26.2

I woke up at 4:30am and got dressed in the semi dark of our bedroom. Brian had been up many times that night (he was very sick) and I didn't get the greatest of sleep. I went downstairs and got all of my gear together, ate a breakfast bar, prayed with my Mom and Grandma, and headed out the door at about 5:10. We went strait down Russell thinking we would take it to Frank Sinatra Dr (the papers we got said it would be open until 6:00) it was closed and they made us get on the freeway. We sat on the side of the freeway not moving at all. So I pulled over, jumped out, kissed Mom, and crawled through a hole in the fence on the side of the freeway! There was no way I was missing that start!

It was dark and it was COLD. So so cold. I met Christina, Ricki and Erik at the start and waited and waited for Missy. I kept saying "she better get here on time, I can't do this alone!"

Here I am trying to put my Ipod on without taking my sweatshirt off. Did I mention it was cold?

Christina was running the half and got a PR! Good job girl!!!

After about a half mile I threw my sweatshirt to Christina (she used it for her numb hands!) I just can't run with layers on...it bugs me too much. At about mile 6 I start feeling my IT band get stiff so we stop for a second to stretch it out. I'm feeling it low though, and the stretches only work high. We used the Garmin to slow down our pace, so we wouldn't get too tired towards the end. We felt really really good until about mile 15. Everything west was slightly uphill, which we were not prepared for. We did hill training, but not 6 continuous miles of hills. Missy started cramping in her quad, we even stopped for a second so I could rub it out for her (not that it worked very well).

Then about mile 21 is where I lost it.

Stop reading now if you don't want to be grossed out!

There is this phenomenon in running called dumping (at least that's what my doc called it) it happens to a lot of runners from what I'm told. All the blood goes to your extremities, so your stomach empties out. That way your body isn't wasting energy digesting anything. Unfortunately this happens to me. So at mile 21 I have to poo...wait in line...go...it is all blood and a lot of it. Not only does my body dump to get rid of food, but it also does when there is no food. So the lining of my stomach was coming off instead. This my friends leads to the worst cramping pain I have ever had in my life. As bad a labor for sure. It was so sharp that I would catch my breath.

catching my breath + running doesn't work out so well.

I felt SO SO SO bad holding Missy back, but there was nothing I could do. It was either quit, or slow down. We slowed down to give my body some rest, so we could finish strong.

and

we did it!!!

official time 5:13:00

not bad for our first marathon

about .1 miles from the finish line we saw our friend Jodie and Missy's family...and the waterworks started!

Then I saw my friends from church...then my Mom, Brother and SIL. It was SO nice to see familiar faces at the finish line! My cousins Ricki and Erik were also there, they came from Cali just to cheer us on. Thank you so much to everyone who was there to support us. You have no idea what it meant to me. I will never have a first marathon again and it felt SO good to achieve a dream that I worked so hard to accomplish. THANK YOU! Also a big thanks to Missy for being my running partner for the last 6 months. We are already planning our 2010 races!

After the race we went to Carl's Jr for a burger and fries...I was craving! And I suppose now, fries are my traditional after race food ;o)

I know I should have done an ice bath, but there was no way I could stand it...so I took a quick shower, iced my joints and went to bed. Thanks goodness my mom was here to take care of everyone!

The next day, I was still very sore. Especially my IT bands. Brian had set up a treatment at his PT for me at 9:30. I knew it was going to hurt, but I forgot, from my soccer days, how bad post-workout treatments are! They stretched me and gave me a deep tissue massage on my IT bands. It took all I had not to scream when they were digging into those tender muscles. I now have lovely bruises all up and down my quads, and into my knees! It does make for a much faster recovery though. I'll probably go back for one more treatment because they are still sore.

The good news is...I did a freakin marathon!

The bad news is...no cardio for 2 weeks (to let my IT band heal) and no runs over 5 miles for 2 months. (to let my stomach heal) That will be the longest break from running I've had since I started 18 months ago!

I know my body needs the rest, but I think running has become like a drug for me or something. I get anxious when I haven't gotten any runs in. I'm super depressed that I'm going to miss the Surf City half this year. I LOVED that race, but without training, I can't run it. Erik has been inspired to run it though, so hopefully I can be there to cheer him on!

PS: yes I will be running another one!! Hopefully Vegas in 2011 or Surf City 2012. Next year I want to work on getting faster. The goal is to get my half under 2 hours. I know, pretty lofty, but whats the point if it's not hard?! ;o)