the full rundown.

It's been two days since the Cape Cod Marathon and I'm still riding the runner's high. I didn't want to blow up your Instagram feed, so I saved most of the photos for this post. The snaps from the course were actually taken by {cv}--who rode the course twice on his road bike during my race. His first lap was to feel out the hills and the wind and the second go-around was to replenish my fuel. {cv} won the best husband award 26.2 times over on Sunday, that's for sure! He tried to capture the hilliness, but these pictures don't do the hills justice ;) 

Compared to the race I planned on running on Sunday, the Cape Cod Marathon was infinitely smaller. It definitely felt like a "runner's race". The hills were everything I read about and more, but it just made completing the race that much sweeter. Roads weren't completely blocked off during the race, so it required a bit more attention. Crowds were sparse, but when they were around, they were great! I had an angel in Susan, the woman who was the first to tell me "I could rest on the bus". {See the story behind my t-shirt here!} The personalized t-shirt paid off because I got lots of love from spectators and runners alike. If you're running a big race any time soon, do take the time to make your own!

Though the official results haven't been posted online, I eked out a sub-4:00 marathon by all of 77 seconds. {cv} and my parents called me a few times throughout the race to keep my energy up. When my dad called me at mile 25 {running directly into a 25mph+ wind}, he reminded me how close I was to reaching this milestone. {cv} and I had done the math on Saturday night and I knew a 9:10 pace would get me a sub-4. When I heard a 9:07 average pace at mile 23.5, I knew I needed to kick it in gear. I took resting on the bus literally and booked it during those last few miles. I'm so glad I did! Here is what the course looked like via Nike+. It is almost humorous to correspond the deep reds {aka my slowest points} with the elevation profile. Those blips were BIG hills.

If you look below at my splits, I can give a few reactions. I took the first five miles much more quickly than I planned. At mile 7, there were tons of spectators so I sped up a bit there. The rolling hills started around mile 8 and continued through mile 23. {Yes, you read that right.} My least favorite hill was at mile 10, though I had been worried more about the one at mile 20. Though I never hit the proverbial wall, I started feeling way too full around mile 16. I was taking more water/cytomax than I planned during the water stops, so I think that might explain it. {cv} caught up with me closer to mile 23, which was later than he planned, but I was grateful. I needed him more there than I would have at mile 20.

All in all, it may be those last three miles I'm most proud of during the race. We were running into the wind on the coast into a wall of sea spray. It was seriously brutal. Getting the push from {cv} in the 23rd mile and the call from my dad in the 25th mile made me realize I couldn't back down. Had I walked on a hill or stopped for a bathroom break, I would have sacrificed those 77 seconds and missed the 4:00 hour mark. Though my knee may not like me much right now, I am so glad I kept pushing for the finish line.

With that, I can happily say my second full marathon is in the books. I'm looking to you all for some remedies to my post-race woes {i.e. crazy limping + achiness}. This girl needs some relief ;) Thank you again for your love throughout my training and the race. I couldn't have done it without you!