Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon

That's my oldest son modeling the gear, for some reason when I registered I ordered an extra large shirt, he was very happy since he really liked the shirt.

Goal A: 4:45
Goal B: 5:00
Goal C: Just Finish

Actual: 4:55:04 11:15 Pace
Before mile 13
By mile 14, got to still smile they were taking picture and I was dropping off my gloves.

Woke up at 4:30 read my bible and said my prayer and a special one not to let anything ache when I got out of bed. Got out of bed felt fine, took care of business and got dress, went down and made my usual race breakfast cinnamon raisin bagel with organic peanut butter washed it down with some accelerade, did Maxwell Joint Mobility and noticed a twinge in my left knee went back upstairs and got a body heat pad, applied it and tied ace bandage to add pressure, I was wearing the knee brace on the right so i ignored that twinge, the hip was tender but fine, nothing to stop me from running. I kind of wish it will stop raining but no such luck and that wasn't going to keep me from the finish line either. Got one of my son's poncho for camp, cut it short and put over my race clothes ready to go.
Got to downtown in time and found a place to park on the street, wore my slippers instead of show just to keep them dry a little longer, got to the Galleria and check in my bag, went to the lower level to use the bathroom indoors (that was nice), got back outside, surprise it is still raining, tried to get close to the 4:45 pace group but the place was parked so I was between the 4:45 and 5:00 pace group, gun went off and off we went. Cut up to the the 4:45 pace team (Horst, Louis joined at mile 12.?) by mile 2.5 and stayed with them through mile 14. Around mile 4, I noticed a new pain in my right foot, the last time I had problem with my foot was in February and nothing like this, it felt like I had a piece of wood or rolled up sock under my arch, pulled on my sock in motion, shake the leg out but it was still hurting, I didn't want to lose the pace group and there was just no dry place to stop and check it. At the water stop after mile 14, I decided to stop and check it, there was nothing in my shoe and my sock wasn't rolled up but the ligament at the bottom of foot was hard and tight, I checked the right that was nice and soft, I was concern because the only thing I could think of was plantar fasciitis. I saw the pace team leaving since we walk the water stop but made a decision at that point that I needed to slow things down and not go after them, I wasn't sure if that was the right decision to make but this was just a race and I know if I do too much damage to my foot I could be out months and there will be lots of marathons and other races in my future. So with the decision made I put my sock and shoe back on and adjusted the pace to 11:50 but knew I build up 5 mins since I had to run to meet the 4:45 pace group, I also decided that when the 5:00 pace team catches up with me I will try to keep pace with them if possible.
I stopped at the water stop between mile 16-17 to pee but the person in there wouldn't come out after about 3 mins, so I gave up and went back running. By the time I got to mile 19, I was in a lot of pain and was landing on the side of my foot, I was actually quite frustrated because endurance wise I wasn't tired, even with the usual aches of the last couple of months, I felt but couldn't land my foot properly on the ground, with the nasty wind off of the lake and the pain there was no way I could keep running, so I started a run/walk routine. Between miles 19 - 22, it was run to mile marker walk to the water station and by the airport there were number, I think the are hangers or dock or landing site, so walked one ran one. The 5:00 pace team (Lynne and Christina) caught up with me at mile 23 and they literally told me to get my butt in gear I was almost done, so I hung with them, by mile 25, I was told if I had anything left I should go for it to come in under 5hrs, okay I was already in pain it can't get any worse now and it is almost over so I went for it, coming in under 5 hrs. This was the first race my husband had come to see and I had friends/family tracking me, it was nice to see there face at the finish and the look of pride in my youngest yelling that's my mum coming in, and the big smile on my oldest made it all worth it. Went through got my medal, banana, bag of chip and chocolate milk, I was kind of disappointed that there was no real food, walked out of the gated area to meet my family, went back into the galleria to get my stuff, use the restroom and wash my face. I used 4 gu and drank half of my accelerade but drank water at every stop, had one pure energy bar with me but realized by mile 4 that I had the recovery bar.
Was I disappointed in not coming in at 4:45 or below, not really, looking at my training log on Saturday apart from my 20 miles trail run, the longest long run I did on the road because of injury was 13 miles, so basically I ran this marathon based on 2-13 miles long run. After looking at my log on Saturday, I should have adjusted my goal but I knew if my injuries held off, 4:45 was doable, I never bonk or felt like I couldn't do it, I was bored since I ran alone basically from the time I left the 4:45 pace team to the time the 5:00 team picked me up and I had no music, but I haven't ran with music in so long that I don't think it would have help.
I wasn't crazy about the race, there was nothing good in the goody bag, the expo was nice thou, no real food at the finish, most of downtown was closed, the family crowd was great when they could get to you but the city as a whole didn't seem to be part of it and the volunteers were awesome. Will I do Cleveland again, I think because it is a relatively flat course if I was trying to qualify for Boston it will be a good one to use.
Got back home after a trip to Bob Evans to pick up some Ranch Burger, soak in cold water, had a warm bath put my foot up with ice tied to the right on and took a nap. Woke up felt better, foot still painful can't walk on it, notice the foot soak bath and saw the foot massager on it gave those little ball a go and my foot felt better after like 5 mins on, drag the whole team to church for evening service, use the foot massager again before bed.
The best part about this day was waking up from my nap in the afternoon and finding a certificate from my youngest-ahh priceless.