My First Marathon!

Today was the day. My first marathon. I've known this day was coming for like . . . dog years, but I just can't believe its finally here. All that training, and today would be the day that I would show my true girl power!

This morning daddy woke me up around 4 a.m. I can't even believe I was sleeping, I was so excited. Daddy was already ready, geared up with the usual: our water bottles, his running clothes, and a hat. But something was a little bit different. Daddy normally wears clean, white running shoes. Today, he had on these black, rugged looking shoes. I asked him why. He says they are trail shoes, and they are good for wet and rough (ruff?) conditions. Didn't really know what that meant at the time, but I would soon find out.

We loaded up in the car - me in the kennel and daddy driving - and headed off to Lawrence (ok, no one told me that this meant a 2 1/2 hour car ride). After what felt like days, we finally arrived. When I hopped out of the car, I realized we were in a parking lot at lake, with trees and trails everywhere! As excited as I was, I've only run on trails one other time - I'm usually a roadie. Could I do 26.2 on trails? Ohhh, I'm so nervous!

When we headed over to check-in around 6:45, I again got really nervous. I started seeing my competition. Now, I'm usually not very competitive. I didn't really care about winning - I just wanted to finish. But these other dogs looked experienced. Could I really do this? We picked up our race packets (I was lucky number 281!) and our timing chips (yep, I got one of those two, but Daddy had to wear it for me). Lucky for us, we headed back to the car for a few minutes to gather ourselves (ok, just me, Daddy didn't seem nervous).

About 30 minutes before race time, we headed back to the start area. Everyone was so nice to me! These people are great. They really helped calm my nerves. Here are some pictures of Daddy and I just before the race (I'm the short one on the right).

And then, just like that, the race director gave a final countdown, and we were off. Finally, we were running. This was going to be so much fun! I took off fast, like an all out sprint. Daddy tried to hold me back. "Pace yourself," he said. He's right. We still had a long was to go.

About 2 minutes into the race, Daddy says that I broke race etiquette by "stopping" suddenly. But I had to go. Sorry about that, everyone, but all that nervous energy. I should have hit the port-o-potty one last time!

We were off again, and we had a ton of ground to make up if we were going to be in first place! But daddy again held me back. "Slow and steady wins the race." I hate it when your parents are right.

A little over a mile into the race, we hit our first water crossing. For you humans, this means calf deep water for about 8 feet and a bit of a leap in and out. For us dogs, that means a short heavenly swim in muddy water! What was daddy thinking? During our normal runs, Daddy doesn't even let me splash in puddles. Doesn't he realize that I'm going to be a soggy, smelly mess? I'm sure not going to be the one to tell him....

About 3 miles in we hit the real trails. Let me tell you, this was awesome! For those of you who have never run a trail race in the days after some fairly decent rain, the trails can get very muddy. Yea, they are a little slippery, and yea you have to work a little harder to battle through, but the trails are so much fun this way. Within a mile of the trail head, I was already a dirty mess! And I wasn't even in trouble for it!

We continued on. I felt pretty good after the first few miles, but I think it was time for me to calm down a bit. Daddy told me I had a long way to go, and that I should save my energy. So I did. I tried to stay right beside Daddy, or just in front. This seemed to help. And the early morning humidity was lessening. Daddy kept me well hydrated, nonetheless. All good things for us furry type.

Around 10 or so miles in, we hit our first aid station. Daddy gave me a refill on my water, and before long we were out. We were making good time, averaging around an 11 minute mile (that is pretty good considering every time I have to get a drink costs us a minute or so). At every stop we would get passed by a number of runners, and then we would run back by them once we got moving. That was fun. I liked the other runners. They were really nice to me (it would be nice that several of those runners would finish right around the same time as me).

The next 6 miles or so (before the second big aid station) were a ton of fun. The trails were just muddy enough, and the breeze was just right. We wondered here and there, and eventually hit the next aid station. The people at that aid station were really nice too. They offered me a sandwich. Daddy said no: "Don't try anything new on race day." Grrrr... I think it would have been worth the risk.

Off we were again. The next 6 or 7 miles took a while. Daddy and I were both starting to get a bit tired (Daddy ran the Boston Marathon on the previous Monday, so he said he was pretty tired anyway). These sections proved to be fairly muddy and humid. That was taking a toll on us both. We continued on, never really losing any ground on our pace, but still not moving forward quite as fast as we wanted.

Then we hit the last aid station, at about mile 23. By now I was in record distance territory. My longest training run was only 20 miles, so I was very excited and relieved that I had made it this far. And with just 3 miles to go, I knew I was going to make it! Our pace began to quicken. To help this out even more, this section of the course seemed to be the driest of the day. We were moving!

And with two quick right turns, the finish line was in sight! I had done it! 4:45:10! Not bad for my first Marathon, on a trail, in some fairly humid and muddy conditions. And to top that off, I won for my species! First place dog (for the record, out of the collective 59 marathons now run by my parents and I, I'm the only one who has ever won)!

So I mentioned mud earlier. Check out the pictures! I took two showers before I got clean!

Thank you to the incredible race co-directors for letting me run. Thank you to all the kind aid station workers who were always watching out for me. Thank you to http://www.seekcrun.com/ for taking the great pictures! And thank you to all the encouraging spectators for cheering me on!

I can't wait until the next one (hint, hint, Daddy, sign me up!)