marathon

It doesn't feel right to run so far and not say a word about it here.

So... I ran the marathon.

It was a beautiful day. Great weather, great friends, funny crowds. The first half was fast and pain free, but I started hurting at about mile 15 - weird achilles tendon pain I've never had before. Plus the running calluses I have on my big toes blistered underneath and stung like crazy.

I stopped only long enough to take my goos and water or gatorade in the first half, but started walking the length of the water stops after mile 19. Did a few desperate stretches in the middle of the road in the home stretch.

The only reason I made it across the finish line running was because I was minutes away from the 4 hour mark. My training times would have landed me a 4 hour and 20 minute marathon. My optimistic goal time was 4:10. But I've never run alone, so when I found myself coming in at under 4 hours, I really pushed it to keep it that way.

ouch.

Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer me on! Thanks to Chris for following me on that Divvy bike, and to Karen for running those 4 miles along the dead stretch from Pilsen to Chinatown to Bridgport - those barren roads sticky with gatorade and slippery with mashed banana and peels - a pretty comic food option for those last miles when your footing ain't so great anyway.

Thanks to Eric for hauling my girls around, thanks to my beautiful girls for going out to cheer me on, to the Kobayashi's for including us in their post race celebration (yay cake!)

It was such a wonderful day! I never want to do it again.