Rock 'N Roll Marathon (Part 4)

So I made it all the way to the halfway point...13.1 miles...with my dad. But when I went to bump fists with him at the 13 mile marker, he was nowhere to be found. :0( I kept turning my head in all directions to see if he was dodging another runner, but to no avail. I just kept running.

But it weighs on you. Is he OK?

Just to recap, from mile 2 to 10 I felt great! From miles 10 to 13 I was growing a tad bit tired, but I was still pretty strong.

After I hit mile 13 I felt like I wanted to walk a bit. I didn't walk though. For 2 reasons...

1. I had a goal in mind, that I did NOT want to walk in this race.

2. Even more important (at the time) is that my (old) bosses were in the crowd cheering me on up ahead, and I could NOT be walking when I saw someone I knew, LOL!

I kept running, and running and running...



Eventually we got off of Friars Rd., and turned on to Morena Blvd. I made it passed mile 14, and mile 15. And right around the 15 mile marker, I finally saw them...my bosses (and Trisha's husband Peter)...





I started waving my hands in the air, as I was SO excited to see a familiar face in the crowd!!! And then they saw me...



They had pulled out all of the stops...they made a sign, they were blowing whistles, they were shouting my name on the megaphone...IT.WAS.AWESOME! I gave them a quick hug, and then I was on my way again...



Unfortunately, from here on out, the race went (figuratively) down hill for me. I still didn't know where my dad was, I was tired, I was fighting the urge to walk, I knew I wouldn't be seeing anyone else I recognized until the finish line, and I still had so much more to go. :0( In addition to that, the sun was beating down on my skin. This was a GORGEOUS day in San Diego...but unfortunately, it was too hot of weather to be comfortably running in. I hadn't worn any sunscreen becuase when I had the opportunity to put it on, it was 3:30am and I figured that by the time the sun would be up, the sunscreen would have lost it's power. I was getting freaked out about the sun, and so I went to one of the aid stations and asked if they had any sunscreen..."No." I was bummed! But just as I was about to start running again, a nice random man was chilling solo in the middle of Morena Blvd, and he said, "I have sunscreen for you!" He proceeded to spray my arms down with sunscreen. He asked about spraying my face, and I decided against it as I didn't want it getting into my eyes as I sweating. I was so grateful for that man...and unfortunately for him, so were many other runners. As I was running away from him, I heard a bunch of other runners saying, "I need sunscreen!"..."I need sunscreen!"..."I need sunscreen!" LOL!

Running from mile 15 to mile 16 was a huge mental head trip about walking. I finally told myself that once I reached the 16 mile marker I could walk for 20 seconds. And that is what I did. I walked for 20 seconds, and then I ran to the next mile marker. I did that pattern for mile 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. I surprisingly didn't beat myself up over it. I was in survival mode. Just get 'er done! But, unfortunately, walking didn't make the journey any easier...maybe becuase I was only taking a 20 second break??? In fact, it made things harder. Walking is a different range of motion than running, and so when it came time to run again after walking, I had to work myself up into a running groove again. But I was just so tired that whenever the next mile marker came, I felt the NEED to walk, and so I did.

In between these 4 miles, 2 things happened...

1. Just before making it to mile 17, you make a U-turn on Morena Blvd., and you travel back the way you came for about a mile and a half before you turn onto a new street. I was praying that I could use this opportunity to find my dad in the crowd of runners on the side of the street that I was just on. I kept searching and searching and searching for him. And finally, after running another mile solo, we locked eyes on each other! We both ran into the median, and he explained that he was OK. Apparently his calves seized up, and he felt like he pulled his groin. He went to the aid station where they had him lie down for a bit, swallow some salt, and then they sent him on his way and told him he would feel fine in about 5-10 minutes. I was disappointed for him, but knowing that he was "OK" took a huge burden off of my shoulders. We hugged, and then we parted ways. I never saw him again until after the race.

2. A special shout out to Denver Street! Hands down, this was my FAVORITE street to run on...too bad it was so short! We hit this street after mile 18, and this place was HOPPING! The homeowners were outside of their homes with huge tubs of sliced oranges...they were delicious...I was hungry! And then, there was another house that was giving out beer to the runners(???)...I did not partake...but in addition to the beer, they had huge tubs of ice that they were handing out. I rubbed some of the ice on my face (A-M-A-Z-I-N-G), and then chewed a few additional pieces. There was a small, but steep, incline on this street, and there were actual cheerleaders lining both sides of the incline shouting and dancing to some cheer about pushing yourself harder up the hill...GREAT motivation! And finally as soon as I turned onto this street, I knew I was going to love it...keeping with the theme of my 30th birthday, there was a HUGE...



So much fun!

But after Denver street we turned onto Clairemont Drive, and then onto Mission Bay Drive. We proceeded to run around Mission Bay. By the time I got to mile 20, I loathed this experience.



I was no longer having ANY fun. The smell of people barbecuing at the bay made me nauseous. I had wanted to walk for more than 20 seconds, and I was FIGHTING that urge. I stopped taking any and all pictures at this point. I rolled my eyes in disgust at the band that was playing on the stage. I wanted to take off my tutu...I was so over this marathon.

