Thunder Road Marathon-Charlotte, NC

This past Friday I rode up to Charlotte and stayed with my sister for the night for the Thunder Road Marathon Saturday morning. Since my knee has been bothering me I was just planning on running the half marathon until Friday morning. I knew I would be disappointed in myself if I didn't do the full. I made the decision to just go for the full. I figured that worst case I couldn't do it and I would just turn off with the halfers. Brendan had Lilly for the night by himself for the first time. I think he was a little nervous, but she went to bed for him no problem and he just put her in the bed with him when she woke up around 3am.

I rode to Charlotte with my brother and his wife. We went to the expo first to pick up our packets and buy some gels for the race. It wasn't a very big expo, but they had what we needed. Then, we met my sister and my brother's friend a Olive Garden for dinner to load up on carbs. We woke early Saturday to get ready for the race. Brendan drove up that morning with Lilly to watch the race. I was so excited that they were coming because Brendan wasn't able to come to my first marathon because of an exam the same day. It was pretty cold out, but it was good weather for the race. My brother was nice and slowed down to run with me and his friend who was also battling a knee problem. The course was beautiful and it was nice to see so many supporters out cheering us on. It was hilly though. My knee wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bothering me too bad until around mile 11 after a down hill. I could tell that something wasn't exacty right with my knee, but I tried to ignore it to see if it would just work itself out. Running up the next hill the pain dulled some and I felt confident that I could do the full. From there I was doing well until after mile 20 when my right IT band and my left calf were getting really tight. My calves never bother me, but I guess it was the way I was running because of my knee. I had to stretch out a couple of times through the finish. I was disappointed because when I ran Kiawah I didn't stop at all. Not even when drinking water. I was going really slow though because I also got an injury about a month before that marathon due to wrong shoes. My brother and I finished together in 4 hours 36 minutes. It was the worst run of my life, but I finished. The medal was a good incentive to get to the finish line. I guess I will wait until Lilly is a little older before trying to train for my 3rd marathon. That way I will have more time to train and hopefully won't get injured. Here are some pictures from the weekend:
Around the halfway point:

Lilly all bundled up:

Coming in at the finish!

Checking our watches (not planned!):

With our medals: