I made the decision to run the Charleston Marathon just six weeks before the race. I have never signed up and decided to run a marathon on this short of timeframe. I had gotten sick just before the St. Jude Marathon in December and wanted some redemption. Maybe that is just the excuse I will stick with. The Charleston Marathon raises money for Engaging Creative Minds (ECM), a non-profit that helps students.

I love and hate January marathons. I always think they are a great idea and the training will help me stay focused through the holidays and keep me away from all the sweets. Never seems to be the case. I tend to be diligent about getting my long runs in but skip the short weekday runs and eat all the tasty treats anyway. Which means I start January off dreading the first marathon of the year.

After running the St. Jude marathon in early December, I did the Spartan Beast in central Florida the following weekend. I was doing none of the following as I counted down the days to Charleston: diligently stretching, taking care of my body, and getting enough rest. On top of traveling 21 days in December, I also had to be mom, work my day job, meet deadlines for my PhD class, and deal with persistent plantar fasciitis in my right foot which has led to tightening in my right hip and IT band pain in my left knee due to compensating… Anyhow…. none of that was going to stop me.

Friday – Travel Day

Woke up Friday morning to rain in Tallahassee. So, had to pack the car in the rain, and drive seven fun hours in the rain. Of course I made horrible gas station food choices all day and did not focus on hydrating. Luckily, the rain came the day before race day. We made it to the Expo about 5:00pm. The Charleston Marathon usually boasts about 5,000 runners every year and this year those numbers were broken down: 800 5k racers, 3,000 half marathoners, and 1,000 marathoners. Though a small race by marathon standards, the Expo was amazing. O2 Fitness printed all the names of the registrants on a fabric wall, which was placed at the entrance of the Expo. My girls had a blast finding my name. The Expo included over 20 vendors, including free apples, a booth for kids to make custom race signs, a picture zone, free coffee, local shoe stores, official race merchandise, local artists, and more food. I would consider this a smaller race by marathon standards, and their Expo was awesome and made it feel like a much bigger race. Continue reading →