Good Times at Rehoboth

Christmastime at the beach...what could be better??  How about 3 wonderful friends, a great suite of a room, and running a marathon just a mere 24 hours before a major snowstorm shuts down most of the east coast!

I wasn't sure how my legs would handle running a marathon just three weeks after the Stone Mill 50 miler.  My legs were crazy sore for 3 full days after that and my first "comfortable" run was on Thanksgiving, just a week before we left for the beach.  I remember the same feeling last year, after doing the same thing. (In case you are wondering, NO, I NEVER LEARN).  But I was excited for a mini weekend away, and knew that the course was flat and fast (its all relative, remember!)

 Surprisingly, flat marathons can really stink.  There were times when I looked longingly at the bridge or overpass in the distance and fantasized that we could go up or down, just to use some different muscles.  My legs were not very happy with me, and the chilly head wind seemed to mock the whole "flat and fast" description.  At one point, in Henilopen State Park, I think I squealed with delight when I realized that we were headed for an "overlook!"  That could only mean one thing...a big hill!!!  In this case though, it was a little hill, but it did lead to a gorgeous ocean view.  For the Rehoboth Beach Marathon, we actually saw very little of the ocean.  But as windy as the day was, it would have probably have been much worse running any closer to the shore than we did.  The roads were broken up by some trails through the parks and through neighborhoods decorated for the Holidays.  I lost Nanette, the other Evil Sister marathoner, somewhere around mile 6 or 7, and never caught her again.  She had a great race!  And Pam and Lucia killed it in the half, both getting 5th in their respective age  groups.  I was the last of us to finish, but not before two fighter jets screamed overhead at about mile 23.  Who knew I could jump that high after running for that long!  I think I started going faster then...

As I rounded the last corner, a kind police officer quipped, "What happened, did you run out of steam?" and I gave my best "Are you kidding me right now?" face, and just said "YUP!" and that was the truth.  After crossing the line and grabbing my embarrassingly large medal, the four of us headed to Starbucks for a quick change, then stopped to buy the most delicious salted caramel fudge and chocolate covered pretzels, (recovery food) and jumped in the car and headed home.

Somehow, my garmin, which I had stopped after finishing, was restarted in the jostle of bags in the back and had my recorded stats:
Total Miles:  167.18
Total Time:  8 hrs. 35 mins
Pace:  3:04/mile   19.5 mph

But, that isn't even the end....the next day my recovery included shoveling the surprise 7" of snow that fell early the next morning!  We couldn't have timed it better!