Olympic Trials Marathon Race Report!
This marathon report feels a little crazy to write because it is the first one in my past five marathons that has not centered around my attempts to qualify or then actually qualifying for this marathon! What do I even say here? I am so thankful that I ran the picture perfect race that I did at CIM to enable me to get to the starting line of this one. That day at CIM, and honestly that entire trip to Sacramento, will forever be imprinted in my mind because everything just came together in exactly the right ways to get me to Atlanta. In some regard, whatever happened time-wise in Atlanta didn’t totally matter because I had already run the time that I needed to be there to begin with. This marathon experience was, in essence, the bonus or the reward, where I could just go have fun and race and see what happened!
Goals for the Race/The Race Itself
Olympic Trials were both nerve-wracking because, you know, “Olympic Trials" but at the same time, this race felt weirdly more relaxed than my other marathons because I didn’t have that time-monkey on my back. I definitely got tears in my eyes just picking up my packet for Trials because I was just so happy to be there—but of course, I think it is naive to think that those of us who were just “happy to be there” did not also want to run very fast races. I also wanted to run another excellent marathon.
My goals for this race were much less specific than all my previous marathons: I was not just aiming for a sub-2:45:00. I had wanted to PR if possible, but I knew I might need fantastic day to do that given the undulating course, and I had less pressure/incentive on me to really go to an 11 on the 1 to 10 marathon pain scale because really getting here was the goal, and, more importantly—this was something that was very present in my mind as I spotted women unfortunately dropping out along the way!—I really very much wanted to ensure I got to the end, first and foremost! You just never know with marathons! This probably shouldn’t have scared me as much as it did, but I knew you would get pulled from the course at mile 16 if you were slower than 3:15 marathon pace; this definitely made me feel a little bit like I was racing to 16, and then to 26. (My 3 hour time on feet run a month ago was 25 miles in 3:03, so I don’t know why that 16 mile checkpoint freaked me out as much as it did—I basically ran faster than that as a regular run!—but, it did kind of scare me regardless!) I felt immensely relieved to have passed mile 16! In essence, I ran quite while until 16 when I then became more conservative so as to not have any weird thing pop up to hamper my ability to actually get to the finish! Could I have been slightly less aggressive before 16 and a little more aggressive after 16? Yes. Am I really just happy that I was tough after going out fairly fast for that course. Yes.
I was definitely aware that I had a shorter buildup to this marathon with just twelve weeks from CIM to Atlanta, but that was less of a concern to me (though ideally of course I’d have liked a more proper buildup). I felt very fit and ready to go. Besides my finishing time, because I knew time might not be the best indicator of performance on this course, I really just wanted to place well. So, while my time of 2:51:53 was not a PR, I was happy that I had come into this seeded 435th and ultimately finished 260th.
One thing that really threw me for a loop (no pun intended re: the 3 loop course) was that my Garmin was hopelessly inaccurate for most of this race. At the end, it told me I had run 27.2 miles (which I turned into a joke and told people that it had felt like an extra mile with all the hills! Ha!). Initially, while I was running, I thought my distance was off because of my position at the starting line, but over the course of the race, as the discrepancy between my Garmin and the mile markers grew and grew, I of course realized my watch was way off. This was very weird for me because for all the other marathons I’ve run, my watch has been insanely accurate and something I actually really relied upon. (I actually can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve said to people “I have no idea how anyone ran a marathon before Garmins!”) At CIM, I felt like I could really depend on my watch (the newest Garmin Forerunner 645) for the overall pace, whereas here, I thought for a moment I had actually PRed at the half: my Garmin was something like 1:19:00 at the “half” but I was actually then 1:21:something at the half (still fast for me but not a PR). I somehow kept missing the mile markers along the course, especially towards miles 17-22, and my Garmin was off, so I honestly had no idea as to my pace or distance for a good bit in there, and was just kind of trudging along, ha!
