it was over 60 degrees and I had on a jacket, I was freezing.  I ended up putting my warm-up pants back on and got a space blanket.

Brr

At the awards, the announcer spent a lot of time talking about the depth of the women's field.  The winner, Svetlana Pretot, was from France!  The announcer asked her how she'd ended up at this race, then came back on the mic and said something like, "She doesn't speak English, and I don't speak French, so we don't know!"  An news article I later read on the race told more of her story, which included that she trains some with a professional group in Vermont, and male runners from her group won both the mens marathon and half marathon that day, so my guess is that the group made the trip for the prize money (and that she did just enough to win, because she has many 2:3X marathons to her name, and Jon said she was just sitting on the second place female throughout the race).  When I Googled her, my information was limited because most articles on her were in French!  But I did find that she was the first female masters runner at the Boston Marathon in both 2012 and 2013, found here.  The second place winner was from the St. Joseph, Missouri area, and was the one I'd identified as fast on the starting line, Ann Marie Chappell, who has Olympic Marathon qualifying times to her name.  Third was McKale (Davis) Montgomery, who also has Olympic Marathon qualifying times and a whole slew of sub-3:00s.  What amazing strong women!

My dad's video of the awards is here.  I was really honored to run a 2:58, even if it was "only" 4th.  Based on past years results, I expected that if I ran my goal time, I would be 1st or 2nd, because a 2:58 would have been every other year this race has existed.  Honestly, on race day I was disappointed about my placing because of those expectations, even though there was nothing I could have done to move up, with those ladies all running 2:50-2:51.  I was disappointed to be 4th and then I felt greedy for being disappointed!  I said before the race that I didn't care if I was 500th if I got my sub-3:00, and I decided that should be the case.  I was blessed to still place, as they placed top 5.  I also decided that I choose to be inspired by the three speedy ladies ahead of me!  So I'm looking at them as inspiration to dream bigger.

I couldn't hold the envelope and trophy correctly for a photo

Swag

Results can be found here, and results with split times here.  My addition to the Kansas State Road Racing Records as the 9th fastest womens marathon ever run in Kansas (not quite the 8th as they announced at the awards ceremony) and the 3rd fastest ever for a woman age 35-39 is here.  Pretty crazy that 4 of the 9 fastest marathon times ever run by women in Kansas were run in this race!



Results (gun time displayed here)

Kansas Road Running Records (also based on gun time)

I am also thankful to have walked away from the race with no aches or pains.  I got two blisters, one on each second toe under my toenails, and had a small scab from where the gel I tucked into my sports bra rubbed (otherwise no chaffing at all!).  During both Dallas and Bass Pro in 2015, my hips hurt during the final miles of the marathons, and they didn't bother me at all in this one.  Overall I felt very healthy.  I stretched while waiting on Albani's race and the awards, foam rolled a couple of times the day of the race, stopped twice on the drive to walk and stretch, and took an ice bath that evening when we got home (and a second one on Monday).  I also wore compression socks a lot after the race, and overall I've felt like my recovery has gone well.  I typically come back from marathons and long runs better than average, which I am thankful for.

My one minor injury

Well, what does a Type A person do when she accomplishes a goal?  Set a bigger goal of course!  I am going to work towards improving my PR at the Phoenix Marathon in February.  We've gotta get my training partner Missy a sub-3:00 there, and it's also going to be a couples vacation for Jon and I!  Dream big!