I ran 26.2 miles

Wow, what a whirlwind of a past few weeks.  First off, I exited the champagne year of life and celebrated my 28th birthday one week before the marathon!  After a few nervous meltdowns and many many conversations about my anxiety, I found myself up at 3:30 a.m. on Friday the 3rd about to fly out to San Diego.  I met up with my Team in Training crew from Southie, as well as running into the Central, MA team, the North Shore team, and obviously, the Boston Team.  There were 28 of us flying together, all about to complete a marathon or half marathon.  It was a very exciting morning.

We took off for Newark for a sweet little layover, and long story short and a canceled flight, my Mom and brother randomly wandered into our terminal!  I shouted with excitement because they were randomly going to be taking the same plane as me!!! Hooorayyy!  When all was said and done, we landed in Cali at 1:30 p.m. PST and were happy as clams to get off of the plane.  The group of us made our way to the Omni Hotel to unpack, and then attend the Expo for the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon!!

 Thank the good lord it was not crowded on Friday, because there were over 30,000 runners attending the event!!  With a hop skip and a jump I picked up my race packet, bought a tshirt (I didn't like the official marathon jackets), snagged some freebie food samples and made my way back to the hotel pool.  After mingling with my mother and brother for a while, the two of them decided to go inside to change.  Thank goodness I stayed behind, because on my way back up to the 11th floor, I ran into TAMRA from Real housewives of Orange County....only my favorite show, EVER!  I was so excited that I blacked out and forgot what floor I was going to.  The elevator was also filled with Eddie, her kids, and her mother.  I almost died. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't want to bother her during her vacation!! Either way, it was definitely a highlight of the trip.

That night I went out to eat with my mother and brother, and the three of us decided to head to bed early with our jet lag so that we could get up and exercise.  Yes, I said exercise.  I woke up the next morning to complete a two mile warm up/cool down say goodbye to my legs run.  It was a cloudy morning thanks to the June Gloom of San Diego, but I traveled along the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade for about a 17 minute run.

 

Got back to the hotel and threw myself together for breakfast at The Mission, which is the best breakfast place, like ever.  Remember kids, before a marathon, you need to hydrate hydrate hydrate.  I drank lots of water and even brought a water bottle filled with low calorie G2.

Following breakfast, my family hit the beach in Coronado and had an amazing time watching my brother get burned to a crisp (I made sure to wear 85 spf!!).  That evening, it was onto the Inspiration Dinner for Team in Training, where we gathered together (all 3100 of us) to get pumped for the next day's events!!  That's also where I bumped into Michelle, who randomly found my blog after googling info about LLS, and asked to take my picture with me.  Tee hee!!

After a fabulous pasta dinner, dessert, motivational, and inspirational speeches, we were off to bed!!! I had to wake up at 3:30 a.m. the next morning in order to be down in the lobby at 4 a.m. for a team breakfast, before... we had to leave at 4:30 to take a shuttle to the starting line.  In that time, I also made my posters for the families I had dedicated some miles to and bedazzled my team in training shirt! I also gathered my essentials for the next morning, which included everything you see pictured here: sneakers, gels, chap stick, Vaseline, bodyguard (for chafing.  sexy.),  my bagel and banana, vitamins, deodorant, MAKEUP, and a change of clothing for the end of the run...including my compression socks. 

OK HERE WE GOOOO!!!

Things felt really great for me in the beginning.  I was flying high, smiling everywhere I went.  The first seven miles were a little downhill and although awesome, I had to change my gait a bit to keep myself stable.  Marathon Mistake #1.

Marathon Fumble #2.  It was not a June Gloom morning; as predicted.  It, in fact, was a beautiful summer day with intense heat.  I knew that was a problem because around Mile 8, my legs and body started to feel as fatigued as it normally does around a 16-18 mile training run.  I knew, in that moment, I needed to readjust my goal; one to of just completion.  I had to throw the time goal out of my brain, because I needed to take a walking break at Mile 9.  My heart sank a little, but knew it was going to be ok.

Marathon Mistake #3.  Banked highway.  Part of the San Diego Marathon is on a banked highway, meaning its a little sideways.  This hurt my hips.  A LOT.  It hurt my quads too, and again, my legs were feeling shot way too early in the race.  I tried to not let that get in my head. Moreover, it was so hot during the race, I was literally baking in the sun on the highway. The only relief came around Mile 22, when a bunch of girls in Elvis costumes were passing out icepops.  THANK. THE. LORD.  It took me an hour and 10 minutes to get through the last 6 miles, which I found entirely disappointing.

I came in at 4 hours and 24 minutes, which was approximately 24 minutes slower than I had hoped for and anticipated.  I had to remind myself that completing the marathon itself was an accomplishment, regardless of the time.

I literally had to drag myself across the finish line and started crying when I saw my family.  I thoroughly freaked out my mom, but kept walking to find my compression socks, a new tank top, and my makeup.  Thank you makeup for making me happy.   Nothing sounded appealing once I crossed that finish line except for the Snickers Marathon Sports bars.  Yea, not healthy at all, but I didn't care, it was the only thing I could fathom stomaching.

Also super sad sidebar.  I lost my BIC Band during the race!!!  My headband fell off at a random location and thank god I had sweat and salt in my hair to keep my bangs down. 

Thank the good lord!  AHH I HAVE RUN A MARATHON!!! The rest of the day was spent celebrating, nursing my poor knees and quads, attending half of a padres game (before I had to go back and take a super nap), and out to dinner with all of my favorite people ever forever (all I wanted while running was a mojito?!! Weird.)  Also, loved the red velvet cupcake I got at Heavenly Cupcakes in the Gaslamp district.

Again, THANK YOU to GO Mom GO, my brother, Olivia, Sara, and Tal for supporting me.  It meant the world. 

Am I going to run another marathon?  Hells yes.  I need to beat that time. :)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!