As a matter of fact I would...revised

Ladies and gentlemen, you may now refer to me as a marathon runner! It was the longest 4 1/2 hours of my life and I questioned my sanity several times, especially from miles 16-25 1/2 but looking back it was well worth it.

I tried to think of anything positive that comes from going to church with a 1 year old and really could only come up with the fact that it's just what I'm supposed to do, so I would much rather run a marathon (just not every week). Here are some "positives" that come from completing the race of my life:

My family's (and friends') support was wonderful. Several members of my family really went out of the way to make this not only possible, but easy for me to get to California. My mom drove to my house and watched the boys, my sister and her family opened up their beach house and refridgerator to me, Kelly and Lilly. I'm still thinking about those sandwiches, Rob. My dad and Bertha drove all the way to Carlsbad to not see me cross the finish line as well as show me lots of support and encouragement. And to my friends with kind words and a condo on the beach... Thank you, thank you one and all!

I burned over 3,000 calories! Hello? Why doesn't everyone do this?

I trained and complained with some great friends. Lindsay, Emily and I worked so hard and I think it was very rewarding. Lindsay took off at the start like we knew she would (and could) and Emily and I stuck together til about mile 16 and then I totally pooped out. Not literally, just tired. I felt like I hit the proverbial wall around mile 14 which was really early in the run and quite discouraging for me. Emily talked me through and helped me keep going. Finally around mile 16 we parted ways and I took breaks when needed and walked/ran the rest of the race.
Looking back on those last ten miles, I was a real wreck. I remember walking up a hill (which seemed to make up the entire second half) and a woman came running up next to me and said, "Come on girl!" and she and I ran up the rest of the hill. I thanked her and she moved on. I saw a 72 year old man (he'd written his age on his shirt) pass me and I let him cause at that point I didn't really care who passed me, but I got a second wind when I saw a girl younger than myself passed out on the side of the road. I thought to myself, "Well, at least I'm doing better than her." Sad, really, how I delighted in another's misfortune...or dehydration.




My mind started to play tricks on me and I remember seeing yet another hill up ahead and feeling really upset until I noticed that we turned a corner before we got there. I exclaimed to some half marathoners how happy I was we weren't going up that hill. I acted like a lunatic with big wild eyes and crazy gestures of the hands. Weird. Then, when we were almost done, maybe a mile or two left, I thought I heard the crowds cheering for the finishers and began to get emotional until I realized it was just the cars on the freeway and I was about to run over the overpass. I quickly dried my tears.



Then, then, it really was the last mile, which really does seem to take forever even though I'd already run miles and miles. Finally the last corner. So many people where cheering and I got the last remaining burst of energy that was left in my body and I searched the crowds for my family and heard Kelly call my name. I was done and what a surreal moment to cross the finish line and be able to actually stop running. I couldn't believe that I had done it and I finished in 4:35:38.







After you finish, you had to walk down this long path where you got your medal and your food bag and you just keep walking and walking and I felt so weird and hungry and tired and it felt good! It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done, but extremely rewarding and it felt good to work hard and accomplish something that I didn't think I would or could ever do.

I finally met up with friends and family and took pictures and congratulated one another. It was great!*



Some other things I want to remember about the race are these: using the porta potty first in the a.m. I mean, it actually smelled good. Hearing the National Anthem at the starting line. Seeing Shawn, Lindsay's husband, along the path was so fun! Sticking with the 4:15 pacer for quite a while. Feeling so good the first half. The ocean and wanting to go run and jump in it! The volunteers and crowds cheering my name (it was printed on the bib). How well organized and happy the volunteers and crowds were towards the runners. Although I may never run that course again and I may think there were more hills than there actually were, I'm so happy I did it and look forward to doing another marathon...at some time...later.







*Looking back I can say that it was great, but I don't think I felt exactly that way while it was going on. A friend asked me if it's like childbirth- miserable while it's happening and then when it's over you forget all about how hard it was and want to do it again. I think that's a pretty good description.






**How could I have forgotten to mention my marathon miracle? How quickly my mind leaves me. You see, I had been having knee pains, bad bad knee pains for months and months which sometimes left me unable to walk let alone run. It was a concern and so I prayed. I prayed my guts out and I was worried cause I was, ya know, running on the Sabbath. But folks, and I don't mean this to be blasphemous, but I had a miracle, for my knee did not cause me one ounce of pain or discomfort on the day of the race or since. I'm just saying...