Alarm went off at 430am, which would give me enough time to eat, load my fuel belt and get down to the hotel lobby for the shuttle. I’ve been battling a nasty cold this week, with I think Saturday have been the worst. Day of the race, I seemed to have felt better. At any rate, waking up at 430a, gave me enough time to get dressed, eat and load my fuel belt. I thought I had everything ready when I looked down at my left wrist and no Garmin. I frantically looked for my Garmin in my suitcase and it’s nowhere to be found. I had a mini meltdown and decided whatevs on the Garmin, figured I’ll run by feel and not have to focus on looking down at my watch. I needed to be at the shuttle by 5:20am, I kissed James good-bye and told him I’d see him somewhere between the 5:00-6:00 mark. The shuttle arrived in Balboa around 545am or so and the portapotty lines were jam packed. I wandered a bit and could not find anyone so I found the gear truck, lubed my thighs up with Vaseline and Body Glide and waited in a Portapotty line. After I did my business, I found my corral and within a few minutes, we were off. I was standing next to an elvis and a few heads in front of me was Barefoot Ken.
Miles 1-4: just warming up and trying to settle on a pace. No sooner after I hit the start line, I suddenly remembered where my Garmin was, it was in my backpack (oops!). Consumed 1 salt tab at Mile 3 with water.
Miles 5-6: I had to use the bathroom really bad but the lines at the portapotties were too long, decided to pop a squat at a tree in the park, I didn’t care, no time to lollygag.
Miles 7-10.5 : I think this was the start of the 163 freeway, I remember reading that if you stayed to the left of the freeway, the road isn’t cambered. I eventually found a spot on the left and stayed there. I felt the gradual incline, slowed my slow pace down a bit and conquered the 163. Which in hindsight was not that bad, I was expecting it to be worse. Or maybe it was the hills I’m used to running. Between Mile 10-11, I see one of my former TNT Coaches, Coach Al J. I give him a high five and tell him that hill was not bad!
Mile 12-14: I see a few more TNT peeps I know – which was great, it improved my spirits. Even though I was not running or had trained for this with team in training, these were the only people I recognized on course since everyone else was ahead of me in the race. My quads and IT-band start to tighten up again, so I take some walk breaks, head to aid stations to lube up my thighs (hate chaffing and luckily I did not get any).
Miles 15-20: Cruising along Mission Bay area, taking some walk breaks here and there (for how long I don’t know), once I got into a residential area there was a family who handed out watermelon and another family down the road who had Otter Pops. I took both and they felt so good.
After Mile 20, I told myself today was not going to be the day where I hit the wall. The bottoms of my feet were aching, I could feel a blister on one of my toes but as long as I walked fast (there were a lot of people walking this portion), consumed more Cytomax and water and ran when I felt it, I would do fine. I knew James was there at the finish waiting for me, this gave me huge motivation to keep chugging along.
Miles 20-24.5 were the longest – We ran past Sea World and onto some part of the road where there was a dirt trail. I stuck to the dirt so it would be softer impact on my feet and legs, walked a bit, enjoyed the music when I passed a band. Around mile 23, I see Gary (from TNT) and gave him a high five, he told me that Al K. (former TNT coach who helped me with Nike) was somewhere between the 24th-26th mile marker. That was the motivated I needed. I continued to plow on, my pace increased passing those who were fatigued. Knowing that I was almost done, a few more miles to go and then I could stop running (I did not think I would have a sprint to the finish as that was the last thing on my mind). I found Al at mile 25 on Barnett Road, he ran with me until the gate and from there I booked it to the finish, which again sprinting to the finish was the last thing on my mind! Once I inching near mile 26, I heard the announcer call out my name, I was scanning for James and spotted him and my face lit up. He was able to snap a picture of me and I continued to sprint to the finish. Finish time, 5:13:24. I shed a few tears because I just ran 26.2 miles. Wow, I ran a marathon. If you had asked me to run a marathon or even a half marathon two years ago, I would have laughed in your face J
James and I found one another after I got a cold towel, Cytomax, water, a banana and my medal. Went to the bathroom, changed shoes and walked to his car. My post race meal was going to be In-N-Out but there was a 2 hour wait – so we opted for Wendy’s…triple cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milkshakes J A few hours later, we went to Oceanside to Joe’s Crab Shack, where I consumed a 22oz of Miller Lite (tasted so good), crab dip and Parmesean Crusted Shrimp Pasta.
Overall: The weather was a tad humid, however, it was not brutal heat wise. I’m glad there was cloud cover. I would run this marathon again, thought the organization and crowd support were great as were most of the bands. I enjoyed meeting a lot of marathoners from Runners World the night before and the weekend including the long drive home was worth it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
After James woke up Saturday, we went to his parents house in Oakley and met up with is brother, Scott and the kids. We took the kids to Brannan Island to swim.
He had been working there for about six weeks and enjoyed the work. Without notice of any kind, he showed up at 8am for his day to start to only find out that his work ended there. He's bumming big time about it. I don't blame him but it is just another sign of the times. I'm confident he'll find something soon, perhaps working for another service shop. I made a phone call to my cousin, Joey who works for the City of Danville and asked if there is anything in his department coming up. Joey thinks the seasonal staff workers will be needed soon, which he could possibly get James onto that.
Running related: This week's training schedule will have (3) runs of 5 miles each plus my long run of 20 miles. My 20 miler will be run in Des Moines, IA. My sister is finally finishing college and her graduation is next Friday, so since I am there Thurs to Sunday, I've got to get this distance in. I've connected with the local TNT chapter and found out that their long run will be on Saturday as well, they have two groups of runners going the distance. My legs should be feeling pretty good, I just got a sports massage yesterday and have my calf rehab appointment Tuesday. My plan is to run Monday/Tues/Thurs, cross train Wednesday and add weights somewhere into there. I need to get back to weights too and keeping up on strengthening of my backside.
28 days until my first marathon!
