Love. Laugh. Live. Run.

The day before the marathon I was extremely excited. I love going to Expos and felt my excitement build picking up my race packet. I didn’t feel any nervousness or fear and this alone made me nervous. I don’t know why I was so confident and comfortable, but I tried to go with it. I’ve decided that actually running a marathon is a lot like gambling. There are so many important factors that contribute to a good race and if even one falls short, it could spell disaster. I think knowing that it’s not entirely up to you actually made me more relaxed.

I went to bed around 9:30 the night before and probably fell asleep around 11:30 (2 hours is falling asleep quickly for me). I slept deeply and wasn’t irritated when my alarm went off at 5:30AM. Thank goodness for local races and not having to drive long distances to get there! I laid everything out the night before and just had to decide on my racing bottoms. I went with my skirt, my original plan, because I needed the pocket to hold my phone and it matched best. I ate some oatmeal on the drive to Pasadena and about half a bottle of Propel. I was very hydrated the day before and even drank during the night so I wasn’t worried about this.

I arrived at 6:00AM and had one hour to prep and find my friends. It rained pretty hard during the night so the ground was wet and the air was still really moist. It was freezing. I found Shawna, Kristy, and the rest of the McDonough clan and we barely had time for “hello’s” before it was time to get started.

Miles 1-8: We passed the start line two minutes after the bell and Shawna and I took off the first few miles. We didn’t have to do too much weaving because there weren’t many walkers and we weren’t too fast. The first hills were miles 2-4. They were small and we were making lots of twists and turns through the residential neighborhood so it happened pretty quickly. By mile 4, I knew we’d be splitting up soon because I knew I couldn’t keep the 8:36 pace. She drifted ahead of me as we headed into the second set of hills. This set of hills would last from miles 7-10 and would take us up to the Rose Bowl. At mile 8, the half and full marathon route splits up. I was able to see Shawna one last time, I was about a minute behind her when the route splits.

Mile 8-12.5: Once the courses split, there were hardly many people. It really thinned out and everyone was pretty much on their pace with little passing. The road was a slight incline along the west side of the Rose Bowl and the golf course behind it. It loops around the golf course and then you come back down on the same road. It started to rain at mile 9. It wasn’t pouring and it actually felt pretty good. I started to notice some pain in my hip at this point. The pocked inside my skirt with my cell phone was hitting this exact spot and I think my hip was getting irritated by the constant banging. I moved my phone to my sports bra – really, a sports bra can hold anything! I did some stretching at mile 11 and tried to take the downhill. Coming into this section I noticed my knee was giving me trouble. I used to always wear a brace, but my new shoes have really helped and I haven’t had any problems for 4 months. I suspect that my knee was hurting from all the asphalt and hills so after leaving this loop I stopped at the medical tent to get my knee taped up. I didn’t like the way the lady taped it, but it actually helped and my knee pain went away.

Miles 12.5-15: This was the third set of hills and the worst. I was prepared for this to be ugly, but it really sucked. Most people were walking and I didn’t have any guilt walking myself. It was residential, but lots of people were outside banging on pots and pans so it was nice to see people. Tasha called around mile 14 and we didn’t know the area so we thought we’d see each other soon. It was a good thing I was looking for them because it was distracting me and kept me moving.

Mile 15-19: The course takes a nice turn into the ritzy neighborhoods so the streets were wider here. The sun was out and it started to get warm, but I was drenched in water. I passed an area that was littered with orange peels and from then on kept thinking about how badly I wanted an orange slice. I also ran into the CoolFit tent. These guys spray your legs down with liquid (something like IcyHot) and it instantly cools and relaxes your legs. It felt divine! I was starving at this point and really trying to stick to Ultima, but I had to have something in me so I ate the Gu Chomps I had on me. I’m so glad I brought these with me at the last minute! They were Orange flavored too so I imagined they were real oranges. At mile 19.5, I finally found Tasha and Brian. Brian ran with me for about half a mile (to go get the car) and I picked up speed and felt a bit refreshed.

Mile 20-22: This is the last out-and-back of the course. It was warm and the sun was beating down on this part of the course. I had one last hill up to mile 21 and I was trudging along. I got to the top and cruised back down. As I rounded the corner I saw a lady with a tray of oranges! I was in heaven! I took 3! I was so excited I even dropped one, but she let me grab another. I walked slowly and tried to enjoy them as much as I could. I kept telling myself that I just had an hour left. In comparison to the three hours behind, it seems short, but it felt like an eternity.

Mile 23-Finish: As I headed back down Sierra Madre and came up to mile 23 I knew I was close. I knew this area so I knew where we had to go to get to the finish. It was a very long straight until mile 25 and it was dreadful. It was so monotonous and I could not distract myself with music. I tried to stop walking, but I needed some breaks. They were quick though and I knew I was less than half an hour to the finish. Shawna texted me and she was waiting for me at mile 25.5 to run in the last bit with me. The course made two left turns and I finally saw her and knew I was so close. (This is also where I met her boyfriend for the first time, I bet I looked great!). She ran that last bit in with me and we picked it up to about a 9:00 pace. There was a short downhill and at the next light I could see the final turn. I knew the finish line would be just around that bend and I was pushing as hard as I could. I wanted to scream because the finish wasn’t close enough. I started counting in my head, knowing that in 20 seconds I’d cross the line.

I crossed the line at 4:44:28 and was so glad it was over. My first thought was, “Crap, I have to do this again in one month?!” Yikes. I felt really good though. When I finished Carlsbad I nearly fell apart. I was exhausted, hungry, and completely out of it. Although I was tired and hungry, I felt physically fine. I was really surprised that I held up so well and it given me confidence that I’m more fit and have more endurance. Now I'm really excited for the next one!