By the Numbers...

...my marathon was a bit of a disappointment.

25 minutes off of my goal
3 dry heaves
12 miles and I felt defeated
8 annoyingly difficult, monstrous hills and 10 rolling hills
5 hours it took me to finish

By the numbers ...
...my marathon was also somewhat of a success.

6 months of hard work, discipline and dedication
5 wonderfully supportive people leap frogging their way through the marathon to support me
8 friends calling and texting throughout the day to check on me
An awesome 3h 35m 20-mile training run [that set the expectation WAY too high]
30 minutes under my first marathon time
A complete marathon finish uninjured
And most importantly, nearly $2,000 raised for LLS

Miles 1-3

I love the start of races. Everyone corralled together in anticipation for the start. The gun goes off and everyone starts cheering...this is going to be exciting. It was a perfectly cool morning...ideal really. I was pacing a minute faster than I wanted, but it felt okay, so I went with it. I would regret this later.

At mile 2.5 I approached a huge f’ing hill, the first of three monstrous hills Dice told me about. Fine, I can do this...only 2 more to go, I told myself. But really, I studied the elevation chart and those hills felt A LOT larger than they looked on the chart. Approaching mile 3 I felt a slight upgrade and as I looked up saw another huge hill, what the hell?! I realized I would need to slow down to save energy for the end.

Miles 4-10

Miles 4-10 were loaded with rolling hills, which if you were driving them would have even been hard on your car. At mile 7 I got an annoyingly painful side pain. I never get those. Why is this happening now?! I stopped for water and my first packet of sport beans. Miles 8-10 were a bit of a blur. They were mostly uphill through the Mission Hills [aptly named] area. It was a beautiful residential area I wished I could have enjoyed more of.

For the life of me I couldn’t understand why nothing was going as planned. My stomach was a sloushy mess, my legs felt like 20 pound weights and I couldn’t turn off the self-doubts that plagued my mind.

Miles 11-14

This is when I began to regret pacing too quickly for the hills in miles 1-3. Something hit me like a 10 pound of bricks—maybe the wall? But, how could that come so quickly? That’s not supposed to happen until the 18th mile. Everything began to deteriorate and I searched for my road crew at every corner wishing they were there to lift my spirits. I rounded the corner at mile 12.5 and saw them; my Mom, Step Dad and boyfriend all cheering for me and encouraging the others at the aid station to root for me. I wanted to run through, but I couldn’t. I needed to stop...and as I did I began dry heaving. I have no idea where that came from, I’m not a yaker. I choked down some water and walked with Jacob for a block or two. I think he was surprised at how down I was—as was I. He was so encouraging and I kept going knowing they would meet up with me in a few more miles.

I saw my dad at mile 13 but couldn’t look him in the eye. I didn’t want him to see how down I was...I just kept going.

Miles 15-26.2

The last 11 miles of the marathon were somewhat of a blur. I started to feel better, but still had to slow down at the hills. My friend Josh, who ran the 1/2, met up and ran with me for a few miles at mile 17. He did a wonderful job of encouraging me and taking my mind off of the first half that was so awful.

Miles 19-26.2 were easier than I thought. This marathon was so backwards; the first half royally sucked with hitting a wall at the half way point. And, the second half, which is typically tougher, was fairly easy. And after such successful long runs it was an utter disappointment to be feeling this badly.





A volunteer at station 19 said it was mostly down hill and flat until the end. He was wrong. Mile 25 came quickly and all I could think was that this would be over in 10 minutes. While it wasn’t an overly enjoyable experience, I wanted to slow down every minute and savor some of what I was experiencing; a greater sense of myself and appreciation for what my body and mind could handle. Finally, I could see the finish line. I used every last ounce of energy I had to finish strong..and I did—nearly a minute per mile faster.

And the next question, will I do another one? Of course, I’m already searching for the next race. Someone [ehem, Dad] once told me I should never end on a missed shot and it’s stuck with me since. I can't stop until I hit my time goal—I’ll train harder, I’ll do more hill training, I’ll do more speed training, I’ll get more sleep, and I’ll cut out the things that hinder my running.

This weekend really became more about the people that got me through [before, during, and after] the race, than the actual race itself. So thank you Mom, Dad, Dick, Jacob, Dice, Andrea, Kelly, Lindsey, Barb and Mike, and the many others who have followed and supported me throughout this training...especially on Saturday. I couldn’t have made it through without you!