Has This Ever Happened to You???

How many times in your life have you been able to see 300 men go to the side of the road to pee simultaneously, hordes of people dressed in ridiculous costumes (Elvis, Wonder Woman, the Flash, a slighly effiminate Pooh bear), an innumerable number of scantily clad people strewn along the sides of the roads seeking medical attention, as well as do all that you can to drown out 20 awful bands with your mp3 player, receive accolades from tens of thousands of adoring fans, toss water cups at any minion who gets in your way, and run 26.2 miles - and all before 10:30am???

Let me tell you about my day...

I did it! Whoo-hoo! Gabe was my biggest (and sexiest) supporter for this accomplishment. He's a stud!!! I love him! Thank you, Gabey!

The Shultzi were also a HUGE (but not necessarily sexy) support for me... They gave me Gatorade on my long runs during my training and came all the way down for this weekend. I am so thankful for them as friends! Now if I can just get JS to run with me next time...
Now... On to the race. I got to the starting line in just enough time to get things situated and me warmed up a little, but not too much time for me to get nervous... At least, not REALLY nervous. I have to say that I felt pretty hard core getting to start in the 4th corral. The gun shot and within a couple of minutes, I had started the race!!!

Everyone was totally excited and full of energy. Runners were yelling and cheering just from their exitement to start the race... Yes, I joined in. (Like you even have to wonder.)

Gabe and Andrew met me at mile 6.5 on the course to cheer me on. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to have people there to cheer you on. It's a looooooooooooooooong race. It was so nice to see them!

The Kenyans were in the lead. They basically sprinted for 26.2 miles... Literally, they were running under 5-minute miles.
See me behind the orange guy? I was loving life here. My splits were about 8:40, which was right where I wanted to be.

(Husband Note: Right where you wanted to be? Really? Wouldn't you rather be in Hawaii? Or getting a massage? Or maybe even walking over hot coals? That all sounds a lot more pleasant than running 8:40 miles over and over again).
And there I go!

Here is my cheering squad at the finish line, although I still had a ways to go when this pic was taken. JS and Amy met me at mile 12 and cheered me on.

It was after that point that things started to get a little difficult. I was expecting to see Mission Bay at mile 13.5, but I didn't see it until mile 15. It really messed me up mentally. Anyway, when I finally got to the bay, I began to get tired. Others around me had already been stopping to massage out knots in their calves, stretch, and walk for a while. I kept running, though. At the half marathon, I was on track for a 3:49 marathon. So I was still pretty happy.

It was between miles15 and 20 that things started to go downhill. I'm not sure what caused it, but my legs REALLY began to hurt. (Gabe says it has something to do with the 20 miles I had just run...) Anyway, at mile 20, I hit "the wall", but I didn't stop. I slowed down TONS, though. I really did well staying mentally strong and I gave every mile everything I had. Each mile, I tried to remind myself that this was it... the big race... keep going!

It was a really long final 6.2 miles... I saw tons of people laying on the ground with medics tending to them. Needless to say, that made me continuously evaluate how I was feeling. But I decided I could keep going. At mile 25, I got freaked out when I had trouble breathing for like two breaths - but I think I was just getting excited about approaching the finish line.

I entered the marine base for the last quarter mile, and just started to run as fast as I could. I used every last bit of energy I could find...which wasn't much. As you can see from these pics, I had a bit less energy than back at mile 6.5. Until I saw these pics, I thought my running form was still good. But now I realize just how tired I actually was.Here I am with about 50 yards to go. When I crossed the finish line, I had several medics approach me and ask if I was okay. I kept on telling them that I thought I was. But then I realized that they weren't approaching everyone - just me! That's when I realized that I was weaving and barely able to walk. I've never been in so much pain in my life. I didn't accomplish my goal time, but I know that I gave this marathon everything that I had to give, and that made me very happy - even though I didn't break 4 hours. I weaved my way over to a medic station, stretched for 20 minutes or so, just in case I collapsed and needed attention. :)

I hobbled from there to the family reunion area, where Gabe was walking towards me and I started to cry. He asked me why and I'm still not sure if it was because of the pain or because of how well I had done. (Husband note: Women!)

Here are some of the results that I thought you might be interested in seeing:
Time: 4:03:43
Rank: 3119 out of 21800 runners
847 out of 8400 women
247 out of 2500 in my age/gender

Final Husband note: Well guys, I did it. I successfully watched Andrew for the entire race. I even timed it right so I had the minimum number of diapers to change. It was a lot of hard work, but I have to say I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment. Congratulations gifts and monies can be sent to my home address...thank you for the support and encouragement! I couldn't have done it without you (or Andrew).

Final Wife note: Which just goes to show that what I do on a daily basis is even more difficult than running a marathon! Thanks for proving my point, Gabey...