I ran my first marathon (OBX Marathon) on November 8.
Casey and I left for Manteo, NC Friday evening with the dogs for a long weekend of sight-seeing and running. This would be our first trip to the Outer Banks. Of course the dogs came too. My Honda Fit provides a nice bedding area for them when I fold the seats down. They were quite comfortable.
We stayed in an upstairs apartment in Manteo on Roanoke Island, sight of the first English colony and birthplace of the first English person in North America, Virginia Dare. It is often referred to as the "Lost Colony" because no one knows what happened to the colonists during the three years that one of the leaders was away on a supply trip back to England. When he returned to the colony all the settlers were gone and the only evidence of where they might have gone was carved in a tree.
On Saturday we slept in and then ate a late breakfast. We then went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. The sand dune here was the sight of the first sustained motorized flight by man in 1903 by Orville and Wilbur Wright, brothers and aviation enthusiasts from Dayton, OH. We walked up to the top of Big Kill Devil Hill and caught a stunning view of the ocean at the base of the memorial.
Afterward we went to Jockey's Ridge State Park, about 5 miles south in Nags Head. The largest sand dune on the East Coast is located inside the park. It stands nearly 100 feet tall. We got lucky and caught the sunset from the top of the dune. It was nice to see natural wonders coinciding with suburban sprawl. Kids were flying kites, lovers were holding one another, and for a few minutes everyone was comfortable outside of their comfort zones.
We stopped at this excellent package store for some post race beverages. I was able to buy individual craft beers from all over the globe. What a novel idea, selling rare individual beers! I got beers from Honduras, Brazil, Hawaii, Laos, and Tibet along with two local microbrews. We then went to a pasta buffet sponsored by one of the local restaurants so we could get our carbohydrate fix. Then we headed back to the apartment for an early bedtime.
We woke up on Sunday around 5:00 A.M. in order to catch the shuttle to the starting lines. Casey left me at the half marathon start and I proceeded to the marathon start. When I arrived I donned my race bib, took a last minute bathroom stop, did a little stretching and started running 26.2 miles!
The first few miles were nice and easy. They meandered through a wooded community in Kitty Hawk. After about four miles the route paralleled the Roanoke Sound through residential areas of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. I was still feeling good after eight miles when the route took me around the Wright Brothers memorial. Around mile 10 I could really feel my legs getting heavy but my endurance was still good as I entered the Nags Head Woods Nature Preserve. The route coursed through these woods for about three miles, offering a much needed respite for my feet and joints. When I got to the halfway mark, my time was 2:18:14. I couldn't believe I had kept such a good pace!
Well, the excitement was short lived as I stopped for a water break. I ran for about two more miles and then needed to walk. At this point my knees were killing me and my legs were beginning to cramp. I pretty much walked the next two miles. From then on I was only able to run for short distances before my legs would cramp again. This is how I ended up finishing the race. Miles 21-24 took me over the bridge connecting the two islands. At mile 26 I decided I had to finish strong so I legged out the last 0.2 miles and finished the marathon with a time of 5:25:31. I was so happy to finish! I couldn't believe I'd actually attempted and completed a marathon. I was amazed at how hard I hit the wall after the halfway point. My pace nearly slowed by two minutes. It didn't matter though. I had finally done something meaningful and had strived to accomplish a personal goal for the first time in a very long time.
Casey rocked the half marathon. (She'll tell you she didn't, but her time was great!) She finished in 2:21:50, better than half the field! I was so proud of her! She's going to do the Myrtle Beach Marathon with me in February and I bet she'll be awesome.
After the race I grabbed my finisher's medal, a free beer, and my bag and decided (wrongly) to walk back to the apartment. It was only two miles outside of town but it took me forever. I pretty much had to waddle since I couldn't pick up my legs because they hurt so bad. Casey was upset that I didn't call her to come pick me up. In hindsight I should have called, but I didn't feel it was necessary. I sat down for a long time upon my return and then hopped in the shower. It was one of the better showers I've had in quite a while, even with the smelly desalinated ocean water. We then went to the Bodie Island Lighthouse on Cape Hatteras National Seashore. After that we got some slices of pizza pie before going back to the apartment and crashing for the night.
On the trip back the next day I decided to take an alternate route so we could see more of the North Carolina countryside and take a ferry across one of the rivers. (My actual motivation for doing this was so I could pass through other counties I had not been through, inching closer to my goal of going to as many counties as possible.) Casey had a blast riding across the ferry but our dog Raz didn't particularly care for it. He's not a fan of loud noises. LOUD NOISES!!!
The trip was great! My first marathon was rewarding and an experience I'll never forget. Casey is a wonderful companion for weekend excursions. We now have the marathon bug and will be running as many as we can in the future.
Check out more pictures from our trip!
