Couch to Marathon in 364 Days!

On Oct. 5, 2014, I did W1D1 of C25K. On Oct. 4, 2015, I ran the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, New York—my first 26.2!

Here's my full race report if anyone's interested:

My ultimate goal throughout was to make it through a marathon training cycle happy and healthy—which I did! Luckily, I (surprisingly) slept great the night before! My Fitbit said about 7 1/2 hours which is a lot for me on a normal day, especially a race day, so I woke up feeling good. My hotel started serving breakfast at 5am and luckily had my typical pre-run breakfast of an English muffin with peanut butter and jelly. Couple that with Nuun and a cup of coffee, and I was ready to go. I even met a fellow nervous first-timer at breakfast... I wish I had asked for her bib number so I could look her up after the fact.

I picked my friend up from her hotel and we drove into downtown Corning, the tiny town where the race finishes. Since it's a point-to-point, you park in Corning and are bussed to the start. Surprisingly, this part went seamlessly—we didn't have to wait on a bus and it was nice to sit somewhere warm for a bit. The bus was full of excited runners and I loved hearing all the chatter about different races everyone had run.

When we got to the start, we had about an hour until gun time, but luckily there were large tents set up with chairs for us to wait. My friend and I posted up in there for a bit, while I ate a granola bar and put on my throwaway arm warmers (made from cheapie tube socks purchased the day before—brilliant idea!). It was cool at this point (mid 40s) but the sun was beginning to peek out over the hills and you could tell it was going to be a lovely day!

When it was time to corral ourselves, I sought out the 4:40 pacer, Elaine, who also happens to be a friend's cousin. I had heard a lot about her, but hadn't met her and now I feel so lucky that I did. It was obvious right away that Elaine's energy and enthusiasm were going to be a big part of my successful race.

Finally, at 8:15, we were off! The first miles flew by—I joked that it was like a movie where the hands on the clock are spinning wildly. It seemed like we were at the 10K split insanely fast. I listened to a few episodes of This American Life, pausing occasionally to chat with Elaine and others running in our pace group.

I was following my fueling plan and took a salt capsule around mile 8. My legs felt good and as expected, the weather was lovely. I still had my arm warmers on at this point but could roll them up or down when I got too cool or too warm.

We reached the half split at about 2:21 and I was still feeling good. I stopped to use the bathroom so I lost Elaine's crew for a bit but caught up to them again around mile 14.

Miles 14-18 or so also seemed to fly by. The race was incredibly scenic—even though it's a flat course, you're surrounded by rolling hills of forest and farmland. The leaves were just beginning to show some fall color; I imagine they'll be really spectacular in a few weeks. You're also running through small towns, so people come out in droves to cheer you on. It was nice to run in silence through nature for a stretch and then be greeted by the crowds in each itty-bitty town.

From Mile 18 onward, I really wanted to start thinking about making sure I was fueled and hydrated enough as I knew that's what would carry me to the end. At Mile 21, you begin to enter "civilization" again as you head through Painted Post back toward Corning. At Mile 21, I walked through a water station for a bit and let Elaine's group go on ahead.

The last miles were tough (duh!), but at this point I had switched over to my music and there were lots of people out cheering so my overall enthusiasm and morale was still high. (Plus, once I hit 21 or so, I knew I was going to finish even if I crawled down Market Street to get there!)

I started walking a bit longer through each aid station (they were every mile at this point) but it worked out OK as my running intervals were faster than my earlier pace, meaning my overall pace didn't suffer to much. I was chafing just a bit under my arms, which has never happened before, but other than general fatigue, I still felt as good as I had hoped to.

Finally, when I hit mile 25, I knew I was almost there and just kept running! We ran over a bridge before hanging a left onto Market Street. Once I turned onto Market, I took my headphones out—the streets were lined with people cheering so I wanted to enjoy every minute of that! Elaine, who had finished a few minutes before, saw me and yelled for me to push hard to the finish. She sprinted about 100 yards with my alongside the barriers on the street and said she'd see me at the finish.


Then, it was over! 4:44:27 for my first full. I got my medal, gave Elaine a huge hug, and reunited with my boyfriend who got to see me finish.

The post-race spread from Wegman's was amazing: freshly-made pizza, chicken noodle soup, and chocolate milk, among the usual bagels and bananas.

Even though we both drove back to NYC last night, my friend and I split my cheapie hotel room one more night so we could have a post-race shower and not be rushed. Let me tell you that that was the best shower of my life!

Anyway, all in all, Wineglass is a wonderful race. I can see why so many people return year after year. It was an ideal first marathon for me and I would recommend it to anyone ready to dip their toe into a full.

Other than some soreness, I felt pretty good after and feel relatively normal today. My plan was relatively low-mileage compared to a lot of runners (peaking at 36 miles per week, with a 21-mile long run), but I felt very prepared and strong throughout my race. Since my body handled the training well, I look forward to ramping it up for my next full (Big Sur in April!) but for my first 26.2, I had a wonderful experience across the board.