Wineglass Marathon

This last weekend I ran the Wineglass Marathon that started in Bath, NY and finished in Corning, NY. To say the course was beautiful would be an understatement. The amount of fall foliage and gorgeous country is unbelievable.

In July my right foot started hurting. It wasn't long before I realized I had plantar fasciiatis. Six weeks before the marathon I decided I couldn't run it. My foot was giving me issues and I wasn't training as much as I needed. As the weeks progressed my foot was feeling better, but again, I didn't have the long runs under my belt. The furthest I had gone was 15.5 miles. Two weeks before the race I decided to run 20 miles if my foot would allow it. I not only finished those 20 miles, I felt great afterward. So, I jumped back into the game.

I was really nervous about running a race like this one. Wineglass was my 5th marathon and I've always run in bigger city races with a lot of hustle and bustle and quite a bit of fans. I've never run a race considered more rural. My hope was to qualify for Boston this time since I missed it by 26 seconds in Richmond last November. Runners World hails this race as one of the fastest marathons in the country and I can see why. Most of the race was flat or at a very slight downhill. There were only a few inclines, but even still, were not bad at all. Although I was almost laughing out loud at about mile 23 when we ran up a tiny little neighborhood road and an older gentleman started to huff and puff and complain of "all of the hills".

Some wonderful friends took the kids for us so that Wayne could come with me. The start of the race was FREEZING. The weather predicted partly cloudy skies and rain through at least half of the race. About an hour into the race the sun started to shine through the clouds and then the clouds left. The day turned out beautiful. I have quite a sunburn to prove it.

Wayne cheered me on at the beginning, mile 9, 19, and 26. I was running with the 3:30 pace group when he saw me at mile 9 and probably until mile 18. When he saw me again at mile 19 he immediately put down the camera and asked me if I was ok. I just said that I was getting really tired. I turned the corner and could hear, "Go Haley, GO!!".
Feeling strong at mile 9.

I felt really great the first 18 or so miles of the race. Most of my miles were below an 8 minute pace. I was able to bank quite a bit of time before I started to get really tired. My pacer from the Flower City Half Marathon's words kept popping into my head, "Stand up straight, put your shoulders back, and let your form carry you through those hard miles." Those words kept my strength up for the last seven or so miles. I had to take one mile at a time and when I would hear a fan say, "Only 5 more miles!!" I tried not to become discouraged. My pace was slipping big time and most of my miles at that point were 8:30 - 8:50.

At mile 20 I questioned what the crap I was doing. I hurt. I still had 6 miles to go. I didn't know if I could keep up a decent pace. I was a bit nauseous from a lot of gatorade and a few GU's. I still kept going mile by mile and saw Wayne at mile 26. With .2 to go I heard him yell, "You're going to do it! You're going to make it."
The clock said 3 hours and 34 minutes. I knew that even if I had to walk over the bridge I would qualify for Boston. I kept going and finished in 3:35:41. A personal best.

The medals were cool. They're made of glass from the Corning Glass Company. The finish line area was beautiful. As soon as I saw Wayne all I could think about was sitting on the ground. I became really nauseous and my hamstrings and calves started to cramp. I thought I was going to throw up. Wayne immediately stretched out my cramps, twice. It instantly made my stomach feel better.

I'm thrilled, I'm ecstatic. I'm heading to Boston this April!! So the cycle begins again.