I do think I was probably more capable of a 2:47-49 on that course given my fitness if I had executed a smarter race and gone out a bit more conservatively, but I got so swept up in enjoying the crowds and cheering that it was frankly just really hard to slow down! Over the first 4 miles or so, I had so many people around me that it made me want to go faster (possibly not helpful), but the fact that I had so many people around me was something that was very helpful over the last 8 miles or so. I was really glad about all the company out there!
One of the best parts of this marathon was enjoying all of the people cheering for me, from all over the course, many of whom I saw or heard multiple times. I saw my husband Phillip basically everywhere—I have no idea how he got around from point A to B to C as fast or as many times as he did! My brother Dan, his girlfriend Stephanie, my sister Jill, my mom and dad, and my Aunt Melinda well represented my family around the course. Dan in particular was very loud which was awesome and helped alert me that the “family cheer section’ was coming up. Especially since my brother Dan was pivotal in revitalizing my swim training over the past 8 or so years (he swam in college for Rollins), I was really happy he was able to be there—I don’t think I’d have gotten to this race without getting back in the pool when and how I did. While I was racing I was actually enjoying how much the spectators were enjoying the race, and I’m really glad I had the presence of mind while running a marathon to do that! I saw Katie Jarocki (who I ran with in high school) at least twice on the course and she was particularly loud and awesome!!!!! Thank you Katie!! I passed Jenny (Walls) Siler and her sister Christine (both of whom ran with me at Notre Dame) at least a couple times and holy guacamole, they were so loud that I was practically startled into running faster, haha!!! Go Irish!! I saw Donnie Cowart (who was on Ragged Mountain Racing with me) in so many places that he had to have covered at least a half marathon himself in cheering—thanks Donnie also for telling me to “keep fighting” as I think that helped me roll faster into that last mile!, I heard the distinct cheering of Charlie Ban (another Pittsburgher and writer for Run Washington who I have known for 15 years) near the last miles, and saw Eric Shafer (another Pittsburgher and previous Trials qualifier himself who I have known for forever!) cheering for me and felt like I was back running in my hometown! I even spotted Matt Lofton who I know from the Winchester, VA running community and he yelled to me about cookies at the finish line, haha! I saw Becky Keller and about a million friends from the Charlottesville running community, and about a million more whose faces I couldn’t quite see but all I knew was that I almost continuously heard “Go Ann!” or “Runners Love Yoga!” shouted along the course! Thank you so so much to everyone who rooted for me! I was so happy to get to really soak in this experience of having so many people cheering me on!! At one point, the cheering was actually deafening. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced. If I had not been running I would have had to put my hands over my ears at times! It was unreal. I read in a post-race interview somewhere that Aliphine said she “might be deaf” and Molly Seidel said it was a 26.2 mile scream tunnel—if I experienced what I experienced at 260th place, I can hardly even imagine the noise up front!
Other Moments to Remember
I was initially a little worried in reading all the emails from Atlanta since I wouldn’t have a registered coach with me and you needed credentials to attend a lot of the different events—I was kind of worried about ditching Phillip and about having to go to so many things by myself. However, I need not have worried: this entire weekend was like a huge running community reunion. Everywhere I went I ran into people I knew from different parts of my life, whether high school or college or grad school or from my many marathon OTQ attempts over the past couple years.
