I ran a marathon. A very hilly marathon. Alex and I left sunny 70° Indianapolis and landed in rainy 38° Kansas City 2 hours later. He had a bug, but actually had more than 24 hours off from work and, despite my best efforts, couldn't be talked out of going. He had to be there in the event I needed medical attention. Not a bad argument.
Whitney picked us up at the airport and we went straight to the expo where Whitney and I got swag. We had plans for carb loading after at a local Italian restaurant with Whitney and her fiancé, Paul, but ended up at the Alamo draft house instead. I have the attention span of a gnat, so I'm not a fan of movie theatres. I'm even less a fan of 3d movies. That said, Gravity in 3D while being served dinner was amazing. Please go see that movie. I'm waiting to hear back from Sandra Bullocks personal trainer as I type.
After the movie we went to the airport to get Ryan, who none of us had seen since leaving Augusta in July! I don't remember what else went on that night other than fighting over blankets and not getting a lot of sleep.
Race was at 7:05 on Saturday morning. We woke up at 6am, the perfect amount of not-enough-time to do anything but eat, dress, lube up (Vaseline!), put on duck tape (feet), and go which helped me avoid panicking over approximately 26.2 things. I did almost have a meltdown over Whitney's breakfast options (instant pumpkin flavored oats! mixed with water!), which seemed risky at best, but she has yet to steer me wrong and it turned out to be delicious and did not bite me in the butt during the race.
Boys dropped us off and we lined up at 7am, working our way to the 10:30/mile corral. 5 minutes later, we were running. Passed the boys at mile 3-4ish where we got rid of long-sleeved shirts and kept trucking. We had passed the biggest and longest hill (mile 3) and barely noticed. Good conversation kept us going well through mile 8, which was also mile 20 on the way back. Whiney commented how good she felt at this point and I told her I wanted her to reflect back on that moment when we're passing mile 20 from the other side [I remembered that at mile 20 and was hurting]. Saw boys again at mile 14ish (I think?) where they were taking video, holding a sign, and playing the guitar while singing eye of the tiger! I can't say how great it was to see them unexpectedly throughout the race. Mile 16 Whitney and I lost each other. Mile 18ish, saw the boys again. I was getting delusional and wanted to dive into a pool of Vaseline. I must have looked as rough as I felt, because a few seconds after passing them Alex was running beside me. He ran with me for about a minute, encouraging me. I have no idea what all I said other than babbling about losing Whitney and maybe that my feet were bleeding and I needed Vaseline. Miles 18 through the end were tough; not only a combination of running further than I had ever ran, but running alone was much tougher than running with someone. There was also a relay run and at mile 20ish I met Mackenzie, who was running the 4th leg for her team. I was desperate for conversation and she happened to be removing her ear bud when I was passing - I seized the opportunity and all but begged her to run with me. She's a graphic design major going to school in KC. We exchanged Jesus stories and each others, and I hated to see her have to stop close to mile 22. Miles 22-24 I've burned from my memory other than a DJ playing Justin Timberlake at mile 23ish. I danced (literally) past the DJ, he gave me a shout out for my moves, and found another relay runner, Maddie, around this point who kept me talking through then end. I passed mile 24, mentally thought "2 more 1 mile runs". Passed 25 without realizing it, and halfway through it was wondering when I was ever going to be done with that first of 2 last miles - I yelled to an innocent bystander "how much longer until 25?" and she said "you passed it at least half a mile ago!" I could have kissed her. 7 blocks from the finish my feet were screaming and I saw the best sign "7 blocks or 0.2 miles until the end". I wanted to cry because I knew I was going to finish without walking, which was my only goal. Turned the corner and saw the last 2/10 was.... of course, up hill. Hills were the theme of this marathon. Heard the boys yell my name near the last 1/10, dug in and sprinted to the end. Finished my first marathon in a respectable 4 hours and 33 min or 10:27/mile pace.
I felt surprisingly good post-marathon, with the exception of a wrangled right big toe and very tight neck/shoulders; my legs did not feel like I had ran for over 4 hours at all. My stomach hurt - I think from all the sugar in the gels that I'm not used to.
Prom pose?
Jesus, duck tape, Vaseline, and friends. I don’t recommend
running a marathon without them.
I realize this is very unflattering - but look at all the salt. I was fascinated. I don't drip sweat, I pour it.
We spent the rest of the evening re-fueling and seeing Kansas City. I can't wait to go back. We had pizza, great local beer, ice cream from a place that had melted snickers as a topping! We eventually crashed and had to send Alex off to the airport early the next morning. The rest of us spent Sunday together on a food-tour of KC followed by football watching (go Chiefs!) and more food. It was such a good weekend. See you all again in February. Whitney and Paul are getting hitched!
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