Even though I was still making good time, I had obviously slowed down a bit...the "4:45" pace group had caught up to me. I ran with the leader of the group for a while. She could see that I was struggling, and she encouraged me for quite some time. But something didn't feel right "down stairs" and when I saw a restroom at the bay, I ducked out of the race and went to the bathroom. Sure enough, "Aunt Flo" arrived on the mid-morning train...WAAAAAAA! I was so bummed. This only fueled my irritation. There was nothing I could really do about the situation except head for the finish line. But when I got back in the race, I was all crazy mental again. I had texted my crew that I had made it to mile 21...just 5 more miles to go...and that I wanted to quit. I got a series of responses in return. My girls at the finish line let me know that they had stopped to pray for me, and then Pam sent me a picture of the finish line from where she was at, and said, "You are so close!"



My sister Anna sent me a picture of her 3 boys that were WAITING for anyone they knew to cross the finish line, LOL!



My friend Deana (a 2x marathoner) sent me a text saying, "The Marathon doesn't start until mile 20..."

And my Aunt Mary (the seasoned marathoner) who was tracking my every move from her computer at home, had become my virtual coach, and had texted me multiple encouraging tips.

But none of those things mattered at the time. As they say in marathon lingo, I had "hit a wall." I was mentally done.

I needed to talk to my sister Jenni!

I called her and the phone just rang and rang and rang until finally...she answered! :0) I burst into tears (as I am now, remembering this moment). I explained to her that I wanted to give up, and that I couldn't do it. She was amazing. She was so positive and encouraging. She let me go on and on as if she was sitting on the couch doing nothing on a Sunday afternoon. But the gist of her point was, was that I HAD to do it. I had no other option than to make it to the finish line. I didn't have to run, but I had to at least walk. No one was going to come pick me up. I HAD TO DO IT. Among other bits of conversation, I told her thank you, and then I got off of the phone.

I guess I had to keep going, and that's what I did. I did some running, and a lot of walking. I would tell myself to just run to THAT trash can and the you can walk. I kept doing games like that for the next few miles. Walk...run...walk...run....

I was so tired. I just wanted this nightmare to be over. I was also STARVING! I was so nauseous. At about mile 24 I was so nauseous that I went to one of the aid stations, and asked if they had anything for nausea...they did not. They made me sit down on a mat, and then they proceeded to give me a packet of salt. Is salt the answer for EVERYTHING in a marathon!? I hate salt, so I sprinkled a TINY bit on my tongue, decided that this was (disgusting and) a waste of my time, and I bailed. I needed to just get to the finish line. I put one foot in front of the other, and I walked the entire distance from mile 24 to mile 25. I had no more plans of running.

But when I made it to mile 25, the "5:00" pace group was right on my tail. I heard the pace setter shout to her group, "Mile 25! Just 1.2 more miles to go. You can do AAAAAAANYTHING for 1.2 miles!!!" And I thought, she is right. I can do anything for 1.2 miles. I put my headphones back on, took a sip of water, and started running!



I couldn't believe it, but it felt like I was on mile 3! I had so much energy! I had life in my step, and a huge smile that I couldn't wipe off of my face! It felt amazing to be able to run again! I ran the entire distance from mile 25 to the finish. Right before the finish line, I saw my peeps cheering me on in the crowd, and that felt GREAT that I was able to pull it together and finish strong in front of them.

I made it! I ran towards the finish line, and LEAPED up into the air (like a ballerina, lol) as I crossed the line. That's me raising my arm up in the air directly under the sign...



Shortly after I crossed the finish, I was awarded my medal, and then I heard someone calling my name...well, my nickname..."Cheech! Cheech!" I turned to look, and it was my brother! He had totally surprised us with his presence! I was in tears. More crying....booooooring! And then he took a picture of me with my prize. :0)



I was so stoked to be done! My goal was to finish the race in 5 hours...even though I crossed the line exactly with the 5 hour pace group, they started the race long after me, and so my actual finishing time was 5:22. My other goal was to not walk...I totally did NOT meet that goal. HOWEVER, I completed a MARATHON on Sunday...there wasn't the tiniest hint of failure in my mind. I felt like a (tired) CHAMPION!

And up until I hit my wall, my numbers were great! My split times were just posted on the web, and I am so excited to report that I beat my Safari Park Half Marathon time by 4 minutes! Even up until mile 20, my average pace was about a 10 minute mile! And even with hitting my wall, I was still able to achieve a faster finishing time than everyone in our own little group.

Since the moment I crossed the finish line, I have said OVER and OVER that I am SO glad that I endured this 8 month process, but that I never, ever, EVER, want to do it again...HOWEVER, in the last 72 hours, I keep thinking about how I need to run a marathon without walking at all. And so here the vicious cycle goes, LOL!

I haven't signed up for another full marathon (yet), but as of yesterday, I did sign up for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland on January of 2012. I do still love the sport of running, and half marathons are completely a comfortable distance for me.