On my first morning there, I ran into Sallie (Ford) Post, who I hadn’t seen in several years and who was my teammate back when we were both on Ragged Mountain Racing! It was awesome to catch up with Sallie, and then while talking to her and while we were in the middle of both saying how awesome it was to see so many people we know, who walks by but Susanna Sullivan, another ND grad whose first year overlapped with my sixth year (my last year of my MA)! ! I ran into more ND teammates and friends:: Molly Huddle and her husband Kurt Benninger, and Austin Weaver whose wife Lauren got 24th! I’ve kept in touch with Molly but hadn’t seen Kurt and Austin in practically a decade! We had a nice Charlottesville crew in attendance: Rachel Booth, Brittany Tretbar, and Julie Quinn for the ladies and Charlie Hurt and the Reebok guys on the men’s side. While I was stretching in a random hotel alcove while housekeeping was in my room, I was talking with Julie Quinn, and then Jody Bailey of Run Photography (who I had met at CIM) came by and got photos of us just chilling! I feel like this sort of thing happened all weekend where I just kept bumping into people I knew or hadn’t seen in a good while. I got to reunite with Jenny Donnelly and Amanda Macuiba who qualified with me at CIM, and I got to meet new friends like Mara Linde who sat next to me on the bus to the Opening Ceremony Dinner at the Coca Cola World HQ. In one more crazy coincidental encounter, at the technical meeting, in a room of 400+ people, I ended up sitting next to Ruth Brennan Morrey, who became my friend when we both sat next to each other on the bus to Grandma’s Marathon 2019—neither of us made it at that race, but we had already mentioned CIM to one another and then we both got it there! It was also awesome to see Julia Webb, who I loved running with when she lived in Charlottesville as she is just a ball of positive energy. Julia actually helped me out big time before the start of the race; I had decided to wear just a sports bra instead of a singlet, but I couldn’t repin my back bib on myself and Julia got that for me. What was a little funny was that I had actually thought to myself: “I’ve run into everyone I know here except Molly Seidel!” Molly and I have talked through Instagram but I’ve never met her in person, and then before the start she ran over and gave me a huge hug and told me “Go Irish!”
During the race itself, this overwhelmingly encouraging vibe presided. I was just frankly enjoying just the act of running—I almost felt like I was in some exclusive awesome and extremely fast parade with all my best friends where everyone just cheered like absolute maniacs for us everywhere we went. This whole race felt all about being encouraged by others and encouraging them myself, from Jenny Donnelly zooming by me somewhere over the last 6ish (not sure! I have no idea where I was at that point!) miles and telling me “we’re doing it, Ann, we’re doing it!” to being part of a line of ladies high-fiving Rachel Hyland (running the Trials pregnant) during an out-and-back section. One Atlanta Track Club volunteer at a corner before a downhill was just so encouraging on all the loops that on the last one I told her “I love you.” I’m quite competitive (understatement of the year) but something about this race was about more than just how you did. It was about just absorbing this unique and historic marathon surrounded by all the amazing humanity that you were surrounded by.
I would be amiss if I did not give a huge shout out to the Atlanta Track Club for putting on such a spectacular event. I felt like a minor celebrity with how they treated all of us. I loved the Event Medical room where we athletes could go to get massages or chiropractic work, the Athlete Hospitality room which was loaded with snacks and drinks, and honestly just how super nice everyone was to me everywhere I went. I feel like my face hurt many times over this weekend just from smiling too much. I also appreciated Nike giving us all a pair of AlphaFlys for free—that was just super neat to be able to get a pair before they were released. (I didn’t want to race in them as that seemed risky—they do feel a good bit higher than the Next%s and I felt like they possibly highlighted an instability in my right ankle, which is the one that I rolled like 5 times in college and early grad school running.)
At the finish line, I loved how the volunteers there handing out water and Powerade asked me “do you want more than one? You have earned it!” so that I basically walked out of there holding something like 4 drinks. Then later in the finish chute, I ran into Susanna Sullivan who told me Molly Seidel had made it! And then I spotted Molly herself during an interview and got to congratulate her (P.S. Molly, I still owe you that drink!).
What’s Next/Takeaways
I am going to tackle my PRs at the mile, 5k, 10k, and half (haha….yeah, basically I’m going to run all standard distances shorter than a marathon this spring!), but more specifically I would love to break 5:00 in the mile (current PR of 5:07), and 17:00 in a road 5k (current PR of 17:26 set a couple weeks before CIM 2019 during the hilly 4th Year 5k that I was using as a workout). BUT, I have done a marathon every 6 months now for the past 2.5 years, and really don’t want to wait until 2021 to do another one, so I am planning on a fall 2020 marathon again.
